The competition was held in the school's auditorium.
The audience was already packed before the show even started.
Besides the participating project teams, there were also many students who came to watch the excitement.
The judges, seated in the front row of the auditorium, were professors and leaders from various departments of the university.
After a burst of pleasant music, the host went on stage and announced that the competition had officially begun.
According to the rules, all participating teams must be present throughout the entire event and listen to the presentations of other groups.
One project team after another took the stage, some showcasing their early website ideas, others presenting small inventions for campus life.
Many of them are brilliant ideas that catch the eye.
Lin Xuemei and Lin Xiaojuan sat in the audience, feeling increasingly uncertain as they listened.
"Xiao Chen, they all seem really good," Lin Xiaojuan muttered softly. "Can we do it?"
Ye Linchen, however, was confident.
"Don't panic. They're strong, but we're not bad either. We need to have confidence in what we've put so much effort into. If we don't even respect ourselves, how can we convince the judges on stage?"
"At this crucial moment, we mustn't panic!" Li Hongying whispered, encouraging him.
That's right, don't panic!
The two quickly lowered their heads and began to review the project proposal in their hands again.
"Next, please welcome the 'Sailing College Student Entrepreneurship Service' project team to the stage for their presentation!"
"It's our turn."
Ye Linchen gently reminded the three of them and took the lead in walking onto the podium.
Standing on the stage, Ye Linchen glanced at the judges and audience below before beginning her speech.
The four people had clear roles and worked together seamlessly.
From project concept to market analysis, profit model, and future plans, every aspect is explained clearly and thoroughly.
Ye Linchen, in particular, did not read from a script, but instead used her own words to describe their business blueprint in detail.
Most importantly, every one of their arguments is supported by detailed and rigorous data, and the logical chain is so complete that it is impeccable.
The judges in the audience, who were initially casual, gradually became focused, nodding from time to time and making notes on their score sheets.
The speech ended, and a round of enthusiastic applause erupted from the audience.
But that's not all. The most crucial part is the Q&A session with the judges that follows.
"Hello," an economics professor wearing gold-rimmed glasses asked first. "Your project proposal mentions that you will mainly generate revenue by providing consulting and resource matching services in the early stages. I would like to ask, in the 1990s, when college students generally lacked a willingness to pay, how did you ensure that you could achieve your profit model?"
This was a sharp question, but it was exactly what Ye Linchen had expected.
Ye Linchen nodded to Li Hongying, who immediately stepped forward and explained the tiered pricing model and the free promotion strategy in the early stages.
The second question was about risk management, and Lin Xuemei answered it fluently.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief as the Q&A session was about to end smoothly.
Just then, one of the judges sitting in the middle asked a question.
"Your startup project is very innovative and supported by strong data, which is commendable."
He began with a word of praise, then quickly changed the subject, "However, I have a question. I've looked at several projects before; some are dedicated to environmental protection, others focus on impoverished students, all demonstrating the social responsibility that contemporary college students should have. But in your project, I only see a business model and profit expectations; I don't see its social value. May I ask, what contribution can your project make to society?"
The moment the question was raised, the entire auditorium fell silent.
That's too deadly!
In university campuses during the 1990s, "social value" and "social contribution" were extremely important terms.
If a project is labeled as "purely for making money," it's practically a death sentence.
Lin Xuemei and Li Hongying's minds went completely blank.
They hadn't even considered that!
They were only thinking about how to make the project profitable, but forgot to elevate its purpose.
A murmur of discussion immediately arose from the audience.
It looked like the conversation was about to fall into an awkward silence, and we were in the most embarrassing situation.
Ye Linchen stepped forward and grasped the microphone.
She looked directly at the judge who had asked the question and answered clearly.
"Teacher, I disagree with your opinion."
The very first sentence caused an uproar in the audience. A student actually dared to contradict a judge to their face?
Ye Linchen continued, "I don't think our project lacks social value. On the contrary, I think it has a deeper and broader social significance."
"College students have plenty of enthusiasm for starting businesses, but they lack experience and resources, resulting in an extremely low success rate. Countless good ideas and concepts are killed due to real-world obstacles. This is not only a loss for individual students, but also a loss for society."
"Our project is designed to solve this problem! We're not running a company, but rather building a platform, an incubator! We help capable and ambitious college student entrepreneurs by providing them with the most professional guidance and connecting them with the resources they need most, helping them avoid pitfalls and increasing their success rate. When they succeed, they create more jobs, generate more tax revenue for society, and use their technology and creativity to drive the development of a particular industry. Professor, isn't this creating value for society?"
"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. What we do is teach a man to fish. We address the fundamental problem of the difficulty and high failure rate of college students starting businesses. This is the greatest social value of our project!"
These words silenced the entire auditorium; everyone was stunned.
The judge who asked the question looked surprised and fell into deep thought, his fingers tapping unconsciously on the table.
After a long while, he finally raised his head, looked deeply at Ye Linchen, and slowly nodded.
"Okay...that's well said. I have no more questions."
Even after the host announced that they could leave the stage, Lin Xuemei and Lin Xiaojuan were still in a state of shock and had not yet recovered.
As soon as she stepped off the stage, Lin Xuemei tightly grasped Ye Linchen's hand. Her palms were icy cold and trembling slightly. "Xiao Chen! My goodness! Thank goodness you were here! That question just now almost scared me to death! We...we didn't know how to answer it!"
Li Hongying also looked terrified and nodded repeatedly.
Ye Linchen simply smiled, gently patted their hands, and whispered, "Don't be afraid, it's all over now."
Yes, it's all in the past.
She has done everything she could. All that's left is to do her best and leave the rest to fate.
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