E-Ladies: Navigating the Wired World
Chapter 137: Episode 137: Got to Attend the Internet Conference as Wished

Chapter 137: Episode 137: Got to Attend the Internet Conference as Wished

51buy successfully entered its third year, and whether in terms of staff expansion or revenue, it had already completely surpassed the previous year. Zhou Xueyin was also invited to attend the sixth Internet Conference.

The theme of this Internet Conference was: Harmonious Network, Quality Service.

The development of 51buy over the past three years fit this theme very well, and after reviewing the agenda of the conference, Zhou felt that it might be helpful to the company’s development to attend.

The venue was the China Grand Hotel, and the conference would last for three days. The attending companies were all giants in the internet industry.

People like Li KF, Zhang CY, Ding L, Li YH, and other well-known internet figures were all seated in the conference room. Of course, Ma HT, who had given a lecture at Zhou Xueyin’s university in the past, was also among them.

"Jixiang, Jixiang! It’s truly eye-opening to see so many internet tycoons today, what an incredible fortune!" Zhou Xueyin said excitedly with stars in her eyes as she grabbed Li Jixiang’s hand.

"Calm down, Yinyin, calm down! We’re here on a mission today, to understand the future trends of the internet!" Li Jixiang remained especially calm.

The conference officially began, but Zhou Xueyin found the speeches by the guests on stage extremely dull.

It was nothing more than empty clichés, mutual flattery, utterly meaningless, and even seemed like a waste of time.

However, one statement caught her attention: The future will be the era of mobile internet.

Although mobile internet was not yet widespread due to data limitations, services like QQ chat were already starting to replace text messaging. What used to only be possible through MMS, like sending photos, could now be done with mobile communication apps.

With the advent of Apple’s iPhone, tasks that used to require a computer could now be completed with a tiny phone. It became smarter, more portable...

Zhou Xueyin had these same concerns, particularly regarding the forum they were running. Despite 51buy’s current momentum, who knew when people’s attention would shift to newer, more novel internet phenomena.

Looking for the future direction of the website or selling it off at the right price might also be a wise decision.

Seizing the opportunity during lunch, Zhou Xueyin took Li Jixiang along to hand out business cards, trying to blend in and listen to the big shots networking, sharing their views with veiled words, but didn’t manage to overhear any particularly useful information.

The second day’s sessions were more down-to-earth, as they featured talks from internet tycoons.

Everyone was summarizing the present and looking forward to the future, discussing how to contribute to the country.

After listening to their conversations, Zhou Xueyin felt that for the website to truly grow and expand, relying solely on their efforts was insufficient; it was either striving for an IPO or joining a listed company or corporate group. There were no alternatives.

If it was just about running a small company, they were already successful, but their influence had not yet reached a level where they were known to everyone...

Zhou Xueyin set a small goal for herself: even if they couldn’t make every netizen in China aware of 51buy, at least every netizen in Beijing should know...

The third day of the conference mostly revolved around the gaming industry, which wasn’t much related to them, so the two left the lecture hall early and hung around the lounge area.

"Eh? You’re from 51buy, right? Are you Zhou Xueyin?" A passionate stranger approached them.

"And you are?" Zhou Xueyin, not recognizing the man, looked at him perplexedly.

"I’m Zhang Rui, CEO of Kurei Computer Network. I was wondering if 51buy has any intention of selling?" The man cut straight to the point.

"Oh? How much are you planning to offer for our website?" Zhou Xueyin was curious and quite eager to know the market price of her company.

"If Miss Zhou is truly interested in selling, can we talk about it over there?" Zhang Rui gestured toward an empty area.

"By the way, President Zhang, how did you recognize me?" Zhou Xueyin didn’t think she had made any public appearances or attended any awards ceremonies, and she wondered how he had recognized her.

"You became an internet sensation at the end of last year! How could I not recognize you!" Zhang Rui said excitedly.

"The end of last year?" Zhou Xueyin thought back, "Oh! You mean that incident... Hey, don’t listen to the media’s nonsense. I just happened to save my friend, that’s all!" Zhou Xueyin said dismissively.

"No matter if it was about saving a friend or not, Miss Zhou, you’ve shown tremendous courage! I got weak-kneed just watching from up there, and yet you were so composed saving someone! I admire that!" Zhang Rui said flatteringly.

"It was nothing worth mentioning... You wouldn’t have reminded me; I nearly forgot that ever happened."

Forget? Hardly possible, since saving Da Boyi, Zhou Xueyin had been recognized while walking around Zhongguancun for quite some time, to the extent that she later opted for full disguise with hats, masks, and sunglasses.

But it was also because of that incident that the flood of advertising orders saved them, as well as Da Boyi.

"If I may be so bold, Miss Zhou, how is the revenue situation of your forum now?" Zhang Rui was indeed direct, "I’m not spying or anything, but since we’re talking about an acquisition, why not just have a thorough discussion?"

"About 300W..." Zhou Xueyin didn’t intend to disclose the actual situation, especially not to Zhang Rui, whose Kurei Computer Network she had never even heard of.

And when dealing with someone who brings up acquisition upon first meeting, caution was always warranted.

"Only 300W? But I see your company has continuous advertising, and each refresh shows different ads? Shouldn’t it be more than 300W?" The stranger looked at Zhou Xueyin skeptically.

"Hey, President Li, as you said, the different ads appear with each refresh. Do you think the users will refresh that frequently? Those rotating ad spots are really cheap, barely worth mentioning..." Zhou Xueyin said with feigned politeness.

"True, but the idea of refreshing to rotate ads is quite innovative!" Zhang Rui touched on a sensitive subject for Zhou Xueyin.

Clearly, this person had only recently visited their website, and Kang Siyin had implemented the ad rotation feature long ago, so what was the true intention of this man? Zhou Xueyin was indeed puzzled.

"Many foreign websites do the same thing; I was just copying them," Zhou Xueyin continued modestly.

"You’re being too modest..." Zhang Rui gave a meaningful smile, "I can offer 500W to acquire your website. What do you think?"

"500W, huh... I’ll think about it..."

’500W? What a joke! My website’s revenue in the first half of ’07 was close to a tidy 500W! And you’re only offering 500W? Dream on!’ Zhou Xueyin internally scoffed.

"How about it? Is 500W not enough? 550W is my final offer!" Seeing Zhou Xueyin’s lack of interest, the stranger quickly added another 50W.