Chapter 252 Lying Flat Directly
Special Economic Zone, Yuanxin Internet Research Center.
Pony was in his office discussing the next phase goal for EM with several team leaders.
"Pony, I still insist that finding a suitable point of profitability is the right path," said a programmer named Fei Changgen, who was also Pony's classmate and someone Pony had brought into the team. "In the past half-month alone, we've spent hundreds of thousands just renting servers. Although this amount seems like a drop in the bucket to Yuanxin, in the long run, even Yuanxin won't be able to sustain it."
Someone immediately countered, "But Fei, don't forget that the internet is an emerging market. It's not that easy to find profitable points right away."
"Precisely because it's an emerging market that we must find a way to profit. Don't forget, we are a department under Yuanxin, not an independent startup. If we were an independent startup, we could still attract venture capital investment during the boom..."
"With users, we can attract advertisers."
"But right now, we only have ten thousand users online. Even if it goes up to a hundred thousand, how many advertisers will actually be interested?"
Seeing the team still arguing, Pony started to feel a bit overwhelmed.
He had already sent an EM message and an email to Su Yuanshan. Although he had proudly reported the number of registrations and concurrent users, the operating costs were also considerable.
The main cost lay in the servers—because enabling offline messaging meant that server capabilities had to scale exponentially.
This functionality had been approved directly by Su Yuanshan, although he probably hadn't anticipated how monstrous EM's server data load would become.
Just then, his computer beeped, indicating a new message. Pony thought for a moment, then stood up and walked around his desk. When he saw Su Yuanshan's name flashing, he took a deep breath and double-clicked to open the message.
One second later, Pony exhaled slowly, adjusted his glasses, and smiled at everyone.
"President Shan says that our internet thinking surpasses that of the West."
"This phrase..." Pony scanned the room. After a few seconds, he smiled again.
"We've discussed it a lot ourselves, and it's been brought up often in online forums too."
"But what exactly is internet thinking?"
"I believe that the internet, from its inception, was meant to facilitate people's communication and make life easier. Only by staying close to users and integrating into their daily lives can it be called real internet thinking."
"Just like our EM slogan: 'EM, making communication simple.' What we need to do now is focus on making a good product. Once we have a solid user base, we'll have much broader avenues to profit—even if it's through advertising, we'll attract more advertisers then!"
Pony reread Su Yuanshan's reply, then waved his hand with great enthusiasm,
"Our next step: focus on group instant messaging!"
"We're going to challenge both EMAIL and BBS, those two dinosaurs! EM will become a permanent resident on everyone's computers, a stubborn, indispensable communication software!"
"Uh, Pony, I think it would sound better if we framed it as 'social' rather than just 'communication.'"
The one speaking was Li Xingwang, a promotion team member who also wore glasses. He looked at Pony and explained,
"If we imagine the internet as an ocean, then every netizen is like a lone boat. Beyond seeking information online, people also seek friendship."
Pony's eyes lit up gradually, and he clenched his fist, saying,
"Good! That's a great idea—emphasize the social aspect during promotions!"
Immediately, the room burst into a lively discussion again.
"Then the friend recommendation function should be optimized too... maybe allow adding friends by selecting regions?"
"We should also add gender and age filters!"
"Yeah, and hobbies and interests too! That way people can easily find those they like."
"Hey, folks, don't forget—privacy is taken very seriously in the West."
"Can't we just add a privacy policy clause?"
"But implementing all this will be a huge project. Can the servers handle it?"
"We can add usage restrictions to control the load!"
...
Meanwhile, at Yuanxin, in Su Yuanshan's office.
To promote EM, Pony had stated in an email that all non-important, informal communications should now be conducted through EM.
For example, he quickly sent another message to Su Yuanshan, outlining EM's next moves:
Expand server deployments worldwide, aiming to complete global coverage within one year.
In marketing, highlight EM's social communication features.
In technology, fully implement the group chat functionality that had been in preparation for some time.
If the future internet was to turn Earth into a "global village," then EM's goal was to become the "telephone" in every household.
Su Yuanshan's reply was just one word, with three exclamation marks:
Good!!!
"Little Pony's ambition is really damn big," Su Yuanshan laughed to Zhou Xiaohui, who had just walked in carrying documents.
"Remember Little Pony?"
"Mm, the one who used to tell jokes on the Huiduo forum?"
"That's him..." Su Yuanshan narrowed his eyes slightly, a smile spreading across his face.
"Honestly, I'm dying to see the expressions on certain departments' faces now."
Zhou Xiaohui blinked, puzzled.
"Huh? What departments?"
"Nothing, haha..."
Su Yuanshan opened his email client, typed in Yang Yiwen's account into the recipient field, and after a moment of thought, opened a document and wrote:
—Sister Yiwen, if the relevant departments from the M side inspect EM and Email's hosted servers in the West under the guise of security concerns, make sure to fully cooperate, meticulously record every procedure and maintain confidentiality, down to every minute, every second, and even every punctuation mark.
—At the same time, also actively cooperate with their supervision, but remember to gently protest in the name of privacy rights.
He encrypted the document, attached it, and clicked send.
During the server deployment, Yuanxin Internet Research Center had engineers traveling to the West, but after the setup, the maintenance of the servers and databases was entrusted to Xinghai.
Thus, if any Western authorities grew suspicious, Xinghai would be the first point of contact.
After sending the email, Su Yuanshan leaned back in his chair, unable to hold back his laughter.
He knew the West's spying habits had not formed overnight—
Without their powerful espionage and information networks, even during World War II, the Allies might have won, but it certainly wouldn't have been so easy.
As for Cold War-era spying, it was even more intense; both sides tried to intercept even each other's sleep talk.
Now, with Yuanxin launching EMAIL and EM, two killer apps for the internet communication era, there was no way the other side wouldn't try to take a peek.
If they didn't, it would be a waste of their fine traditions and excellent technical talent.
As EM and Email aimed to become the world's leading communication tools, Su Yuanshan didn't even need them to beat a drum—just one suspicious glance from them would be enough.
At that point, he could simply lie flat and enjoy the show.
After all, it wasn't like they were eavesdropping at his wall.
(End of Chapter
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