5173.com

"Let's start by applying for a domain name."

Since the late-night discussion between Chen Yu and Zhang Jianming, Chen Yu had put the virtual item trading website on his agenda.

To create a website, they needed a domain name.

Chen Yu's initial idea was to apply for a domain name like "17173", but after checking, it seemed someone had already registered it.

He felt relieved when he visited 17173's website; they were still in their early stages.

That was right.

Although Chen Yu intended to create a virtual item trading website, in truth, he wanted to establish a gaming portal. The reason for not starting with the portal was that it wasn't particularly suitable at the moment and lacked significant profit potential. Just like 17173, though it had already been launched, it was just a personal registration playground. It had relatively low traffic, no advertisements, and no revenue.

This was normal.

In 2001, things were different from the future. People were just beginning to use computers, access the internet, and play games.

They had no concept of what a gaming portal was.

To succeed as a gaming portal, creating a website wasn't enough; it required much more.

In the end, Chen Yu decided to start with the virtual item trading platform.

Demand led to profit.

Virtual item trading was the biggest demand at the moment.

So, he decided to register "5173".

In the future, apart from gaming portals like 17173, there will be another site called 5173.

At the time, 5173 was also a virtual item trading website. It wanted to be a gaming portal, just like 17173. Unfortunately, the latter was ahead of its time. 5173 was launched after 2002 and started significant development in 2005. By that time, 17173 had already risen, leaving little room for 5173.

But now, the situation was different.

17173 had just launched, and 5173 could quickly surpass it.

Thankfully, the domain name "5173" was still available, so Chen Yu purchased it.

However, even though he had the domain name, the entire website still needed to be built.

This construction included website architecture, front-end design, and back-end development.

In simpler terms, it involved page design, database configuration, web programming, and more.

Page design was relatively straightforward but still a laborious task. The most challenging part was implementing the website's escrow function.

This function was somewhat similar to Alipay on Taobao.

Players would transfer money to Alipay, the seller would confirm the payment, conduct the transaction with the player, and after the player received the product and confirmed it, Alipay would transfer the money to the seller's account.

Chen Yu had no clue about the intricacies of this function and how to develop it.

"It seems like we'll need to hire a professional internet company to do this."

Chen Yu's programming skills were, at best, rudimentary. He had some understanding of web design, but when it came to such complex functionalities, he was completely in the dark. Therefore, during his weekends, Chen Yu went to the city to visit several website design companies. Unfortunately, these companies were quite mediocre in terms of capabilities; they could only design a few simple web pages. Not to mention implementing a function as complex as Alipay's. Even slightly more intricate web functions posed a challenge.

Could he only rely on provincial capitals?

Or maybe he should go to the capital city or Shenzhen?

Only in these larger cities could he find web development companies with stronger capabilities.

However, that posed another problem.

Companies with strong web development capabilities also charged exorbitant fees. Although Chen Yu had recently earned some money, he couldn't afford such expenses.

"Damn it, am I supposed to develop it myself?"

Chen Yu was growing frustrated.

Last time, he had managed to deceive his parents, but he certainly wasn't a genius. He simply possessed a forward-looking perspective from his past life. Besides that, he was just an ordinary person.

Could he really develop such a massive website on his own?

...

"Chen Yu, how about having dinner together tonight?"

"Brother Pang, you seem so cheerful. What's the good news?"

"Hehe, we landed a big deal today, so I'm treating everyone to a meal."

"Great."

In recent days, the King's Guild had engaged in guild battles with the other three major guilds. Initially, this had nothing to do with them, but these guild battles had suddenly boosted their business. Skills books, equipment, and in-game currency, which had previously been declining in price, were now experiencing a crazy surge in value. Naturally, as a gaming workshop, they had profited handsomely from this.

Pang Wangzi was delighted and invited everyone to go out for a meal.

Chen Yu had been dealing with the website issues these past few days, unable to come up with a solution. Eventually, he agreed to go.

"Come on, brothers, you've worked hard these days, cheers!"

Once again, they gathered at the large restaurant next to Dreamscape Junction, and Pang Wangzi raised his glass high for a toast.

"These guild leaders sure have a lot of money."

"Indeed, they're all wealthy."

"I heard that the Vice President of Soul of the King is from a publicly traded company."

"Wow, that's impressive."

"Absolutely, how else could he afford to buy so much equipment?"

As everyone enjoyed their meal and conversation flowed, Pang Wangzi was particularly cheerful, raising his glass frequently.

"Chen Yu, you're amazing. You already knew that today I'm clearly aiming to take over your shares," he remarked with a sly smile.

"If he has the most shares, then let him have the final say," Chen Yu replied nonchalantly.

"Chen Yu, aren't you going to react at all?"

"What reaction? I've said it before, our workshop doesn't have much technical expertise, and we don't need to keep doing this."

Chen Yu had long realized Pang Wangzi's intentions during this meal. However, he didn't care and joined in the toasts, laughing and chatting along.

In secret, Zhang Jianming gave Chen Yu a thumbs-up, but he was secretly thinking that he wouldn't be able to handle it if he were in Chen Yu's shoes.

Ring, ring, ring...

Midway through the meal, a cellphone rang, and it was obviously Pang Wangzi's. Among those present, only he could afford a cellphone. Chen Yu could afford one but didn't see the need for it, so he didn't have one.

"Brother Pang, whose call is it? Why so cautious?" Chen Li asked, watching Pang Wangzi answer the phone with great care.

"It's my cousin."

"Is there a reason to be afraid of your cousin?"

"There's nothing I can do. My cousin has always bullied me since I was little, and she's also smart. She got into the computer science department of WHU, always being the family's role model. I didn't even finish high school, so I've always felt inferior."

"Wuhan University, computer science department."

Chen Yu's eyes lit up.

"Brother Pang, your cousin is in the computer science department at WHU?"

"Yes."

"She must be really skilled in computers."

"Of course, she's a top student. I heard that Kingsoft offered her an annual salary of 200,000, which is pretty impressive. However, she's still considering it. By the way, she's coming here for supper later. Please don't say anything inappropriate; I can't afford to offend her."

"Wait, why is she here? Shouldn't she be attending classes at the univeristy?"

"My cousin is in her fourth year, and she doesn't have many classes left. She's here this time to prepare a report on Internet cafes."

"Oh..."

Chen Yu nodded. In that case, it seemed that Pang Wangzi's cousin had some skills. However, he wasn't entirely sure. He would have to chat with her later to find out.