Chapter 77 An Acquaintance Who Is Not an Acquaintance
Lin Yi returned to the capital first, obtained his passport and visa, and then flew to San Francisco from the Capital International Airport with Liu Jianni.
This flight will last 12 hours. Although intercontinental routes usually use larger aircraft with more comfort, it is still easy to get tired.
For this reason, Lin Yi specifically checked with Liu Jiani before booking a ticket for her, whether he needed to book business or first class for her. Her reply was:
"Just follow the rules. It's not like I never flew economy class when I was a kid."
It’s not the time to spend lavishly when traveling thousands of miles away. It is an internal rule that everyone traveling for business must travel in economy class, without exception.
Very good, of course Lin Yi only asked as a courtesy. He knew that Liu Jianni was willing to travel thousands of miles to receive a monthly salary of several thousand yuan, so he would not care about this.
Unexpectedly, when the two of them boarded the plane, Lin Yi met an unexpected acquaintance.
It's not quite accurate to say they were acquaintances. Strictly speaking, the two of them didn't have any direct interaction, but since they happened to sit together and the other party obviously recognized him, Lin Yi still said hello:
"Classmate Shangguan."
He met Shangguan Yingzi, the superwoman of Lin'an Middle School. She was a college bully who secretly competed with Gu Caiwei in aerobics competitions. Later he met her at the capital reunion. She should be studying at P University.
Lin Yi hesitated a little in his heart and chose such a title. Shangguan Yingzi was much more generous than him and waved his hand directly:
"I remember they all called you Lin Yi, do you mind if I call you that too?"
"certainly."
"Are you going to San Francisco too?"
"right."
Lin remembered that Liu Jianni was beside him, so he briefly introduced: "We are going to the United States on a business trip, and this is my colleague."
Liu Jianni's reaction was very interesting. She looked at Guan Yingzi with a smile as a greeting, then looked at Lin Yi with unknown meaning, and sat in the back seat without saying anything.
She left the seat close to Shangguan Yingzi to Lin Yi, as if it was convenient for the two of them to chat.
"I remember it was said in the news that Wanli Travel, the company you founded, experienced a fierce battle at the beginning of the year, and it has only eased slightly in recent months. Are you going to the United States now to expand your business there?"
This is not a trade secret, so Lin Yi briefly explained:
"No, the U.S. market has Uber, which is much larger than ours, and there are other taxi-hailing apps. Wanli Travel has not yet reached this level."
"This time I went to the United States mainly to discuss financing matters, because the scale of the domestic venture capital market is too small, and American investors are very optimistic about the taxi-hailing software industry as a whole, and the valuation is very high."
After Lin Yi talked about it, he remembered that Gu Caiwei had always been unclear and not very interested in these things, and he didn't know if the person in front of him could understand.
It turns out that Shangguan Yingzi's knowledge structure is quite comprehensive. She immediately asked: "So you are going to Silicon Valley this time?"
Silicon Valley is located south of the San Francisco Bay. It was first famous for the research and production of silicon-based semiconductor chips, and then it was given such a name.
Later, on the basis of these electronic industries, and relying on the strong scientific research strength locally and from all over the United States, a flourishing Internet industry was developed, or it is collectively referred to as the ICT industry on a larger scale.
In addition to a large number of technology companies with famous names all over the world, there are also many venture capital companies that have gathered with the rise of entrepreneurial culture.
Shangguan Yingzi's thought of this shows that she knows a lot. Lin Yi did not hide anything: "Maybe I will go to the east coast."
As we all know, the Thirteen States, the land of prosperity in the United States, are on the east coast and are now the gathering place for all "old money", including New York, the world's financial center.
Lin Yi flew here this time to make money, so he had to go at least once.
After all, Shangguan Yingzi was still a student and could only talk a few superficial things about work. Lin Yi quickly asked casually:
"So you've also paid attention to the news about my business?"
Shangguan Yingzi laughed when she heard the sound: "Classmate Lin Yi, it seems that you haven't interacted with your old classmates for a long time."
"Everyone knew when your last entrepreneurial project was sold for US$20 million, and the subsidy war that Wanli Travel participated in this time was even more widely reported."
"You are now a big celebrity among the 12th class of graduates. You will be talked about at every class reunion. Unless I am a nerd who doesn't hear anything outside the window, it is impossible not to know."
"When I returned to Linzhong School some time ago, I heard from the teachers that Teacher Zhao from your class had invited you back to school to give a speech, but you never kept up with the appointment."
Shangguan Yingzi actually had an impression of this boy from the high school aerobics competition because he was Gu Caiwei's partner at that time, but she did not mention this connection.
Lin Yi was surprised after hearing this. He really didn't know about these things that happened outside his sight.
Because since I first started my business, I have almost completely given up on my personal life, and I have no time to spend the money I earn, let alone such social activities.
However, Lin Yi stepped in and thought about it. If it was another classmate who made such a big fuss, it would be reasonable to have such a reaction, right?
He still defended himself a few words: "It's not that I'm too arrogant, it's true that there are so many things involved in starting a business that I can't get away from it."
Shangguan Yingzi didn't make it difficult for him, because they were not in the same class. She just said half-jokingly: "You should explain this to your class teacher."
She gently dropped the topic, then looked at this unfamiliar guy and asked curiously: "Actually, I have always been curious, why did you think of starting a business right after you entered college?"
Many people asked this question when I started my first business, but by the time I started my business for the second time, no one seemed to care anymore.
Lin subconsciously glanced at Liu Jiani on the other side and found that she had put on a blindfold at some point and was leaning on her seat as if she was resting.
This action does not necessarily mean sleeping on an airplane, but at least it means "do not disturb".
Lin Yi thought about it and explained: "Because I actually taught myself programming technology when I was in high school. I didn't want to be too bored when I was in college, so I planned to practice it and see. I happened to be lucky."
Shangguan Yingzi's first reaction was: "Have you ever participated in IOI?"
IOI refers to the International Olympiad in Informatics. Many students participate in the competition during high school, and they have also won many awards in international competitions.
But if this year's students got results in IOI, they would not be unimpressed, so Shangguan Yingzi asked this question.
"No."
Sure enough, Shangguan Yingzi knew that the matter would not be that simple, but the two were not very familiar with each other, so it was normal for Lin Yi to have reservations, so she did not ask further questions.