Chapter Twenty-Five: Attention from All Sides

Wan Cong spoke earnestly from the side, “Rest assured. You only need to respond with legitimate means of competition. If anyone tries any underhanded tricks against our company, I will never let it happen!”

Lin Lang and everyone else understood the weight of his words, nodding with renewed confidence.

......

Saturday morning, 6:00.

The students who had spent the night at the internet café gradually departed, heading home or back to their dormitories at school. Each face bore an expression different from before—not the usual confusion, nor the lingering thrill of gaming, but rather a sense of relief.

In their eyes appeared the colors of dreams, the light of hope.

Some turned back for a final glance at this familiar place, knowing they might not return for a long time, or perhaps would only come again if they lacked a computer at home, hoping to find a mentor through the MasterSpeak website.

Of course, those concerned with MasterSpeak weren’t just the students—it was the entire internet industry.

Awakening early, most professionals in the field had already heard of the “MasterSpeak website,” which had appeared overnight.

A million registered users in three hours—truly a staggering feat.

This previously unknown company quickly drew the attention and investigation of its peers.

At the headquarters of FeiXin Corporation, a bespectacled young man sat at his desk, scrolling through the MasterSpeak website on his computer, with a younger assistant standing nearby.

“A social site based on a master-apprentice model. Our peers are getting more and more creative these days,” the bespectacled man mused aloud.

“Mr. Ma, do you want me to investigate them?” the assistant inquired.

The bespectacled man glanced at his assistant, smiling, “You’re still too young. Although we share a social networking model, with this MasterSpeak site’s core concept, others will naturally deal with it for us—and they’ll be quite anxious about it.”

As he predicted, at that moment, the chairmen of four major training institutions were having a video conference in a group chat.

They were: Zhang Yang, Chairman of Crazy English; Sun Yundi, Chairman of QingYi Training; Xu Ping, Chairman of Black Class; and Park Yi, Chairman of DeZhao Taekwondo.

These four leaders, who scarcely knew each other before, were brought together by the sudden rise of MasterSpeak.

One trained English, one the arts, one computers, and one Taekwondo. All were publicly listed giants, similar in scale, so they quickly connected early that morning.

It wasn’t just the terrifying potential of a million users that concerned them, but the website’s development goals, which were deeply intertwined with their own: English, arts, computers, and Taekwondo were all categories on MasterSpeak.

Most crucially, the target audience for these four disciplines was teenagers—almost entirely students.

If MasterSpeak truly gained a foothold, grew in scale, and operated smoothly, then its free master-apprentice model compared to their own costly fees would make the choice obvious for parents and children alike.

On screen, the four leaders furrowed their brows, pondering strategies.

Suddenly, a message popped up on Zhang Yang’s computer, prompting him to speak first, “I don’t think we need to worry too much. I just received word that, although the million users seems terrifying, the vast majority are internet café delinquents. As fellow trainers, you understand—these café kids are the hardest to educate. Not to mention whether they have the resolve to study; even finding a mentor for them would be difficult.”

Sun Yundi chimed in, “I’ve also heard that currently, MasterSpeak has just over a hundred registered masters. Do they really expect these hundred unknown mentors to teach one million café kids?”

The four all shared relieved smiles.

Though MasterSpeak’s launch was explosive, on closer inspection it seemed less threatening.

There were countless eager apprentices, but no strong faculty to accept them.

How could the site continue this way?

In their laughter, none mentioned MasterSpeak’s educational significance; they simply regarded it as a business competitor.

Perhaps they didn’t realize, or perhaps they did but wouldn’t say.

Then, a message flashed on Xu Ping’s computer, his smile vanishing instantly.

He turned to the others with gravity, “I’ve just learned that the site is backed by a newly established internet company, called Triple Walk Internet Ltd., founded by Wan Cong.”

At his words, the four faces on screen turned solemn.

Their companies were sizable, but compared to Wan Cong—or more precisely, Wan Cong’s backing by the Wanlin Group—they were dwarfed.

Finally, Park Yi, looking unconcerned, spoke, “Even if Wan Cong is behind it, his family isn’t in the internet sector. He can’t reach that far. We just compete fairly. Our four institutions account for half of youth training. As long as we keep our teachers from joining MasterSpeak, how could he recruit enough mentors to teach a million café kids?”

His words found unanimous agreement, and the secret meeting concluded. Each chairman summoned their executives to implement these strict instructions.

Meanwhile, at the already sizable Alibaba headquarters.

Bearing the title of “Rural Teacher,” nicknamed Feng Qingyang, the head of Alibaba—also Mr. Ma—sat at his desk, browsing the suddenly emerged MasterSpeak website.

Unlike the other Ma, he had been a teacher and immediately saw the true intention behind the site.

Such thoughtful vision! He wondered why he chose to start Taobao instead of something like this.

He promptly instructed his assistant, “Monitor MasterSpeak closely. If necessary, we should lend them a hand.”

The assistant replied, “Mr. Ma, we’ve already investigated. The site is backed by Wanlin Group’s scion, Wan Cong.”

Upon hearing this, Mr. Ma smiled, “Since it’s him, we may not need to help—but keep monitoring the site anyway.”

“Yes, Mr. Ma,” the assistant replied.

There were many internet entrepreneurs like him, and plenty of traditional ones too, all investigating the overnight phenomenon of MasterSpeak.

Back at Lin Lang’s office building.

Li Zecheng was reporting to Lin Lang and Wan Cong.

“Mr. Lin, Mr. Wan, we need to recruit staff immediately. Since last night, at least ten hackers have poked around our site. While most seem harmless, relying on just a few of us won’t suffice.”

Lin Lang responded promptly, “You’re right. We never expected the first step to go so well, but now that MasterSpeak is famous, hiring shouldn’t be difficult. Do you know any capable tech talent?”

Wan Cong added, “As long as their skills are solid, we’ll hire as many as we can. Salary and benefits aren’t an issue, and anyone can see our company’s growth potential.”

Though Wan Cong could easily borrow people from Wanlin Group, this was his first venture, and he had invested much of himself; he preferred not to trouble them if possible.

Li Zecheng, hearing their words, smiled, “Talent is the least scarce resource in the 21st century. I’ll fill our current office floor with recruits. How does that sound?”

Wan Cong replied immediately, “Good, hurry and hire as soon as possible.”

Lin Lang agreed, “The next couple of days will show whether our first step truly secures a foothold.”

After Li Zecheng left, Wan Cong looked at Lin Lang, frowning as he asked, “Where will we find mentors for a million kids?”

Lin Lang saw his troubled expression, realizing that young master Wan was truly earnest this time. He smiled, “Have you forgotten? We still hold an ace in our hand.”

With that, Lin Lang produced the “Basketball Training Plan.”

Wan Cong’s eyes lit up.

Suddenly enlightened, he slapped his thigh—how could he have forgotten this?

He knew the value of the basketball training plan for enthusiasts. With it, they could make MasterSpeak a sanctuary for basketball learners.

The two exchanged knowing smiles.

Soon, they took the thick basketball training plan to the founding team of Triple Walk, to discuss the first upgrade—or special event—of MasterSpeak.

The outline was ready; now they only needed to present it perfectly on the site.

After some deliberation, it was decided that Lin Lang would oversee the entire upgrade plan. Though his computer skills weren’t great, he always had creative ideas.

Wan Cong would contact all the basketball forums and websites he could reach.

Others handled the site’s upgrade, with Lin Lang advising.

Having slept only a few hours, they threw themselves back into intense work for the company, the website, and a million children.

Midway, Uncle Fu called to ask whether Wan Cong needed help.

Wan Cong thought for a moment and replied: not for now.

Uncle Fu laughed and said the old master was very optimistic about his venture and would fully support him. If he encountered trouble, he should speak up.

Wan Cong answered: understood, he would make something of himself this time.

By eight in the evening, after nearly ten hours of continuous effort, MasterSpeak’s first upgrade was nearly complete.

Since it only involved simple text and image editing, with no functional changes—the master-apprentice system remained—the update was quick.

After discussing, Lin Lang and Wan Cong decided to release the upgraded version in an hour, at nine o’clock.

Wan Cong had already coordinated with major basketball forums and their moderators for simultaneous publicity.

At first, Wan Cong planned to pay them.

Unexpectedly, when the streetball legends and retired pros saw the excerpts of the basketball training plan he sent, they immediately decided to promote it for free.

They even offered to rally their friends, considering it a contribution to Chinese basketball.

Major basketball influencers would announce it grandly on their public platforms.

Meanwhile, the final touches were being put on the site’s first upgrade.

Everyone’s nerves were taut, awaiting the arrival of nine o’clock.

This time, the theme was: Basketball!