Chapter 29: You Have a Gold Mine at Home?

The university city forums in Linchuan were pretty much the same as Jiang Qin remembered.

The homepage was divided into four sections: Daily Chat, Campus Life, Internal Announcements, and Study Materials.

Hmm? Study Materials?

Jiang Qin felt his DNA stir a bit and clicked into it.

“Past Years’ Graduate School Entrance Exam Questions and Answers”

“The Complete TOEFL Exam Strategy Guide”

“Full Text of Professor Wen’s Lecture Series from the School of Finance and Economics”

Jiang Qin took a glance and found that it really was all study materials, instantly making it seem much more boring.

But this was normal. The forum itself was jointly created by the four nearby universities and was an official website. There was no way it would have the kind of content that college students loved to see.

But precisely because there was official oversight of the content, the posts on the forum all seemed very dull and drab, always carrying a stodgy and serious air.

But college students were clearly a youthful and energetic group. Like hell they would want to use such a stodgy forum.

Jiang Qin had already thought it through on his way here. He was going to make a website.

With the college student group as the core user base, it would radiate outwards.

Boys and girls in puberty were in an age of raging hormones with a strong desire to find partners, so the main section in the early stage would be set as a confession wall.

Also, college students at this age were a psychologically sensitive group. There were many things in their hearts they didn’t want to say to people they knew, so his second section would be an anonymous tree hole.

In addition, considering hobbies and trends, Jiang Qin planned to open up two other sections, one called Gaming and Anime, and one called Fashion and Lifestyle.

Apart from classes and romance, the daily lives of college students basically just consisted of 2D characters and looking good.

As for studying…

That section could be abandoned. After all, he didn’t want to steal all the views from the official forums.

In the early days of the booming development of the internet, browsing forums was still the main force of surfing the web. Sites like Zhihu, Douban, Weibo were almost all founded around this time period.

The website Jiang Qin wanted to make leaned towards the life sharing field, but was different from the currently popular QQ Space.

Because QQ Space could only be seen by friends and belonged to a closed social circle, while his website would be fully open.

As for the way to attract traffic, of course it was also very simple.

Just pretend to be a female college student and post a few threads.

“Any cute guys here? I’ve been wanting to date recently. Who wants to take me home? I don’t have a gag reflex, I’ve learned dance, and can do splits. Attached below are some revealing photos of a female internet celebrity.”

He guaranteed those crude guys would be howling after seeing it, staying up all night hanging out on the forums.

Attracting female college student users was also very simple. Just create a few points of conflict.

“Guys, can you believe it? My boyfriend invited me to dinner but actually wanted to split the bill with me. So low-class.”

“Guys, can you relate? My bestie and I fell for the same guy. Should I really let him go?”

The forum’s early profits would definitely come from advertising revenue. Later on, it would need to chase internet trends and find opportunities to develop in the direction of short videos.

“Gotta buy a domain name first.”

“Oh right, also need to rent a virtual host.”

Jiang Qin found a domain name mall and took a simple look at the prices.

Domain names were hierarchical. The more popular a domain name, the more expensive it was. Those related to college students were too expensive. Those associated with Tencent were even more expensive. Some of the more popular buzzwords had long been registered.

Jiang Qin thought back and forth and suddenly considered a question.

What year was the real Zhihu founded again?

Seemed like it was after 2010, right?

In other words, Zhihu doesn’t exist right now?

Hehe, what a coincidence. Sorry, but that domain name is temporarily mine.

Jiang Qin took out a small box from his bag, pulled out a USB drive and plugged it into the computer, unhesitatingly buying the zhihu domain name.

This name still had a lot of style. “Zhi hu zhe ye”. Although it was a homophonic pun, it really had a cultured flavor that was quite in line with the college student demographic.

“Old…Old Jiang, what did you just spend three thousand yuan to buy?”

“Bought a domain name. Planning to make a website to play around with.”

Only then did Jiang Qin realize the three guys behind him hadn’t left. So he didn’t hide it.

Hearing the answer, Zhou Chao and Ren Ziqiang gaped. They didn’t have much concept of what a website was, but they did have a concept of money. Their own living expenses were only a bit over six hundred. Who would have thought Jiang Qin actually spent three thousand yuan to buy something that couldn’t be seen or touched? This was too fucking ridiculous.

Meanwhile, Cao Guangyu slightly tugged at the corner of his mouth, pondering for a while without speaking.

Even if he was a rich second generation, he wouldn’t dare to spend three thousand yuan in one breath. After all, no matter how much money his family had, it belonged to his dad. His own living expenses were just a thousand.

Comparing the two, Cao Guangyu felt Jiang Qin seemed more like a rich second generation. Could this dog be playing pig to eat tiger?

“Old Jiang, what does your family do? How can you spend money so fiercely?”

“An ordinary and low-level working class.”

Ren Ziqiang was dumbfounded: “Then how much living expenses do you get per month?”

Jiang Qin pulled open his clothes and flipped out his wallet: “Five hundred. After buying the train ticket, I have three hundred sixty left. Oh, there’s a one yuan coin here. Anyone want it?”

“I want it, give it to me!”

Zhou Chao immediately pinched that coin: “Jiang bro, you’re really a spendthrift. But I like it.”

Jiang Qin closed his wallet: “Not a spendthrift. Coins are easy to lose in pockets. Might as well give it away as a token of friendship.”

After hearing this, Cao Guangyu snorted: “Old Zhou, you really have no integrity. You want even one yuan? Have you never seen money before?”

“You think I’m greedy for the 1 yuan on the front, but actually what I love is the national emblem on the back!”

“You fucking…sure know how to argue.”

Zhou Chao smugly raised the corner of his mouth and tucked the coin into his pocket, turning around to lie back on his own bed.

Ren Ziqiang stretched and yawned, heading into the bathroom.

Cao Guangyu glanced at his own phone, then glanced at Jiang Qin’s computer. His expression suddenly became a bit gloomy.

He had put on airs three times today, originally wanting to establish his position and dignity as the big brother in the dorm. But each time he was intercepted by Jiang Qin. No way he could feel good.

“Old Jiang, next time when I’m showing off, can you give me a bit of face?”

“Didn’t I?”

“Did you?”

“Alright, I got it. Next time I’ll let you show off thoroughly.”

Cao Guangyu pouted. He didn’t know if Jiang Qin was being genuine or not, but he at least felt much more comfortable. So he hugged his new phone and started surfing the internet.

At the same time, Jiang Qin discovered a QQ message notification suddenly pop up on the bottom right of the computer. He grabbed the mouse and clicked over, finding that it was Hong Yan who he met yesterday.

“Jiang Qin, got time? Let’s go out and have a meal.”

“Right now?”

“How about tomorrow? After registration?”

Jiang Qin put his hands behind his head, slightly leaning back in the chair, looking pensive.

He and Hong Yan had only met once. They couldn’t be considered close, only acquaintances. Although they said “see you when we have time” at the school gate that day, in Jiang Qin’s view this was just a polite phrase. He never expected this girl to take it so seriously.

“Sure, then let’s contact each other tomorrow?”

“Ok~”