novelraw Chapter 103 : Old Zhou, are you okay_
Chapter 103 : Old Zhou, are you okay_
Chapter 103: Old Zhou, are you okay?
Zhou Honghai ultimately did not agree to Chen Fan's invitation.
Of course, he didn't directly refuse either.
He just politely expressed that since he had already made plans with his old classmates, he should meet and chat with them.
Chen Fan expressed understanding, and smiled saying he welcomed Zhou Honghai to contact him anytime to visit the First Encounter internet cafe.
In the evening, Zhou Honghai hurried to the Tingyulou Grand Hotel in Yunhai city center according to the arrangement.
This gathering had quite a few people in attendance, around seven or eight, all of whom were former classmates.
Among them, the one who had the best relationship with Zhou Honghai was called Han Zijun, a young man wearing black-framed glasses who looked very scholarly.
Back in college, the two were in the same dorm room and had the closest relationship.
It's just that later, Zhou Honghai chose to work after graduation, while Han Zijun chose to continue studying for a master's degree.
Now, after a few years had passed, the old friends reunited with a sigh of emotion.
"Honghai, why do you look like you've aged?"
Upon meeting, a few of the old classmates joked with a laugh.
Zhou Honghai smiled bitterly and shook his head: "Don't even mention it."
"What's wrong, not going well?"
"I remember back then you went to work at a big company right after graduation? At the time, we were all envious of you."
Zhou Honghai smiled bitterly, "I quit that job a long time ago."
Seeing his good friend's embarrassment, Han Zijun took the initiative to change the subject.
"Alright, since everyone is here, let's eat and chat."
This meal was not eaten in a very relaxed manner, as Zhou Honghai kept feeling a bit of distance from everyone.
Among those present, most were graduate students without any experience of entering society and going to work.
When chatting, their tones and attitudes inevitably carried a strong sense of self-confidence and aspiration for the future.
Whereas Zhou Honghai had encountered the harshness of society a few years ahead of them, which led to him feeling a bit small in front of this group of people.
Halfway through the dinner, the group finally got to the main point.
Han Zijun took the initiative to bring up the topic of entrepreneurship after graduation.
"My advisor told me that although this year is the internet winter and many internet companies have collapsed, at the same time it is also an opportunity."
"Opportunity is reserved for those who are prepared. As long as we find the right direction for entrepreneurship, there will be a place for us on the big ship of the internet in the future."
Zhou Honghai could not help but ask: "Old Han, what exactly are you planning to start a business in?"
Han Zijun smiled bitterly, "I don't have a clear goal yet."
"I called everyone here today not only for a reunion, but also to have everyone pitch ideas together and see if there are any good ones."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Honghai could not help but feel a bit disappointed.
It turned out that these past few days, this group of old classmates had held many brainstorming sessions, and come up with quite a few entrepreneurial ideas.
However, most of them had been eliminated, and even for the few relatively promising ones, everyone was still somewhat undecided.
It was not that they did not believe in the ideas, but to start a business, they needed startup capital.
That would be a considerable amount of money.
Han Zijun pondered: "To be honest, after much thought, I still feel that creating a portal website is the best option."
Zhou Honghai was taken aback, "A portal website? Currently, the three major domestic portals dominate and have almost divided up all the users among themselves. Isn't it a bit late to enter the field now?"
One of the other old classmates smiled and spoke up: "You see, even Old Zhou can see it. Old Han, you really are too obsessed with this idea."
"Creating a portal website, the question is whether you can make it big or not."
"Even if you spend a lot of money on promotion and eventually succeed in making it big, do you really think the three major portals will just let you grow stronger?"
"I dare bet that at that time, the three of them will definitely join forces to strangle you."
The few classmates next to him nodded slightly, obviously agreeing with this analysis.
"In my opinion, we should do advertising instead."
"I propose doing housing rentals..."
"Housing rentals already has sites like SouFun, we cannot compete with them..."
"None of us have capital. If we want to use the simplest and most effective way to succeed, then we must think of ideas that no one else has thought of, and strive to make a splash."
Zhou Honghai nodded slightly, he agreed with this viewpoint.
But to find an idea that no one else had used before, while still having a high probability of success, was no easy feat.
At this moment, Han Zijun suddenly spoke up.
"Speaking of this, I suddenly remembered something."
"I don't know if you all have paid attention, but a while ago, a friend of mine from a big company told me that a mysterious person created a domain name trading website."
"It hadn't even been online for two months before it was acquired by Wanwang."
Someone nodded excitedly at this point.
"Ah, I've heard about this too."
"I heard the founder of Yuming.com is very mysterious, and to this day no one knows who it is?"
"Could it be some internet tycoon?"
Han Zijun shook his head: "I'm not concerned about that, what I want to say is...do you know how much Wanwang paid to acquire Yuming.com?"
The group of classmates froze, and someone spoke up.
"I heard the transaction was done privately, and neither side disclosed the amount."
"Wanwang only announced that they had successfully acquired Yuming.com."
"Old Han, could it be that you know the inside scoop?"
Han Zijun said in a low voice: "I also heard the inside information from my friend."
"Allegedly, the founder of Yuming.com is very young, still a student."
"Whew..."
The few classmates were instantly shocked.
"Really?"
"My friend works at a big internet company, so it's easy for him to access first-hand insider information. It shouldn't be wrong."
"Then what was the transaction amount?"
Han Zijun looked at everyone.
"Allegedly it was five million."
"How...how much?"
The group was dumbstruck.
"Five million? A forum that had just been established for not even two months sold for five million?"
"Damn, are they robbing them? Has Wanwang gone crazy? How could they agree to that?"
"Old Zhang, I think you're the crazy one. Haven't you browsed Yuming.com before? If you had, you'd know that the founder is absolutely no ordinary person."
Someone muttered enviously: "Brothers, how shameful."
"Here we are, a bunch of proper IT guys who haven't even started a business, while that person has already made five million in just a month."
"So this is what they call an internet sense...what a sense..."
"Shit! Five million, if I had five million, I wouldn't want to work for the rest of my life..."
Han Zijun smiled bitterly and shook his head.
He had originally wanted to remind everyone that in internet entrepreneurship, ideas are the most valuable asset.
But it seems everyone was just attracted by the five million figure.
Glancing to the side, he saw Zhou Honghai gripping his cup, staring blankly, motionless.
"Old Zhou, are you okay?"
"Ah?"
Clang.
Zhou Honghai's body shuddered, and the glass in his hand was knocked over, spilling beer all over the table.
"Hey, Old Zhou, don't tell me you're drunk?"
A classmate joked with a laugh.
But Zhou Honghai didn't care about the beer stains on his clothes, casually patting his wet shirt with his hand.
Then he looked up at his good friend across from him.
"Old Han, what was the name of that website you just said got acquired?"
"Yuming.com. A website specializing in domain name trading."
"Yuming.com...Yuming.com..."
Zhou Honghai muttered to himself, why did it sound so familiar?
That's right. What was the name of the website Chen Fan created in his shop during the summer vacation?
Wasn't it called Yuming.com?
"Whew..."
Zhou Honghai suddenly froze, an expression of disbelief on his face.
"No...way, right?"