Chapter 213 Occupying the User's Desktop Is the Key
"President Shan, I knew you'd be free by now," said Ding Lei's sly-sounding voice over the phone.
Su Yuanshan laughed. "Xiaohui just told me about your electronic post office project. Tell me, what functions does it have?"
"Just like we planned: it's a web-based platform using HTML for the page language and CC for the framework—man, CC is amazing! It's so compact, lightweight, and perfect for the internet."
"Save the flattery... My dad was the one who developed it," Su Yuanshan said.
"Hehe..." Ding Lei, thick-skinned as always, didn't mind at all. "It supports sending attachments and multi-user messaging."
"Nice work," Su Yuanshan praised. "But why didn't you implement group messaging?"
"???"
There was a noticeable pause, then Ding Lei shouted excitedly, "Wait—let me guess—you mean grouping people together into categories?"
"Exactly. Makes it easy to send messages to enterprise users. For example, you could just select the management group to send internal updates."
"Right, right!" Ding Lei said, sounding thrilled.
Su Yuanshan could easily imagine him nodding enthusiastically like a pecking chicken. "But for enterprise users... it's best to also develop a dedicated email client."
"Hey! I was just going to ask you about that. Brother Pony suggested the same thing—saying the real key is to occupy users' desktops."
Su Yuanshan chuckled. "He's absolutely right. Owning the desktop is everything."
"Alright! Next development cycle, we'll build a client and add group functionality!"
"Good. Right now, everyone's using Euroda—it's terrible. Anyone who's touched it knows. If you make something simple and easy to use, we can even license it to big companies, especially multinationals, for their internal email systems."
Hearing that they could sell to enterprises, Ding Lei got even more excited. "Great idea! Foreign companies are willing to spend money!"
"By the way, how's Pony's progress?"
"Brother Pony is still working on server data management. He just copied a few pieces of code from me, so he should be almost done," Ding Lei said, laughing.
Su Yuanshan: "..."
Not long after hanging up, his phone rang again.
It was Ye Rudai's voice on the line.
San Francisco International Airport.
Yang Yiwen wore a light jacket and shivered slightly as the cool afternoon breeze picked up. She moved closer to Tang Wenjie's side for shelter.
Looking at Tang Wenjie's "burly" frame, Yang Yiwen playfully patted his stomach. "Suddenly feel like singing Sha Jia Bang—what should I do?"
"Sing it," Tang Wenjie said absentmindedly, his hands on his hips as his eyes scanned the arrivals gate. Then he realized what she meant and reached out to tickle her ribs. "You little brat, learned to tease me now?"
Yang Yiwen squealed with laughter and dodged nimbly a full meter away—displaying a liveliness that didn't match her twenty-five years.
Seeing Tang Wenjie about to chase her, she quickly called out, "Stop! The students are coming out."
"Where?" Tang Wenjie immediately froze and looked toward the gate.
He saw five people—three men and two women—emerging, unmistakably mainland Chinese.
Among them, two men and one woman looked like students. The other man and woman were clearly teachers leading the group.
The student-looking girl was particularly pretty, with a ponytail, wearing a simple striped casual shirt over a white T-shirt, jeans, and sneakers. She was dragging her suitcase and scanning the crowd—locking eyes immediately with Tang Wenjie and Yang Yiwen.
"Xiaoshan was right—who needs a photo?" Yang Yiwen waved cheerfully in their direction. "From the University of Electronic Science and Technology?"
Hearing the greeting, the group visibly relaxed. Their lead teacher strode toward them.
...
"Senior Brother Tang, Sister Yiwen, thank you so much," Ye Rudai said quietly.
"It's no trouble," Yang Yiwen said warmly, marveling inwardly that such a beautiful girl was studying engineering—specifically programming!
"Trouble? What trouble? I'm a real old revolutionary from UESTC—spent seven years there," Tang Wenjie said, insisting on helping Ye Rudai with her suitcase. He turned to the lead teacher, Mr. Zhou.
Zhou smiled and nodded. "Yes, I just returned last year."
"Then you've spent longer here than we have," Tang Wenjie said.
"No, I was in Canada. I've only been to the U.S. a few times—I'm not even familiar with Phoenix."
Tang Wenjie said, "Oh, we're not too familiar either. But no worries—Qin Si happens to be working in Arizona. You'll rest here today to adjust to the time difference, then fly over tomorrow—only a three-hour flight."
He chatted all the way, his talkative nature easing the nervousness of the students.
As he said, as an "old revolutionary" from their alma mater, even if Su Yuanshan hadn't called ahead, he would have helped the university's first ACM programming competition team without hesitation.
After settling everyone in, grabbing a simple dinner, and booking flights for the next afternoon, Yang Yiwen contacted Qin Si. Only then did she and Tang Wenjie check into their hotel.
They didn't bother the students next door—it was clear they were struggling to stay awake and adjust to the time zone, critical before next week's competition.
Lying on the sofa, Yang Yiwen looked at Tang Wenjie, who was peeling an apple, and said, "First time seeing Xiaoshan being so careful."
"But that girl's good," she added. "Polite, considerate, smart."
Tang Wenjie added, "And pretty."
Yang Yiwen rolled her eyes. "Seriously... Do you think Xiaoshan's the type to care about looks?"
Tang Wenjie chuckled. "He doesn't just care—he extremely cares! Look at Yuanxin's receptionists. Name one who's ugly. His secretary, his executives... they're all stunning."
Yang Yiwen opened her mouth to defend Su Yuanshan—but couldn't. It was just the truth.
"Still, you never hear about him flirting with anyone," she said.
"Because he's a rabbit that doesn't eat the grass near his burrow," Tang Wenjie said, neatly cutting the apple into four slices and trimming away the core. He handed a slice to Yang Yiwen. "He's too young to realize that nearby grass is the sweetest. Open wide."
"Ugh, you're ridiculous," Yang Yiwen said, giving him a playful slap. Still, she obediently opened her mouth and bit half the apple slice.
Chewing, she said, "I'm starting to suspect those two thugs were actors you hired!"
"Yeah, yeah, life is a drama and we're all actors," Tang Wenjie said with a laugh. After nearly ten years together, teasing like this was second nature. "Sweetheart, shall we star in an action movie tonight?"
Whap! Yang Yiwen smacked him hard and scolded, "Go revise your thesis!"
Mention of the thesis made Tang Wenjie immediately deflate. He slumped over to his laptop, looking for all the world like a little kid being forced to do his homework.
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