Chapter Twenty-Four: The Test

The New Year's Eve of 1998 arrived unusually early; January 27th was already the eve of the lunar new year, a day for family reunions in every household.

On the 26th, Zhou Xuan received five computers sent over from the provincial capital. He immediately set about wiring and installing them, creating a local area network. Zhou Xuan and Wei Lian tidied up the rooms together and bought desks and chairs. They arranged three computers alongside the original hao123 server in the secondary bedroom.

In the master bedroom, Zhou Xuan installed a computer for his parents, and he placed one more in his own small room. This way, he had a computer for himself, his parents could use one, and there were four computers in the secondary bedroom.

Wei Lian was stationed in the secondary bedroom, maintaining hao123 and testing the internet café management system. Zhou Xuan first explained all the features and permission settings of the system to Wei Lian, then handed him a user manual and asked him to test every function. For Wei Lian, a graduate of the University of Science and Technology, none of this was unfamiliar.

After a day of testing and finding no major issues, Zhou Xuan took Wei Lian to Fallen Street.

Stepping into a computer room, Zhou Xuan saw over a dozen computers set up inside. Each one was occupied by someone playing games, with others sometimes gathered around to watch.

“It’s really booming!” Zhou Xuan thought to himself. These computer rooms were truly cash cows. Even though the cost of gaming was a bit less than internet use, the computers were busy around the clock. It was incredibly profitable.

Zhou Xuan approached the owner and said, “Business is good, isn’t it?”

“It’s alright! Are you here to play? There aren’t any free machines now, but you can wait a bit…” The owner glanced at his notebook and continued, “A few over there will be free in about ten or twenty minutes. If they don’t extend their time, you can use those.”

“We’re not here to play. We’d like to discuss a business proposal with you,” Zhou Xuan said directly.

The owner looked at them, puzzled. “What kind of business?”

Now it was Wei Lian’s turn. He said, “Managing over a dozen computers in a place like this must be a hassle. You have to keep track of each machine’s time, check every couple of minutes, and call people when their time’s up. Sometimes, if you call them too early, the players aren’t happy. If you hire someone to manage it, you can’t always trust them, can you?”

Wei Lian’s words struck a chord with the owner, who nodded repeatedly.

“We’re now agents for a piece of software. Once it’s installed, you can manage all the computers from a single one. After a player pays you for time, the computer will automatically notify the user when their time is nearly up. If they want to add more time, they can either come over or signal you directly from the computer. If they don’t, the computer will lock itself when the time is up—you won’t have to worry at all. Most importantly, you can hire someone to help; just check the backend data once a day. All your income is recorded, so your staff can’t pocket anything.”

Wei Lian finished in one breath, leaving the owner astonished. “Is there really such good software?”

“Of course! We’re here to promote it. If you buy now, you’ll get a special price.” Wei Lian patted his briefcase and smiled.

The owner was delighted by the possibility but worried about the price. “How much does it cost? If it’s too expensive, I can’t afford it.”

Wei Lian chuckled. “You’ve got over a dozen computers, and with prices up for New Year, you’re charging ten yuan an hour. That’s thousands a day if you run twenty-four hours—don’t play poor! Our software is cheap: just three thousand yuan for a lifetime license, no further fees. Plus, you get seven days free to try it out. If you’re satisfied, we sign a contract and you pay.”

The owner’s eyes lit up. He hadn’t expected software to be so affordable. In his mind, software was always costly. Running the place with just himself and his son, covering night shifts, was exhausting.

He already wanted to buy it, and the free trial convinced him further. He agreed right away.

Zhou Xuan and Wei Lian then installed the server side of the internet café management system on a computer the owner set aside. As players finished their sessions, they took ten minutes to install the client on the other machines.

Wei Lian introduced the software’s features to the owner: how to start sessions, add time, check available machines, and track earnings. Since the first version was simple, the owner picked it up in less than ten minutes.

After configuring three or four machines, they used the management software to let players log in. The owner immediately felt how convenient the system was. Once a session started, he didn’t have to do anything else. Ten minutes before time was up, the computer would remind the player to log off; otherwise, it would lock automatically when time expired.

In this way, Zhou Xuan and Wei Lian convinced all five computer rooms on Fallen Street to install the system. They let everyone try it out for free until after the New Year, when formal billing would begin.

Zhou Xuan also arranged with Wei Lian to supervise the installations during the holiday. Any issues would be noted down, and after Zhou Xuan returned to the county, he’d fix the bugs and release the first official version.

As for the software’s name, Zhou Xuan had already decided: Universal Internet Café Management System. The future company would be called Universal as well. Having lived a second life, Zhou Xuan was determined to create the age of Universal.

On the evening of the 26th, Zhou Xuan invited his parents, his uncle’s family, as well as Wei Lian and his mother for dinner. It was the last family gathering before the new year. During the meal, Zhou Xuan formally introduced Wei Lian to everyone and gave him a red envelope containing a thousand yuan.

Wei Lian, seeing how much Zhou Xuan valued him—not only solving his problems but also giving him a good job—was deeply grateful and resolved to repay Zhou Xuan’s kindness.

Wei Lian was also looking forward to work after the new year. Zhou Xuan had already told him that he would be in charge of promoting the internet café management system. Zhou Xuan asked him to recruit a few trustworthy classmates to form the initial promotion team and then head to other provinces to expand the business.

On the morning of the 27th, Zhou Xuan and his parents went shopping for Spring Festival couplets and supplies. Then, riding two motorcycles, they headed home, filled with joy. To make restocking easier, Zhou Xuan's father had bought a motorcycle as well, so now the family owned two.

The Spring Festival of 1998 was much better for the Zhou family, thanks to the money they had made. Although they still lived in an old adobe house, everyone knew that after this year, they would be able to build a beautiful two-story home.