Reborn in 2000, starting from the university website

3 PM, Beijing Airport.

Not long after getting off the plane, Bai Yuhang took a taxi and, looking travel-worn, led Zhang Xiaolong straight to Kechun Residential Area.

Jiao Liwei picked up Bai Yuhang and Zhang Xiaolong downstairs.

Pushing open the security door of 801, a wave of heat and the smell of instant noodles hit you. Wan Lianghao was squatting on the floor, adjusting the newly installed dedicated line, with stripped network cable sheaths and RJ45 connectors scattered all over the floor.

Zhang Xiaolong stood at the door, not noticing the chaos, but instead smiled.

When he was in Guangzhou, he felt anxious every day looking at his empty house and the cold numbers in his bank account.

The chaotic scene before me exudes a vibrant, human energy.

"Is this your current hideout?" Zhang Xiaolong kicked aside a wad of scrap paper at his feet, walked to the side balcony, and glanced at the Hailong Building across the street. "Pretty good, close to the battlefield."

"The conditions aren't great, but it's mainly to save time and make commuting to work easier," Jiao Liwei explained somewhat embarrassedly, rubbing his hands. "There's no other way; it's the early stages of starting a business. Mr. Zhang, please don't mind. We've booked a long-term room for you at a nearby star-rated hotel..."

"Why stay in a hotel? I'm not on a business trip." Zhang Xiaolong waved his hand and pointed to the ceiling. "Are there any rooms available upstairs or downstairs?"

Jiao Liwei was taken aback: "I went to pay the property management fee just now and heard from the sales staff that unit 601 hasn't been sold yet, and the layout is the same as this one."

"Okay, this is it." Zhang Xiaolong turned and walked out. "Let's go to the sales office."

The sales office manager was locking up and preparing to leave work when Jiao Liwei forcefully stopped him.

The manager was initially impatient, thinking to himself that these students had just bought two floors, haggled over the price for ages, paid the property management fees, and now they were nagging again.

"601, I'll take it." Zhang Xiaolong took out a bank card from his backpack and handed it over. "It's downstairs from these guys, so it'll be convenient for me to go upstairs for a free meal and do some coding while I'm at it. Living with these young people makes me feel like I'll age a few years less."

The manager was stunned: "Sir, it's too late now, the finance department has already left, and the mortgage procedures..."

"No mortgage, full payment is fine." Zhang Xiaolong said calmly, "Can I pay by card now?"

Jiang Shuo, who had been following behind with a calculator in his hand, slipped and almost sat on the marble floor of the sales office when he heard the words "full payment".

He watched as Zhang Xiaolong entered the password and signed, his movements fluid and effortless, without even flinching.

That's over 300,000!

Jiang Shuo was still in a daze when a flimsy house purchase contract was slapped on the table.

He stared at Zhang Xiaolong's faded gray T-shirt, only one thought running through his mind: Is this what you call a rich person? Real tech geniuses buy houses like they're buying groceries?

On the way back to the apartment complex, Jiao Liwei was beaming from ear to ear, slapping his thigh and whispering to Bai Yuhang, "Great! We've saved a fortune! Sixth Brother was originally asking me to approve a rent subsidy, but now, with Boss Zhang bringing his own food and supplies, we've even saved on rent! Eighth Brother, you better remember this money; it'll be a profit!"

Bai Yuhang was also walking at the back. Upon hearing this, he stopped and lit a cigarette.

"Boss, that's not how you do it." Bai Yuhang exhaled a smoke ring and called out to Jiang Shuo, who was still in shock. "Eighth Brother, go to the furniture store tomorrow. Pick out the best appliances, ergonomic solid wood tables and chairs, and imported mattresses. Get 601 all set up. Consider it a housewarming gift from the company to General Manager Zhang."

Jiang Shuo instinctively wanted to retort, "We just spent 1.2 million..."

"We can't skimp on this money." Bai Yuhang interrupted him directly, his tone serious. "They come here with their skills and assets, and they don't care about this rent; that's their kindness. We have to do our duty. This is about respecting top talent, and it's also about telling everyone that at Qihang, technology is the most valuable asset."

Jiang Shuo opened his mouth, looked at Zhang Xiaolong, who was not far ahead carrying an old bag and kicking pebbles as he walked, and finally nodded heavily: "Okay, Sixth Brother, you're right. We're willing to pay this money. This is a true god, worthy of being worshipped."

The next morning, at Hailong Building.

Sunlight streamed through the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, illuminating the freshly waxed floor. Except for Yang Bo, Liu Jing, and Zhang Qingheng, who had already departed for the Harbin knockout rounds, all the core members in Beijing were present, gathered around the conference table. Zhang Jian, sporting dark circles under his eyes and clutching a meat bun, was clearly someone who had worked overtime all night without sleep.

"Let me introduce you all." Bai Yuhang patted the casually dressed, somewhat reserved man next to him. "This is Allen, Zhang Xiaolong. Our company's new technical partner."

Everyone applauded politely, but Zhang Jian was still arguing with Baozi Pi, asking indistinctly, "Where did you work before, Mr. Zhang? What language did you speak?"

Zhang Xiaolong pushed up his glasses a little embarrassedly: "I don't have any high-ranking job, I'm just a product manager. I wrote a piece of software called Foxmail."

"Cough cough cough—!"

Zhang Jian choked on a mouthful of steamed bun filling, coughing until his face turned red and his neck bulged. He gulped down a mouthful of water, not bothering to wipe his mouth, and sprang up from his chair, the chair legs scraping against the marble floor with a screeching sound.

"Holy crap! Who? Who do you think you are?" Zhang Jian's eyes widened like copper bells. He rushed to Zhang Xiaolong in a few steps, his posture as if he was about to fight. But he suddenly stopped half a meter away from Zhang Xiaolong and vigorously rubbed oil on his pants.

"You wrote Foxmail? Foxmail, written entirely in Java, that's three times faster than Outlook at sending and receiving emails?" Zhang Jian was so excited he was almost incoherent. "A genius! My idol! I studied your code when I was a freshman in college, the logic was absolutely amazing! Especially the email header parsing algorithm, I studied it for a week and still couldn't figure out how you managed to keep the memory usage so low!"

Zhang Xiaolong was a little stunned by the sudden enthusiasm, his face flushed slightly, and he grasped Zhang Jian's outstretched hand: "Well... it's not really that amazing, it's just that I optimized it a few more times to save bandwidth."

"See that? That's what you call professional!" Zhang Jian turned around and snapped at Wan Lianghao, "From now on, if anyone dares to say I'm sloppy because I don't wash my hair, I'll say I'm paying homage to my idol!"

The meeting room erupted in laughter.

As the laughter subsided, Bai Yuhang pulled out a pre-prepared agreement from a folder and pushed it in front of Zhang Xiaolong.

"Mr. Zhang, this is what we agreed on before. 2% stock options, non-dilutable."

The conference room fell silent instantly. Jiang Shuo adjusted his glasses, and although he didn't speak, a hint of pain flashed in his eyes. 2% might not seem like much at Qihang's current valuation, but everyone knew Bai Yuhang's ambition; this 2% could be an astronomical figure in the future.

Zhang Xiaolong didn't even look at the agreement, but just looked at Bai Yuhang: "Isn't this a bit too much? I haven't even started working yet."

"Not much." Bai Yuhang looked around at everyone, tapping his fingers lightly on the table. "We all know that Foxmail was sold for twelve million. But in my eyes, this deal was a huge bargain for Boda Company. Software is inanimate, but people are alive. Foxmail is worth twelve million, but Allen, you are worth more than a hundred million."

He paused, his gaze fixed intently on Zhang Xiaolong: "This 2% isn't for the current father of Foxmail, it's for the future god of mobile internet technology. Whether our Qihang Technology ship can be equipped with a nuclear-powered engine depends entirely on Mr. Zhang's hands."

Zhang Xiaolong looked at Bai Yuhang, then at the group of young people around him whose eyes were shining. He picked up a pen and signed his name on the agreement.

"Okay." Zhang Xiaolong put down his pen, smiled, and his previous dejection vanished. "Since we're on this pirate ship, let's do something even more awesome than Foxmail."