Around 11 a.m., Liu Yiyi came out of the meeting and listened to her assistant talk about Zhao Qiang's achievements that morning. She then personally tested a few of the maintained machines and found that the speed had indeed improved significantly. Liu Yiyi nodded to herself, thinking that this was a lucky accident. She hadn't expected to hire such an expert, and she wouldn't have to worry about computer malfunctions anymore. 2,000 yuan, although it was a part-time job, was equivalent to the price of a migrant worker! This was a genuine IT elite; she had to find a way to keep him working at the company long-term.
(Thank you to God's Father for the donation of 3776! Thank you to Coffee Tea Sichuan Cuisine for the donation of 200! Thank you to the Three Scoundrels of Stubborn Stones for the donation of 100! Xiaoqiang thanks everyone!)
Volume 1 [038] Cooperation
Zhao Qiang spent a day fixing nearly half of the computers at Yiyi Fashion Co., Ltd., and the remaining users said they didn't need optimization for the time being. Unless a piece of hardware broke down or there was a human error, there wouldn't be any computers needing maintenance in the short term. Excited and thrilled, Zhao Qiang returned to the repair shop. This was an experiment, and it had proven that Xiao Wei's software was extremely effective. Now, the next step was to consider how to use it to make a profit.
Fearing he wouldn't be able to pay the electricity bill, Zhao Qiang didn't let Xiao Wei make any further modifications that evening. Instead, based on his experience that day, he had Xiao Wei make some improvements to the "Big Foolproof" optimization software. The main improvement was removing all the prompts in the window. Since only Zhao Qiang was using it, he would understand what a blank button did, making system maintenance less of a hassle. Additionally, the antivirus software and the one-click optimization were separated, making it easier for Zhao Qiang to use it as a standalone antivirus program.
The next morning, Zhao Qiang arrived at Home Inn Computer Company early. Wang Yidong was already sitting in the company smoking in silence. It turned out that Zhang Chunjiang had not shown up all day yesterday, and several repair jobs had been lost. It would be a lie to say that Wang Yidong was not angry, so he came to the company early in the morning to think of a solution.
“Xiao Zhao, don’t take any days off these days. I’ll give you double pay as overtime pay,” Wang Yidong said. Yesterday, Zhao Qiang called him to ask for leave, lying that something had happened at school. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have lost those business deals.
Since there was nothing else to do, Zhao Qiang said, "Okay, Mr. Wang has been too kind to me. Hehe, I also have a business deal I'd like to discuss with Mr. Wang."
Wang Yidong stubbed out his cigarette: "Oh, you've found computer installation business at school? I can give you a 30% commission, and if you do the after-sales service yourself, the commission can increase to 50%."
Zhao Qiang waved his hand and said, "No, Mr. Wang, I got an optimization software from a classmate. It's really amazing. It can improve the running speed of the existing system by at least 10%, and some machines with Intel chips can even improve it by more than 50%!"
Intel has indeed been caught up with AMD in recent years. In Xiaowei's opinion, many of Intel's products have too many flaws. Intel makes up for these flaws by patching the system core computing, so there is a lot of room for improvement in machines with Intel chips. Of course, AMD is not without its problems either. It is possible to improve the speed of a certain model by 100%.
Wang Yidong said, "Optimization software? Zhao, the software development industry hasn't been very successful in recent years, let alone software developed by you students, especially optimization software that isn't very practical. How many optimization software programs are on the market right now, and how many of them can actually make money?"
Zhao Qiang smiled slightly: "Mr. Wang, my software is different from ordinary optimization software. Let's do an experiment first. You can choose any machine and then you can specify a system comprehensive scoring software. Before optimization, you measure a data, and after optimization, you measure the data again. Let's compare and see if there is any effect."
Not wanting to dampen Zhao Qiang's enthusiasm, Wang Yidong agreed. He randomly pointed to a sample machine, and the two turned it on and used LuMaster to evaluate the current system's overall score. After all, Wang Yidong wasn't a professional; he didn't understand those professional evaluations and lacked the corresponding software. He was just making a comparison, so it didn't matter which software they used. LuMaster, also known as Windows Optimization Master, seems to have become a product of 720 now.
Zhao Qiang took a screenshot of the evaluation value, then inserted the USB drive. After Xiao Wei modified it, no one could tell that he had run the special version. There was only a password prompt box on the window, which Wang Yidong couldn't understand at all. He only saw the hard drive light start flashing wildly. About half an hour later, a completion prompt box popped up on the desktop. He just needed to click OK.
Zhao Qiang smiled and asked Wang Yidong to run the comprehensive scoring software again. This time, the score was more than 300 points higher than the last time! You know, every point difference represents a performance improvement. If it were only a few dozen points higher after optimization, it wouldn't be a big deal. But it was 300 points higher all at once, and this was a brand new system. Wang Yidong had to take it seriously.
"Let's try another one, use Ma Xiaohua's old machine." Wang Yidong was shrewd. If this software was really that amazing, it meant he would also be entering the elite world! With good software, there was no fear of not making a name for himself.
Let's have Wang Yidong evaluate the overall score first. The prototype scored over 1900 points, while this old machine only got a little over 1000. The old machine just isn't good enough. Next, it'll be Zhao Qiang's turn to optimize it. It's a very simple procedure: enter the password to access the optimization system, then click "Next Optimization" and wait.
This time, the hard drive kept flashing for a longer time. It took Ma Xiaohua until she arrived at work and finished cleaning before it finished. Wang Yidong eagerly ran the LuMaster comprehensive performance benchmark. A moment later, the total score appeared: 1867! Wang Yidong was stunned. This meant that this old machine, after optimization, had achieved the performance of the new machine before optimization! Was that possible? Wang Yidong, quite unconvinced, ran the game. He found that the hard drive didn't make much noise, and he easily entered the game. The previous screen lag was gone. Damn, this meant that the price of a broken machine could buy the performance of a new one!
Wang Yidong's body trembled with excitement. This was an incredible, heaven-defying software! It should be worth hundreds of millions if it were sold. There was only one software in the world that could so effectively tap into the comprehensive capabilities of a system! If it were used properly, it might just become another 720 company! However, Wang Yidong suddenly realized that this software wasn't his, and he had no say in how things were handled.
Wang Yidong forcibly suppressed his wildly beating heart, patted Zhao Qiang on the shoulder and said, "Zhao, this is a good software, I believe it. Tell me your plans. If you don't have any plans, let your uncle help you plan. We've known each other for quite a while now, and you know how much I trust you. If you want to succeed, don't forget your uncle."
In the short time that followed, they became uncle and nephew. Zhao Qiang understood that it was all thanks to the "idiot-proof" optimization software. Although Zhao Qiang had felt ecstatic after the successful experiment yesterday, that feeling had faded now. He was very clear about two things: first, this software couldn't be sold externally, otherwise he wouldn't be able to explain the designer's background; second, this software couldn't be used publicly, also because Xiao Wei's identity couldn't be exposed. This meant that the software could only generate a small amount of money on a limited scale. As for using a network server for remote optimization, it was currently impractical due to the issues of purchasing, setting up, and charging for servers.
“Mr. Wang, here’s my idea: we can use this software to optimize the system for our clients. You provide the client base, and I’ll be responsible for the optimization. We’ll split the service fee, and we can discuss the specific percentage later.”
Wang Yidong was stunned. "Xiao Zhao, don't you want to get this software up and running?"
Zhao Qiang said, "I'm sorry, Mr. Wang, the person who wrote it said that this software cannot be distributed, and that no one else should even know that it exists. There are only two copies of this software, one on a CD and one on a USB drive. They are protected by read-only and cannot be copied. Moreover, if someone forcibly cracks it, it will self-destruct. No one else can operate it except me who knows the running password."
"How could they do this?" Wang Yidong was furious. "This is completely burying a wonderful piece of software!"
Zhao Qiang said, "There's nothing we can do but make some money using its current functions. It's better than nothing, right?"
Wang Yidong said, "Yes, let me think about how to operate this. Although it may not make a lot of money, it is definitely an opportunity for Home Inns Computer Company. Xiao Zhao, I didn't misjudge you. This time, we will make a fortune, more or less."
Ma Xiaohua, who had been listening nearby, said, "President Wang, I told you Zhao is capable. Zhang Chunjiang is disorganized and undisciplined. I think you should fire him. Zhao can handle all the technical issues in the company."
Wang Yidong chuckled and changed the subject: "Let's discuss it again. Let's talk about the pricing for this optimization. Generally speaking, even new machines have 20% to 30% potential to be tapped, and older machines have even more, because the effects of optimization are extremely obvious. So the price can't be low. Let's divide it into personal and enterprise versions. The optimization fee for the personal version will be a bit more expensive than on-site system installation. How about setting it at 180 yuan per time?"
The optimization cost 180 yuan per session. Zhao Qiang only needed to click a button and wait for about half an hour. Wang Yidong would definitely give him 80 yuan, so it was worth it. Zhao Qiang nodded. Currently, he lacked customers, so cooperation with Wang Yidong was inevitable.
Wang Yidong continued, "The enterprise version will be more expensive because it involves kickbacks and networking costs. I think it should be set at 280, which is much more cost-effective than them buying a new machine. It shouldn't be too difficult to convince them. Finally, let's talk about our profit distribution. Since it's just optimization, we can ignore the costs. But I don't know what your classmate Xiao Zhao's requirements are?"
This so-called classmate obviously doesn't exist, so Zhao Qiang said, "My classmate isn't involved, so I'll be responsible for everything myself."
Wang Yidong said, "Alright, the profit sharing is between you and me. For the personal version optimization, you get 100 and I get 80. For the enterprise version, because we need to manage relationships, I'll get more, 160, and you get 120. Xiao Zhao, are you satisfied with this profit sharing method?"
Zhao Qiang didn't know anyone else besides Liu Yiyi, his corporate client. Liu Yiyi only gave him a fixed salary, but Wang Yidong's offer was higher than Zhao Qiang had originally planned. He wouldn't have to go out and do business or deal with complicated interpersonal relationships; he would get paid for nothing, which was exactly what Zhao Qiang wanted.
"satisfy."
(Bonus chapter for the 200th recommendation vote! Thank you all for your support!)
Volume 1 [039] The First Transaction
The door of the computer company creaked open, and a young woman in her late twenties carried in a computer. "Manager Wang, my computer is having problems. It's been incredibly laggy these past few days when I play Baohuang (a card game), the cards are played in slow motion, and it keeps disconnecting. It's making me get killed a lot when I play online games."
Wang Yidong chuckled, gave Zhao Qiang a "business opportunity" look, and then approached the young woman, asking, "When was the last time you worked on a system?"
The young woman asked doubtfully, "Reinstall the system? I don't know. I haven't touched the computer since I bought it from you. I just use it to browse the internet and play games. It's been super slow lately. Some netizens say it's crashed."
Wang Yidong said, "Your computer needs maintenance. Fortunately, our company is launching a system optimization service today that can improve your computer's speed by 30% to 50%."
The young woman ignored the data Wang Yidong provided and instead asked, "How much?"
Wang Yidong said, "180."
The young woman exclaimed in surprise, "So expensive? I heard that installing a system at your home only costs a little over a hundred. Manager Wang, you're ripping me off!"
Wang Yidong said, "If you want me to install the system, I'll charge you seventy. But the optimization I'm talking about is to improve the speed after you install the new system. Think about it, the money for on-site system installation is equivalent to upgrading the computer host. This is too cost-effective."
The young woman thought for a while and then said, "Manager Wang, I bought the computer from you, so you should provide me with free service, right?"
Wang Yidong glanced at the manufacturing date on the back of the computer and said, "Hehe, you've had this for over a year."
The young woman said, "But the warranty period hasn't expired yet. It was supposed to be a three-year warranty."
Wang Yidong said, "You came in a Jetta, right? I'm asking you, how long is the warranty on a Jetta?"
The young woman casually replied, "Two years, or 60,000 kilometers."
Wang Yidong then asked, "Do you go to the 4S shop for maintenance?"
The young woman said, "Of course I get maintenance done, otherwise they won't provide warranty service."
How much does it cost per session?
"Engine oil 122, oil filter 25..."
Wang Yidong chuckled: "Look, you have to pay for maintenance on your car even during the warranty period, let alone your computer. Besides, our maintenance will enhance the potential of your equipment. For example, your Jetta used to go 180 mph, but now it can easily go 240 mph!"
The young woman chuckled and said, "Manager Wang, you're really funny. You're a true businesswoman. Alright, as long as you can solve my problem, I'll pay the 180. But if it's still slow, don't blame me for not paying you."
Wang Yidong waved to Zhao Qiang, "No money if you don't hurry, Xiao Zhao, move it into the repair shop and get to work."
Zhao Qiang secretly gave Wang Yidong a thumbs up. He had really managed to bring a dead horse back to life. Choosing to cooperate with Wang Yidong was the right decision. Thinking back to how Wang Yidong was able to buy up all the computer "junk" in the municipal government warehouse, how much business would he have in the future? He could make a hundred yuan per computer, a thousand yuan for ten computers, and ten thousand yuan for a thousand computers...
Zhao Qiang moved the computer into the repair shop, plugged it in, and ran the program on the USB drive, performing antivirus and optimization simultaneously. However, for patching, Zhao Qiang chose to fix known vulnerabilities; he didn't want to go around boasting that he had prior knowledge of unknown vulnerabilities. To be honest, this machine had quite a few viruses and data errors, no wonder it was so slow. But that was fine; the more viruses and errors, the better the optimization would be, and the more willing customers would be to pay.
Half an hour later, Zhao Qiang took the machine outside, casually connected it to a sample monitor, turned it on, and plugged in a network cable for the young woman to try it out herself. He first commented on the boot speed, and the young woman praised it highly: "Not bad, Manager Wang, you really know how to do this. It's much faster than when I first bought it. Let me try the internet speed."
The young woman clicked the mouse frantically, opening at least twenty web pages and switching between them. The computer barely froze. She exclaimed in delight, "Manager Wang, what you said about the speed improvement is true! Before, when I was reading novels, switching between web pages was incredibly slow, but now I can't feel any lag at all. I'll try playing games next."
As she spoke, the young woman entered the game room and started playing "Protect the Emperor" (a card game). She played her cards swiftly for two rounds in a row, making her move immediately without any hesitation. The young woman had a smile on her face the whole time. She readily paid the bill and finally left with the game console.
Wang Yidong said to Ma Xiaohua, "Xiao Ma, give the money to Xiao Zhao. We can settle accounts one by one from now on. Xiao Zhao has a hard life, and he's currently spending money on his studies. Don't delay his expenses."
Ma Xiaohua pulled a hundred-yuan bill from the drawer and handed it to Zhao Qiang. Zhao Qiang naturally accepted it, as it was his due. He was overjoyed to earn a hundred yuan for half an hour, knowing that there would be many more such opportunities in the future.
Not only was Zhao Qiang pleased, but Wang Yidong immediately set off to solicit business. That same day, a small company agreed to optimize its computers. The department and workshop together had a total of nine computers. This was a small food factory, and most of the computers were used as game consoles and internet access tools. Because the small factory did not have maintenance personnel, each computer was very slow. Wang Yidong persuaded the boss with his silver tongue to optimize one computer first to see the effect.
After lunch, Wang Yidong rode his electric scooter with Zhao Qiang into Tengfei Food Factory. The factory area was filled with the smell of salted duck eggs. In addition to salted duck eggs, Tengfei Food Factory also produces braised eggs, white sugar, brown sugar, and seasonings. There were two computers in the finance office and two in the workshop for work, and the remaining five were game consoles for the leaders.
Wang Yidong led Zhao Qiang into the manager's office first. Their first target was the general manager's AMD-assembled computer, a 22-inch LCD screen with a wireless mouse and keyboard. It had been purchased less than seven months ago, but the general manager liked to visit all sorts of random websites. Now, pop-up windows appeared as soon as he turned on the computer, and all kinds of advertisements flooded the internet. Memory read errors would also pop up from time to time. He was planning to have Wang Yidong arrange for someone to reinstall the system, but unexpectedly, he agreed to have it optimized after being persuaded by Wang Yidong.
Three people were sitting in the general manager's office, smoking, drinking tea, and chatting. Their faces were flushed, so they had probably just come back from drinking. Wang Yidong knocked on the door and entered. General Manager Sun Yigang stood up to greet him: "General Manager Wang is here. Please take a look at this. It keeps giving me errors when I'm online these past few days. It's driving me crazy."
Wang Yidong introduced Zhao Qiang, saying, "This is Zhao Qiang, an engineer from my company. Let him optimize it for you and then you can try it. If it doesn't work, I won't charge you. We've been friends for many years, and I would never lie to you."
Sun Yigang gave up his seat and sat on the sofa with everyone. Zhao Qiang sat in the boss's chair, plugged in the USB drive, and started optimizing without saying a word. He was speechless when he saw a series of viruses and registry errors. Almost every computer was like this. When those pirates, account thieves, and advertisers all died out, the computers would probably be quiet. But if that happened, the repairmen would probably have nothing to do.
The hard drive was making a clicking sound, while Wang Yidong was already enthusiastically handing out business cards to the other two people present. Judging from their conversation, they seemed to be small business owners as well. Although their companies were not as large as Sun Yigang's, they still had a few computers.
"Let's play a couple of rounds?" Sun Yi suggested with a mischievous grin, and the other two chimed in.
Wang Yidong had no choice but to agree, "Okay, five yuan as a minimum, fifty yuan as a maximum. I can't afford anything higher."
As Sun Yigang pulled out a deck of cards from under the coffee table, he said, "Alright, it's not like your computer company isn't making money."
Wang Yidong said with a long face, "My business volume is not enough for you guys to see. One batch of your goods is equivalent to my monthly income."
Sun Yigang said, "No need to flip the cards to compare sizes. I'll be the dealer first." Then he started dealing the cards. Wang Yidong and the others took out their money and each threw five yuan onto the table. It was a game commonly known as Texas Hold'em. Because the result was determined after three cards were flipped, the wins and losses were very quick. By the time Zhao Qiang finished optimizing the game, Wang Yidong had already lost more than three hundred yuan. He threw down his cards and said, "Let's check the computer first. Mr. Sun, you're not asking me to fix your computer, you're asking me to give you money."
Sun Yigang got up and sat back in his computer chair. Zhao Qiang stood by and watched him operate the computer. The first game he opened was the "Bloody Battle of Shanghai" game. Zhao Qiang was sweating profusely. Even he, who did not play games, knew that it was an old game. Unexpectedly, Sun Yigang was playing it with great interest. He praised Sun Yigang as he played: "It is indeed fast. The picture is much clearer. I will try to go online."
The pop-up disappeared, but Sun Yigang immediately logged into an adult website from his bookmarks. Zhao Qiang was sweating profusely. Wasn't this just destroying all his optimization efforts? Although the "Big Fool Optimization Software" could kill viruses, it wouldn't stay on the target host permanently. Once it exited, the host would be unprotected, and it would still get infected, causing the speed to slow down again.
"Hmm, not bad, not bad. I had a lot of trouble logging into this website this morning, but it opened instantly now. No wonder when I called China Unicom they said it had nothing to do with internet speed. Looks like it really is a problem with my computer. Hey, you guys want to watch some good movies? I have a VIP account on this website, and I can watch thousands of adult movies at will!"
Wang Yidong's expression was also grim. He was well aware that optimizing the system and then accessing such websites would slow it down again, but he couldn't simply prevent people from accessing it; otherwise, the computer Sun Yigang had wouldn't be of much use to him. After thinking for a moment, Wang Yidong said to Zhao Qiang, "Set up a one-click system restore for President Sun, so that he can restore the system every time he logs into such a website."
(This is the second guaranteed update today, and I'll add an extra chapter, chapter 250, tonight, based on recommendation votes.)
Volume 1 [040] Earning Over a Thousand a Day
Because the optimization was so effective, Sun Yigang agreed to optimize eight more machines. Optimization of CDs and USB drives was carried out simultaneously, taking more than two hours and almost until evening. Wang Yidong didn't follow; he stayed in Sun Yigang's office playing Texas Hold'em. By the time Zhao Qiang returned to report, he had won back the 300 yuan he had lost earlier, temporarily maintaining a 0-0 situation.
Sun Yigang laughed heartily: "Old Wang, you're really cautious. You neither win our money nor lose your own. Alright, let's settle the accounts. By the way, Xiao Wang, how are those computers performing? If they're not fast, Old Wang said they're free."
Xiao Wang is Sun Yigang's secretary. He always followed Zhao Qiang around, pointing out which department to go to. He also tried out the optimized computers, and each one had a noticeable speed improvement, especially the two computers in the finance department. They were equipped with Celeron 1.7 processors, 845GV motherboards, 256MB DDR1 memory, and 40GB 5400RPM hard drives. Considering that there was important data on the hard drives, the system had never been reinstalled since they were bought. They were incredibly slow, and the hard drives would freeze for several minutes every now and then. After optimization, the speed was blazing fast, almost as fast as the two dual-core computers bought last year.
"General Manager Sun, the speed has indeed improved, even more effectively than a complete reinstall, especially on the finance side. The two computers seem to have been rejuvenated, and not a single piece of data has been lost." Xiao Wang was being factual, not downplaying Zhao Qiang's contribution at all. He was a college graduate, and the factory usually turned to him for minor computer problems. This annoyed him quite a bit. If he solved it, people said it was his duty; if he couldn't, they would gossip behind his back, saying he was a waste of his college degree. Now that someone had taken care of all the computers in the factory, at least for the time being, he was free.
Sun Yigang was quite pleased after hearing this. "Not bad, Lao Wang, you're good at this. You made 280 yuan from me per unit. You took more than 2,000 yuan from me this afternoon, which is almost the price of a computer."
Wang Yidong smiled obsequiously: "Mr. Sun, you're getting the speed of nine computers for the price of one. It's worth it. Besides, I have my own resources. I have to pay Engineer Zhao's salary, right? He's paid by the hour. And this optimization software was written by IT elites hired at high prices. I don't usually let just anyone use it."
Sun Yigang said, "Alright, stop complaining about being poor. Xiao Wang, take Boss Wang to the finance department to get the money. Anyway, we'll have to go to him again if things slow down in the future, so we should at least give him a warranty for a year or so."
Wang Yidong smiled wryly. "Warranty it is. Fortunately, the optimization process isn't complicated. I'll just ask Zhao Qiang to make another trip later."
Back at the Home Inn computer company, Zhao Qiang immediately received a commission of 1,080 yuan. When Wang Yidong paid him, he said to Zhao Qiang, "Xiao Zhao, Sun Yigang is also an old friend of mine. If his computer slows down again in the future, I'll have to trouble you to make a trip. In any case, this is our first big order, so please take the trouble. We'll give him a one-year warranty."