Chapter 573

Watching Wen Leyu considered herself a person of great self-discipline; many adults could not achieve the state of "not letting emotions show on one's face," but she had been able to do so by the age of fourteen.

But at this moment, she was truly shocked.

After just walking into the computer lab at Stanford University, Watching Wen Leyu had only been slightly surprised.

【Is this the extravagance of imperialism?】

In the mainland of the eighties, as long as a unit had one computer, it would definitely have a separate, specially renovated computer room.

Thick, light-blocking curtains were a must, so that the computer's delicate plastic casing wouldn't age prematurely due to sunlight.

Dust-absorbing, sound-dampening carpets were also essential; absolutely no dust could be allowed to drift into the chassis and corrode the circuit boards. Moreover, the computer room had to be kept as quiet as possible to match the high-end, lofty status of such divine equipment.

But look at the computer room of this super-advanced country before her eyes.

Dozens of expensive computers were just "messily" placed in a "dilapidated room."

And there was no strict management; whether they were students or teachers, they used them casually after coming in, making the keyboards clatter with a "clack-clack-clack" sound.

There was even a computer screen that started flickering, and that bespectacled teacher slapped the chassis with one hand, as if beating a little maid who had accidentally dozed off.

This was a piece of precision equipment worth over ten thousand yuan! If it were in the mainland, there would have to be a dedicated "team" responsible for tending to it.

Yet here, it was treated no differently than a radio.

Of course, if it were just a case of them "not being short of money," Watching Wen Leyu would at most be surprised.

The reason she felt shocked was still because of Li Ye.

After Li Ye received permission to use the machine, he only familiarized himself with it slightly before sending a long paragraph of text to a computer terminal designated by Professor Bosack.

"Thank you all for your dedication and support in creating the world's first computer network with infinite possibilities, which can instantly bring the distance between two people to the closest point..."

And the other side quickly replied with a question: "Who are you? Are you drunk today?"

"..."

Li Ye smiled, memories of the first time he chatted with someone online in his previous life surfacing in his mind.

"I am a student here for a visit..."

Li Ye began to reply to the other party's questions wantonly, but for a moment, he forgot to control his typing speed.

"Pa-pa-pa-pa-pa~"

Li Ye's ten fingers tapped on the keyboard at lightning speed, so fast that even afterimages were being pulled out.

The crisp sound of keyboard tapping was like high-frequency rhythmic music, resonating urgently within the computer room, attracting the gazes of many people around.

The few students who had just looked down on Li Ye because of his nationality now revealed expressions of disbelief.

Aren't people from the Central Kingdom too poor to afford computers?

Then why could this person's typing speed reach the level of participating in a typing competition?

These Westerners wearing colored glasses could not understand the exclusive divine skill of e-sports nerds known as "the hand speed of being single for twenty years."

Watching Wen Leyu couldn't understand it either.

Jingda had a computer room and computer classes, but with only a few opportunities to use the machines each year, and with teachers staring and insisting on gentle handling, how did Li Ye practice this?

Li Ye improvised, and only after typing a very long paragraph did he stop his fingers, which were still itching for more.

Having been in this world for almost five years, he had almost forgotten what it felt like to surf the internet.

To say that with Li Ye's current strength, buying a few computers to play with would be a drop in the bucket, but after coming into contact with the computers of this era at Jingda a few times, he instantly lost interest.

Computers in this day and age were purely "research tools," completely different things from the computers Li Ye was familiar with decades later. To achieve any goal, one needed to input long, tedious professional commands.

Even because of Li Ye's interference, the trajectory of Ni Guangnan's fate had been changed, leading to the delayed release of star products like the Lenovo Han Card, so even writing novels and manuscripts wasn't as convenient as handwriting.

But today, Li Ye finally found that feeling from the past.

Where is the charm of a computer network?

It lies in the "response"—the unpredictable response.

You send a paragraph to an unknown target, and the other party gives you a response that was completely impossible to predict beforehand; this is the unique charm of the internet.

Think about why QQ became so explosive back then? Wasn't it because you didn't know whether the person on the other side of the chat box was a delicate young lady or a queenly imperial sister?

Otherwise, if you unplug the network cable now and are no longer allowed to run single-player games, then see if the computer is just a piece of junk.

For Li Ye, a computer that cannot connect to the internet is nothing at all.

"This student, what do you think of our school's network?"

"A great creative idea; I believe it is an achievement that will go down in history."

Li Ye left the computer, and several teachers and students came over to discuss with him, and Li Ye also gave this local area network a very high evaluation.

But Professor Bosack's expression changed, and Jeff and Gary were winking at Li Ye repeatedly.

【Please, we are here to discuss investment and acquisition; by praising the other party's product so much, are you trying to make us pay double the price?】

Even his younger sister, Fu Yiruo, "accidentally" stepped on Li Ye's foot, signaling him to be careful not to talk nonsense.

Li Ye smiled, chatted with everyone for a few more sentences, and then he, Watching Wen Leyu, and Fu Yiruo left the computer room and arrived on the campus outside.

And Jeff, Gary, and Professor Bosack also walked out afterward, starting to whisper intimately.

Fu Yiruo whispered: "Brother, you shouldn't have praised that Bosack just now; this will put Jeff and the others in a passive position in the negotiations."

Li Ye shook his head and pointed at the three people: "Look, has Jeff fallen into a passive position? At noon, when we were at Bosack's house, they didn't want to talk at all; look how well they are talking now?"

"..."

Fu Yiruo was stunned, looked carefully, and it seemed it was indeed as Li Ye said.

And Watching Wen Leyu considered it slightly, suddenly realizing: "Li Ye, were those words of yours intentionally said for Professor Bosack's colleagues to hear?"

Li Ye nodded slowly: "In a place like the Lighthouse, for the sake of money, let alone colleagues, even own brothers can backstab you; whoever grabs it first is theirs."

"This technology doesn't completely belong to Bosack right now, so if he wants to obtain the technology legally as soon as possible, he needs outside help."

When Li Ye was at Bosack's house, he realized that the couple wasn't in a hurry to accept outside investment.

Because according to the established trajectory of development, they would succeed in developing a new generation of multi-protocol routers more suitable for the market in March of this year, at the cost of maxing out their credit cards.

And now it was early February; clearly, they were about to succeed.

Even if Bosack was a tech guy who didn't understand business, he knew that after the new product hit the market, the company's valuation would be higher, and he would have more confidence to demand a price from venture capital firms.

Even by using the profits from the product launch to hold on for another two years, after Cisco developed for a period of time, the asking price would be even higher.

And in the original history of Cisco, the Bosack couple relied on selling products to scrape together money, paid the school the royalties for the source code, resigned to start developing the company, and only introduced Sequoia Capital's investment two years later.

But Li Ye couldn't wait; he wanted to stir up trouble, make Bosack anxious and frustrated, force the other party to find Jeff to discuss investment, and then seek patents to quickly produce and occupy the market, so as not to let his colleagues get there first.

"Brother, what if we can't control it?"

After hearing Watching Wen Leyu's words, Fu Yiruo also understood something, but she still had her own concerns.

Li Ye smiled: "If we can't control it, then we can't control it!"

If we can't control it, maybe there won't be the Cisco of the future.

The Cisco of the future once tried to acquire Huawei, but didn't succeed; later, some people believed Cisco was one of the masterminds behind the repeated suppression of Huawei.

Then if Cisco is gone, so be it! At worst, I'll find someone else to create a 'Think-co' or 'Mind-co'.

Tech guys are fast at discussing things; in less than ten minutes, Jeff said goodbye to Professor Bosack and walked over to Li Ye's side.

"Mr. Li, there is good news and bad news."

Jeff said with a solemn expression: "The good news is that Professor Bosack agrees to let us invest in his Cisco company."

"The bad news is that he isn't sure if he can get the patent license for the multi-protocol router, and he only agrees to let us hold 45% of the shares, and the asking price is very high."

"He asked for a price? Then what are you still hesitating about?"

I'm not afraid of you asking for a high price; I'm afraid of you not asking for a price.

Li Ye smiled slightly: "We have a custom over there called 'opening the door to wealth'; our company just started and we've already taken on a deal; this is a very good omen."

"..."

Jeff and Gary didn't understand what Li Ye meant, both of them looking bewildered.

Helplessly, the little translator Watching Wen Leyu stepped in, and in a few quick strokes, explained the meaning of "a good start" to these two subordinates.

Jeff also smiled, and after laughing, asked quite casually: "Mr. Li, then what do you estimate the prospects of this technology to be?"

Li Ye thought for a moment and said: "It has to be at least several billion dollars!"

"..."

Jeff and Gary looked at Watching Wen Leyu again; they suspected they hadn't understood correctly this time either.

Watching Wen Leyu frowned slightly, but still translated it accurately.

"Oh wow~, I hope your vision, Mr. Li, is correct."

"No, no, no, we all believe in Mr. Li; your vision must be correct."

Jeff and Gary both laughed; although they didn't believe Li Ye's judgment and thought he was joking, they couldn't help but feel happy because of this joke!

The dollar in '86 was still very valuable; Bosack had maxed out a $10,000 credit card for the research and development of the multi-protocol router, so even if he opened his mouth like a lion, the asking price hadn't reached the million-dollar level.

So let alone Cisco being able to reach billions in the future, even if it were just hundreds of millions of dollars, that would still be an investment case famous enough in the industry.

But who would have known that Cisco's final market value would be over 400 billion?

After leaving Stanford University, Fu Yiruo drove the car and followed Jeff's car back to San Francisco.

Fu Yiruo, who was driving silently, held it in for half an hour before finally asking Li Ye: "Brother, do you think that Cisco company will really be worth billions of dollars in the future?"

Li Ye looked at Fu Yiruo and said with a smile: "Xiao Ruo, are you asking how much it's actually worth? Or are you asking me why we can only get 45% for a multi-billion dollar deal?"

"..."

Fu Yiruo pouted and nodded: "I always feel like we're making wedding clothes for others."

Li Ye sighed, shook his head, and said: "You're not wrong to say that, but right now, this wedding dress... only they can wear it!"