MMB Chapter 107 Experts in Directional Mining Technology
Chapter 107 Experts in Directional Mining Technology
That evening, Lin Feng sat in front of his computer in the office and continued browsing through posts.
Before he knew it, his stomach started growling, and he was just about to make instant noodles.
Lin Xiaowen knocked on the door and came in, carrying a thermos.
"Brother Feng, don't eat instant noodles anymore. I brought you some porridge and dumplings from downstairs." She put the thermos on the table and took out a basket of steamed dumplings.
"Thank you." Lin Feng took the chopsticks, picked up a steamed dumpling, took a bite, and found it tasted pretty good.
Lin Xiaowen sat beside him, resting her chin on her hands, watching Lin Feng eat with great interest. She seemed even happier than if she were eating herself.
"You should eat too!" Lin Feng handed her the dumplings.
"I've already eaten..." Lin Xiaowen smiled slightly, her eyes, which seemed to speak volumes, fixed on him.
"Has your brother eaten?"
"My brother isn't hungry..."
Lin Feng: "..."
He had originally intended for Lin Xiaowen to take the steamed dumplings to his brother, but then suddenly changed his mind. Why disappoint Lin Xiaowen's kind intentions?
After finishing the dumplings, Lin Feng drank a few mouthfuls of porridge. His stomach felt at ease, and the fatigue from the past few days of travel dissipated considerably.
He checked the time; it was getting late.
"You've worked hard today, go home and get some rest," he said to Lin Xiaowen.
"Okay, Feng-ge, don't stay out too late." Lin Xiaowen got up, neatly tidied up the dishes and the thermos, and quietly closed the door before leaving.
On his way home from get off work, Lin Feng observed the few pedestrians and vehicles around him. He remembered the recruitment process; finding a technical lead was the top priority to get the website up and running as soon as possible.
Wu Wenjie mentioned it briefly during the day, saying that he knew a few people in the tech industry.
The next morning, Wu Wenjie arrived at Lin Feng's office.
"Boss, we've got a lead!" he exclaimed excitedly. "Last night I went through all my old acquaintances in my mind! I remembered one person, Zhou Bin!"
I used to work at Mingke Electronics in Shenzhen, a legitimate software company, and I heard their technology was pretty good.
Later, it seems he opened his own studio and took on freelance work. I went through several connections to finally find out where he is now, and I'm going to find him today!
"Is it reliable?" Lin Feng asked.
"Absolutely reliable! I've dealt with that guy before; he's honest, technically superb, just a bit stubborn and inflexible. But once he sets his mind on something, he'll go all out!"
Wu Wenjie added, "However, his salary at Mingke used to be quite high. We'll have to discuss his current location and salary expectations with them to find out."
"Let's make contact first and see what they think. If you're truly capable, we can discuss the salary." Lin Feng made up his mind. "I'll go with you."
After quickly finishing their tasks, the two went to the address Wu Wenjie had found out.
It was in an older park next to the science park, which was mostly occupied by small startups and trading companies.
After asking around for a long time, I finally found a small suite with a sign that read "Bin Chuang Technology" on the door on the fifth floor of an office building.
The door was ajar, and a heated argument could be heard coming from inside.
"...Old Zhou, it's not that we're being unfair, but the final payment for this order has been delayed for three months! I've chased the client eight times, and they say your system has too many bugs and is unusable! How can I settle your payment if I don't get the money?" a shrill male voice said.
"Manager Wang, the contract is very clear, and we've met all the acceptance criteria. All the test cases you provided have passed. The client's additional requirements went beyond the contract scope, but we worked overtime to complete them and only charged cost price. Using 'too many bugs' as an excuse to delay is inappropriate, isn't it?"
Another voice, which sounded calmer but suppressed anger, was probably Zhou Bin's.
"Hey, how can you be so rigid when doing projects? If the client says there's a problem, then there's a problem! Old Zhou, please be understanding. Here's what we'll do: for the final payment of 12,000, I'll give you 3,000 first, and the rest will be settled with the client..."
"We'll abide by the contract. What's mine is mine, not a penny less. If you don't follow the contract, we can take legal action." Zhou Bin's voice turned cold.
"Oh ho! You're trying to pull this on me? Fine, Zhou Bin, you're so high and mighty! Let's see how long your little shabby studio can last! Three thousand, take it or leave it!" The shrill male voice suddenly rose in pitch.
Then came the sound of a chair being dragged and footsteps. Wu Wenjie quickly pulled Lin Feng aside.
A middle-aged man in a suit, carrying a briefcase, stormed out of the door, muttering something foul under his breath, and stomped downstairs.
Inside the door, a slightly overweight man wearing a gray-blue polo shirt and with messy, sparse hair stood in front of a simple desk, his chest heaving, clearly very angry.
There were only two old tables and a few chairs in the room. Some computer books were piled on the tables and the floor. A huge project schedule was posted on the wall, with several red crosses drawn on it.
Wu Wenjie cleared his throat and knocked on the open door: "Ahem, Engineer Zhou? Do you still recognize me? Ah Jie!"
The man inside turned his head, his anger still lingering. When he saw Wu Wenjie, he paused for a moment, then looked puzzled and tried to recall.
"It's me, A-Jie! You used to get a few batches of memory sticks from me at Yuanwang Digital City, don't you remember?" Wu Wenjie walked in with a smile.
"Oh... Ah Jie." Zhou Bin remembered, his expression softening slightly, but a worry still lingered between his brows. "How did you find your way here? Is something wrong?"
"Hehe, you wouldn't come here without a reason." Wu Wenjie stepped aside to let Lin Feng in. "Let me introduce you, this is my boss, Lin Feng. We're working on a project recently and we need a top-notch tech expert to oversee it, and you were the first person I thought of!"
Zhou Bin then noticed Lin Feng, nodded as a greeting, but seemed uninterested.
"Thanks for remembering me, Ah Jie. But look at me here... a complete mess. I probably won't have time to take on freelance work anytime soon."
"This isn't a side job," Lin Feng said. "It's an invitation for you to officially join us and start a business together."
Zhou Bin then took a proper look at Lin Feng. He was very young, but his eyes were calm and steady, not like someone joking.
"Start a business together?" He smirked, a self-deprecating smile on his face. "Start what business? In my current state, you call this 'starting a business'? It's not a pleasant experience."
"We want to do something different." Lin Feng ignored his emotions, his gaze sweeping over the progress chart on the wall covered with red crosses before returning to Zhou Bin's face.
"I'm planning to create a website that will make it as quick and convenient as shopping at a market for ordinary people to find housing, jobs, and local services. The information will be authentic and free. Do you think this is worth doing?"
Zhou Bin was stunned. He had expected the other party to either make grand promises and talk about ideals, or to negotiate a lower price and terms; he hadn't expected such a concrete idea. Free? Real? Do such projects still exist these days?
"The ideal is very lofty." Zhou Bin dragged a chair over and sat down, gesturing for them to sit as well, his tone returning to the slightly critical and pragmatic manner typical of a technologist.
"But the reality is, where does the information come from? How can we guarantee its accuracy? How do we promote the website? How do we make a profit? Have you thought about these questions?"
"I've thought about it." Lin Feng didn't evade the question. "Information is gathered by sending people to the streets to scan and talk to people, accumulating it little by little. Authenticity is initially verified manually, and rules are gradually established. Promotion relies on publicity, but even more so on word-of-mouth from users."
Regarding profitability, we don't charge individual users, but we can charge employers and businesses. As more people use it and the information becomes more valuable, there are many ways to generate revenue.
Lin Feng's idea stunned Zhou Bin once again.
He had seen too many boastful bosses and customers, but this young man in front of him thought things through very clearly.
"It sounds like... it will take a long time to turn a profit," Zhou Bin said.
"I'm not looking to make quick money." Lin Feng looked at him. "I just want to solve a societal problem and do something useful for everyone. Of course, if I succeed, I won't be short of money."
Zhou Bin was silent for a moment: "How much money are you planning to invest?"
"The money isn't much, but it should be enough to sustain us until the website goes live and we can operate it for a year or two."
Lin Feng extended an olive branch: "We need a technical lead who can build a website platform from scratch. Salary, benefits, and even stock options are negotiable."
Stock options? In Shenzhen's IT circles in 2004, the word was far less attractive than "high salary" and "bonus," especially for him, who had experienced the failure of "Bin Chuang Technology," it seemed more like a distant pie in the sky.
But for some reason, Lin Feng's down-to-earth attitude made him feel...somewhat credible.
"What technology stack do you use?" he asked a technical question.
"Nothing's decided yet," Lin Feng answered decisively. "If you join us, you can use whatever you think is suitable. The goal is a fast, stable website that can support a certain number of users and information. Money should be spent wisely."
The boss doesn't interfere with technical decisions, which is something that top tech experts value highly.
"PHP + MySQL, Linux server, low cost, lots of open source resources, suitable for rapid development." Zhou Bin said his preference almost subconsciously, "But it's not easy to do well, performance optimization, security, and attack prevention are all pitfalls."
"That's why we need someone knowledgeable to take charge," Lin Feng quickly added. "We're not afraid of making mistakes, as long as we can get out. You handle the technical aspects. I just want the results."
Zhou Bin leaned back in his chair, let out a long sigh, and looked around his messy studio.
Taking on side jobs, being owed final payments, having to put up with other people's attitudes, and having dreams rubbed against reality...
This is what his life has been like for the past year. But the young man in front of him is proposing a different, more promising path.
"I still have two small projects to finish, and another messy debt like the one we just discussed to deal with," Zhou Bin frankly told Lin Feng. "It will probably take... about half a month to clean it up."
"No problem, I can wait," Lin Feng replied.
Zhou Bin looked at Lin Feng, then at Wu Wenjie who was looking expectantly beside him, and finally his gaze fell on the lawyer's letter regarding the dispute with the client on his desk.
He suddenly felt that compared to all the bickering, it seemed more worthwhile to try to do something more meaningful.
"Can you offer a salary of 10,000 yuan a month?" Zhou Bin finally asked, given his current situation. He felt that stock options were unreliable and that a salary was more stable.
Lin Feng answered readily, "Okay, ten thousand yuan it is, three-month trial period."
Zhou Bin seemed to have regained his enthusiasm: "I'll report to your place in half a month. Let me make it clear, I'm a very meticulous person when it comes to work, and I have high standards, so don't find me annoying."
"Welcome." Lin Feng stood up and extended his hand.
Zhou Bin also stood up and shook hands firmly.
As they walked out of the old building, Wu Wenjie couldn't help but praise, "The boss is generous; he persuaded this stubborn ox with just a few words!"
Lin Feng smiled slightly: "A monthly salary of ten thousand is more effective."
The core technology has been found, though it's just the beginning. The real test is yet to come.