After reaching a preliminary verbal agreement, the two agreed to formally sign the contract that evening. During their lunch break, Lin Chen arranged for Su Xiaowan to borrow a printer from the hotel to print the acquisition contract, while he returned to the venue to continue watching the afternoon's match.
Even after the competition ended, Lin Chen's phone notes contained the names, projects, and contact information of several startups he felt were worth investing in.
The host returned to the stage.
"After a day of exciting competition, the entrepreneurs introduced their companies' projects and achievements. The expert judges and investors in the audience probably already have their answers. Now, we will first announce the scores of each startup, calculated by the ten expert judges in the audience. This will also affect the ranking of this competition. Please look at the big screen."
On the large screen, the names of dozens of universities and representative companies across the country are displayed, followed by a score.
The first place is none other than Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Xingchen Technology, with a score of 99 points. We really didn't want you to get too proud by giving us just one more point.
Tongji University scored 93 points, ranking 12th, while Fudan University scored 88 points, ranking 33rd.
Upon seeing that Shanghai Jiao Tong University had come in first place, Director Liu from the official department jumped up and cheered. He was certain that his year-end evaluation was in the bag, and that this would be another impressive addition to his resume. Perhaps he could even advance further in the future.
Other university startups also expressed their admiration for the first place winner. They couldn't help it; they were still comparing prices on Huasuan.com during the recent Double Twelve shopping festival. However, they wondered if the startup competition could be reformed, and if these "max-level" experts could be banned from participating, as it was a terrible experience.
After receiving the award, Lin Chen arranged to meet Wang Qiong at the lounge and coffee shop across from the hotel to sign the contract, where Su Xiaowan was already waiting.
"It's a pleasure to work with you."
"It's a pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Lin. I've already informed 99fang. You can just contact Zhang Yiming directly. I'll be going now; my flight is tonight."
"Okay, Mr. Wang, take care."
After Wang Qiong left, Lin Chen took out his phone and dialed Zhang Yiming's number.
"Hello Mr. Zhang, I am Lin Chen."
"Hello Mr. Lin, Mr. Wang has already told me that 99fang will be under Xingchen Technology in the future, but I am a little disheartened and I want to resign."
"Mr. Zhang, please don't rush. Perhaps we can talk first, and then you can make a decision. I happen to be in Beijing right now, and I'll come to see you tomorrow."
"Okay then, see you tomorrow."
After hanging up the phone, Lin Chen picked up his still-warm coffee and took a sip. Qian Kaining had brought him a cup of coffee from here yesterday, and it tasted really good.
Just then, a few middle-aged men walked in. When Lin Chen saw them, he almost spat out his coffee.
Seeing this, Su Xiaowan asked, "Lin Chen, what's wrong?"
That's Lei Jun.
Who is Lei Jun?
"Well, let's put it this way, someone like him would be the protagonist in any novel, a true winner in life."
At this moment, the "winner in life" that Lin Chen mentioned did not seem happy. After Lei Jun and the others found a place to sit down, they ordered a few bottles of wine.
As soon as it was poured, Lei Jun drank a whole glass in one gulp.
"Lei Jun, drink slowly. We're just a few old friends having a get-together, no one's pressuring you to drink."
"Yeah, and you're treating today. Who's going to pay if you get drunk? Hahaha."
Lei Jun said with a wry smile, "Friends, actually today is my birthday. I invited you all here to keep me company while I drink away my sorrows. Since I left Kingsoft, I feel completely empty. Looking back on the first half of my life, I suddenly feel that I have accomplished nothing. If I am gone tomorrow, there will be no trace of me left in this world."
"How could that be? You've earned more money over the years than most people have in several lifetimes, haven't you?"
"But who among you here doesn't have money? Having more or less money doesn't mean anything. Tens of thousands ten years ago is completely different from tens of thousands now. Hundreds of millions now might not be much in ten years."
Hearing this, Lin Chen really wanted to say, "That's true. Even in ten years, several hundred million will still be a huge sum of money. Mr. Lei, we can't be so Versailles-like."
After Lei Jun finished speaking, he drank another glass of wine.
"So you're planning to go back to Kingsoft again?"
"No, I'm going to start my own business!"
"Oh? What are you planning to do?"
"I'm going to make a mobile phone! A smartphone!"
The group started chatting about smartphones. Lin Chen listened from the side, gently shaking his head, feeling that what they were saying was not what Lei Jun wanted to do.
Lei Jun fell into thought after listening. He knew very well that smartphones were the future, but there were countless ways to get from now to the future, and he wondered where he should go from here.
Just then, a young man walked up to him. He looked up and exclaimed in surprise, "I know you. You're the developer of Fruit Ninja."
"Oh? I didn't expect Mr. Lei to know me. My name is Lin Chen. Hello, Mr. Lei."
"Hello, what a coincidence, you're here too."
"I came to Yanshan Hotel to participate in the National College Student Entrepreneurship Competition."
"Hehe, let's sit together."
"Okay, thank you." After sitting down, Lin Chen continued, "President Lei, I overheard you talking about smartphones and found it quite interesting, so I took the liberty of coming over to chat with you."
"Welcome, welcome! When I watched the video of the Shanghai College Student Entrepreneurship Competition, I remember you saying something like, 'The era of PC online games is over, and the era of mobile games is coming.' I found that very interesting. Are you still making mobile games now?"
"No, I'm currently working on Huasuan.com."
"Oh? Huasuan.com is your company?"
When the group heard about Huasuan.com, they began to take the young man in front of them more seriously.
"The hottest topic in the investment circle these past two months has been Huasuan.com. Its valuation has been changing every day, and it's almost $4 billion now. That's incredible."
"Hehe, it's all luck, it's all luck."
"Young man, you're being modest. Tell me, what are your thoughts on smartphones?"
Lin Chen pondered for a moment and said, "I don't think Android smartphones can follow the same path as iPhones and start out as high-end. To be honest, at present, Android and iOS are not comparable. If Android phones start out as high-end, they will definitely fail miserably."
Lei Jun nodded: "Indeed, I've been studying the Android system recently, and it really can't compare to iOS. The smoothness and stability are not on the same level. Moreover, under Jobs, iOS has already built a complete ecosystem, from hardware to system to applications. Android is still in the early stages of learning."
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