Chapter 90: Before the Trend Begins

October 15th.

Universe Technology.

Under a night sky filled with a vast expanse of stars.

Zhang Yang stood quietly on the rooftop of Universe Technology, gazing up at the starry sky.

Standing beneath such a celestial display, a person felt remarkably small.

Mosquitoes buzzed incessantly around him. He hadn’t expected that even eight floors up, there would still be so many of them.

Autumn mosquitoes¹ were truly something else.

The night remained stiflingly hot.

Zhang Yang took a long swig of beer.

In weather like this, downing an ice-cold beer paired with a few side dishes was a feeling so divine it was almost transcendent.

After finishing a bottle…

His phone rang.

The caller informed him that his passport had been processed. He could leave for America tomorrow.

When he heard the news…

Excitement sent goosebumps racing across his skin. He wanted nothing more than to board a plane and fly to New York immediately.

It wasn’t that he was obsessed with foreign lands. Rather, by going to America, he could use his foresight to take care of the most important matters first!

The trajectory of this world was so similar to his original one, yet different in many places.

After Tong Wei and Chu Meng returned from America, they hadn’t just told him about Apple Inc.’s situation; they had actually tracked down Android.

Yes!

This world actually had Android.

Initially, Zhang Yang had only thought about purchasing the usage rights for Android for twenty years.

But…

Tong Wei and Chu Meng had brought back even more shocking news!

Zhang Yang had been so excited at the time he nearly went mad.

Android had not been acquired by Gugou.

Gugou in this world was the equivalent of Google in his previous one.

Furthermore, Android’s technology was relatively immature, and they were currently short on funds, actively seeking a benefactor.

Wasn’t that just…

Fine.

Zhang Yang didn’t actually have much money right now.

Investing two million dollars into a company like Android was practically a joke; it wouldn’t even make a ripple.

But…

Was money really an issue for Zhang Yang?

Not at all!

Time!

Yes, Zhang Yang just needed a bit of time.

That was all.

“President Zhang… we’ve sold a thousand phones so far, with two thousand more on pre-order!”

“…”

On the other end of the line, Tong Wei’s voice was brimming with excitement.

However…

Zhang Yang was not satisfied with those numbers.

It wasn’t enough.

Still not enough.

Nowhere near enough.

After hanging up, Zhang Yang stared silently at his company’s bank account, a ruthless glint appearing in his eyes.

Then…

Like a gambler, he lowered his head as a mad idea surfaced in his mind.

Finally, he picked up his phone again.

“Brother Zhou?”

“Ah, President Zhang! Heavens, what wind blew a busy man like you my way?”

“Haha, Brother Zhou, well… I wanted to ask, what is your current endorsement fee?”

“Huh? Endorsement fee?”

“That’s right.”

Under the night sky, Zhang Yang spoke with total seriousness.

On the other end of the line, Zhou Yang was clearly stunned for a moment.

…

In the dead of night.

Inside Liu Ruohan’s room.

The affection level of the Knight Prince in God of Conquest had finally upgraded from “Friend” to “Ambiguous Relationship.”

Liu Ruohan let out a satisfied yawn and climbed into bed.

Once tucked in…

She thought back to the expression on her father’s face when he nearly smashed Zhang Yang’s phone, and she suddenly felt bewildered.

What was going on?

Was it really necessary for her father to get so worked up just because Zhang Yang sent over a phone?

Granted, Zhang Yang was indeed quite obnoxious. He had disrupted the rules of the gaming industry, causing Mumaen Company’s payroll expenses to increase by more than ten percent.

But that was just business. Business was business, and personal matters were personal. Was there any need to mix the two?

Besides, in a sense, Mumaen Technology didn’t even have a substantial competitive relationship with Zhang Yang.

Zhang Yang focused on single-player games, while Mumaen focused on online games. Whether it was game turnover or overall revenue, they completely outclassed Zhang Yang’s Universe Technology.

Liu Ruohan thought about it for a long time and still felt her father was being a bit too narrow-minded.

Perhaps…

The reason he loathed Zhang Yang was that Zhang Yang’s series of actions gave her father a sense that things were spinning out of his control?

Her father was, by nature, a man with a very strong desire for control.

But what was wrong with sending a phone?

Mumaen had helped Zhang Yang during his most difficult time. Now Zhang Yang was simply returning the favor. There was nothing wrong with that.

Even if this phone was…

Thinking of this, Liu Ruohan didn’t know what to say for a moment.

Just as she was about to close her eyes and sleep…

Her pink phone suddenly rang.

“Miss Liu…”

“President Zhang?”

“Miss Liu, um, are you asleep?”

“Zhang Yang, just say it. What do you want from me this time?” Liu Ruohan heard him use the formal “you”² again.

She was instantly alert.

Was this guy asking for another favor?

Otherwise, why would he be so polite?

“Ah, Miss Liu, you’re amazing. You guessed it just like that. Your IQ truly shocks me. Miss Liu, I think your attainments in psychology are…”

“Zhang Yang, stop being a hypocrite. Just tell me what it is.” Liu Ruohan immediately cut off his nauseating flattery.

“Cough, cough. Ruohan, we’ve known each other for a while now, haven’t we?” Zhang Yang cleared his throat.

“Yes,” Liu Ruohan replied, nodding.

“I heard you’re proficient in several foreign languages?”

“I wouldn’t say proficient. I can communicate and write without any issues. I’m roughly at a translator’s level…”

“Well, do you know English?”

“I do,” Liu Ruohan said with a nod.

“What’s your appearance fee? I want to borrow you for a day. No, three days…”

“What appearance fee! I’m not a celebrity. Are you looking for a translator?” Liu Ruohan asked instinctively.

“That’s right. I want to head to the States, but you know me – I didn’t even finish high school, and my English isn’t exactly great…”

“We’re friends, so if you want to hire me, I’ll charge you thirty thousand a day.”

“Huh?” There was a clear pause on the other end of the line.

“Thirty thousand a day…” Liu Ruohan repeated it seriously, thinking he hadn’t heard her correctly.

“…” The phone suddenly went silent.

“Hello? That’s strange. Is the signal bad?” Liu Ruohan pulled the phone away to check, but the signal was perfectly fine.

“That… alright then.” After a long moment, he finally responded with a nod.

“Mhm. Was there anything else?”

“Nothing else. Well, I did want to ask, Ruohan, if I were to invite you onto television – you know, to help me do a commercial – what would your appearance fee be?”

“That… I consulted the company’s marketing department a few days ago. If I were to do an advertisement, the price would be a bit cheaper than Zhao Yiman’s. It’s hard to say for a TV commercial… but it probably wouldn’t be less than five million per shoot.”

“Oh, I see.”

“Is there anything else?”

“No, it’s just that a friend of mine wanted me to ask. I’ll pass your words along to him. If I need your help later, I’ll get in touch?”

“Oh, alright. Sounds good.”

Liu Ruohan hung up the phone…

She suddenly realized that Zhang Yang’s way of addressing her had changed from the formal “you” back to the casual one.

Her expression became quite colorful.

This man…

He was so pragmatic!

When he needed a favor, he addressed her with the utmost respect…

Not long after she hung up…

Her phone rang again.

She looked at the screen…

It was Zhang Yang calling back.

Liu Ruohan was speechless.

This guy…

“Ruohan…”

“Speak!”

“Can the translation fee be a little cheaper? You know, my company just started, and I don’t have much money right now. There are so many things I need to spend on lately, and life is a bit tight… We grassroots entrepreneurs have to spend every penny where it counts. We really can’t compare to a princess of a big company like you…”

“Zhang Yang… I have a Level 1 English translation certificate³. We used to charge by the hour, and my market rate is over three hundred US dollars an hour. That’s nearly sixty thousand yuan a day…” Liu Ruohan sighed deeply. “I’m actually giving you a bargain out of the goodness of my heart.”

“Then, can I pay by the hour? Like, calculating it hour by hour, and I’ll just rent you for three hours?”

“I suppose you could if you were in Huaxia, but you’re taking me to the States. That’s different. I’d actually have to bring my own bodyguards along…”

“…” On the other end of the line, Zhang Yang seemed to fall into a silent struggle. After a long hesitation, he finally nodded. “Fine, I’ll hire you for one day…”

“Mhm… okay.” Liu Ruohan nodded. “When?”

“Tomorrow?”

“Fine!”

In her room, Liu Ruohan thought about it. Once she confirmed she had nothing else to do tomorrow, she nodded in agreement.

Afterward…

She turned off her phone and lay down on the bed to sleep.

Meanwhile, on the other end, Zhang Yang…

He was tossing and turning in bed, unable to sleep.

His mind was filled with thoughts about how English translation could actually be so lucrative.

He was suddenly very frustrated…

Why hadn’t he studied harder back then!

In this world, it was one thing – that wasn’t due to his own choices…

But in his original world…

If he had studied hard and hadn’t been so addicted to games…

Wait, that wasn’t right either!

If I hadn’t been addicted to games, I wouldn’t be able to make games now, and I wouldn’t even understand game mechanics…

Amidst this back-and-forth internal conflict, Zhang Yang finally drifted off to sleep.

…

October 16th.

Shenzhen.

It was a drizzly morning, and the air was thick with the scent of dampness.

Many mobile phone manufacturers had gotten their hands on a prototype of the “Phelps” phone. They suddenly felt like coughing up blood, then turned to look at the production line plans sitting on their desks…

The mental state of many manufacturers collapsed!

They suddenly realized that with their current technology, even if they produced knock-off phones, they had no way of surpassing the “Phelps.”

Furthermore, they needed time. By the time they actually developed something, it would be 2006 at the earliest. In 2006…

Would there even be any scraps left for them?

“Why? This market was clearly just starting…”

“But why was someone able to figure out every single selling point so thoroughly?”

“…”

In a small room next to an electronics factory in Dongguan, a young man named Lei Chao was in even worse shape.

In the latter half of this year, he had keenly realized that the mobile phone wave in Huaxia was about to arrive.

He had taken out loans to buy a large number of phone components and was even ready to go all out.

But…

He never imagined in his wildest dreams that before his assembly plan could even begin, someone would have already beaten him to the punch.

What was even worse was that the phone components he bought were all for eight hundred thousand pixel cameras.

The “Phelps” phone on the market already had two million pixels.

His eight hundred thousand pixels!

What kind of market position could he possibly have?

What was even more exaggerated was…

Waterproofing!

Flashy LED lights⁴, drop resistance, pressure resistance, MP3, MP4…

All these features he once thought of as selling points had been incorporated into the “Phelps” one by one. Even the appearance was exquisitely crafted. Moreover, the cheapest one-million-pixel phone was only selling for 998⁵!

The expensive luxury version with over two million pixels only cost 3,000!

Damn it!

“I originally wanted to get a piece of the action in this era, or at the very least, some leftovers…”

“But now, it looks like I’ll be lucky to even get a drop of soup!”

“Dammit!”

In the small room.

Lei Chao wailed all night, trapped in a situation where he couldn’t move forward or back.

In fact…

Lei Chao was just one among thousands of people in the mobile phone industry…

Many people with forward-thinking vision had seen the massive market potential of mobile phones.

They felt they were already making their move ahead of time.

But…

Never in their wildest dreams did they imagine they were still too late!

…………………………..

2005.

In this world, it was truly a special year.

Various knock-off phone brands had yet to rise. The Android OS of this world had only just been successfully developed; its system kernel was immature, and the company’s leadership was at a loss as to how to monetize it.

Although they knew this system was intended for mobile phones and that its future prospects were limitless, they had no way to break into the market.

In other words…

They were still in the stage of hunting for investment.

After all, Novia phones, powered by Symbian OS, were in their absolute prime. They dominated over sixty percent of the Huaxia market like a vicious dragon, crushing everything in their path.

Faced with Novia’s onslaught, most chose to bow their heads and surrender or join them. No one could see any other hope.

Meanwhile, in the States, iOS was growing stronger by the day. Its kingly momentum in the mobile market was already apparent, showing faint signs of a coming struggle for supremacy against the reigning king, Novia.

Everyone’s eyes were fixed on these two brands; almost no one cared about the Android company.

The United States.

Android Inc.

Android founder Andis⁶ was at the Gugou⁷ company, passionately explaining his ideas for future smart robots while earnestly pitching his Android OS.

However, it was clear that Gugou’s commercial executives weren’t interested in his ideas.

They had just reached an agreement with iOS, which could perfectly address the flaws in their search engine. After hearing the future described by Apple’s top brass, they were very much in sync with Apple’s philosophy.

After patiently listening to Andis, the people at Gugou very seriously discussed a low-priced acquisition.

Andis fell into a long, heavy silence after hearing this.

Half an hour later…

Andis left the Gugou building, looking dejected.

He didn’t believe his system was worthless, nor did he think it was inferior to iOS.

It was simply in an awkward stage.

He needed to provide some concrete, real-world data and results. As long as he could produce those results…

Then…

Their future would be boundless!

But that required time.

He needed to see results from the Huaxia side.

Evening.

When he returned to the office, he received a phone call.

That call…

Was coming from Huaxia…

(End of Chapter)

Translator’s Notes