sovbooks Chapter 126 Jiaotong University Alumni Resources
Chapter 126 Jiaotong University Alumni Resources
Chapter 126 Jiaotong University Alumni Resources (Happy New Year)
"Everyone, my junior brother said the app won't be back online before the New Year, so we can go home early for the holiday." Lu Sifeng put down his phone and looked at everyone. "He'll reimburse us for all the money we spent on changing our plane and train tickets."
"Really?" Zhao Jie's eyes lit up. "I need to check if I can still change my flight!"
"I'll just wait until the last day to go back." Song Qing didn't even look up, his fingers still flying across the keyboard. "I'm taking the train, and there probably won't be any tickets left if I change my ticket now. I'll use these two days to work on the next version's features ahead of schedule."
Lu Sifeng nodded: "Yes, let's help our junior brother more during this time. After all, the boss has a new project to start after the New Year, and we need to focus our energy on the lab."
"Beibei, what about you? Are you going home early?" Yang Mingxia asked Shu Beibei quietly. "We can do our work at home."
"I'm still considering whether or not to—"
As the group was chatting, Geng Zhi pushed open the door and walked in.
"Boss!"
"Junior brother, when are you leaving?" Huang Haitang was the first to ask.
"My train ticket is for New Year's Eve, so I'll stick to the original plan. I'm going to Professor Gou's house for dinner today, so I won't be able to invite you to dinner," Geng Zhi said, while beckoning the two people outside to pull in their trolleys.
On the small cart were stacks of exquisitely packaged boxes, which surprised everyone in the office.
"The boss at Red Palm Studio gave out year-end bonuses," Geng Zhi said with a smile, patting the box. "I think our team should get one too. But I don't have much money right now, so I can only ask you all to make do with a stripped-down version of the year-end gift box as a token."
While apologizing, Geng Zhi directed everyone to each carry a box.
"Boss, your Red Palm team is making a fortune, so it's normal for them to receive year-end bonuses. Our product hasn't even launched yet, how can we possibly accept that—"
Before Shu Beibei could finish her polite words, Yang Mingxia, who had already opened the package first, exclaimed in surprise.
Holy crap!
She had already opened the packaging, and inside lay a gleaming silver laptop.
"This is the latest MacBook Pro!" Yang Mingxia's voice cracked. "Boss, are you serious?!"
Immediately afterwards, gasps of surprise rose and fell.
Lu Siyu, Song Qing, Huang Haitang, Lu Zhijie, Lu Sifeng, Zhao Jie, Shu Beibei and others cheered, and Song Qing immediately searched for the price on Baidu.
"Junior brother, this MacBook Pro you gave me costs 20,000 yuan!" Song Qing exclaimed in surprise the moment he saw the price.
"Huh? It's so expensive?" Lu Sifeng's hand trembled, somewhat incredulous. "Junior brother, is this company property for our office use?"
"No." Geng Zhi shook his head, smiling nonchalantly. "These are your year-end bonuses, a direct reward. Now, they are your private property."
There was a three-second silence in the office.
"But boss—" Yang Mingxia swallowed hard, "Would that upstairs nun Ma Chunmei agree to let you use company money to pay our year-end bonuses?"
"It has nothing to do with her." Geng Zhi waved his hand dismissively. "This money was paid for by the new company."
"Huh? You issued nine units all at once, that's 180,000! That's too much—" Song Qing murmured.
"Yes, junior brother," Lü Sifeng quickly chimed in, "we're not even your full-time employees, we're just here to lend you a hand temporarily. You've gone to so much trouble, we feel really bad."
He was genuinely embarrassed.
Although he helped provide the core algorithm ideas and solved two difficult problems for the team, he was still paid by his junior colleague, and even received much more than the boss paid him.
Besides, I'll be busy with my boss's project after the New Year, and I feel really bad about using my junior's expensive computer.
"Senior Brother Lü," Geng Zhi interrupted him, blinking, "you're my own senior brother, and you've helped me so much. Even if you hadn't come to help, I should have given you a laptop."
"This—" Lu Sifeng opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything.
At that moment, he had only one thought in his mind: he needed to put in more effort after the New Year, otherwise he would be letting down his junior brother Geng.
"Alright, alright, everyone, stop being so sentimental. You've all worked so hard lately, so go home early for the New Year! Happy New Year in advance! See you after the holidays!"
After saying goodbye, Geng Zhi left the office with a flourish.
Only the people left in the office, each holding a box, were immersed in complicated feelings.
"How can there be such a good boss in this world? Kaixin001 is doing so well, yet they don't even bother to give their employees such good benefits!" Lu Zhijie couldn't help but exclaim.
Yang Mingxia lowered her head, looking at the MacBook Pro in her hand, and said softly, "More importantly, the boss is currently enduring all sorts of criticism online and suffering immense injustice—"
Their boss, Geng Zhi, who had "endured immense injustice," had already ridden his Forever brand secondhand bicycle, humming a song, leisurely heading towards the Jiaotong University faculty apartments, showing no sign of grievance on his face.
At this time, it was room 709 of building 11 in the teachers' apartment complex.
The kitchen was steaming, and Gu Wanning, Gou Youqian, and Qin Hongfang were picking vegetables while discussing Geng Zhi and the "Jiaotong University matchmaker".
Since the last white paper release conference, Gou Youqian and Qin Hongfang have been paying close attention to the online public opinion.
They were especially angry when they saw the online public opinion begin to reverse and become increasingly unfavorable to Geng Zhi.
"Public opinion can change in an instant; it's truly unpredictable," Qin Hongfang sighed, shaking her head as she picked vegetables. "Xiao Geng has suffered too much injustice this time."
"Aunt, perhaps he has his own ideas," Gu Wanning said, though she was also very worried about Geng Zhi's behavior.
"Wan Ning, I still think Xiao Geng should take action and do some public relations. Being misunderstood by netizens like this is very detrimental to his future —" Gou Youqian said to his niece Gu Wan Ning.
"I've talked to him about it, but he has his own ideas and doesn't want to explain publicly now," Gu Wanning said.
"You two are such a pair of frenemys, it's true what they say, birds of a feather flock together!" Qin Hongfang shook her head helplessly.
"Aunt, what are you talking about?" Gu Wanning said reproachfully to Qin Hongfang.
Qin Hongfang pretended not to notice, got up and grabbed a plate of chives to change the subject.
"Wan Ning, the matchmaker from Jiaotong University, it seems that this business has both advantages and disadvantages now—" Gou Youqian was interrupted by Qin Hongfang before he could finish speaking.
"Old Gou, when Xiao Geng comes over later, whatever you do, don't bring up the 'matchmaker' thing again, lest you reopen old wounds, understand?"
"Don't worry, Teacher Qin, once Xiao Geng arrives, I definitely won't bring it up again. I'm just worried that Xiao Geng is too straightforward and lacks business experience, so I'm just trying to give him some advice," Gou Youqian quickly explained.
Upon hearing Gou Yougan say that Geng Zhi was "too straightforward," Gu Wan Ning looked at her uncle, who always claimed to have an excellent eye for people, with a very complicated expression, and said with a pout, "Uncle, do you misunderstand Geng Zhi as a person, or do you misunderstand the word 'straightforward'?"
"Wan Ning, how can you talk like that? Just because you're close to Xiao Geng doesn't mean you can talk about him like that." Qin Hongfang glared at her angrily.
As the three were talking, the doorbell rang.
Ding Dong!
"It's Xiao Geng!" Qin Hongfang hurriedly put down the groceries she was carrying and whispered a reminder as she walked towards the door, "Don't upset him!"
The door opened.
"Hello, Aunt Qin!" Geng Zhi stood outside the door, carrying fruit in his hand, with a bright smile.
"Xiao Geng, come in, come in quickly." Qin Hongfang took the bag of fruit from Geng Zhi's hand and warmly invited him in.
"Thank you so much, Aunt Qin and Uncle Gou, for your kind invitation! I'm sorry to have bothered you."
"It's nothing," Qin Hongfang waved her hand. "Your Uncle Gou and I don't like those social engagements back home, so we'll just stay a few days longer. You and Wan Ning both have time, so please spend more time chatting with us. We'd love for that."
Qin Hongfang ushered Geng Zhi into the living room, then asked Gou Youqian and Gu Wanning to chat with him while she went into the kitchen to cook.
Gou Yougan really wanted to ask Geng Zhi about his company, but he was afraid of bringing up his sad memories, so he carefully talked to him about his studies and the postgraduate entrance exam after the Spring Festival.
The three of them chatted animatedly, each taking turns to speak.
"Uncle Gou," Geng Zhi suddenly asked, "if I want to pursue a double degree at your Antai College of Economics and Management after enrolling in graduate school, do you think it's necessary?"
"Xiao Geng, you'll be a graduate student soon, so you can't pursue an MBA at the same time," Gou Youqian said with a smile.
"Huh?" Geng Zhi looked blank. "I really don't know that."
Gou Youqian became interested and patiently explained, "MBA courses are more useful for students who don't have much entrepreneurial experience. But for someone like you who has already done practical work, they're not very valuable. What's more important is expanding your network."
"You can take some entrepreneurship courses that interest you, and join more academic societies or clubs related to entrepreneurship and innovation. There are many well-known alumni active there, which can be very helpful in expanding your network."
Geng Zhi seemed to be deep in thought, then asked, "Uncle Gou, are any of the clubs or associations you mentioned involved by alumni investors or big names?"
"Of course there are!"
Gou Youqian took a sip of tea, then started listing examples on his fingers: "Besides Zhu Xiaohu of Jinshajiang Venture Capital, whom you know, there's Shen Nanpeng of Sequoia Capital, Liu Qin of Morningside Venture Capital, Xue Cunhe, managing partner of SoftBank, Zhu Linan of Legend Capital, and Mao Chengyu of Yunqi Capital—they are all alumni of Jiaotong University."
He paused, then added, "Strictly speaking, Shao Yibo of Matrix Partners China is also a Jiaotong University alumnus, and some of them are quite active in the club."
Geng Zhi's eyes lit up, and he exclaimed in surprise, "So many?!"
Before this, he only knew that Zhu Xiaohu and Shen Nanpeng were from Jiaotong University, and he really didn't know anything about the backgrounds of Liu Qin, Xue Cunhe and the others.
"Yes, the Jiaotong University Alumni Association has a lot of big names. You can attend more of these offline gatherings in the future; you might gain a lot," Gou Youqian said with a smile.
"Thank you, Uncle Gou, I understand!" Geng Zhi nodded emphatically.
Just then, Qin Hongfang poked her head out from the kitchen: "You three, get ready to eat!"
Geng Zhi quickly got up and went into the kitchen to help serve the dishes.
"Come on, let's eat and chat. The dumplings will be ready soon."
"Wow, such a sumptuous meal!" Geng Zhi exclaimed with envy.
"Little Geng, your Aunt Qin heard from Wan Ning that you love chive dumplings, so she made them especially for you!"
"Thank you, thank you Aunt Qin, thank you Uncle Gou." Geng Zhi then looked at Gu Wan Ning, "Thank you too, Wan Ning."
Gu Wanning rolled her eyes at him.
The dinner table.
"Little Gou, you drink, right?" Gou Youqian asked with a smile. "When I become a big boss, I still won't be able to do without alcohol."
"I don't usually drink," Geng Zhi said awkwardly, "mainly because I get drunk easily and tend to tell the truth, so I can only drink a little bit."
"Then I must have a drink with your Uncle Gou," Qin Hongfang said as she brought over the last dish.
Geng Zhi and Gu Wanning: "???"
"Little Geng, come on, try this bottle of red wine from Uncle Gou." Gou Youqian said, proudly handing a bottle of red wine to Geng Zhi.
Geng glanced at the bottle and casually remarked, "This is a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon; it looks pretty good."
"That's right, this is from Screaming Eagle Winery in Napa Valley. It tastes quite good, and you can't buy it in China yet." Gou Youqian was slightly surprised. "Little Geng, you know quite a bit about wine!"
After giving his honest comments, Geng Zhi realized that his knowledge was a bit beyond the scope of the course, and he quickly explained, "I learned a little bit about wine from my dad."
But after he explained, he regretted it.
Old Geng doesn't actually know much about red wine; he'd only learned a little bit from his mentor before.
At this moment, Qin Hongfang, who had been holding back from asking about Geng Zhi's family situation, finally seized the opportunity and hurriedly asked, "Xiao Geng, what does your father do for a living? He seems quite knowledgeable about alcohol, doesn't he?"
She didn't mean anything by it; she was just curious.
"Oh, well—no, my dad's just an ordinary middle school teacher," Geng Zhi frankly admitted. "A middle school in the county town."
"Very good, very good." Qin Hongfang was very satisfied.
Then, the four of them happily raised their glasses and chatted.
After a few drinks, the atmosphere became even more lively.
"Xiao Geng, have you bought your train ticket back to Shanghai after the New Year?" Gou Youqian asked.
"Not yet, I've tried several times but still can't get one."
"Hey, you big liar, you still haven't managed to snag a train ticket?"
Gu Wanning, who was carrying lemonade from the kitchen, happened to hear Geng Zhi say that he hadn't managed to get a ticket. She was quite surprised, thinking he was referring to the train ticket home for the Spring Festival.
"Well, because the date hadn't been set yet, I was too late to buy tickets, so I still don't have any," Geng Zhi explained.
"Then how are you going to go home for the New Year?" Gu Wanning frowned.
Geng Zhi then realized that Gu Wan Ning had misunderstood. Just as he was about to explain, he heard her continue, "How about you hitch a ride with us back to your hometown?"
She paused, then added, "My best friend Luo Yanling wants to drive back to Beijing for the Chinese New Year, and she asked me to accompany her. We'll be passing through Shandong Province."
Geng Zhi's inner monologue: Huh? Driving back to Beijing?
Gou Youqian's inner monologue: Before Xiao Geng came, didn't Wan Ning say that she was spending the Chinese New Year in Shanghai this year? She even complained that Luo Yanling was unpredictable. How come she suddenly changed her mind?
Geng Zhi was about to explain further when Qin Hongfang deliberately spoke first: "That's true. It's worrying to see two young ladies driving for so long. Why don't you take a ride with me, Geng? It'll be good to have someone to keep you company."
After hearing what Qin Hongfang said, Geng Zhi couldn't say anything more, and could only say, "Then thank you so much, Wan Ning, for solving my biggest problem in getting home!"
Gou Youqian's inner monologue: Didn't Xiao Geng just say he'd already bought his train ticket home for Chinese New Year? Teacher Qin knew that too, so how did the conversation veer off-topic like this?
After agreeing on a time with Geng Zhi, Gu Wan Ning immediately sent a text message to her best friend Luo Yan Ling.
[Gu Wanning]: "Yanling, I'll reluctantly accompany you on your road trip back to the capital for the Spring Festival."
[Luo Yanling]: "Wan Ning! You're so fickle! I'm already on my way to the airport!"
Two minutes later.
[Luo Yanling]: "Wan Ning, deal! I've already taken the car back. My best friend is still the best to me, hehe, let's set off first thing tomorrow morning."
Gu Wanning: "Okay, we'll leave first thing tomorrow morning."
Gu Wanning smiled when she saw Luo Yanling's message.
At the same time that Gu Wanning was sending messages to Luo Yanling, Geng Zhi was also operating the Xiecheng Travel website to process ticket refunds, releasing tickets to those who needed them for their return home as soon as possible.
"Xiao Geng, it's not easy to come home. Remember to buy your parents some gifts this time," Qin Hongfang said.
"Thank you for reminding me, Aunt Qin. I plan to go to the mall tomorrow morning to buy my parents two outfits," Geng Zhi said.
Upon hearing this, Gu Wanning immediately sent another message to Luo Yanling.
[Gu Wanning]: "Yanling, change the departure time to noon."
P.S.: Happy New Year to all my book lovers!
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