Around the turn of the millennium, Panda Chat's online user base reached a new high. Almost overnight, the software became popular in major cities, with a huge number of people using it, including adults and children, young and old, to greet each other.
Panda Chat also supports online video calls; as long as your computer has a webcam, you can see each other.
Some young people in long-distance relationships, people working abroad, and those who want to see their wives and children back home and stay in touch with their partners have chosen Panda Chat.
Office buildings also choose Panda because Panda Office Group is a feature of Panda Chat, providing convenience for office workers.
The panda's interface is simple and easy to use. It also allows online membership purchases and recharge services to buy avatars and pets. Originally, the recharge fee for Panda Chat was only tens of thousands of yuan per day, but around the turn of the millennium, it rose to 100,000 yuan per day. This income was very considerable, and both Chu Yu and Yan Hongzhe were very satisfied.
Chu Yu pondered that it was time to create a music software for Chinese users to listen to music. Panda Chat users could also choose background music while chatting online, which would be a win-win situation.
Yan Hongzhe approved Chu Yu's suggestion and let Hongyu's development team develop music software.
Chu Yu invested in Li Zhou's company, and several of Li Zhou's company's mini-games could easily be placed on the Panda Chat page.
"By simply adding an icon, Panda Chat users can directly click into and start the game, thus promoting the game. Of course, Hongyu can create its own game, but since Hongyu doesn't have its own game, it can collaborate with Li Zhou's company to explore possibilities."
Yan Hongzhe certainly wouldn't refuse. In this way, Panda Chat users could be converted into game users, and everyone could share the money they spent on game top-ups. What's wrong with that?
Adding a small icon to the Panda Chat page is not a difficult task for Yan Hongzhe.
"I'll have someone from the company discuss cooperation with you right away. Hongyu will also be launching several fun games this year."
Chu Yu naturally hoped that Hongyu would get better and better. She smiled and said, "At this rate, Hongyu will be able to go public soon! Portal website, search engine, Panda Chat, music software, game software... After Hongyu goes public, its stock price will not be low."
Yan Hongzhe also remarked that Hongyu had developed too quickly.
Of course, it's not that Hongyu is developing fast, but that the internet is developing fast. The internet has grown from nothing to become a skyscraper, and Hongyu has simply gained some convenience in the city of the internet.
Chu Yu and Yan Hongzhe plan to take the company public after the turn of the millennium.
Around 2001 and 2002, the company needed to submit three years' worth of financial reports before it could go public. Chu Yu and Yan Hongzhe both hoped that the company's performance would look better in the next few years. Fortunately, all of Hongyu's R&D projects had great potential. Chu Yu thought that if things went smoothly, the company might be able to go public in the year 2000.
However, these were all just her wishful thinking.
Hongyu's music software development was rapid. The launch of Panda Show and Panda Games led to a rapid increase in the user base of Panda Chat, reaching 2 million users before the year 2000. With these stable users, Panda Games received considerable attention as soon as it was launched, and the amount of money recharged by members increased dozens of times.
Chu Yu could only marvel at how fast the internet had developed.
As the new millennium approached, the internet and real estate boom was about to begin, and Chu Yu had made all the necessary preparations, hoping to seize these two opportunities.
Qi Ping has launched a new phone that is getting closer to a smartphone. It has more games, can listen to music, and watch TV. Although the memory is small and there aren't many movies and TV shows that can be watched, it is still an attempt.
Qi Ping also added many small functions to the phone, such as adding a weather forecast icon to the page to make the phone forecast more accurate. People can see the time and weather as long as they pick up their phones, and watches are gradually becoming less popular.
The year 2000 was a year full of hope. In the lead-up to the new millennium, doomsday prophecies were rampant, and some TV series even depicted the end of the world. As a result, everyone on the street was talking about the end of the world.
"Chu Yu, do you think there might really be an apocalypse? When the new millennium arrives, the world ends, and humanity is reduced to ruins?" Shu Lan changed her mind.
Newspapers are full of discussions about the end of the world, and company employees are saying that Shulan just discussed it with Yan Hongzhe, but Yan Hongzhe denied it, stating with reason and evidence that it was impossible.
But women love gossip. When Shulan thought about the rumors circulating outside, that a witch from some country made a prophecy hundreds or thousands of years ago, saying that humanity would be wiped out in the millennium.
The TV series says that a virus outbreak occurred in the year 2000, and humans will not be able to see the sun in the year 2000.
Shulan felt quite scared. Her child was still young, and her family was happy. She didn't want the earth to disappear, and for the three of them to open their eyes and never see the sun again.
Chu Yu smiled. She used to be just as gossipy. "No, there's no such thing as the end of the world. After the millennium, humanity will enter a new era."
What era?
"An era with computers and computing power. Let me put it this way, Shulan, you feel that life isn't convenient enough now, right? Home appliances are relatively simple, mobile phones don't have many functions, and computers are only good for chatting, so I don't know what to do with them. But in a few years, computers and mobile phones will occupy most of people's time, home appliances will be upgraded rapidly, and people's homes will become more and more luxurious... In short, the millennium is an era full of hope."
When Shulan heard what she said, she felt that the future was promising, which was a very good feeling.
"What's so fun about computers? I just chat on them. And I don't know what to do on my phone either. To be honest, if you ask me to play on my phone for five minutes every day, I start to get impatient."
Chu Yu smiled and said, "You'll never feel like playing for five hours a day is enough."
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! I will never be a useless person controlled by a mobile phone!"
"Have you ever seen a science fiction movie? People are controlled by their mobile phones or computer screens and become addicted to the virtual world. The virtual world will construct the perfect world that humans want to numb their senses. You may think this world is unlikely now, but in the future, people's addiction to mobile phones will exceed your imagination. Therefore, our company will also develop in the direction of online shopping in the future."
Shulan rested her chin on her hand, imagining the future Chu Yu had described: the millennium, an era that once seemed so distant, was about to arrive.
In Shulan's memory, life in the 1980s was too hard, the 1990s was a transitional era, and the new millennium should be an era of progress, right? Everyone's life is getting better and better, the country is becoming stronger, the company is growing and expanding, and Shulan is living the good life she dreamed of.
It sounds wonderful!
Shulan is truly beginning to look forward to the arrival of the new millennium.
The millennium is Chu Yu's past life and the future of this life.
The millennium seems to be a hurdle, a watershed moment, foreshadowing different futures for humanity. Chu Yu knows that the future is not all good, but she remains full of confidence.
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