The Internet under SARS was as quiet and long as noon outside an Internet cafe. Someone played Eason Chan's new song "Ten Years" on the street corner, and the years were far away.
"Do you want to go online?" In an Internet cafe, the sleepy boss took out a number plate, paid the deposit, and Peng Bo walked into the Internet cafe.
In the Internet cafe, almost everyone was playing games, and as expected, most of them were playing Fantasy Westward Journey. Peng Bo counted them from the moment he entered the door, and more than half of the people in the Internet cafe were playing Fantasy Westward Journey.
Most of these people were young people. The old computer box was buzzing, and on the screen, teenagers began to march westward with swords in hand.
A boy wearing glasses stared at the screen with excitement and shyness. He typed his confession on the keyboard of the Internet cafe. Every time the keyboard beeped, his heart beat faster.
The girl in the game thought for a while and replied, "Okay."
The boy instantly felt his heart beat faster and his blood surge. His first love, his distant first love, happened in this Internet cafe on the streets of Shanghai.
This may be the afternoon in junior high school, when the clouds stop on the treetops.
Peng Bo shook his head secretly, stood up and walked out of the Internet cafe.
"Hey, your deposit." The boss shouted from behind, but the young man in front did not look back, "This is thirteen o'clock..." The boss immediately woke up after flicking the hundred-dollar bill in his hand, "I made a profit, I made a profit."
," He stood up and patrolled his territory, passing behind the boy with glasses.
The boy didn't notice the boss. He was immersed in his own emotions. Happiness came so quickly. It was just like the name of this game, dreamy!
Outside the door, not far away, Chen Feng had already opened the car door.
Peng Bo quietly got into the Mercedes-Benz, just like his first love. He couldn't remember many things in his youth, but that moment of happiness was as clear as yesterday.
But after college we went our separate ways, and now every time I think about it, I still feel like the world has fallen apart.
"I hope that the youth of a generation can be imprinted with the traces of the Internet like this." He murmured to himself.
The Mercedes-Benz drove straight to Qiantang.
In the car, Peng Bo received another call from Bao Yueqiao. The number of registered players in "Fantasy Westward Journey" has exceeded 100 million, and the highest number of people online is 1.21 million. The growth curve of the number of players is quietly consistent with the growth curve of Chinese Internet users.
At this time, Zhang Chaoyang's Sohu homepage had no news links, Robin Li's search page could not open five pages, Youku and Tudou were nowhere to be found, and QQ only had 28 fixed avatars.
For the early Internet, online games were the main content. These native cultures will permeate for a long time to come.
The earliest "gay friendship" originated here, and the must-have word "PK" for variety shows originated here. Even the popular emoji culture of later generations also points to the youth who was obsessed with the Fantasy Westward Journey steamed bun emoji.
The lonely only-child generation finds playmates here; the ignorant young people who are struggling in the new century feel the passion here; the tired and lonely uncles relive their old dreams of being a hero here.
…
Qiantang, Qiantang in May.
As the car drove on the street, what Peng Bo saw was calm.
Pedestrians on the street rarely wear masks, and no one in pharmacies rushes to buy masks. As for road closures, community closures, and travel restrictions, they have never happened.
Business activities are still going on, and life seems no different than before SARS.
But when he walked into Huaxing Technology Building, he felt something different.
There is a table at the door with a sign saying "Testing Point for Fever Personnel".
A security guard stopped him very responsibly, "When taking a long-distance bus, you need to register with your ID card and leave your phone number."
"Oh, we drove here by ourselves." Peng Bo explained.
The security guard looked at the phone in his hand and then at the car parked outside, "Come in, which company are you looking for?"
"Ma Feng's company." Peng Bo smiled.
The security guard was stunned for a moment, but when he came to his senses, Peng Bo had already entered the elevator, and he muttered, "At this time, you don't want your life."
He looked at the Mercedes Benz outside the door again. The car was shining brightly in the sun.
In 2003, computers were not popular, and ordinary households generally did not have computers. Mobile phones were not popular either, and there were no smart phones that could access the Internet. At this time, if anyone had a flip phone worth tens of thousands of yuan, they must have suddenly made a fortune.
"Successful People".
At that time, there was a popular type of "PHS", which used a number with the same number of digits as a landline phone, but there was no landline fee, incoming calls were free, and the call charges were not high.
Peng Bo came out of the elevator and saw Ma Feng holding a PHS phone.
"Boss, are you here? Look at me. Am I more energetic?" Ma Feng lost a lot of weight. If he loses weight again, he will really look like an alien.
This month, an employee of his company who participated in the Canton Fair had a high fever and was sent to the hospital. The day before yesterday, he was officially announced as a confirmed case and became one of the four people diagnosed in Qiantang.
"Thankfully you came a day early, otherwise you wouldn't have been able to see me," Ma Feng smiled and let Peng Bo into the conference room, "Our company will be quarantined soon."
Although the company has about 400 people, it will face a huge disaster for his company. At the same time, this quarantine should be the largest quarantine event in China at this time. Peng Bo understands that Ma Feng is bearing a huge burden at this time.
Public opinion and xx pressure.
"To be honest, I also hesitated." After entering the office, the smiling Ma Feng disappeared, replaced by a tired face, "...At that time, after several hours of discussion, I still decided that we should have
We are voluntary to participate in exhibitions for customers of Chinese suppliers and send employees to Guangzhou to participate in exhibitions..."
As a result of this decision, an employee was infected with the SARS virus and became the fourth suspected patient in Qiantang.
At this time, when everyone was at war, this had a great negative impact on Ma Feng's company. In the Huaxing Technology Building where they worked, other companies regarded them as "public enemies" and believed that they were responsible for bringing SARS.
Come back.
"Let's go, let's eat first. When we get to your place, you have to invite us for dinner." Peng Bo said jokingly.
"Okay, I haven't had a serious meal in a few days, so I'll treat you to a private meal..."
The two of them walked towards the elevator with a smile, but strangely, the elevator did not stop at this floor.
"Now, in the whole Qiantang, my company has become a street rat that everyone shouts about," Ma Feng smiled and invited Peng Bo to go up the stairs. "No one comes close to our company's employees, and the customers are all running away. And then
If this continues, boss, I might as well become a director at your place."
Are you going to be the director?
Peng Bo smiled, "At least he must be the vice president."
"Then we've settled on this," Ma Feng said seriously, "There are still four hundred brothers in our company. Mr. Peng, do you think we can take them in together?"
Peng Bo was about to speak, and the two of them had already walked to the lobby. When a middle-aged woman saw Ma Feng in the lobby, her beauty immediately turned pale, "Ma Feng is here, run!"