High-tech company

Indeed, despite Director Li being just a teacher, he had built a wide network during his many years of teaching in Xinfeng. In fact, the education system and the government had close ties, especially in a small county like this. Everyone practically knew everyone else, which was something Chen Yu took note of.

"Jian Ge, we have midterm exams coming up in a few days, and we might not have much time to be here."

"Don't worry; I've got it covered."

"What about Shanda? Do you think they'll come back to us?"

"I doubt it. Our previous dealings with Shanda weren't smooth."

"Haha, I merely raised our prices; it's not a big deal. Shanda is a business; they're after profits. Our collaboration with NetEase has earned us some recognition. I don't believe they won't return."

"True."

"By the way, I don't know if Director Li will visit again. If they do, please let me know."

"Sure."

"Oh, and in a few days, your school might send some students for interviews. I'll be busy, so you handle the interviews. Once they pass, they should receive professional training."

"Don't worry; I can handle this."

Chen Yu finished his instructions and felt relieved about the upcoming exams. Fortunately, in this second chance at life, even though he had been quite busy lately, he had taken his studies seriously. Many topics were somewhat familiar, and he was grasping the material more firmly than in his previous life.

The midterms for the first-year students were coming up, and as he went through the exams, Chen Yu found that the questions weren't particularly difficult. However, he didn't want to appear too conspicuous and estimated that scoring a little over 70 would be sufficient.

"It seems I'm still a genius."

"Based on this, it might be a bit challenging to get into Tsinghua or Peking, but 985 other institutions should still be within reach."

Once the exams were over, Chen Yu began making plans.

"How did you do on the exam?"

"They haven't handed out the papers yet; I have no idea."

"They'll distribute them soon; you can at least make a guess."

"I doubt it. I did okay, but I'm sure you did better."

Lu Xue raised an eyebrow. "Forget it; you're definitely smarter than me."

This wasn't just a random guess by Lu Xue. While Chen Yu might not appear serious most of the time, she had always felt that he was smarter than her. Even in their daily homework, there wasn't a question Chen Yu couldn't answer. In contrast, although Lu Xue usually performed better academically, there were still problems she couldn't solve without Chen Yu's help.

However, Lu Xue's guess was off the mark.

When the first-period teacher handed out the midterm exam papers, Chen Yu had scored over 70 in most subjects. He had even managed to score above 80 in Chinese.

Although these results weren't considered bad, they only placed him in the middle of the class, far from matching Lu Xue's performance.

"How about it, Valedictorian Lu? Didn't I say you'd do better? Impressive, you even got the highest score in the whole school."

"I just had a good day; but you, didn't you do well because you weren't in the right mood?"

"Stop kidding; I was in a good mood."

"In a good mood and still scored so low?"

"Come on, I wanted to be the best too, but my abilities held me back."

Chen Yu smiled and didn't take the exam too seriously. After all, he knew his own level, and these exam scores would have little impact on the college entrance examination.

...

"Hey, old classmate, what brings you here?"

"Isn't it the weekend? Director  Qiu has become an official; he doesn't welcome us teachers anymore."

"Old Classmate, where are you getting that from? When we were in school, you were much better than me."

"What's the point of being good at school? Look at you, you're a director, and I'm still a teacher."

"Director, and besides, a few years ago, the Education Bureau offered you a position, but you refused to go. If you'd accepted, you might be a director now."

"I'm not suited for the bureaucratic world; teaching is better. Come on, let's have a drink."

On a Saturday, Li Yan, a teacher at Huatian Vocational School, invited his old classmate Qiu Guoqing to a small restaurant. They had been classmates for several decades and had plenty of topics to discuss over drinks.

"Guoqing, do you know about a company called Universal Technology?"

"Universal Technology? I've never heard of it."

"Guoqing, you're neglecting your duty. Universal Technology is located in Xinfeng. How do you not know?"

"Come on, Old Li, there are so many companies in Xinfeng; I can't remember all of them."

"But this Universal Technology is a high-tech company, you know?"

"A high-tech company?"

"Exactly."

"Old Li, are you messing with me?"

"Why would I do that?"

Qiu Guoqing laughed. "Old Li, you know the situation in Xinfeng. In a small county like this, what kind of high-tech company could there be? The most advanced thing we have in Xinfeng is probably the Yongfeng Electronics Factory, which we introduced last year."

Even though it was called an electronics factory, it didn't have much technological content. It was primarily an electronic product assembly business. The reason it came to Xinfeng was that the labor cost was low, and Xinfeng provided some favorable policies.

"Yongfeng Electronics is just an electronics assembly company; it's not really high-tech."

"So, if even Yongfeng Electronics isn't considered high-tech, how could there be a high-tech company?"

"I've already told you; it's this company, Universal Technology."

Li Yan took out a camera. "Here, this is their office."

To support their promotional efforts, Li Yan had brought a camera with him during their previous visit.

Pointing to the pictures on the camera, Li Yan explained, "Not bad, their office is quite spacious."

"With so many computers, they must have spent a lot of money."

"Where is this company located? Why haven't I heard of it?"

Computers might not be rare nowadays, but not every company had them. Even their government office only had three.

These were provided for accounting purposes.

If it were any other organization, some might not even have a single computer. But now, at a glance, there were over a dozen computers here. Just these computers and office equipment alone would cost sixty to seventy thousand.

"Hehe, it's right across from Chenyi Square."

"Across from Chenyi Square? That's why it seems so familiar."

"By the way, what do they do?"

"They run websites."

"What kind of website?"

"5173.com."

"I haven't heard of it."

"I hadn't heard of it either at first, but then I looked it up, and it's quite well-known. Moreover, they've hired more than a dozen students from our school."

"Interesting."

"More than just interesting, the real surprise is yet to come."

"Even more interesting? Tell me about it."

"Do you know how much they pay the students from our school?"

"How much, around 400?"

"You're joking; it's not 400. Let me tell you, it's 700."

"700... Not bad at all; for students to earn 700 after graduation is great."

"They haven't even graduated yet."

"That makes it even better."

"Not only 700, this company also provides its employees with five insurances and one fund."

"Five insurances and one fund? Is it for real?"

Hearing this, Qiu Guoqing was also shocked. To be honest, even he, as a director, didn't have five insurances and one fund. It wasn't because he didn't qualify; it was because Xinfeng hadn't undergone reform yet, so even as a director, he didn't have it.

"Is it real? You can find out once you go back. But this isn't the most interesting part. The truly intriguing thing is, do you know who the owner of this company is?"

"Who is it?"

"You'd never guess."

"The more you say, the more curious I get. Just tell me."

"This person is called Chen Yu."

"Chen Yu? I haven't heard of him."

He carefully searched his memory to see if he could recall any wealthy businessperson named Chen Yu. After a quick search, he came up empty.

"If you had heard of him, that would be strange. He's actually a student. Currently, he's a high school freshman at High School No. 1."