An R&D Center nestled deep in the mountains and forests has captured the world’s attention—simply because every time it reveals a new breakthrough, it sends shockwaves across the globe. It has given streamers who dream of broadcasting from the wilderness hope that a metal sphere will follow their lead. It has offered those who wish to explore the mysteries of the deep sea a chance at success. Technology changes lives, and Wang Hao is simply researching one technological advancement after another.
Chapter 37: A True Man in the Jungle
Wang Hao left without giving a definitive yes or no. He had a meeting scheduled with the Qilong Platform the next day. Although he was deeply tempted by the partnership model Chu Tian had proposed—after all, it would be a very comfortable arrangement for him that required little personal effort—he had already committed to another party. It would be irresponsible to agree now without first hearing what the Qilong Platform had to offer. As for Chu Tian, he had expected Wang Hao to agree after hearing his proposal—after all, he’d spent a long time devising this partnership model. He was certain no other platform possessed the boldness to match it in terms of competitiveness. Although he felt a twinge of regret that Wang Hao hadn’t agreed immediately, he couldn’t say anything about it. He could only wait until tomorrow for Wang Hao to give him a definitive answer. “Boss, with such great terms, why wouldn’t they agree?” Li Fan said, looking at Wang Hao’s receding figure, clearly puzzled. “I’m guessing he has another meeting scheduled with a platform vendor tomorrow.” Chu Tian wasn’t a fool. Although Wang Hao came across as very seasoned, this was, after all, his first time conducting such negotiations, and Chu Tian had picked up on some clues. He also knew that if he had discovered this cleanup software, other vendors would naturally discover it as well. He could only hope that the other party would take a long-term view and not let other vendors simply buy the cleanup software outright—a program capable of propelling any platform to new heights. As dusk fell, after finishing dinner at the restaurant with the two representatives from BlackBerry, Wang Hao headed home carrying the parts he’d picked up at the secondhand market. Deep down, he already had a pretty good idea of what was coming: he suspected that the terms offered by the Qilong platform tomorrow would certainly be less favorable than those from BlackBerry—that much was obvious. The saying “big companies take advantage of customers” isn’t just an empty phrase—especially since he wasn’t even a customer, but a developer looking to release software on the Qilong platform. When he got home, Zhang Xin and Zhang Nan had already returned. That evening, he was scheduled to tutor them in high school courses. Wang Hao, who was teaching at Level 6, made both of them feel as if a light had gone on in their minds after listening to his explanations. Wang Hao was currently covering material for senior year. Zhang Nan was a year behind Zhang Xin and wouldn’t be in his sophomore year until next semester, yet he listened intently. Although a look of confusion occasionally flashed across his face, with Wang Hao’s focused explanation, he gradually grasped the concepts and made the connections. After teaching the two for an hour, Wang Hao returned to his room to let them properly absorb and digest the material. Once inside, a rare look of exhaustion crossed his face. Carrying a heavy load of books on a shoulder pole back and forth twice that morning had left even Wang Hao—who was in exceptional physical condition—looking slightly worn out. “This can’t go on forever,” Wang Hao mused, a thoughtful look crossing his eyes. Relying on him to deliver books like this each time was merely a stopgap measure—it didn’t address the root of the problem. But a moment later, he shook his head in frustration. There were solutions, but he hadn’t come up with anything particularly good yet. The ones he’d considered were too costly. After thinking it over, he took out the parts he’d picked up from the secondhand market one by one. Referring to the assembly instructions provided by Longnao, he began assembling them piece by piece, testing each one to see if he could further boost the signal strength. For him, delving into a project was like a stimulant; the moment he got his hands on it, his spirits soared. That was Wang Hao—he usually had little interest in other matters and cared little for either money or fame. Wang Hao, who usually appeared very calm, had only one thing that could drive him to a frenzy: researching topics that piqued his interest. By now, he had gradually become engrossed in the project; originally, he’d only intended to repair a signal booster for Fang Bing. But once he understood the principles behind it, he got the idea to make some modifications. He acted on the impulse immediately, booting up the graphics workstation and asking Longnao to calculate some core data for him. With a graphics workstation and a server worth 200,000 yuan at his disposal, Longnao’s performance had improved dramatically in every respect. After verifying some of the data, he immediately plunged into frenzied research, losing all sense of time. It wasn’t until Zhang Nan entered the room to go to sleep and made a noise that he snapped back to reality. He had thought it had only been a dozen or so minutes, but when he checked the time, he realized three hours had already passed. He decided not to continue, since Zhang Nan was sharing the room with him. Although Zhang Nan watched him work without interrupting—merely observing from the side—it still made him feel a bit uncomfortable. The modified signal booster hadn’t changed in size—it was still a box about the size of two palms, with a long antenna. It was already about eighty percent complete; once a few more components were added, it should be finished. It would certainly ensure a smooth signal deep in the mountains, but in places like Shennongjia—where few people venture—the area was simply too vast for it to be very effective. After all, this was just a signal booster, not a transmission tower. Glancing at the time, Wang Hao decided not to continue working. Instead, he sat down at the graphics workstation to check how Fang Bing’s livestream was going. As soon as he opened the livestream, he was instantly dazzled by the flood of comments. He glanced at the viewer count and was taken aback—there were over 10,000 people watching! He remembered there had been only a few hundred when he left that afternoon. He was even more startled by the donations flying in one after another. “Wild Boar Factory Director, 66666—truly the world’s number one jungler.” “The streamer is awesome—a real man.” “Streamer, that jungle item in your hand must be a legendary artifact. Are you planning to sell it?” Wang Hao watched the comments for a while before finally figuring it out—his prediction had actually come true, and he’d run into Wild Boar. Wild Boar had been worn down and killed by Fang Bing using the Tree and the environment. After turning off the comments, he finally got a clear look at Fang Bing. Fang Bing had some pretty bad scrapes on his face, but he didn’t seem to be seriously hurt—Wang Hao could see him grinning smugly at his phone screen. “So, do you guys admit defeat? Give me your asses… ugh… I mean, your follows. And keep the tips coming—in a bit, I’m going to channel Wu Song and show you the proper way to take down a tiger.” Wang Hao watched Fang Bing. As soon as Fang Bing spoke, the energy in the livestream surged again. Gifts poured in like crazy, and the chat section on the side was even more frenetic—though Wang Hao had turned off the comment stream. “Bro, isn’t that Brother Bing? Did something go wrong?” Zhang Nan, noticing Wang Hao watching the video, walked over curiously. As soon as he saw Fang Bing in the livestream—his face smeared with blood—he said with concern “It’s nothing. I ran into a wild boar and proved I’m a real man,” Wang Hao said with a light chuckle, shaking his head. “Bro Bing just started streaming this afternoon, right? He seems to have quite a following.” Zhang Nan was startled when he heard “wild boar,” but seeing the dead boar on screen and Fang Bing joking about it, he immediately relaxed. He checked the viewer count and realized the numbers didn’t look like those of a new streamer—there were still over 10,000 people watching even though it was already 11:00 PM. Wang Hao couldn’t help but marvel—it seemed some people were truly cut out for the streaming life. Watching Fang Bing skillfully set the tone in the chat room now, any trace of the awkwardness he’d shown when he went live that afternoon had vanished without a trace. Moreover, he did a quick calculation: in just that brief moment, he’d received over 10,000 in tips. Even after the platform’s cut, that was still several thousand. Most importantly, his follower count had skyrocketed from just a few dozen or a hundred at the start to over 10,000 now—all in just half a day. This was partly due to the fact that Fang Bing had genuinely spent the night alone in the wilderness—and had actually encountered a wild boar, which he’d managed to kill. On a mountain trail at night, without a phone flashlight and relying only on the faint moonlight, it’s nearly impossible to see anyone clearly. Fortunately, Fang Bing had come prepared and brought several high-capacity power banks; otherwise, his phone would have run out of battery by now.
