Chapter 61: Valuation

At the start of the school term, everything was busy. No matter how much of a genius Di Ye was, Dean Fei could not possibly revolve around this one student, so after finishing the meeting in the small classroom, he immediately returned to the Computer College office building to busy himself with various teaching and administrative tasks.

By 5:30 in the afternoon, Dean Fei turned off his office computer and was just preparing to go home when he saw Liu Shaosong knock on the door and walk in. He couldn't help but sigh and ask, "It wouldn't be something related to Di Ye again, would it?"

Liu Shaosong echoed his sigh and nodded, but his expression was quite excited as he said, "Dean, we only focused on the technical content of the Browser, but overlooked its commercial value. That's a bit negligent."

Dean Fei gestured for him to sit down, tossed a cigarette over, and said dismissively, "Di Ye said that was just a toy; what commercial value could it have?"

Liu Shaosong had smoked too much that afternoon and didn't dare smoke any more, so he held the cigarette in his hand and said, "That might not be the case. I just chatted on the phone with an old classmate who works at Cisco, and he told me some very important news."

"What news? Stop keeping me in suspense; say what you have to say, I'm in a hurry to go home for dinner."

"The news my old classmate told me is: after the American company Netscape released the Navigator browser last October, the famous Silicon Valley venture capital firm KPCB invested 5 million USD in them and only got 20% of the shares. By that calculation, the Navigator browser is worth 25 million USD."

When Liu Shaosong reached this point, he still couldn't resist, took out a lighter to ignite the cigarette, took a puff, and continued, "Dean, when Di Ye was introducing the browser this morning, he once said that his toy was not inferior to Netscape's Navigator in performance or functionality. Do you remember?"

Dean Fei was stunned, stopped his smoking motion, and asked in disbelief, "That toy of his can be worth 25 million USD?"

"25 million USD is just the venture capital firm's valuation, not the actual value. However, with Navigator as a reference, even if the browser Di Ye wrote isn't worth much, it should still be worth two or three million USD."

"Two or three million USD is already exaggerated enough!"

"My old classmate also said that if my description of Di Ye is true and accurate, he can apply to the American headquarters to provide a full scholarship to send Di Ye to Stanford University for further studies."

"Stanford is a world-class top university; does your old classmate have that kind of ability?"

"He doesn't, but Cisco does. Cisco's founder is a graduate of Stanford University."

Upon hearing this, Dean Fei threw down his cigarette butt and sighed dejectedly, "If it were Jinling University, we could pull out all the stops and at least put up a fight. If it's Stanford University, then there's no chance at all."

Liu Shaosong was silent for a moment, and after finishing the cigarette, he said, "Let's treat a dead horse as if it were alive; I'll go ask Di Ye what he really thinks."

"That's all we can do."

As Liu Shaosong stood up to leave, Dean Fei called him back and said, "Shaosong, we are teachers. No matter how reluctant we are, we cannot delay a student. Wherever Di Ye wants to go, let him go. Don't force him, and don't play the emotional card."

"I know."

When the Big Brother sitting on the living room coffee table rang, Di Ye was in the kitchen discussing dinner plans with Xia Fangfei.

"I can cook noodles; what can you make?"

"I can make stir-fried eggs, stir-fried greens, stir-fried bean sprouts, stir-fried shredded potatoes..."

Xia Fangfei untied her brand-new apron, tossed it to Di Ye, interrupted his "stir-fry" mantra, and said, "Go answer the phone. After you're done, we'll go out to eat and buy a couple of cookbooks to study properly."

Di Ye ran to answer the phone, and upon hearing that Liu Shaosong wanted to treat him to a meal at Hanlin Restaurant, he smiled and reminded him, "Teacher Liu, don't forget to bring the wager."

"I'm still at the office and haven't gone home yet. I'll bring it to you tomorrow."

"A man of his word honors his bets; Teacher Liu, don't try to welsh on the debt."

"You actually dare to threaten your Graduation Thesis Advisor?"

"I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare. I was wrong. You treat later, I'll pay the bill."

Hanlin Restaurant was a well-regarded local-style eatery on the street right outside the North Gate of Yun University. Di Ye and Xia Fangfei walked there in just two or three minutes. They found a table in the corner and waited for about 20 minutes before seeing Liu Shaosong drive up in a Honda Accord.

"Teacher Liu, you're an Associate Professor who has only been working for two years; how can you afford an imported car? This car must cost over 300,000, right?"

"Yun University helped me apply for the high-level talent preferential policy. Buying an imported car is tax-free, and they provide interest-free loans. It only cost a little over 100,000; it's very cost-effective."

Di Ye had been wanting to buy a car recently and had looked at a lot of information. He knew that the tariffs on imported cars at this time were very high—150% for 3.0 displacement and above, and 110% for below 3.0 displacement. If he could be tax-exempt, he could save a lot of money, so he couldn't help but feel tempted and asked, "If I stay at the school, is there a chance to get this kind of preferential treatment?"

"Look at your lack of ambition! A single car is enough to satisfy you?"

"It would be a waste not to take advantage of small perks."

Xia Fangfei, playing the role of the supportive partner, interrupted their idle chatter, handed over the menu, and greeted, "Teacher Liu, let's order first. We can chat while we eat."

Liu Shaosong had seen Xia Fangfei at home often recently and was already very familiar with her, so he didn't stand on ceremony. He deliberately ordered a few expensive dishes and then, in chronological order, recounted the content of the discussion between Dean Fei and the professors that afternoon.

When he heard Dean Fei propose opening a school-run factory, Di Ye thought it was a good idea and said, "As far as I know, the cost of opening an internet access service is at most no more than 200,000 USD, yet AsiaInfo is quoting 500,000 to 600,000 USD. Teacher Liu, the profit margin is very high. How about we cooperate and do this together?"

Liu Shaosong was a relatively pure scholar; facing a profit of hundreds of thousands of dollars, he was completely unmoved and said, "I don't understand business, so I won't get involved. If you want to do it, you can discuss it with Dean Fei and use Yun University's name to contact the Post and Telecommunications Bureau. Besides, your sister works at the Post and Telecommunications Bureau, so she can help."

"Let me think about it."

In March 1994, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications' Telecommunications General Bureau established the Mobile Communications Bureau and the Data Communications Bureau, responsible for mobile phone business and network construction business respectively. Among them, the Mobile Communications Bureau developed very quickly, while the Data Communications Bureau was lukewarm and relatively obscure.

According to the memory information unearthed by Xiao Honghua, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications would handle the enterprise legal person registration for the Telecommunications General Bureau in April 1995, stripping away government functions and conducting market-oriented operations. In November, they would begin building ChinaNet, connecting all 33 provincial capital cities in the country to the internet, and only then would the local Data Communications Bureaus begin to rise.

Di Ye had once promised Di Yan that he had a way to help her promote from Section Chief to a full Section Chief. In fact, he just wanted to take advantage of the time when the Telecommunications Bureau stripped away its government functions in April to maneuver her from the Personnel Section to the Data Communications Bureau as the Bureau Chief, so she could reap the dividends after the completion of ChinaNet.

Although the Data Communications Bureau sounded less prestigious than the Personnel Section, it was easier to achieve something and leave one's name in the history of China's internet development. For example, the Shenzhen Data Communications Bureau created the country's first internet cafe and first public BBS; the Guangzhou Data Communications Bureau supported the rise of 163 and NetEase; and the Hangzhou Data Communications Bureau ruined China Pages.

Start a school-run enterprise, with Yun University providing talent, Di Yan providing policy, and himself providing technology. The three parties cooperate with each other to incubate and support internet enterprises...

Di Ye pondered for a while and felt that this business had great potential, so he said, "I'll go to Shenzhen for an inspection in a few days. If it's suitable, I'll discuss it with Dean Fei."

Liu Shaosong had no interest in doing business, just gave a casual grunt, and then continued, laying out the preferential conditions discussed by Dean Fei and the professors.

Di Ye was only pursuing his master's degree to fulfill Di Ye's dying wish, help him get a degree certificate, and incidentally polish his own "straight-A student" halo. Hearing that he didn't need to attend classes and only needed to publish 5 SCI papers to graduate with a doctorate, he felt very satisfied, but on the surface, he didn't reveal his thoughts and asked, "Dean Fei can't make the call on such special treatment, right?"

"Of course not. University President Song definitely has to make the final decision, and then communicate with the Ministry of Education; otherwise, it won't be so easy to get the degree certificate."

"Will University President Song agree?"

"If you don't go to Stanford, University President Song will definitely agree."

"What does this have to do with Stanford?"

Liu Shaosong told him about the browser valuation and his old classmate's willingness to help him apply for studies at Stanford, smiling as he reminded him, "If you sell the browser and go to study in America, you can buy a Mercedes, BMW, or Cadillac whenever you want; you won't have to envy my Accord anymore."

1995 was a year of infinite glory for Netscape, directly triggering the birth of the internet bubble. Di Ye was not surprised by the valuation of the browser, but he had bigger schemes and didn't care for the petty profit of a few million dollars. Moreover, he had no intention of studying abroad, so he mocked himself, "If you have wealth but don't return home, it's like walking in the dark in fine clothes. Driving an Accord in Yuncheng is much more glorious than driving a Mercedes in America."

Upon hearing this, Liu Shaosong put down his chopsticks and asked sternly, "You don't want to study at Stanford?"

Di Ye smiled and said, "I don't want to study abroad, but I do want to take a trip to America. If Teacher Liu can help me arrange it, I'll be your student for another year."

"Really?"

"Really."