Chapter 14

On the evening of July 13, 2001, the night of the Olympic bid, the whole country was waiting for the news from Moscow.

On the TV screen, every Chinese person at the scene waiting for the results was filled with anticipation and anxiety. Those involved in the bid, regardless of their level of involvement, could not be 100% certain that China would succeed.

But Bian Xuedao could.

As the time approached 10 PM, watching the people on TV holding their breath, clenching their fists, and looking tense, Bian Xuedao suddenly wondered if anyone else knew the result like he did.

When Samaranch pronounced the unique "Beijing," China erupted.

At the broadcast sites across the country, people were shouting, jumping, crying, and laughing, unable to control themselves.

Everyone on screen showed genuine joy and pride. Drivers on the streets honked their horns in succession, and even though it was so late, no one blamed them; instead, they felt it was fitting and exciting.

The cheers at the China Millennium Monument were overwhelming, and the celebration reached its peak when the national leaders appeared.

Although Bian Xuedao had seen these videos in his previous life more than once, he still couldn't help but get excited again.

That night, lying in bed, Bian Xuedao thought about many things.

On July 15, Bian Xuedao submitted his college application. His parents, not very familiar with the quality of universities, largely respected his choice. Especially after they learned from friends and colleagues that Dongsen University had a strict and disciplined atmosphere, they were even more supportive of his choice.

Since the school had already notified that graduation photos would be taken on the 15th, most of the students who could come did. Bian Xuedao met Dong Xue.

After a brief chat, Bian Xuedao learned that Dong Xue estimated her score to be 405 and had applied for the flight attendant program at the Civil Aviation University of China.

"Are you going to be a flight attendant?" Bian Xuedao was a bit surprised by Dong Xue's choice.

"Yes, I've been planning it for a long time. I had a physical and interview in April," Dong Xue looked into the distance, "I heard you did very well this time and got into a key university."

"Pretty good!"

"Thank you for carrying me out of the exam room and finding my dad." Dong Xue looked at Bian Xuedao's face, "Do you still have that T-shirt with the writing on it?"

"Washed it!" Bian Xuedao made a gesture of washing clothes and laughed.

After taking the graduation photos, the close friends took group photos in twos and threes.

Bian Xuedao took several photos with Zhou Hang, Dong Xue, Guo Dong, and others.

Zhou Hang applied for Renmin University. Seeing Zhou Hang's application form, Bian Xuedao remembered that Zhou Hang had been admitted to Renmin University before.

The long summer vacation began.

After a few gatherings with classmates, Bian Xuedao packed his things and went to his Uncle Wu's house in the countryside.

Bian Dad had five brothers, and Bian Dad was the fourth.

The Bian family had a family tree, and the middle name of Bian Xuedao's generation was "Xue." After the first boy was born, Grandpa suggested using "Ren Yi Li Zhi" (benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom) for their names. Bian Xuedao was the third, so he got the "Dao" character.

Uncle Wu's house was about 20 kilometers from the city. Uncle Wu's youngest son, Bian Xuede, wasn't cut out for school and started learning car repair after junior high school.

In the past two years, Uncle Wu had contracted a small hill to grow fruit trees, and the family's living conditions had gradually improved.

Bian Xuedao went to Uncle Wu's orchard. He remembered that there was a wooden house on the hill for guarding the orchard. Bian Xuedao needed a quiet place where no one would disturb him to sort out his thoughts.

The orchard mainly grew plums and hawthorns. Uncle Wu and Aunt Wu were more than happy for Bian Xuedao to watch the orchard during the day. Bian Xuedao stayed at Uncle Wu's house for a solid half month, going out in the morning and staying on the hill all day, returning in the evening.

Bian Xuedao carried a bag with him, containing a notebook, a pen, a Walkman, several tapes, and many batteries.

In the wooden house on the hill, he watched the clouds, listened to the rain, and wrote down his thoughts. Whenever he remembered songs he used to listen to or sing at KTV, he would sing them out. Some of the songs he remembered hadn't appeared yet, so he separated the lyrics and melodies, writing down the lyrics and recording the melodies with his Walkman.

After a few days, he had written down over ten songs, including some by Jay Chou, Shinedown, and other popular songs in China.

To be honest, Bian Xuedao was just a commoner, a person with ordinary ambitions. After being reborn, his greatest wish was to make life better for himself and those around him.

He didn't want to work 250+ night shifts out of 365 days anymore; he didn't want to be trapped by mortgage and car loans, working all year without taking his family on a trip; he didn't want to constantly monitor various online "treasures" to see which had the highest interest rate and quickly transfer his funds. He wanted to make money, a lot of money, and be a rich person, preferably the kind whose interest from the principal in the bank was enough for his annual expenses.

At this point, Bian Xuedao was thinking about how to make money. He believed that with money, he could have a free and easy life.

He tried hard to think of ideas for making money and starting a business, but each one was rejected for the same reason: he had no capital and needed his first pot of gold.

Bian Xuedao had a clear understanding of his own abilities. He had a bit of a research spirit and some perseverance, but he was also a bit lazy. In a positive light, he was content with a modest fortune; in a negative light, he lacked ambition. Moreover, in his previous life, he had worked at a newspaper after graduation, seeing a lot but having no experience in entrepreneurship. He knew that success in the world was not as easy or simple as it was described in reports and autobiographies. "If you embroider a pair of mandarin ducks, don't show the golden needle to others," those books were just for entertainment.

For example, Bian Xuedao knew that Taobao was founded in 2003, but he couldn't handle e-commerce; he wasn't Jack Ma. He knew that Qihoo 360 would appear in 2005, but he wasn't Robin Li. He knew the free strategy, but he didn't understand the success of antivirus and 360. He knew that smart touch-screen phones would dominate the market, but he wasn't Steve Jobs or Lei Jun. He knew he couldn't handle that kind of thing; he just wasn't cut out for it.

What Bian Xuedao could do was sell concepts, but would anyone believe him? Would anyone buy them? Would they be valuable? If someone did believe him, what consequences would it have?

Bian Xuedao carefully reviewed his experiences and the information he had from his previous life, thinking over and over again. He was looking for a way to make money quickly, with low barriers, low risk, and low cost. After staying on the hill for over ten days, he finally had a plan.

Walking out of the wooden house and standing on the hilltop, his gaze followed the green fields below and extended into the distance. A warm summer breeze blew across his face, and he felt his mind broaden and his thoughts clear. With a direction, Bian Xuedao was now full of confidence.

His idea was simple.

In a previous life, during a dinner with colleagues, they talked about opportunities to make money online. One colleague mentioned hao123, a navigation page commonly used by them. It was created by a network administrator in 1999 to make his own internet use more convenient. After several years of promotion, both visible and invisible, it was acquired by Baidu in 2004 for an official price of 50 million yuan. The real price was certainly not that high, but it was still a huge sum.

Bian Xuedao saw this as an opportunity.

Building a navigation page had low barriers, low risk, and low cost. As long as he learned ASP, DW, HTML, and other web languages, this was the most reliable way for him to make money at the moment.

In 2001, home computers were just beginning to become popular, and most people knew little about them, so they needed a navigation page as an internet assistant. The key was that the major portals and internet companies had not yet realized the value of navigation pages. At this time, if he could create a navigation page and promote it well, there was still a chance to make money.

Moreover, the hao123 page in 2001 had far less information than in 2014, and many page resources were undeveloped. Bian Xuedao was confident that he could surpass hao123 in terms of page information and service functions.

On August 3, Bian Xuedao said goodbye to Uncle Wu and returned home.

August 4 was the day when the college entrance exam results could be queried. From 8 AM, Bian's mother started calling the hotline, but the service was not available all day.

After dinner, his father called the hotline again, and this time it connected. After a melody, a female voice began to announce the exam results. His father put the call on speaker, and the three of them gathered around the phone—

Candidate Name: Bian Xuedao

Admission Ticket Number: XXXXXXXXXX

Chinese: 130 points. Math: 72 points. Liberal Arts Comprehensive: 239 points. English: 95 points. Total: 536 points.

To hear again, press "1"...

Bian's mother's eyes immediately moistened. This was definitely the highest score her son had ever achieved, and it was a score she had never dared to imagine. Although Bian Xuedao had already estimated his score, the family's hearts were only at ease at this moment.

That night, Bian's father made countless calls to relatives and friends.

Picking up the phone, he would say, "Hello, this is Old Bian... What? The score? The score is out... Not bad, 536... Yes, liberal arts... Both subjects didn't do well... Sure, I'll let you know when we have a celebration, don't worry, we won't forget you."

The advertisement on the previous page begins

The advertisement on the previous page ends