Reborn in 2000, starting from the university website

Chapter 139 Mobile Negotiation

On the sixteenth floor of Hailong Building, in the finance office of Qihang Technology, the landline phone rang like a death knell.

Jiang Shuo grabbed his hair, held the receiver between his shoulders, and frantically typed on the keyboard.

"Director Wang, I'm so sorry, we've already limited the frequency of user top-ups. Yes, I'm really sorry, could you please add two more lines? Hello?

After hanging up the phone, Jiang Shuo slumped onto the table and let out a wail.

Zhang Jian walked in carrying a bowl of instant noodles and kicked Jiang Shuo's chair. "Shuo, what's wrong now? Your hands cramped from counting money these past few days, and now you have a headache?"

Jiang Shuo suddenly looked up, his eyes bloodshot. "I'm so anxious, the money's not coming in!" He pointed to the screen filled with red background data. "Netizens are going crazy, and the telecom companies are going crazy too! Just now, the telecom bureaus from Hebei and Shandong provinces called me one after another, cursing that our users have paralyzed their city's telecom lines to buy VIP memberships and virtual sports cars. Now when we call them, it's all busy!"

Jiao Liwei pushed open the door, holding several customer service record sheets, and slapped his thigh with amusement. "You didn't answer the customer service complaint hotline. Just now, a guy called to complain that he ran downstairs in the middle of the night to find a public phone booth to call a voice-activated service in order to buy a 'Red Diamond' membership for his crush. He listened to 'line busy, please wait' messages for forty minutes. He had enough coins to buy ten sets of clothes, but the money wasn't deducted, and he didn't buy the clothes. He was so anxious on the phone, asking if he could transfer the money directly to our corporate account."

"These people really have money to burn," Zhang Jian slurped up a mouthful of instant noodles. "My technical monitoring system has also triggered an alarm. The recharge request button on the backend is being pressed thousands of times per second, but the voice information service interface isn't responding at all. The recharge order number provided by the system is all stuck in the voice information service's response; users can't get any success notification from them. This isn't a payment channel; it's a sewer, a sewer that's been clogged for ten years."

Bai Yuhang walked over with a purple clay teacup in his hand and leaned against the door frame.

"Mr. Bai, what are we going to do?" Jiang Shuo's face was full of pain. "This isn't just data that's blocked, it's real money! Every minute that the money doesn't come in, my heart clenches and my head spins. And then there's the ridiculously high channel fee from the voice information service. Aren't we just working for free and getting treated like this?"

Bai Yuhang took a sip of tea, his tone calm. "The voice information platform is too small; it can no longer contain our current scale. Users have the desire to consume, but the distribution channels have become a noose around our necks. Earning money here is truly frustrating."

"We can't really expect netizens to line up at banks to send us money, can we?" Zhang Jian asked.

"Of course not. We can't handle it." Bai Yuhang put down his teacup and tapped Jiang Shuo's desk. "Get the accounts for the voice information service sorted out. Zhang Lei has already messaged me; he's coming out with me this afternoon."

Jiang Shuo pushed up his glasses, his eyes lighting up. "Where to? To find a bigger radio station?"

"Find the national team." Bai Yuhang turned and walked out. "Go meet with General Manager Zhang Ligui of China Mobile. We need to pave the way for mobile phone SMS top-up, replace this choking rope with our own arteries, and get the blood flowing."

Afternoon, Financial Street. Headquarters building of China Mobile.

China Mobile was separated from the State Post and Telecommunications Corporation on April 20, 2000. It was a central enterprise established in accordance with the national telecommunications system reform plan. After nearly three months of restructuring and integration, its business had just gotten on track.

Zhang Lei led Bai Yuhang into the general manager's office. Zhang Ligui was standing behind his desk reading documents; upon seeing the two enter, he put down his pen.

"Mr. Zhang, excuse me." Zhang Lei greeted him familiarly, pointing to Bai Yuhang beside him, "This is the little brother I mentioned to you, Bai Yuhang."

Zhang Ligui sized up Bai Yuhang for a moment, then gestured to the sofa: "Sit down. Mr. Zhang, Mr. Bai, welcome. Yesterday on the phone, Zhang Lei praised you to the skies, and meeting you in person, it's clear you're a young hero indeed. So, what brings you here?"

Bai Yuhang didn't stand on ceremony. He took a report out of his bag and handed it over with both hands.

"Mr. Zhang, I'd like to deliver some toll fees to China Mobile."

Zhang Ligui took it, glanced at it, and then his gaze lingered.

"Three million in daily revenue?" Zhang Ligui looked up, his tone questioning. "Was that collected through a voice information service?"

"Yes." Bai Yuhang nodded. "But this is yesterday's data. Today's data probably won't increase, because the voice information lines in the four provinces have been paralyzed by our users. Once the bottleneck is reached, our user service experience will definitely be barely noticeable, directly affecting our revenue."

Zhang Lei chimed in from the side, "Boss, he's not bragging. I just came out of his company yesterday, and several telecom companies were calling and cursing, saying they'd taken up all the lines."

Zhang Ligui placed the report on the coffee table, his interest piqued: "So you've got your eye on China Mobile? How do you want to cooperate?"

"SMS billing." Bai Yuhang leaned forward, getting straight to the point. "China Mobile has the most extensive communication network coverage nationwide and an existing billing system. When a user sends a SMS with a specific instruction, China Mobile directly deducts the monthly fee or service fee from the user's phone bill. At the end of the month, we reconcile and settle accounts. This billing method, similar to subscribing to news or weather forecasts, has precedents both domestically and internationally."

Zhang Ligui laughed, leaning back on the sofa: "You've got a pretty shrewd plan. Treating China Mobile like a free tollbooth?"

"It's not free," Bai Yuhang said confidently. "It's a strategic win-win situation. We provide value-added internet services to attract users to pay, and China Mobile provides the access point. After deducting bad debts and taxes, China Mobile can directly take 15% of the access fee, and we keep the rest. This money is pure profit for China Mobile at zero cost."

Zhang Ligui patted the sofa armrest twice, closed his eyes and thought for a moment, then remained silent.

Bai Yuhang added, "Besides the channel fee, this model will greatly stimulate netizens to send text messages more frequently. In order to buy our virtual items, they will use the mobile text messaging function frequently. China Mobile has only been established for a short time and needs a killer application that can cultivate the habit of text messaging among the entire population. Qihang Technology's registered users are about to exceed 20 million, and these people are all potential high-quality customers of China Mobile."

The office fell silent. Zhang Lei picked up his paper cup, took a sip of water, and remained silent. He knew that it was time to let Zhang Ligui figure things out himself.

Zhang Ligui was a pragmatist with an extremely quick mind. He rapidly calculated the potential profits in his head. A 15% commission, coupled with the massive existing SMS communication fees, represented a staggering growth market.

More importantly, this 18-year-old has pinpointed the intersection of the internet and telecommunications networks with remarkable precision.

"What do you want to call this business?" Zhang Ligui asked.

"Mobile Dream Network," Bai Yuhang uttered four words, "capturing all the digital dreams of young people. Of course, you could also call it a mobile dream network."

Zhang Ligui stared at Bai Yuhang for a full ten seconds. Then, he stood up, walked to his desk, and pressed the internal phone button.

"Have the heads of the data department and the marketing department come to my office immediately."

After hanging up the phone, Zhang Ligui turned to look at Bai Yuhang with a hearty smile on his face.

"Zhang Lei is right, you really are a genius. This matter has potential. Don't leave this afternoon, have a casual meal at our leaders' restaurant, and then go directly to the business department to discuss the technical cooperation agreement. As long as the technology is feasible, China Mobile will build this highway for you."

Zhang Lei chuckled and patted Bai Yuhang on the shoulder: "Aren't you going to thank President Zhang right away?"

"Mutual benefit and win-win, Mr. Zhang has the vision." Bai Yuhang stood up and extended his hand.

Zhang Ligui gripped his hand firmly: "Just get things done. I want to see just how much of a surprise your Mobile Dream Network can bring to China Mobile."

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