Chapter Twenty-Two: The Founding of the Company

Just like Li Zecheng himself, the moment his hand touched the mouse and keyboard, he found his true self; the wondrous world of the internet was the path he was destined to follow for life.

Dreams matter—a great deal—and the sooner one sets their dream, the better. Only when a steadfast dream resides in your heart can you move forward without hesitation, never feeling lost regardless of circumstances. For dreams provide not only motivation, but also direction.

A mentor is precisely the guide who helps you realize your dream, and "Master's Words" would become the place for those lost souls to find their purpose.

Yearning that they had met sooner, Li Zecheng tore his gaze from the computer, looking at the composed man beside Wan Cong. The excitement on his face betrayed his eagerness.

Lin Lang rose with a laugh, extending his right hand toward Li Zecheng. "From the look on your face, I suppose you understand what I mean."

Li Zecheng also reached out to shake his hand, calming his excitement, then smiled, "Looking forward to working together."

Watching the two men instantly hit it off, Wan Cong couldn't help joking with Lin Lang, "So, you mean I didn't get your point?"

Lin Lang smiled awkwardly, "How could that be? You put down a hundred million—obviously you understand."

The three burst out laughing.

The company was officially established, named "Trio Internet Ltd." Lin Lang was appointed chairman, Wan Cong vice chairman, and Li Zecheng general manager.

Wan Cong immediately leased an entire floor in an office building not far from Deep City Wanlin Group—three hundred square meters, well-appointed, enough for thirty staff. He paid a million up front for two years. Such was his generosity, though the money came out of the hundred million investment—strictly business, all expenses henceforth from that fund.

Both Lin Lang and Li Zecheng agreed with this practice. Since the company was founded, the first step was to standardize finances—even if Wan Cong was never short of money.

By four in the afternoon, the three arrived on the thirteenth floor of the building. The space, over three hundred square meters, held more than thirty desks and several private offices; soundproofing and decor were all excellent.

Wan Cong arranged for top-tier computers and servers, all covered by the investment funds.

Li Zecheng was responsible for assembling the team, offering a monthly salary of ten thousand. In Deep City, building an initial team was simple.

Lin Lang, meanwhile, was to draft another plan for promoting and exposing the website in its early days—a task he had long anticipated.

By the next day, Li Zecheng's team was complete, all friends from his profession. Some were dissatisfied with their previous jobs and saw no prospects; some had little hope for their own companies; others were in between jobs, searching for new opportunities.

All were seasoned professionals in web development. At Li Zecheng's invitation, they came without hesitation, pleased with the attractive starting salary. Upon learning Wan Cong was the patron behind the project, they felt even more assured.

When Lin Lang explained the company's development strategy and the mission of "Master's Words," it ignited their passion and fighting spirit. They began building the website at once—for who among them had not persevered through the early days of the internet when the industry was unappreciated?

They all understood the importance of dreams, for they themselves had devoted years to the internet out of love.

Now, Lin Lang as their leader once again allowed them to glimpse the light of hope.

The company now had eleven employees.

Wan Cong had already disappeared to enjoy his leisure; neither Lin Lang nor Li Zecheng begrudged him—in fact, they were grateful, recognizing his total trust and willingness to grant full authority.

Lin Lang temporarily took charge of writing the initial publicity plan—his own suggestion. No one knew the website, or how to promote it, better than he did.

Li Zecheng also doubled as project leader, overseeing the creation and maintenance of the site.

Wang Lin and Zhang Jianxin were responsible for front-end development; Su Ling and Chen Ming for website design; Ye Zifan and Zhang Lin for content editing; Fang Xiao and Cao Cheng for site maintenance.

After Li Zecheng purchased the "Master's Words" domain, the website's framework was up by the end of the day. The site was not complex, its functions simple, and with a highly skilled, motivated team, Li Zecheng estimated a basic version could be up in three to five days.

However, content editing demanded extensive research. Lin Lang required that the site cover most current professions and hobbies, each with a thorough introduction. This task was demanding, requiring Ye Zifan and Zhang Lin to understand every field before providing descriptions.

Four days later, the website was essentially complete.

Upon entering the site, the bold characters "Master's Words" were displayed at the top, with a faint traditional landscape painting as background. One could vaguely see an elderly man with white hair and beard standing before a mountain gate, as his young disciple bowed in the ancient gesture of becoming a student—a scene rich in Chinese cultural elements.

This was Lin Lang's idea, and everyone found it brilliant.

The site background was a light green, giving a sense of vitality and hope, brimming with dreams. Along the borders, faintly inscribed, were old sayings embodying philosophical wisdom—"When three walk together, one can be my teacher," "Live and learn," and more.

At the center was the main content.

Life, Arts, Sports... over a dozen major categories arranged top to bottom, each leading to subcategories.

For example, under Sports: basketball, football, volleyball, swimming, rock climbing, skateboarding, roller skating, cycling...

Everything imaginable could be found, and even more that were unknown.

This workload had left Ye Zifan and Zhang Lin with little rest for days. Wan Cong visited once and, seeing their dedication, immediately awarded each five thousand as a bonus.

No one else envied them; instead, they admired their effort, for everyone saw how hard they worked, sleeping just a few hours per day—those who labor deserve their reward.

Lin Lang, after reviewing the website, praised their high efficiency and excellent results.

He then suggested that each major and minor category should have a thematic background image—such as a basketball court or a dunking animation for the basketball page—to make the site more visually engaging.

Li Zecheng and the team agreed and quickly set about implementing these changes.

Lin Lang continued, inviting everyone to contribute suggestions for further discussion and improvement.

Thus, through enthusiastic collaboration, the website was refined again and again until it was flawless.

In a blink, nearly a week passed. During this time, Lin Lang also spoke with Ye Xinlan and Lin Nan by phone, assuring them he was well, eating and living comfortably. He urged Ye Xinlan to manage the hotel carefully and Lin Nan to study diligently and persist in basketball training.

He did not elaborate further, knowing Ye Xinlan would not believe he was undertaking such a grand enterprise.

Besides, this life, Lin Lang only wished to remain behind the scenes, despite still being young.

In his previous life, he had tasted glory, receiving countless accolades and titles. He felt proud at the time, but in retrospect, it was nothing extraordinary.

In this life, he would let Lin Nan shine, nurturing him to become the brightest star under the night sky.

Thursday night, 12:01 a.m., Lin Lang sat in his private office by the window. Finishing the last word of his publicity plan, he set down his pen. At the window, the streetlights blazed on, still bright as ever. Though the street was empty, cars came and went—Shenzhen’s night was like a city that never sleeps.

Lin Lang thought: by this time tomorrow, things will be even more lively.

Early Friday morning, Li Zecheng arrived at Lin Lang’s office and sat on the sofa, reading Lin Lang’s publicity plan.

When he finished, he let out a long sigh. “I hardly know how to describe this idea.”

Staring into Lin Lang’s eyes, Li Zecheng smiled. “Sometimes I think, beneath your youthful appearance, there’s a heart that truly understands people.”

“I’ll thank you in advance, on behalf of those lost young souls—perhaps tonight, many will benefit from this,” he added.

Lin Lang simply smiled.

Li Zecheng continued, “So, who’s making the call—you or me?”

“I’ll do it,” replied Lin Lang.

He picked up his phone and called Wan Cong. After the call, Lin Lang gave Li Zecheng a thumbs-up.

On the other end, Wan Cong smiled after the call, intrigued by Lin Lang’s publicity concept.

Without delay, Wan Cong called Uncle Fu, his father’s trusted aide, and explained Lin Lang’s plan to him in detail. After a few moments’ thought, Uncle Fu agreed.

Once the call ended, Wan Cong relayed the good news to Lin Lang and arranged for the one hundred million in funds.

In the office, Lin Lang and Li Zecheng grinned with satisfaction—everything now hinged on tonight.

Meanwhile, not far away in the headquarters of Wanda Group, on the thirty-third floor, in a much larger and more lavishly decorated office than Lin Lang’s, a middle-aged man stood conversing with another seated middle-aged man.

The difference was striking—this office was several times the size of Lin Lang’s and exuded a sense of luxury.

The standing man said, “Sir, I think the young master is about to embark on something big.”

The seated man laughed, “I’ll be interested to see what he can accomplish. Go ahead and give him that little bit of help he requested—we’ve been paid, after all. If you’re paid, you do the job. Ha!”

Though he held a high position, Wan Lin was very attentive to his only son’s endeavors, never suspecting how much his treasured son would surprise him this time.

A few minutes later, Uncle Fu reported to Wan Lin, “Sir, everything is arranged.”

Wan Lin nodded; he trusted Uncle Fu implicitly.

Half an hour later, all of Wan Lin Group’s regional managers across the country received a directive.

They were to send staff out to sweep every internet cafe in their county and city, requiring that at midnight, every computer display a popup window for one week.

Each manager received the popup’s link and a sum of money, ranging from several hundred thousand to millions, depending on the area.

Nationwide, there were more than a hundred thousand internet cafes; Lin Lang’s plan was to pay three hundred yuan per cafe for advertising—a total of over thirty million. He was certainly generous.

But if Lin Lang wanted to play this way, Wan Cong was happy to oblige; to him, it was not a large sum.

Wan Lin Group’s efficiency was impressive. By ten that evening, most of the thirty million had been distributed, covering over ninety percent of internet cafes nationwide.

Only a few high-end private lounges turned down the offer, but most were happy to accept—money falling from the sky was not to be refused.

Little did they know that this popup might have a profound impact on their business, and whether they would still be smiling later was another matter.

Friday night, 11:59 p.m., all eleven members of the "Trio Internet Company," including Wan Cong, sat before their desks, eyes fixed on the "Master's Words" backend, waiting for the data to come in.