As everyone knows, building a website requires renting servers and bandwidth, and as everyone also knows, this stuff is expensive—but that’s for big companies.

Now, NetEase, Sohu, Yahoo, Huyi, and so on all offer free hosting.

They divide their large servers into multiple “virtual spaces,” each with its own independent domain name and full hosting functions, usually 20MB, and provide them to users for free.

There are also paid options, with larger space, but the prices aren’t high—just a few hundred or a few thousand yuan per year. If you think that’s expensive, it means you have at least hundreds of thousands of users.

And it’s precisely because of this that so many personal websites have sprung up in China.

Many people aren’t professionals; they just explore out of interest and set up their own little sites. For example, hao123, Huajun Software, Golden Book House, and so on—all personal sites.

Some were glorious for a while, then faded into obscurity; some were acquired by big companies; some succeeded in getting investment, creating a few entrepreneurial legends.

At this moment, the two brothers reached an agreement.

William Clark took it for granted, but Brian Clark saw it as a battle. With his personality, even he couldn’t help but feel a surge of excitement, wanting to do something big.

Entrepreneurship!

What a wonderful word!

“When can you get started?” William Clark asked.

“I want to do it back at school. There are more resources there, and I can consult some experts.”

“Alright, I need to collect some materials anyway.”

“Collect materials?”

“You think a passion dating site just appears out of thin air? Every bit of it is filled with my hard work, and besides, I still have to do my internship…”

William Clark sighed, his gaze seeming to stretch all the way to the distant capital: “That’s where the stars and the sea are—ah, pfft, that’s where the vast world full of opportunities lies!”

Chapter Six: Return to Beijing

When William Clark loaded his save, it was already mid-August, and he had to return to school at the end of the month.

With just over ten days, the main thing was to adjust and sort out his thoughts. He talked about needing money, but actually left Brian Clark two thousand yuan, and had thirty-seven hundred in hand.

Before leaving, he got a haircut, had a good bath, bought an extra-large shoulder bag, and swapped his sandals for sneakers.

Brian Clark went back to Shencheng first. On a drizzly morning, Dad, Mom, and Aunt all gathered at the shabby train station on the outskirts of town to see William Clark and Old Uncle off to Beijing.

The station was pitifully small, only for temporary stops. To get to Beijing, they had to take a regular train starting from Shencheng.

The whole trip took over eight hours.

A few years later, when the high-speed rail opened, it was cut down to four hours. The high-speed trains were really fast back then, but in 2011, there was a nationwide shocking accident—the train head was buried right on the spot…

At that time, a popular saying was born: “Whether you believe it or not, I believe it anyway!”

After that, the high-speed trains started to slow down.

Inside the carriage, the familiar smell hit them.

Kids wailing, people chatting noisily, some smoking, some drinking, legs sticking out on both sides of the aisle, and a squeaky little trolley making its way through.

“Peanuts, sunflower seeds, eight-treasure porridge, beer, drinks, mineral water!”

“Move your legs in!”

William Clark and Old Uncle sat by the window. Old Uncle had a bottle of baijiu, eating dried tofu brought from home, along with some fresh scallions and a bag of soybean paste.

Old Uncle was even darker than Brian Clark, with the same thick eyebrows and big eyes, but a bit more rough around the edges—the type to pick a fight at the drop of a hat.

“……”

William Clark smelled the alcohol and dried tofu, yawned, and said, “Old Uncle, is that performance company reliable? Can you be sure there’s always work? Don’t let them fire you after a few months.”

“It’s reliable! My old army buddy said the boss used to work at CCTV, has connections, and only takes on big corporate gigs—either coal bosses or real estate, and that, what’s it called, CCTV Channel 3, where they get a bunch of people to go up and sing…”

“‘The Same Song’?”

“That’s right!”

Old Uncle tapped his forehead and said, “That boss knows people, has made introductions before.”

At this point, a neighbor overheard and suddenly chimed in, “Isn’t ‘The Same Song’ a TV show? How can there be introductions?”

“Uh, well…”

Old Uncle couldn’t explain, so William Clark spoke up: “‘The Same Song’ was originally a New Year’s concert planned by CCTV. After it aired, it was a huge hit and became a regular program.

At first, it was simple—CCTV invited stars, and they’d come, just needed some travel expenses. But the show got so popular, especially with the rural tours, that some local governments started thinking—even if you’re not planning to come here, what if I pay? What if I get a few local companies to sponsor together?”

“Why’s that?” the neighbor asked, puzzled.

“‘The Same Song’ is broadcast on CCTV, with sky-high ratings, and the big screen says ‘The Same Song visits xxx.’ For local governments, that’s a huge advertisement. So there’s money involved, and when there’s money, there’s negotiation…”

“Got it, got it! So someone needs to make the connections.”

The neighbor gave a thumbs up: “Young man, you really know your stuff.”

Old Uncle was even more surprised: “How do you know all this?”

Are you kidding? I’ve got 20 years of media experience—this is child’s play!

William Clark laughed it off and said, “Since the boss is so capable, just do your best. You don’t spend much anyway, so save up some money for Little Brian to get married.”