Chapter 48: A New Beginning

August 1st.

Tangdu.

When Wang Donglai woke up in the presidential suite of the Shangri-La, a topic he had once seen on Zhihu flashed through his mind.

"A score of 700 on the Gaokao or 7 million in cash—which would you choose?"

The topic had over fifty million views and more than thirty thousand answers, with countless netizens replying below.

The vast majority chose the seven million, while only a small minority chose the 700 score.

The reasons were varied and diverse.

Wang Donglai had also pondered this question, and his answer was: "Only children make choices; adults want it all."

What was originally a matter of idle fantasy had, unexpectedly, actually happened.

Right now, at this very moment.

A quiet sum of fifty million sat in Wang Donglai's bank account!

In just one month, it had grown from four hundred thousand to fifty million.

If word got out, it would be far more explosive than the news of Wang Donglai scoring 737 on the Gaokao and becoming the national top scorer in liberal arts.

Money, since ancient times, has been the most eye-catching thing in existence.

Not to mention, in just a single month, four hundred thousand had multiplied over a hundredfold to become fifty million.

After a full month of intense work, Wang Donglai had only been able to breathe a sigh of relief last night.

"Sixth Sense Development Technology... I wonder what level I need to raise my biology to in order to research it?"

Wang Donglai let out a long sigh. After experiencing the effects of the human sixth sense technology for thirty days, he found himself unable to stop thinking about it.

That feeling was like looking down upon the world as a god, able to take or give as one pleased.

This fifty million was what Wang Donglai had earned in the stock market using his four hundred thousand principal, relying entirely on his sixth sense.

The stock market in 2012 was not a bull market, but a massive bear market.

Logically speaking, very few people could make big money in such a market.

However, since Wang Donglai possessed a superpower like the sixth sense, he was naturally unafraid.

One could still make money in a bear market; it was just that the gains were smaller compared to a bull market.

After a month of hard work, Wang Donglai had only managed to earn fifty million.

In truth, it wasn't that he couldn't have gone on a frenzied looting spree, but every time he wanted to do so, an ominous feeling would arise in his heart, causing him to restrain his greed.

As a result, in order to evade that "invisible hand," Wang Donglai had to work even harder, earning the fifty million bit by bit.

After getting dressed and eating breakfast, Wang Donglai checked the time and headed toward the third-floor cafe.

Today, he had an appointment with a very important person.

Upon arriving at the cafe, Wang Donglai spotted his target immediately.

A middle-aged man wearing a suit but clearly looking somewhat uncomfortable, accompanied by an elegant, capable-looking professional woman.

Wang Donglai, on the other hand, was dressed in simple casual wear, having made no effort to dress up.

The Shangri-La cafe was open to the public; the environment was extremely relaxing, and the decor exuded a classical temperament.

The melodious music was not noisy; instead, it made those staying there feel at ease.

"Hello, President Wang."

Seeing Wang Donglai appear, the professional woman stood up from her seat and greeted him politely.

The middle-aged man beside her was visibly surprised, but he also stood up and said, "Hello, President Wang."

"Mm, Miss Xu, please sit. Mr. Zhou, please sit."

Wang Donglai showed no sign of intimidation, stepping forward to greet them both directly.

Once the three were seated, Wang Donglai observed the middle-aged man.

Zhou Rui.

The talent Wang Donglai had located in the talent market using his sixth sense.

The woman beside him, Xu Wanying, was the headhunter Wang Donglai had contacted to search for qualified candidates according to his requirements.

"President Wang, Mr. Zhou, I won't introduce you further. Please, go ahead and chat."

Xu Wanying glanced at the two of them, gave a gentle smile, and then rose to leave.

After Xu Wanying departed, Zhou Rui pulled a resume from his backpack and handed it to Wang Donglai.

"President Wang, this is my resume. Please, take a look."

Wang Donglai reached out, took the resume, flipped through it quickly, and then closed it.

Regarding the candidates selected by his sixth sense, Wang Donglai naturally had confidence.

As for more detailed information, he had already learned it through Xu Wanying.

Therefore, instead of asking about other things, Wang Donglai went straight to the question he cared about most.

"Mr. Zhou, may I ask one thing? Why did you choose my company? I assume Sister Wanying has already told you about my company's situation—that it has only just been established."

As if he had long contemplated this question, Zhou Rui spoke without hesitation: "There are two reasons. First, the words you conveyed through Miss Xu piqued my curiosity; I wanted to see exactly who the person behind such words was. Second, I want to take a gamble. I am already forty-three years old, and there is no more room for me to rise in my current company."

Hearing Zhou Rui's words, a hint of a smile appeared on Wang Donglai's face.

After confirming Zhou Rui through his sixth sense, he had used Xu Wanying to learn the details of his background.

As a programmer, Zhou Rui had worked at Tencent, Alibaba, and Baidu; he was highly experienced.

However, at forty-three, he was merely at a minor management level with no hope of further promotion.

It was perfect. While scrolling through job resumes, Wang Donglai had used his sixth sense to select Zhou Rui from dozens of candidates.

"You can probably tell I am younger than you. I'll call you Brother Zhou, and you can just call me Donglai."

"My company, Galaxy Technology, has just been registered, so many things are still in the startup phase. But don't worry, the compensation will definitely not be lacking. It might not have the same benefits as the big tech giants, but it certainly won't let you down."

"I can tell you about my philosophy first. Just listen for a moment; if you think it's viable, you are welcome to stay."

Wang Donglai's tone was extremely confident, as if he weren't worried at all that Zhou Rui might refuse after hearing him out.

"According to data released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's Telecommunications Administration at the 10th International Digital Interactive Entertainment Exhibition held in Shanghai on July 25th, the number of internet users in our country has reached 538 million, with a penetration rate of 39.9%. Brother Zhou, do you think this number is the limit?"

Zhou Rui shook his head, indicating it was not.

Wang Donglai continued, "As the internet has developed to this point, everyone has been focusing their efforts on the PC. But I believe the next stage of the internet will shift to a new battlefield, and on this new battlefield, new opportunities will emerge. This is our opportunity."

"Smartphones will become the mainstream of the future, and the ecological niche on smartphones will be the battlefield we conquer..."

"Abroad, there are Apple, Nokia, Samsung, and others; domestically, we also have smartphones. This is a vast, boundless blue ocean market..."

"A single smartphone costs several thousand yuan. If everyone has one, imagine how massive that market will be..."

"And the same logic applies to the software running on smartphones. The original meaning of the 'Internet' is a massive network connected between networks. Through universal protocols, they connect to form a single, logically massive international network. When that time comes, everyone will be online. In a network of 1.4 billion people, how many opportunities will there be..."

"Of course, these are just future projections. For now, we need to stay grounded and start from the very basics. And this software will be the cornerstone of our takeoff..."

After a passionate and moving speech, Wang Donglai saw that Zhou Rui had been captivated by the future he had sketched out.

"This is what I mentioned earlier. You can take a look."

As he spoke, Wang Donglai took out a laptop, opened an interface, performed a few operations, and handed it to Zhou Rui.

Zhou Rui did not stand on ceremony and began to look immediately.

The more he looked, the brighter his eyes became, and his expression grew excited.

Displayed on the computer was a segment of code.

Those who did not understand code could not see its beauty or its applicability.

Only those who understood programming could see the essence contained within through lines of code.

Soon, after finishing the code, Zhou Rui's eyes became incredibly bright, and he spoke decisively: "Boss, nothing more needs to be said. Based on this coding skill alone, I'm in. I'll follow you."

Wang Donglai smiled and extended his right hand in welcome. "Welcome to Galaxy Technology!"