Chapter 1 Tuesday, October 18th

Qiao Liang dragged his suitcase and once again set foot on the land of Jingzhou.

"Jingzhou, I, Teacher Qiao, am back!"

"Huh? Why did I say 'again'?"

For some reason, Qiao Liang felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity towards Jingzhou.

After returning to the capital, he sold everything he could in his original apartment, terminated the lease, and shipped his beloved computer and collectible figurines to Jingzhou. Then, he dragged a suitcase containing his personal belongings and clothing.

For some reason, Qiao Liang suddenly felt a sense of relief.

He was finally saying goodbye to that messy rented apartment and returning to the clean and tidy Sloth Apartment to start a new life!

In July of this year, the Jingzhou high-speed railway station had officially opened, making the journey from the capital to Jingzhou more convenient.

This was Qiao Liang's first time at the Jingzhou high-speed railway station. Following the signs inside the station, he arrived at the taxi waiting area.

Many people were waiting in line for taxis. Qiao Liang dragged his suitcase to the end of the line and suddenly saw a huge billboard next to him.

"Jingzhou: A New City Identity Card!"

This seemed to be a series of billboards. The one closest to Qiao Liang featured a famous historical site in Jingzhou, with a line of artistic characters introducing it below.

"A Historic City, Jingzhou of Ancient Charm."

Looking further ahead, another billboard featured a famous scenic spot in Jingzhou, with blue skies, white clouds, green mountains, and clear waters, also with a line of artistic characters below.

"Picturesque Scenery, the Great Beauty of Jingzhou."

As the queue moved forward, Qiao Liang followed the row of billboards.

Later billboards featured the city skyline of the High-Tech Zone, with the slogan "Industrial Upgrading, Innovative Jingzhou"; an aerial view of Handong University, with the slogan "Applying Knowledge, Educating Jingzhou," and so on.

Continuing forward, after passing these billboards, Qiao Liang's eyes suddenly lit up.

The slogan on the billboard ahead was "Healthy Living, Livable Jingzhou," and the content on the billboard was actually about the Tengda Life App!

The central part of the billboard was a mobile phone screen, with the "Tengda Life App" displayed on the screen. The labels extending from this App represented various Tengda Life-related industries, including Sloth Apartment, Managed Fitness, Lazy Delivery, and more.

Qiao Liang was stunned for a moment and quickly took out his phone to take a picture.

"Awesome!"

City-level promotion like this couldn't have been done by Tengda alone.

Clearly, the concept of healthy living advocated by Tengda and these very forward-looking physical industries had become Jingzhou's new identity card and part of the city's culture!

The concept of a city identity card is actually a city appearing as a whole image, seeking more opportunities to showcase itself. It is not a traditional form of packaging, but more accurately, it is a comprehensive, three-dimensional, and unique integrated promotional brand.

In this concept, "lifestyle" is a crucial factor. It is the carrier of the city's own characteristics and values. People living in the city use the "lifestyle" carrier to complete their psychological identification with the city.

The Tengda Life-related industries had obviously had a profound impact on the lifestyle of Jingzhou residents, so it was reasonable for them to become the city's identity card.

Being able to become Jingzhou's city identity card was not just about being promoted on billboards.

It also meant that Tengda Group had gained the recognition of the city of Jingzhou and would be regarded as a benchmark enterprise in various aspects in the future, receiving various preferential policies and support. This would allow it to better establish itself in Jingzhou and radiate its influence throughout the province and even the whole country.

"It seems that President Pei's strategy of 'establishing a foothold in Jingzhou and developing diversely' has worked!"

"Is this strategic vision?"

Qiao Liang couldn't help but sigh.

If President Pei had focused on expanding Lazy Cafes nationwide after the initial success and had not ventured into other industries, there would be no "Tengda Life," and it was unlikely that they would have been recognized as the city's identity card.

Qiao Liang got into a taxi and headed for Sloth Apartment.

His new life in Jingzhou was about to begin!

...

At the same time, Pei Qian was in his office, rubbing his temples, feeling a headache.

This time, it wasn't just about the Jingzhou city identity card.

In the last cycle, the "Tengda Life App" was a huge success, and Lazy Delivery, Lazy Cafes, Sloth Apartment, Managed Fitness, GOG Global Invitation Tournament, Thriller Hostel, and other ventures all gained high visibility.

This series of measures had also greatly enhanced Jingzhou's reputation nationwide. As a result, Jingzhou not only made Tengda its city identity card but also awarded Tengda the title of "Outstanding Enterprise of Jingzhou" and reduced a batch of taxes for Tengda, a major taxpayer!

If Pei Qian had heard this news in the last cycle, he probably would have fainted on the spot.

But fortunately, this cycle had just begun, so Pei Qian was only stunned for a moment before quickly recovering.

Good, good!

There was still a long time before the settlement, so it wasn't a big problem.

However, this also added some variables to his original plan to spend money.

What's more, the Tengda Life App had to be managed.

Yu Ping An had caused Pei Qian enough trouble in the last cycle. The originally failed Academic Master, Come Quick App integrated Tengda's physical industries, changed its name, and was reborn.

Now that the Tengda Life App had gained so much attention, its future development prospects were bright. If he didn't manage it, who knew what kind of trouble it would cause in the future!

Therefore, Pei Qian felt that he had to do something.

Based on the principle of "whoever makes money, spends it," he had to find some new work for the Tengda Life App so that they would stop focusing on this project.

Thinking of this, Pei Qian called Yu Ping An and asked him to come to his office.

...

An hour later, Yu Ping An arrived.

"President Pei!"

Yu Ping An's face was full of smiles. Who wouldn't feel honored to have their company recognized as the city's identity card?

From the Academic Master, Come Quick App to the Tengda Life App, this team had transformed several times, and each time it had been successful.

In Yu Ping An's opinion, this success was not based on luck, but entirely on President Pei's foresight and the efforts of all the employees!

Pei Qian motioned for Yu Ping An to sit down and asked, "How is your work going lately?"

Yu Ping An quickly replied, "President Pei, everything is going smoothly! The number of active users of the Tengda Life App is steadily increasing, especially in Jingzhou, where our App's influence is growing!"

"Of course, our team will not be complacent or arrogant."

"I have already formulated a very comprehensive update plan!"

"The Tengda Life App still has many problems. Our next goal is mainly twofold: first, to simplify the user experience by optimizing the interface layout so that our users can use it more conveniently; second, to further strengthen the in-depth cooperation with various industries and launch more practical functions..."

The more Pei Qian listened, the more dangerous he felt.

The Tengda Life App didn't make much money right now, but the problem was that it would make the physical industries a lot of money!

Therefore, he had to find something else for this team to do.

Pei Qian coughed lightly and said, "Well, your plan is good, but I have a new project for you."

Yu Ping An was stunned for a moment. "President Pei, please tell me."

He was a little confused.

Logically speaking, the Tengda Life App was so successful, so now shouldn't they be increasing their investment in manpower and capital?

Why was he starting a new project again?

Was it a project related to the Tengda Life App?

Yu Ping An didn't ask too much and listened attentively.

Pei Qian paused and said, "I want to do a new project, including a web version and a mobile app. The name will be... 'Useful'."

Yu Ping An: "Useful App? Then... what exactly is it useful for?"

Pei Qian explained, "This idea actually originated from some unpleasant experiences I had while using QianDu to search for information."

"The Internet is now full of all kinds of garbage. The same article is reprinted and paraphrased by dozens of websites, so that when you search for keywords, you can't find what you want at all."

"Therefore, I think someone has to stand up and change this situation!"

Yu Ping An was stunned for a moment. "Then... President Pei, are you going to make a product similar to a search engine?"

Pei Qian shook his head. "Although the current search engines themselves have many problems, even if we make a conscientious search engine, it won't solve this problem."

"If 99% of the things on the Internet are worthless garbage information, then how excellent would our algorithm have to be to find that 1% when we make a search engine? This is unrealistic."

"So, we're not making a search engine, we're producing content."

Logically speaking, making a search engine was likely to lose money.

Although QianDu had many problems, it had a strong technical accumulation in the field of search engines. Many large companies had also tried to make search engines, but without exception, none of them could shake QianDu's position.

But Pei Qian felt that it was better to be safe than sorry.

Tengda already had an excellent reputation, and considering factors such as the TPDB website, maybe many people would actually use their search engine.

Moreover, a search engine was a window. What if it created a linkage with existing industries? The risk was too great.

Yu Ping An thought for a while. "Then... or we can make a Q&A platform? Although there are already QianDu Encyclopedia and QianDu Q&A, we can still continue to do it."

Pei Qian said, "We want to combine the 'encyclopedia' and 'Q&A' models, and there must be three requirements."

"First, we want to create a closed environment and divide our users into two parts: one part is creators, and the other part is readers. All must be real-name authenticated, and those who want to become creators must prove their professional ability to the reviewers and can only answer questions and edit entries within their own profession."

"Second, we must protect intellectual property rights as much as possible, not allow copying and pasting, and prevent reprinting and theft. If someone really wants to steal information by manually typing it, we must pursue responsibility and demand compensation at all costs."

"Finally, we will charge all users, and they can't watch without paying. These membership fees will be returned to the creators."