Chapter 345: People Lift Each Other in a Flower-Adorned Sedan

The internet had once surged dramatically across the globe in his past life, but ultimately ended up as nothing but scattered debris.

Especially the internet bubble a few years later, when Huaerjie used the internet to completely strip the world's retail investors bare—a single internet bubble erased $3.8 trillion from Nasdaq.

And when Soros arrived in Asia next year, stoking turmoil across Southeast Asia and causing combined losses of roughly $800 billion in stock and foreign exchange markets in Thailand, Korea, and Singapore, it became clear just how much Huaerjie had exploited retail investors on Nasdaq.

The internet bubble could inflate so wildly and rise so high not merely because Huaerjie invested its own money, but because it lured in capital from old Europe, the Middle East, and global investment institutions alike, riding the frenzy of internet mania to inflate the balloon to the heavens.

Then, when the dollar finally raised interest rates, Huaerjie fled, and the balloon burst—overseas investment institutions on Nasdaq were completely stripped clean.

That internet bubble didn't just exploit retail investors; it also instilled widespread fear of the internet across many regions, casting the industry as fraudulent and delivering a devastating blow to local internet development while squandering crucial opportunities.

Even internet companies launched globally alongside Silicon Valley during that period were nearly wiped out, almost entirely annihilated.

In contrast, Silicon Valley's internet firms, backed by Huaerjie's dollar funding, were the first to recover, effortlessly acquiring half-dead overseas internet companies at rock-bottom prices and transforming themselves into global internet giants.

Li Li Dongling's company could build an internet business, but its priority was to join the herd and exploit some retail investors—or at least secure a ticket into the internet scene; Li Li Dongling had no intention of letting Li Dongling High-Tech become the retail investors themselves.

Accompanied by Gu Gu Xiguang and a delegation from the Commission of Trade and Economy and the Foreign Exchange Bureau, they entered the technology department of Tianya Net.

The main personnel in Tianya Net's technology department—technical director Zhou Zhou Zhiyong, along with technical consultants Zhu Zhu Chongjun, Wu Wu Xiaojun, and Wang Wang Jiangmin—were all present.

Li Li Dongling's gaze, however, instinctively drifted toward one man in the department: currently still slender, dressed in a suit and white shirt, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, presenting the polished look of a senior white-collar worker.

"Senior brother, everything's ready!"

Zhou Zhou Hongyi, the man Li Li Dongling had noticed, rose and walked over to his side, his expression tinged with excitement.

Zhou Zhou Hongyi had not yet adopted the habit of donning the red robe and becoming the Red Cannon; he had just graduated with a master's degree from Hanzhong Jiaotong University and was brought to Beijing by Guo Guo Jingyun.

Now, Zhou Zhou Hongyi served as Guo Guo Jingyun's deputy, holding the position of director at Li Dongling High-Tech. As a Hanzhong Jiaotong graduate, he was considered thoroughly loyal within Li Dongling High-Tech, and Guo Guo Jingyun treated him as a trusted right-hand man, much like Lei Jun at Kingsoft.

At Tianya Net, Zhou Zhou Hongyi not only assisted with R&D, management, and operations, but also handled personnel recruitment and logistics—by year's end or next year, his appointment as deputy manager of Tianya Net was certain.

Since joining Tianya Net, Zhou Zhou Jiaozhu had lived a deeply fulfilling life: his direct superior and the company's founder were both fellow alumni from Hanzhong Jiaotong University, so there was no interference or sabotage.

Moreover, unlike traditional companies, Tianya Net encouraged open expression—any reasonable idea proposed was likely to be adopted.

Today, presenting Tianya Net's first project before so many department heads and officials, Zhou Zhou Jiaozhu couldn't help but feel excited.

"This is our Tianya Net technology department. This is our technical director, Zhou Zhou Zhiyong. Also present are technical consultants Zhu Zhu Chongjun, Wu Wu Xiaojun, Wang Wang Jiangmin—all among the best technicians in Zhongguancun!"

"Currently, one of the projects Tianya Net is developing is a computer input method!" Guo Guo Jingyun told the delegation.

"Input method?"

"Like Wangma's Wangma Wubi input method?"

Upon hearing "input method," the inspectors' first thought was Wangma Wubi—this computer input method was simply too famous; state media had called it the modern-day movable-type printing.

Professor Wang, the inventor of Wangma Wubi, had earned the title of the contemporary Bi Sheng; even those unfamiliar with computers knew that typing Chinese on them relied entirely on Professor Wang's contribution.

"Professor Wang's Wangma Wubi input method truly holds immense significance for China's computer industry!"

Guo Guo Jingyun glanced at Li Li Dongling, then said, "But technology must constantly advance. The barrier to Wangma Wubi is simply too high for new computer users—it requires dedicated training just to operate a computer."

"Tianya Net has developed a new Pinyin input method. We hope this method will allow computer users to operate without any barrier."

As Guo Guo Jingyun signaled, Zhou Zhou Hongyi sat before the computer, opened a document, and began typing using Tianya Net's input method.

Gu Gu Xiguang and others saw the Pinyin appearing on screen—they immediately understood: compared to Wangma Wubi, Pinyin required no special training; anyone who knew Chinese characters could use it effortlessly.

Seeing this input method, several older officials from the departments and agencies visibly showed interest. Currently, municipal governments across China, especially in Beijing, had begun promoting computerized office work—but for older officials, learning to operate computers was already difficult, let alone spending time to master Wangma Wubi. Without it, they couldn't even type on computers, much less conduct office work.

Tianya Net's Pinyin input method, however, eliminated the cumbersome complexity of Wangma Wubi—anyone could pick it up with just a glance.

Zhou Zhou Hongyi typed out a hundred or so characters using Pinyin. For a professional Wangma Wubi typist, that same time would have yielded three or four hundred characters.

But as always, most computer users didn't prioritize typing speed. The advantage of Pinyin was its zero barrier: if you spoke Mandarin, you could use it. With Wangma Wubi, if you didn't know it, you couldn't type at all—which would an ordinary person choose?

"Currently, we are optimizing the accuracy of Tianya Input Method and preparing to develop additional features such as security, keywords, and a dictionary to enhance user experience," Guo Guo Jingyun said.

"Gu Xiguang, our bureau should purchase a batch of Tianya Input Method—support domestic software!"

At this, Gu Gu Xiguang's senior leader spoke up. His endorsement prompted other departments and agencies present to follow suit.

Hearing this, Guo Guo Jingyun's face lit up. After years of losses since Tianya Net's founding, they were finally seeing returns.

Tianya Input Method would be released in two versions: one for the general public, offered free of charge—indeed, little revenue would come from ordinary users, as seen with Zhou Zhou Zhiyong's Natural Code input method, where pirated users outnumbered legitimate ones by a hundredfold.

The other version would be the enterprise edition, targeted at companies and government agencies, emphasizing security but requiring purchase.

What made Wangma Company rich wasn't selling paid versions to ordinary users, but government procurement orders across China and contracts from printing companies—government orders alone accounted for nearly half of Wangma's revenue.

Not just input methods—Kingsoft's WPS also revived itself by securing government contracts, which made up a significant portion of Kingsoft's revenue, enabling it to compete with Microsoft Office.

Tianya Input Method had no intention of stealing Wangma's lunch. It only needed to capture a small share of government procurement revenue to sustain its R&D team.

The only project Tianya Net could currently showcase was the input method. The Tianya Forum was still under development and testing, and the inspectors present might not even be interested in it.

After touring Li Dongling High-Tech's Beijing office, many department personnel departed. Gu Gu Xiguang, along with officials from the Commission of Trade and Economy and the Machinery Industry Bureau—those closely tied to Li Dongling High-Tech—remained in the conference room. All present were "one of us," and the atmosphere naturally grew more relaxed.

"This is Engineer Wang Wang Jizhi, former chief engineer at Sitong. He personally led Sitong's typewriter project!"

"Engineer Wang has come today hoping to collaborate with Li Dongling High-Tech on developing a domestic printer project!"

As Li Li Dongling finished speaking, the conference room fell briefly silent. Then Gu Gu Xiguang was the first to speak: "Printer? That's the new project you mentioned the other day?"

"Yes, but it's not just the printer."

Li Li Dongling said, "Li Dongling High-Tech plans to launch not only a printer but also related supporting infrastructure."

"While developing a domestic printer, to better serve Chinese printer users and to generate some cash flow, Li Dongling High-Tech intends to open a chain of graphic printing stores across major Chinese cities, eventually extending coverage to county-level regions."

"Each graphic printing store will be equipped with personnel and machinery according to its business scope, starting with three to five staff members. If the store expands into advertising, stationery sales, photography, or other services, it will add an advertising department and other roles, potentially increasing staff to over twenty."

"Li Dongling High-Tech's plan is to open over a thousand chain printing stores nationwide within five years—and if demand grows, we may open even more."

Gu Gu Xiguang was stunned, then exchanged a glance with his senior leader—both simultaneously wondered: how many job opportunities could this chain of printing stores create?

Gu Gu Xiguang was startled, then involuntarily exchanged a glance with his former superior; both felt the same thought arise: how many job positions could this chain printing store provide?

(End of chapter)