Chapter 25: Hacker

Yuncheng is about 1200 kilometers away from Yangcheng in Guangdong Province. In 2023, it would only take a dozen hours or so to drive there, but in 1995, traffic conditions were very poor. On one hand, there were few expressways and the road conditions were bad; on the other hand, there were many road bullies along the way who blocked the road to collect tolls. Therefore, Di Ye and the others set off on the morning of January 18th and did not arrive in Yangcheng until the evening of the 19th.

Di Ye had a driver's license and took turns driving with Fan Dazhi along the way. They were so tired that their waists were sore and their legs were weak, as if their whole bodies were about to fall apart. They collapsed in the hotel and slept until after 9 o'clock the next morning, when they were finally woken up by Fan Dazhi to go to the teahouse next to the hotel to have breakfast while discussing their itinerary.

Driving long distances is a very boring affair. To pass the time along the way, the group never stopped talking, so everyone's purpose for coming to Guangdong Province and their intended destinations were no secret.

Among them, Di Ye was going to Pengcheng, Fan Dazhi and Bi Wanxi were going to Hong Kong, and Yang Zhanglin was going to Shunde. Only Meng Kun was staying in Yangcheng to purchase smuggled small household appliances. Since none of the other four had mobile phones except for Fan Dazhi, they needed to coordinate in advance to avoid missing the time to return.

"Bi Wanxi and I are going to Hong Kong to investigate the VCD disc business. We probably won't be back until the afternoon of the 24th. Meng Kun, if you are willing to wait, just wait in this hotel. If you aren't, just buy your own train ticket back."

Meng Kun was a sturdy young man of twenty-seven or twenty-eight. While gnawing on steamed chicken feet, he said with a grin: "It's not easy to come to Guangdong Province, so I have to have a good time for a few days. I'll just wait for you in the hotel."

"Yangcheng is a mixed bag, and it's very chaotic around the Spring Festival. Don't play too wildly, and watch your wallet."

After Fan Dazhi gave these instructions, he asked another person: "Yang Zhanglin, how many days do you plan to stay in Shunde?"

Yang Zhanglin wore glasses, was tall and thin, and had a decent appearance, but he had a miserable look on his face. He said in a low voice: "I don't know either. If Juanzi is willing to go back with me, I will bring her here to wait for you. If she isn't willing, I will stay in Shunde to accompany her while she works, and I won't go back to Yuncheng."

Fan Dazhi picked up a basket of shrimp dumplings, threw them heavily in front of him, and scolded: "Eat! With that pathetic look of yours, if I were Juanzi, I definitely wouldn't go back with you. You don't have a shred of masculine spirit, you only know how to be sentimental."

Yang Zhanglin was Fan Dazhi's cousin and a Chinese teacher at a middle school in Yuncheng. His wife, Li Juan, disliked his low salary and suddenly left without saying goodbye in September to work in Guangdong Province. A few days ago, he learned from a friend that she was in Shunde, so he rushed over in a hurry.

Di Ye never meddled in other people's private emotional affairs. He calmly drank his boat congee on the side, and after Fan Dazhi finished lecturing Yang Zhanglin, he said: "Uncle Fan, I'll just wait for you in Pengcheng."

Fan Dazhi had a relatively good attitude toward him and asked kindly: "You'll be in Pengcheng by yourself for several days, will that be a problem?"

"No problem. My sister helped me contact a friend who works at the Peng City Post and Telecommunications Bureau, and he will look after me."

"That's good. When Bi Wanxi and I return from Hong Kong on the afternoon of the 24th, drive the Jinbei Van to the vicinity of the Guomao Building in Luohu to wait for us."

"Alright."

After finishing breakfast, Fan Dazhi started the Jinbei Van again and took Bi Wanxi and Di Ye to Pengcheng. On the way, he asked: "Xiao Ye, are you sure that making pirated discs is more profitable than making video disc players?"

"Uncle Fan, there is a joke that goes like this: all businesses that make big money are actually written in the Criminal Law. Pirated discs belong to the businesses in the Criminal Law. The profit is very high, but you need to manage your connections well, otherwise it's easy to get into trouble."

Bi Wanxi, who was sitting in the passenger seat, laughed loudly and said: "Making big money by reading the Criminal Law, that joke is really interesting."

Bi Wanxi was a down-and-out person with no worries, but Fan Dazhi was different. He was a millionaire with a net worth of over a million. Hearing this, he frowned and said: "The Criminal Law is not something you can joke about casually. This matter still needs to be considered in the long run."

Di Ye had a good impression of Fan Dazhi and offered an idea: "If Uncle Fan doesn't want to cause trouble, you can specialize in opening a chain of stores that rent out pirated discs. This way, you neither produce nor sell pirated goods, and you can also provide employment opportunities. The government will definitely turn a blind eye, and it will be easy to change trades in the future."

"That's true, I'll consider it... By the way, I almost forgot, Xiao Ye, do you have a Border Pass? You can't enter Pengcheng without a Border Pass."

"I have one. It was handled collectively by the school."

To facilitate student employment, Yun University collectively handled Border Passes for senior students in need in October. At that time, under the encouragement of Huang Ya, Di Ye had applied for one, and now it came in handy.

In 1995, the Guangzhou-Shenzhen Expressway had already been test-opened, making travel relatively convenient. It only took two hours to reach Pengcheng. Fan Dazhi and Bi Wanxi were in a hurry to go to Hong Kong and didn't even eat lunch; they went straight through customs and left, leaving the Jinbei Van and Di Ye near the Luohu Port.

"Finally, I can toss and turn freely by myself!"

Di Ye drove the Jinbei Van around for a while and found that Pengcheng in 1995 was far more backward than he had imagined. Moreover, many migrant workers had already returned home for the holidays, and the streets were relatively deserted. He lost interest in sightseeing, bought a tourist map at a newsstand, and used a pen to draw circles around the Shangri-La Hotel, Runxun Communication, and the Peng City Post and Telecommunications Bureau.

The Shangri-La Hotel was the first international chain 5-star hotel in Pengcheng, opened in 1992. Di Ye went to open a suite, rested for a while, and then strolled through several nearby shopping malls. He spent over 5,000 yuan to buy two outfits, packaging himself in an all-around way, transforming from a slightly rustic college student into a dashing urban elite.

By the time he returned to the hotel, it was already past 3 o'clock in the afternoon. Di Ye took the floppy disk he had prepared last night out of his suitcase, put it into his newly bought briefcase, and then hailed a taxi, heading straight for Runxun Communication, which was not far from the ShangriLa.

The 90s were the Golden Age of the BB Pager, with tens of millions of new users every year. Riding this tailwind, after Runxun Communication was established in 1992, it grew from a small enterprise with 2 million in assets to a behemoth with over a billion in turnover in just a few years. Its advertising slogan, "One call, the whole world responds," was deeply rooted in people's hearts.

However, with the fading of the BB Pager craze, this enterprise quickly fell into decline. The biggest impression 21st-century netizens had of this enterprise came from an ordinary employee with the surname Ma.

Di Ye, wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase, walked into the Runxun office building with his head held high and chest out. He said to the receptionist: "I am from the Peng City Telecom Data Communication Bureau. I'm here to communicate with your R&D department about some technical issues. May I ask how to get there?"

Whether it was because the name of the unit was intimidating or because Di Ye had thick eyebrows and big eyes and didn't look like a bad person, the receptionist not only pointed the way very enthusiastically but also specifically reminded him: "There is a senior management meeting in the company this afternoon. President Li shouldn't be in the office right now. You can go to the conference room and wait for a while."

"I'm not here to see President Li, but to find an employee of yours named Ma Huateng. I have already communicated with him by phone several times before, and this time I am here to confirm the technical parameters."

Di Ye bluffed casually, then glanced at the name tag on the receptionist's chest and smiled flatteringly: "Miss Guan Meimei, you are very familiar with the company, even knowing that senior management is having a meeting."

Guan Meimei was a young and beautiful girl, looking only about 20 years old, bright and lively. She pursed her lips and smiled: "The company issued a notice this morning, so I knew."

"Then you should have the company's internal directory here, right? Could you help me call Ma Huateng out? I haven't met him yet, and if I go to the R&D side, I won't recognize him and will have to ask one by one, which would be quite awkward."

"Then may I ask your name? I need to register."

"My name is Ceng Liqing."

Guan Meimei was inexperienced in the world and had no doubts. She found the directory from the drawer and made an internal call. A few minutes later, a man wearing glasses came to the reception desk, looking at him with a face full of confusion: "Mr. Ceng, hello, may I ask what you need me for?"

Di Ye sized up that face, which was still green now but would be recognized by netizens across the country in the future. He extended his right hand and said with a smile: "Mr. Ma, we have known each other in spirit for a long time, but this is our first meeting. Why don't we find a place to sit down and have a cup of coffee?"

The so-called "don't hit a Smiling Face," Ma Huateng, although confused, could not refuse Di Ye's invitation. He was half-coaxed and half-tricked out of Runxun Communication, took a taxi back to the Shangri-La Hotel, and sat down in the lobby lounge.

Ma Huateng had a good friend who was a classmate from junior high school to university and had worked at the Peng City Telecom Data Communication Bureau. He had a relatively good understanding of the working style of this department. Seeing Di Ye take him to such a luxurious place, he felt something was wrong. Without even ordering a drink, he asked directly: "Mr. Ceng, who exactly are you?"

"Mr. Ma, have you ever heard of Social Engineering?"

"No, what is that?"

"Social Engineering is a type of attack method used by hackers, and what I just used was exactly that."

Di Ye explained briefly, then extended his right hand again and introduced himself: "My name is Di Ye, the Di of Di Renjie, the Ye of wild. Just now I was just joking with you, because I heard that when you were in college, you were a master at playing with computer viruses."

Ma Huateng was greatly surprised. He shook hands with Di Ye across the dining table and asked: "Are you also a graduate of Peng City University?"

"No, I am a fresh graduate from Yuncheng University. I have never been to Pengcheng before."

"Then how did you know that I wrote computer virus programs in college?"

Di Ye smiled without answering, raised his hand to beckon the waiter over, and said: "There are still many things I know."