89: Chapter 89 Forcibly Finding Fault

Tuesday, nine in the morning.

Two black audi cars flanked a beige coaster, slowly driving through the somewhat mottled iron gate of Lihua Factory.

Chen Hao and Zhao Gang had long been waiting downstairs.

The car doors opened, and Director Su Kai was the first to step out.

Following closely was a slightly chubby middle-aged man with thinning hair.

It was Deputy Director Zhang Huai from the Information Management Bureau.

Seven or eight accompanying staff members got out one after another, some holding notebooks, others carrying briefcases.

"Welcome, leaders, for your visit and guidance."

Chen Hao stepped forward quickly, extending both hands.

Director Su Kai shook Chen Hao's hand and turned to introduce him:

"Director Zhang, this is Comrade Chen Hao.

He is young and promising; this base was built by him single-handedly."

Deputy Director Zhang Huai extended his hand, just lightly brushing Chen Hao's fingertips before withdrawing it. His gaze swept over the surrounding old factory buildings with red brick exterior walls, and he snorted:

"Director Su, this place is quite austere, isn't it?

If our ministry's pilot project were placed here, could the security guarantees keep up?"

He was already starting to pick faults.

Chen Hao didn't take the bait, his smile remaining unchanged:

"Director Zhang, your criticism is correct.

The hardware conditions are indeed a bit simple; we've spent our money where it counts.

Please come upstairs; let's look at the real substance."

The group walked up the concrete stairs to the third floor.

Pushing open the door on the third floor, the scene before them was completely different from what everyone had imagined an incubator to be.

There were no corridors or partitions like those in old state-owned enterprises; instead, there was a transparent, open view and a layout full of a sense of technology.

Black ceilings, silver-gray metal conduits, computers on every workstation, and a huge projection screen on one wall.

Dozens of staff members were working intently, and the room was filled with the sound of typing on keyboards.

"A bit interesting."

Director Su Kai smiled and commented.

"Leaders, please this way."

Chen Hao stepped aside to lead the way, bringing everyone to the first area.

Matrix Computers Hardware Laboratory.

Qian Hongyan was wearing blue work clothes printed with the word "Matrix", holding a circuit board, "fully focused" under a magnifying glass.

Seeing the leaders arrive, he put down his work and stood up straight.

"This is the hardware project we are incubating, Matrix Computers," Chen Hao introduced.

"Focusing on the research and development of specialized computers for internet cafes and public internet access venues."

"Assembled machines?"

Deputy Director Zhang Huai glanced at the parts on the table, his face full of disdain.

"Zhongguancun is full of people building custom PCs; does this count as high technology?"

Chen Hao smiled and signaled for Qian Hongyan to bring over that specially made computer case.

"Director Zhang, this is not an ordinary assembled machine, but a brand-customized machine for a niche market."

Chen Hao patted the thick steel computer case.

Qian Hongyan added from the side:

"Addressing the pain points of high-frequency use, poor heat dissipation, and susceptibility to theft in internet cafes, we redesigned the airflow structure, installed dual physical anti-theft locks, and performed underlying optimizations at the motherboard BIOS level, making the boot speed 15% faster than brand-name machines with the same configuration.

Currently, the company has received intent orders from over thirty internet cafes in Haidian District, and the annual shipment volume is expected to reach three thousand units.

We are not just selling computers; we are selling a complete hardware solution."

Hearing "annual shipment of three thousand units," everyone was a bit surprised.

Chen Hao didn't give Deputy Director Zhang Huai too much time to think, leading everyone to the next area.

"This is Huishang Technology, primarily involved in traffic distribution and network portals."

Several monitors displayed the backend interfaces of hao123 and qu123.

"The average daily unique visitors for these two websites is currently approaching four hundred thousand."

Chen Hao pointed at the upward-trending curve on the screen, calmly dropping a bombshell.

"Four hundred thousand?"

A division chief behind Director Su Kai couldn't help but exclaim.

"This traffic is almost catching up to the three major portals, right?"

"They have indeed reached the top in their niche field," Chen Hao explained.

"This four hundred thousand traffic precisely covers the university student population in the north and internet cafe users in the south.

For promoting internet applications, this is the highest quality soil."

Deputy Director Zhang Huai stared at the number for a long time, trying to find traces of fraud, but those real-time jumping IP addresses didn't look like they were simulated.

"Large traffic is a good thing, but how do you regulate it?"

Deputy Director Zhang Huai grasped the key point.

"With so many users, what if bad information is spread?"

"This is the original intention behind our application for the Regulatory Sandbox pilot."

Chen Hao was prepared and pointed to the server nearby.

"We have integrated a keyword filtering system in the backend, and all external links undergo dual verification by both manual and machine review.

This audit mechanism is exactly what we want to further improve during the pilot."

Next was Xueleduo.

Liu Lan stood in front of a map of the capital, which was densely covered with red pushpins.

"This is the distribution map of Xueleduo's nearly one hundred directly operated and franchise stores."

Although Liu Lan was nervous, she had memorized it perfectly.

"Through the inventory management system developed in conjunction with Huishang Technology, the headquarters can monitor the raw material consumption and sales data of every store in real time.

Last month, our monthly revenue exceeded one million yuan."

"One million?"

Deputy Director Zhang Huai was truly moved this time.

In this era where the average monthly salary is only a few hundred yuan, a turnover of one million per month is already very considerable.

This wasn't just any incubation project; it was practically a cash cow.

"Can selling milk tea also involve information technology?"

Deputy Director Zhang Huai asked.

"Everything can be interconnected."

Chen Hao took over the conversation.

"Xueleduo is an innovative catering enterprise based on information technology, different from traditional catering companies.

Through data analysis, the company can know what flavors customers like and which time periods are peak hours, thereby accurately allocating stock.

This is the transformation of traditional industries by internet thinking."

Director Su Kai nodded frequently while listening, a satisfied look appearing on his face.

The answer Chen Hao provided was even more impressive than he had expected.

Finally, Chen Hao led everyone to the central area.

"This is Baidu Search, which is also the project with the highest technical content in our base at present."

Manager Li Yanhong was in a casual suit, his temperament refined.

He was not awkward like others, but greeted everyone very naturally.

"Leaders, what we are doing is a Chinese full-text search engine."

Manager Li Yanhong pointed to an interface on the screen.

"The core technology is hyperlink analysis; currently, on a global scale, we are also in the first tier."

"Search?" Deputy Director Zhang Huai frowned.

"Aren't Yahoo and Google already doing very well?"

"Chinese search must have its core algorithms mastered by the people of the Dragon Kingdom themselves."

Manager Li Yanhong answered neither humbly nor arrogantly.

"We have completed our first round of financing, jointly invested by internationally renowned DFJ and IDG, with an amount of 1.2 million US dollars."

In the Dragon Kingdom in the year 2000, foreign exchange was still very precious.

For a startup that hadn't yet made a profit to be able to obtain over ten million RMB in foreign investment, this was something highly worthy of attention in the eyes of officials within the system.

Deputy Director Zhang Huai was completely speechless.

As for that incubation park at the Electric Vacuum Factory, let alone 1.2 million US dollars, even applying for 1.2 million RMB in technical renovation funds was a struggle.

The two were simply not on the same order of magnitude.

After the tour, Chen Hao invited everyone into the conference room.

On the wall of the conference room hung a banner that read, "Practical action revitalizes the nation, industry serves the country."

On the table were sliced watermelon and mineral water.

Everyone sat down, and the atmosphere was much more subtle than when they first arrived.

Director Su Kai picked up his teacup and took a sip, breaking the silence: "Everyone has just seen it.

Little Chen, have these project managers explain the details of each project specifically."

For the next half hour, each project manager gave their reports according to what had been rehearsed yesterday.

Qian Hongyan talked about how to build a brand in a niche market, how to integrate the supply chain, and how to drive costs down to the extreme.

Zhao Gang talked about how to solve the difficulties of ordinary people in the Dragon Kingdom accessing the internet, lowering the threshold for internet popularization, and subsequent promotion plans.

Liu Lan talked about standardized replication and how to use data to manage nearly one hundred stores.

Manager Li Yanhong talked about his unique algorithms and the logic for future commercial monetization.

Every project had a product, technology, cash flow, and even endorsements from international capital.

After listening, Deputy Director Zhang Huai's expression was not good, because he couldn't find any points to attack in these projects.

But as a veteran of bureaucratic infighting, this didn't stop him from picking faults.

Deputy Director Zhang Huai put down his teacup, looked around, and his gaze finally landed on Chen Hao's face.

"Little Chen, the projects are indeed all quite good."

Deputy Director Zhang Huai said slowly and deliberately.

"But I have a question."

"Director Zhang, please go ahead."

"These projects of yours, some doing search, some selling milk tea, and others assembling computers—it's all a mess, lacking a system.

It looks lively, but what does this have to do with your base?

To put it bluntly, you are just lucky that these companies happened to rent your building.

If this counts as incubation capability, wouldn't any property manager in any office building in Zhongguancun be an incubation expert?"

These words were harsh.

The few accompanying division chiefs lowered their heads to look at their notebooks, not daring to chime in.

Director Su Kai's expression darkened slightly, and just as he was about to speak up to help, Chen Hao smiled and signaled to him that he could handle it.