Chapter 183 : The First Step in the Internet Chess Game_ Making a Move
Chapter 183: The First Step in the Internet Chess Game: Making a Move
Wu Di looked at Chen Fan with a dazed expression.
"Old Chen, are you... really rich?"
"Of course not."
Chen Fan glared at Luo Wenjie, then added,
"Although I'm not rich, I can still afford to help a brother out."
"How much are you going to borrow?"
Wu Di thought for a moment, then said a little embarrassedly,
"I still have over 4,000 myself. Can you lend me 5,000? I was planning to borrow another 5,000 from my family."
Chen Fan shook his head.
"Don't bother your uncles and aunts with this."
"You're going to use up your own living expenses too, and not have anything to live on next month?"
"Alright, don't worry about this. I'll lend you 15,000 yuan directly."
Wu Di's eyes widened. "Really?"
Luo Wenjie put his arm around Chen Fan's shoulders.
"Don't worry. Big Brother Fan has money."
"This amount is just pocket change for Big Brother Fan."
Chen Fan glanced at Luo Wenjie, then looked at Wu Di.
"When are you planning to use it?"
"The sooner the better."
Chen Fan nodded.
"Then I'll give it to you tomorrow."
"Good."
Wu Di still felt like he was dreaming.
The next second, he excitedly rushed over and hugged Chen Fan.
"Good brother, you've really helped me out big time."
"Should I go take a shower now?"
Chen Fan looked puzzled. "What for?"
"Didn't Brother Jie just say? To warm your bed."
With the weight off his mind, Wu Di was in an unusually playful mood.
"Let me go wash my butt first, then I'll wait in your bed for you."
"Whatever position you like, I can do it..."
"Get out of here! Scram!"
Chen Fan pushed Wu Di away, looking disgusted.
Wu Di laughed, "I'll go tell Su Qing the good news first, and then I'll come back."
"After I'm back, I'll serve you well tonight."
Seeing him run out excitedly, Chen Fan was speechless.
"I've only been back in the dorm for a few days, how come it feels like everyone has become vulgar?"
Ma Xiaoshuai glanced at Luo Wenjie, "With someone so obscenely vulgar around, how could the others not be affected?"
Then he changed his tone and said in a low voice, "Actually, Wu Di is having a hard time, he has some unspoken troubles."
Ma Xiaoshuai told the two of them some information he knew.
Apparently, because of Su Qing's sister being hospitalized for surgery, Su Qing had cried several times already.
Since the family couldn't borrow the money, the surgery couldn't be done, and in desperation, Su Qing was planning to go ask that young master Zhao Longqi to lend her the money.
Because he was the only rich person she knew.
When Wu Di learned of this, he was shocked and had to persuade Su Qing not to, while promising her that he would definitely be able to raise enough money for the surgery.
Chen Fan couldn't help but ask, "Is that Zhao Longqi still pestering Su Qing?"
Ma Xiaoshuai nodded, "Yeah. I heard from my Linlin that the guy often parks his car under the teaching building."
"As soon as Su Qing gets out of class, Zhao Longqi presents her with a bouquet of flowers."
"No matter how many times Su Qing rejects him, he doesn't give up and always puts on a show like that."
Chen Fan asked further, "Does Wu Di know about this?"
"He knows. He's even had several conflicts with Zhao Longqi already, but they haven't come to blows on campus yet."
"Also, Wu Di told me not to mention this to you guys."
"He said he could handle it himself."
Remembering how Zhao Longqi had harassed Su Ruochu in the cafeteria before, Chen Fan couldn't help but shake his head.
This rich second generation really wasn't economical with his lamp oil.
He could only hope that Wu Di would be able to deal with this matter properly.
The next day, Chen Fan went directly to the Starry Sky Internet cafe and gave Wu Di 15,000 yuan.
Wu Di was so excited he almost hugged Chen Fan and kissed him.
And he immediately wanted to write Chen Fan an IOU.
Chen Fan said there was no need for an IOU. But Wu Di insisted on writing one, and Chen Fan couldn't dissuade him, so he let Wu Di write an IOU and sign his name solemnly.
However, Chen Fan didn't really care much about it.
He estimated that Wu Di wouldn't be able to repay that 15,000 in the short term.
Even if he had to repay it, it would probably have to wait until after graduation when he started working.
In Chen Fan's view, he didn't really plan on getting that money back.
If Wu Di and Su Qing could make it to the stage of getting married, this money could be considered a gift for the couple.
If the two didn't make it that far, this money could be considered helping a brother out of trouble.
Ma Xiaoshuai informed the partner dorm about the proposal to go play at the beach resort, and all the girls unanimously agreed excitedly.
Thinking more people would be merrier, Ma Xiaoshuai also told Sun Hao and Han Xu to bring along any girls they liked, and take the opportunity to confess their feelings if possible.
Wu Di was very satisfied with Ma Xiaoshuai's proposal. Having just resolved her sister's surgery fees, Su Qing did need a trip to readjust her mood.
While everyone else was preparing for the trip in a few days, Chen Fan was busy to the point of being flustered.
Chen Fan had already decided where to make his first move in the internet arena.
He had chosen the antivirus software field.
Or rather, Chen Fan wanted to create an antivirus software like the future 360 Security.
Then use the antivirus software as a stepping stone to gradually achieve his goal of conquering the internet realm.
It was 2001 now, and the antivirus software market was still a red ocean, with all antivirus software requiring payment.
At this time, the domestic antivirus software market was dominated by companies like Rising, Jiangmin, Koukou, and Antiy, with many smaller software vendors also dividing up the market share.
It wasn't until 2008 that 360 Antivirus burst onto the scene, and as soon as it raised the free banner, all the paid antivirus software vendors disappeared overnight.
But now it was 2001.
There was no major leader in the market yet, so Chen Fan chose to enter at this time, which would allow him to swim in muddied waters and grow stealthily, avoiding concentrated attacks.
Chen Fan's plan was simple, first establish a software company and release a self-developed antivirus software, initially adopting a paid model.
Relying on outstanding technical capabilities, Chen Fan was confident that even if charged, his antivirus software could secure a large portion of the market share.
Then, as it neared 2008, he would announce permanent free usage, wiping out all paid software vendors while completely reaping the entire antivirus market.
Chen Fan's thinking was straightforward.
Over the next few years, as computer penetration rates rose higher and higher, one might not need QQ on a computer, but an antivirus software would be essential.
By seizing the first-mover advantage, whenever someone had a computer, they'd have his antivirus software installed.
That would be an enormous user base.
Just like the future Tencent QQ commanding hundreds of millions of users, this would be an absolute killer app.
By then, it would become much easier for Chen Fan to promote other products he wanted.
The only pity was that while the idea was good, the solo research and development was really too time-consuming and laborious for Chen Fan alone.
These days he was rushed off his feet, with hardly any time to write code.
He also hadn't returned to the faculty apartment for several days now.
The coding he'd done these past couple days was done by sneaking moments at the computer in the Internet cafe office.
At this rate, Chen Fan estimated he would get exhausted before even finishing the software.
After a busy afternoon he could no longer take it, so Chen Fan got up, shut off the computer, and left Starry Sky Internet Cafe alone.
He couldn't continue working solo anymore, he needed to recruit people, to hire and purchase troops.
When it came to computer technology talent, the first people Chen Fan thought of were Zhou Honghai and his old classmate Han Zijun.
Though that guy had gone into entrepreneurship running a portal website, so Chen Fan didn't know what his current situation was.
In any case, with nothing better to do, Chen Fan rode his bicycle alone, planning to go to the First Encounter Internet Cafe in University City to chat with Zhou Honghai.
But halfway there, he noticed an advertisement hung on the street across from him for a new residential development opening.
Suddenly, Chen Fan was struck by a thought.
Damn!
It seemed he had forgotten something.