Chapter 216: One Dollar

At the Wright Digital Arts Centre, near Steve Jobs' office, there is a very special computer room. This room was originally used exclusively for video demonstrations for clients, but now it has become the workplace of Zhou Ming and Steve Jobs.

At half past twelve in the afternoon, Ming Zhou and Steve Jobs are both sitting in front of the computer in the machine room. The computer screen in front of them is displaying the interface of the bbs, which is no different from the forum post are not much different. The only difference is that compared to the future, the current bbs has simpler functions, and there are restrictions on pictures and a lack of a search function. To find a floor, you have to flip through the pages yourself, etc.

After refreshing the interface again and seeing that the floors had not continued to update, Jobs said to Ming Zhou, 'It seems that we've reached the end for this morning. Let's go and eat first. My secretary has already come to remind me twice that if I don't go and eat, I don't think my health expert will let me off the hook.'

Seeing that Zhou Ming was frowning and not moving, Jobs continued, 'I can understand how you feel. I know you really want our news to get a lot of attention on the bbs, but maybe we have chosen the wrong place, or perhaps there aren't as many people paying attention to the internet as we thought. At least so far, all the people speaking online are basically our own people, and there is very little participation from others.'

Zhou Ming nodded silently. It had been three full days since he had sent his first message.

During those three days, apart from eating and sleeping, Zhou Ming had been in the machine room at the Pisi Animation Studio, staring at the bbs, so he was well aware of the direction of the comments on it. At the moment, their post is still at the top because it has been constantly replied to, but the attention it has received is actually not as high as expected. Most of the replies are from people in the same group, and hardly any others have been guided to participate in the discussion of this topic.

What's going on? Is it true that he has gone in the wrong direction? Are there not enough Internet users, or has he chosen the wrong approach?

Zhou Ming does not understand. He then went out to lunch with Steve Jobs in a restaurant. Jobs said to Zhou Ming, 'I don't mean to offend you, but I think we have underestimated the situation. The internet is indeed a convenient and cost-effective channel, and I believe that in the not-too-distant future, it will be a very good way to market products.'

Jobs paused here, and then continued: 'But the current bbs may not be as good as we think, at least in terms of the number of users, it is not yet obvious.'

'So, Mr. Ming Zhou, why don't we choose to think about other publicity options? Even if it costs a bit more, I have confidence in Toy Story. If I take this project to raise funds, I can still get a lot of investment, so I can definitely increase the publicity budget.' Jobs said, 'And now that we have your ideas, Mr. Zhou Ming, there will be less resistance to the replacement plan.'

'To be honest, I am still very confident in my plan. Although the current situation is far from ideal, I still think it is the best choice,' Zhou Ming said with a wry smile.

Steve Jobs wanted to say something, but Ming Zhou spoke first: 'I'm not being paranoid when I say this, I just want to find out what went wrong and correct it. Of course, if you can think of a better way, that would be great.'

'How about this, I'll go back to Palo Alto and see if I can find the problem,' Ming said.

Although Jobs really wanted to keep Ming, he also understood that the current Toy Story promotional plan was the most urgent problem to be solved, so he didn't try to persuade him to stay. As for Ming Zhou, he wasn't trying to quit or anything, but after spending all day in front of the computer, he really couldn't think of anything. He thought it would be better to go for a walk and see if he could come up with any new ideas. So that afternoon, Ming Zhou drove back to Palo Alto.

On hearing the news that Zhou Ming was back, Tang Ran was as happy as if she had won the 5 million lottery. She took Zhou Ming to a new café on California Street. Tang told Zhou Ming that it was Xiaoxue who had opened it with her friend, with her friend investing the bulk of the capital and her handling the business and marketing. It had only just opened a few days before.

Xiao Xue playfully asked the two bosses, Zhou Ming and Tang Ran, to support her business. Zhou Ming generously ordered everything that was expensive in the café. Xiao Xue was very happy with Zhou Ming's generosity and believed that if Tang Ran were not here, she would be so happy that she would kiss Zhou Ming.

After ordering, Ming, Ran and Xiaoxue sat down. Ming was curious and asked Xiaoxue, 'Don't you live in San Francisco's Chinatown? Why did you come to Palo Alto to open a restaurant?' You have to know that Palo Alto is still part of San Francisco, but it's still an hour's drive away, which is quite a distance. And to be honest, is not necessarily better than San Francisco, not to mention the fact that San Francisco is still the place with the highest concentration of Chinese people. In any case, it is not worth the trouble to come to Palo Alto to open a store.

Xiao Xue told Ming that she came here because she went to school here and because her classmates, with whom she was in partnership, were all in Palo Alto.

'I didn't know that Xiaoxue was a top student at Stanford University. If I remember correctly, Stanford University is the only university in Palo Alto,' Ming asked in surprise.

Zhou Ming could not help being surprised. You see, Stanford University is a famous university that is on a par with Harvard. It is also the university that has produced the most billionaires. Of course, it does not mean that if you go to Stanford University, you will definitely become a billionaire and be unable to start a business. But at least you will definitely become an outstanding talent that many top companies will fight to hire.

Perhaps Xiaoxue is too low-key and honest to be seen as a Stanford graduate, but her classmates shouldn't be like that either. Starting a business together is not something that just any graduate from an ordinary university would do, is it?

Facing this question, Xiaoxue answered apologetically, 'I studied at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.'

'Although I didn't go to university, just hearing the name, I think it must be Stanford University. I never thought Xiaoxue was so amazing...'

Tang Ran's words had not finished when Zhou Ming pulled her back, because as a reborn person, Zhou Ming understood too well that what Xiaoxue was actually reading was a secondary college that had the name Stanford University but was not direct connection to Stanford University. Although this junior college also borrowed the teaching staff from Stanford University, it could not be considered Stanford University after all, and there was still a big difference in terms of training and teaching.

In this In those days, universities in China were not as numerous as they are today. Those who could go to university were the pride of their families, and people looked up to them. Tang Ran didn't know much about universities, so she didn't understand the term 'junior college'.

Xuexiao smiled gratefully at Zhou Ming, and immediately changed the subject: 'By the way, Ming, I heard from Ran that you're making a film right now, is that right? Is there anything we can do to help? Or maybe we could just pop in for a cameo or something?'

Zhou Ming spread his hands in resignation: 'If I could, I would definitely find a way, but I'm sorry, it's an animated film, all computer-generated, and it doesn't need any real people.'

'Oh I see. That's a shame. I would have really liked to act in a movie.' But then he added, 'But if you need any help, Brother Ming, please let me know.'

Originally Zhou Ming wanted to politely decline, but then he suddenly thought of something, so he said, 'Don't say that, because I really need your help.'

'Really? What kind of help?' Xiaoxue asked hurriedly. Her eyes were sincere, not at all artificial.

Zhou Ming thought for a moment and then asked, 'Before I tell you what kind of help I need, I want to ask you, do you know what bbs is? Do you know which bbs is the most popular right now?'

:' Of course I know, many of my classmates play it! But I don't really know which one is the most popular. But my classmates and I mainly hang out on the Stanford, California and Chinese communities boards. What do you want to know for, Brother Ming?'

Zhou Ming told himself that he was promoting the movie on the BBS. Xiaoxue was very puzzled: 'But I haven't heard of any movie being promoted on the BBS right now.'

'Then have you and your classmates heard of a story about a toy that has a soul and can create its own world at home after the owner leaves?' Zhou Ming asked again.

Yes, and immediately responded, 'Brother Ming, is this the movie you're promoting? This is really cool, toys can actually have their own souls. I can't wait for it to come out, and my friends and I will definitely go to the cinema to support it!'

Facing Xiao Xue's questions, Zhou Ming said with a smile, 'We can talk about the release date then, but I do hope that you and your classmates can help me by participating in the discussions on the bbs about the toy soul and the strange events in the house.'

Seeing that Xue still didn't seem to understand, so Zhou Ming asked Xue's friend to take out the laptop, connect to the Internet in the café, open the bbs, and find the post about the toy haunting incident.

Seeing this post, Xiao Xue's friend immediately exclaimed in surprise, 'I've seen this post before. I even argued with my friends about whether toys have souls, and whether they have their own world after we leave the house. My God, did you post it?'

'I I think I'm sorry, it's like this, but please keep it a secret,' Zhou Ming said with a smile. With these words from Xiaoxue's friend, Zhou Ming already had sufficient confidence. It was clear that the post he had posted had already received attention, it was just that the attention had not yet been truly aroused.

Xiaoxue was happy to promise to keep it a secret. Zhou Ming then added: 'So the favour I want to ask you today is that I hope you can help me online by constantly replying to this post, or other related posts to reply and discuss. On the one hand, express your own thoughts; on the other, guide others to think along with you. This task is not difficult, and I believe you are smart enough to do it.'

'Of course,' Of course,' Zhou Ming continued, 'I won't let you do it for free. I can pay you one dollar for each response that is more than 256 bytes and does not repeat. You can totally treat this as a part-time job, but you must sign a confidentiality agreement.'

Facing Zhou Ming's request, Xiaoxue immediately happily said, 'Of course there is no problem. I know a few friends, and they all like to play on the Internet. If I tell them they can make money playing on the Internet, they will be so happy they'll jump up and down! I have a classmate who is the administrator of the Stanford University community. He has a wide circle of friends and can definitely help you, Brother Ming, get the word out to everyone!'

'Administrator? That is a very good position indeed,' Ming was overjoyed.