Reborn in 2005, starting with repairing mobile phones

He paused.

"I've always hoped that of myself. Now that you've graduated, I wish you the same."

Applause erupted.

The entire auditorium stood up, applauded, cheered, and someone shouted "Steve."

Lin Dong also stood up.

He stood in the third row, looking at the person on the stage.

The man stood under the spotlight, thin and pale, but the light in his eyes drew everyone's attention to him.

Stay hungry. Stay foolish.

He had memorized this sentence countless times.

Jobs bowed slightly and turned to walk toward the side of the stage.

The applause rang out and lasted for a long time.

Lin Dong stood there, watching the figure disappear behind the side curtain.

Next up, it's my turn.

He stood still, without moving.

The applause continued, some people started to leave, some stood up and talked to their friends, and the auditorium, which had been quiet, became noisy again.

A student wearing a volunteer vest walked towards him.

"Mr. Lin Dong?"

Lin Dong nodded.

"plz follow me."

The volunteer said, "You can come up from the side, and just walk up after the host finishes his introduction."

Lin Dong followed behind him, through the crowd, and towards the side of the stage.

Behind the side curtain is a narrow corridor.

The lights were dimmer than on stage, and various circuit diagrams were pasted on the wall. Several staff members were debugging the equipment and nodded when they saw him come in.

The volunteer pointed ahead.

"Please wait here. When the host calls your name, just walk up to him."

Lin Dong stood at the edge of the side curtain.

Through the gap in the curtain, he could see on the stage—the host had already gone up and was adjusting the microphone.

The crowd below the stage was still moving around; some were looking down at their phones, some were chatting with their companions, and some were standing up to leave.

But most people didn't move.

They looked at the stage, waiting to see what would happen next.

The host cleared his throat.

"Please wait, everyone."

The audience gradually quieted down, and those who had stood up sat back down.

The host smiled.

"I know you're all excited, and so am I."

He said, "But today we have a special guest who would like to say a few words to everyone."

He paused.

"This person did something that many people couldn't do yesterday on our campus."

People in the audience started whispering among themselves.

The host continued, "He completed a master's level LNA design in two minutes. He beat our top PhD student in RF. His achievement—"

He paused, then said, "We can't give a score out of 100."

There was a moment of silence in the audience.

Then someone called out that name.

"Lin Dong!"

The host laughed.

"It seems someone already knows," he said. "Well then, please—"

He reached out his hand toward the side curtain.

"Lin Dong".

Lin Dong took a deep breath.

He strode forward.

The curtain was lifted, and the lights shone directly in, a bit too bright.

He walked up.

Stand in the spot where Steve Jobs just stood.

The audience was a sea of ​​black, making it impossible to see who was who; only countless eyes were watching him.

Quiet.

He mentally went over what he was going to say.

That's what he wanted to say.

He spoke.

"Thanks."

The voice was more stable than he had expected.

"That speech just now,"

He said, "You all heard that."

Some people in the audience nodded, and some laughed.

Lin Dong paused.

"Stay hungry. Stay foolish," he said. "I'll remember that phrase for the rest of my life."

He looked down at the audience.

"But I want to talk about something else."

The audience fell silent.

"Mr. Steve Jobs just told three stories. His stories."

Lin Dong said, "I also have my own story."

He paused.

"A slightly different story."

Someone in the audience leaned forward slightly.

Lin Dong spoke.

"I'm from Shantou, Guangdong, China. I just took the college entrance exam a month ago."

Someone in the audience laughed. So young?

The laughter of Lin Dong and the others subsided.

"Six months before the college entrance exam, I was just an ordinary high school student. Every day I went to class, did practice tests, and thought about how to get into a good university."

He said, "Then one day, I suddenly realized something."

He looked down at the audience.

"What do I want to do?"

"It wasn't something others made me do. It wasn't because 'this major makes it easy to find a job' that made me do it. It was something I genuinely wanted to do."

The audience fell silent.

Lin Dong continued.

"I want to make mobile phones."

Someone laughed.

But most people didn't laugh.

"It's not the kind of phone that copies Nokia and changes two millimeters to avoid patents," he said. "It's about making our own phones from scratch."

He paused.

"Our own chip solutions. Our own operating system. Our own design language."

Some people in the audience were whispering among themselves.

Lin Dong ignored them.

"I know it's difficult."

He said, "I know many of you here will think this is crazy."

He looked down at the audience.

"But I have a question."

He paused.

"If Steve Jobs had thought 'making computers is too difficult' back then, would we even have the Mac today?"

There was a moment of silence in the audience.

Then someone started clapping.

Sparse, but increasing in number.

The applause from Lin Dong and the others subsided.

"I won yesterday not because I was particularly good."

He said, "It's because I know there are things that can be done better."

He paused.

"Mark is amazing. He ran for fifteen minutes and got 95 points. That's a very impressive score."

He looked down at the audience.

"But 95 points is not 100 points."

The audience fell silent.

Lin Dong said, "Those 5 points weren't because it was impossible. It was because no one had even thought it was possible to do it."

"I came to Stanford not to prove how great I am."

He paused.

"I want to see what those who are more capable than me are thinking."

"We started making mobile phones from scratch."

He looked down at the audience.

"It's difficult. But I think it's worth doing."

He suddenly remembered what Steve Jobs had said earlier.

Don't let the noise of others drown out the voice within you.

It was not submerged.

He continued, "I have a team in Shenzhen. They do hardware, algorithms, and design."

He looked down at the audience.

"If anyone is interested, you can come and find me."

He paused.

"But I must warn you—there's nothing there right now. Just a blueprint and a few people who want to build it."

Some people in the audience laughed.

Lin Dong smiled too.

"But I think it's fine this way."

He took a step back.

"Thanks."

Applause erupted.

He turned and walked toward the side curtain.

As he stepped off the stage, he heard someone call his name from behind.

"Lin Dong!"

He didn't turn around.

Behind the side curtain, the lights dimmed.

He leaned against the wall and let out a long breath.

He mentally gave himself a score.

Although I didn't get a perfect score, I passed.

A hand reached out from the side.

Lin Dong paused for a moment, then turned his head.

Jobs stood beside him, watching him.

"Well said," he said.