Chapter 28
Zhao Zhen's complete defection and the mysterious hacker's continued surveillance, like two intertwined undercurrents, propelled the newly repaired "Mingyu Technology" into deeper, more murky waters. However, extreme pressure can sometimes generate astonishing power. After assessing the level of the external threat, Li Ming made a crucial decision—to abandon passive responses and instead pour all resources into accelerating the platform project.
"We have no way out." In the core meeting with only four people, Li Ming's gaze was like tempered steel. "Either perish in silence, or forge a path to survival through an explosion! From now on, everyone, cease all external interference. There is only one goal: to launch the public beta version of the 'Mingyu Life' platform within two months!"
This was a high-stakes gamble. It was a gamble on the technological potential of Wang Hao's team, on Li Ming's judgment of market trends, and on the indomitable spirit they all possessed.
Wang Hao completely halted all outsourcing projects and, with a newly recruited graphic designer and the server maintenance engineer attracted by Li Ming's "pie-in-the-sky" vision (described the platform's future prospects), began closed-door development. The office lights often stayed on until the early hours of the morning, the air thick with the aromas of coffee, instant noodles, and code. Li Ming was no longer just a director; with his forward-thinking aesthetic and keen intuition for user experience, he personally participated in the design of product prototypes and the refinement of functional details. He often argued heatedly with Wang Hao, yet through these clashes, the product's direction became increasingly clear.
Li Ziqing became the company's strongest support. She not only meticulously maintained the company's basic operations to ensure the R&D team had no worries, but also wrote all the promotional materials and user manuals. She even learned to manage the newly established official forum and user groups, patiently answering every question from early beta testers. She shed the last trace of her pampered rich girl persona, demonstrating astonishing resilience and learning ability.
Liu Qiang became a jack-of-all-trades, sticking to wherever he was needed. He procured equipment, contacted testing users, and even learned to help Wang Hao's team with some simple data entry tasks. His loyalty and hard work became the ballast stone for stabilizing the team's morale.
During this arduous and crucial period, the relationship between Li Ming and Li Ziqing quietly changed under the shared struggle and immense pressure. They were no longer just classmates or business partners, but more like comrades-in-arms who relied on and supported each other. Countless late nights, after everyone else had gone to rest, they would often check progress together, discuss problems, share a bowl of instant noodles, or simply lean back in their chairs, looking out at the quiet city, briefly letting their minds wander.
A tacit understanding and emotion that transcends words grows silently, becoming strong and warm.
Finally, as the two-month deadline approached, the public beta version of the "Mingyu Life" platform V1.0 was launched as scheduled, thanks to the painstaking efforts of Wang Hao's team!
This version was still rudimentary, focusing on aggregating information and distributing coupons for local restaurants, cinemas, KTVs, and other entertainment venues in Jinyang City. However, it featured a clearer interface, more stable map location services, and a rudimentary user rating system. Compared to similar information websites on the market, it placed greater emphasis on the mobile browsing experience (although smartphones were not yet widespread at the time), and its operation was simpler.
Li Ming used all the marketing funds he had raised, and with the support of Shen Yan's follow-up report (which subtly mentioned that "Mingyu" withstood the pressure to launch a new product), he carried out intensive promotion in several key universities in the province and local white-collar forums.
The market's response exceeded their most optimistic expectations!
Perhaps it was the increased brand awareness brought by the previous series of controversies (albeit negative, which translated into curiosity), perhaps it was the product itself addressing the pain point of young people "looking for places to have fun," or perhaps it was the emotional appeal of the "student entrepreneurship's indomitable spirit" story... A week after the platform's launch, user registrations and daily active users began to steadily climb. Although the initial number was small, the growth curve was encouraging. The first batch of dozens of local merchants who partnered with the platform also began to report receiving customers brought in through the platform.
For the first time, the office was truly filled with hope and joy. Liu Qiang grinned from ear to ear as he watched the user numbers constantly fluctuating in the backend. Wang Hao remained silent, but a rare sense of ease crept into his eyes. Li Ziqing let out a long sigh of relief, looking at Li Ming with eyes full of pride.
However, even in this nascent dawn, shadows were already creeping in.
The first to launch an attack was Zhao Zhen's "Zhenhua Commerce and Trade." Leveraging investment from Lei Yao Capital and a mature e-commerce model, Zhao Zhen quickly replicated and expanded the success of "Mingqing Store," even venturing into the local life services sector that "Mingyu Life" platform was trying to penetrate. With lower discounts and more aggressive advertising, he openly competed with "Mingyu" for users and merchants. The true intentions of business competition were revealed.
Following this, Zhou Ruilin stepped in again. Although he didn't resort to the underhanded tactics he used against his family, he leveraged the Zhou family's influence to pressure some larger local chain merchants who had initially contacted "Mingyu," threatening them that cooperating with "Mingyu" would affect their partnerships with the Zhou family's commercial real estate businesses. This pressure from the upstream of the supply chain was even more devastating.
Caught between Zhao Zhen and Zhou Ruilin, Mingyu's fledgling platform business felt immense pressure. User growth began to slow, and some agreed-upon merchant partnerships were forced to end.
"Damn it! It's them again!" Liu Qiang slammed his fist on the table in anger.
Wang Hao stared at his competitors' websites, analyzing their technical architecture and operational strategies.
Li Ziqing looked at the financial statements with deep concern, as the cash flow, which had just begun to improve, was once again facing a test.
Li Ming stood by the office window, looking at the bustling crowd below, his eyes cold. He had long expected this day to come. Zhao Zhen and Zhou Ruilin, one representing the ruthlessness of capital and the other the arrogance of the old guard, would not stand idly by and watch him grow stronger.
"What's the panic?" Li Ming turned around, his face showing no fear, but rather the calm of a hunter seeing his prey fall into a trap. "The more they act like this, the more it proves that we've chosen the right path and hit their sore spot!"
He quickly adjusted his strategy.
"Wang Hao, immediately develop a 'merchant self-service onboarding' system to simplify the process, reduce reliance on large chain merchants, and focus on developing distinctive small and medium-sized independent merchants that the Zhou family's influence cannot reach! What we need to build is an ecosystem, the long tail!"
"Understood!" Wang Hao immediately understood.
"Ziqing, launch our 'Seed User Program,' giving our early core users higher privileges and points rewards to encourage them to generate content (write reviews, post guides), fostering a community atmosphere and word-of-mouth marketing! We must use the power of people to fight against the firepower of capital!"
“Okay, I’ll draft the details right away!” Li Ziqing nodded.
"Liu Qiang, you're in charge of ground promotion. Focus your efforts on conquering the commercial areas around universities and where the Zhou family's influence is weak. Go door-to-door and tell them that joining 'Mingyu' is embracing the future!"
"Leave it to me!" Liu Qiang rubbed his hands together, eager to get started.
Just as Li Ming was dealing with the overt commercial crackdown, the hacker hiding in the shadows once again bared his fangs.
This time, the attacker was no longer testing the waters, but launched an extremely fierce, high-speed credential stuffing attack on the "Mingyu Life" platform's user login system! Tens of thousands of username and password combinations flooded the server's authentication interface like a tidal wave!
"Warning! A large number of abnormal login requests!" the operations and maintenance personnel shouted anxiously.
Wang Hao immediately rushed to the computer, his fingers flying across the keyboard, activating the emergency plan to block IPs and increase the difficulty of verification.
The attack lasted for a full ten minutes. Although it was eventually successfully defended and no user data was leaked, it consumed a large amount of server resources, causing normal users to experience extremely slow access and a significantly diminished user experience.
"The other party... is very professional, and their purpose is clear: to ruin our service and damage our user reputation." Wang Hao wiped the sweat from his forehead, his face grave.
Li Ming stared at the attack trajectory on the monitor screen, his eyes sharp as knives. The timing of this attack was impeccable, coinciding perfectly with the platform's recent launch and its facing suppression from Zhao Zhen and Zhou Ruilin—it was far too targeted!
Did Zhao Zhen leverage the technical capabilities of Lei Yao Capital? Or did Zhou Ruilin find an even more powerful hacker? Or perhaps... an unknown third party that has been hiding deeper within?
Just then, Li Ming's phone rang; it was a completely unfamiliar overseas number.
He frowned and pressed the answer button.
On the other end of the phone came a cold, emotionless, electronically synthesized voice that had been clearly altered:
"Mr. Li Ming, your little toy is very interesting."
"But the game should end now."
"Hand over the 'key,' or watch it be destroyed."
After saying that, the call was disconnected before Li Ming could respond, leaving only a busy tone.
Li Ming held his phone, standing still, as if the blood in his body had frozen instantly.
"Key"? What key?
Was the other party referring to the "Mingyu Life" platform? Or... the secret of his rebirth?
This mysterious call, like the previous hacking attacks, clearly originated from the same source. The attacker's motives seem to extend far beyond simple business competition.
He felt as if he were standing on a giant chessboard, having barely managed to deal with the two pieces visible on the board (Zhao Zhen and Zhou Ruilin), only to find that the shadow of the player wielding the pieces loomed over the entire sky, and what the other party was demanding was something he could not understand at all, and something he could never give up.
Sunlight streamed in through the window, falling on Li Ming's slightly pale face, but he felt no warmth whatsoever.
The initial joy was replaced by a deeper chill. The real threat seemed to have only just begun to unfold.
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