The initial members of the start-up company, XlouS, were only Ren Hong and his dorm roommates, adding up to six people, which was just enough.
Apart from the school's officials, other students had no idea that a company founded by a schoolmate was established on campus. Ren Hong and the rest kept a low profile and didn't advertise much, while the school was also limiting itself only to internal communication.
This was how XlouS began to get on track.
The first thing that Ren Hong and the others had to do was to change the layout of room 317 to make it more like an office. After the six of them briefly changed the layout, Ren Hong purchased 10 computers, as well as three printers, necessities, and other required hardware.
After spending three days setting everything up, the company was officially open for business.
This afternoon, the six of them gathered in room 317.
"The hardware is well taken care of. Now, let me tell you what kind of product our company is going to launch." Ren Hong stood on the podium and looked at his five roommates. At that moment, there was only confidence and anticipation in his eyes as he was finally about to launch his first product to the world.
"Allow me to introduce you to the company's first product." Ren Hong announced, turning on the original projector in the room and large characters shone on the screen.
"Real-time Online Translator?" Zhang Han looked on suspiciously. Not only him, but the other four people were also confused. Although they were dubious, they quietly listened to the introduction of the confident boss on the stage. They were surprised. They always saw Ren Hong as an introverted and academic person. But at that moment, his confident smile and powerful voice on stage completely overturned their original impression on him.
"Our first product, which I've named 'Real-time Online Translator', is an application that supports three versions—Android, iOS, and PC. It has been largely developed and perfected." Ren Hong introduced features of the application one by one. "Perhaps you have noticed that it is a translation software, and I would like to say that our first product is indeed one. Speaking of which, you must have a doubt in mind right now." Ren Hong scanned the crowd and their reaction was as he expected. However, he remained confident and continued, "The doubt you all may have is, in the face of those excellent translation softwares on the market, such as Google Translate, can our product even compete with them?"
Everyone nodded slightly to the truth. Ren Hong added: "Whether we are facing Google Translate, Baidu Translate, or Youdao Dictionary, the parent companies behind them are huge and their competitors are also strong. We don't seem to stand a chance if we choose to compete with them. But… "
Ren Hong continued with a heavier tone. "Real-time Online Translator don't need to compete with them, and we have no competitors!"
This statement was clearly incomprehensible to the crowd. Who were they competing with if not with these competitors? Or was this product even better than theirs?
"Why do you think our products don't need to compete with them? All of you, take a look at the big screen." Ren Hong pointed to the projected white cloth screen on the side. The crowd quietly watched as Ren Hong worked his magic on the interface. He launched the Real-time Online Translator application, allowing it to run in the background. Then, he logged into his Facebook account and started browsing his friend list, which consisted of friends from all around the world. After some time, he stopped what he was doing and looked at the crowd again. "Have you realized anything, gentlemen?"
After seeing little to no reaction from the five of them, Ren Hong navigated the computer and logged on to Instagram, another social media application, and went through the pictures and comments shared by users. Soon after, he also logged on to Twitter, followed by several foreign websites.
"What?!"
All of a sudden, Zhang Han, who sat among the crowd below, yelled out abruptly, staring at the projection screen with bewildered, widened eyes.
"You *ss, you gave me a fright! Were you possessed or what!" Chen Kai said with great annoyance.
Zhang Han completely ignored the dissatisfaction expressed by the other party as he pointed at the projection screen and shouted in excitement. "Amazing! It's divine! How did you do that? What kind of algorithm did you use?"
Ren Hong, who stood on stage, finally smiled when he saw Zhang Han's reaction. It was apparent that Zhang Han had realized it.
"You still don't get it?" Ren Hong looked at his roommates who hadn't seen the magic in his work, before turning to the screen and speaking in excitement. "Real-time Online Translator makes communication barriers a thing of the past! Chen Kai, do you know what this means?"
"Oh, Lord! It really is godlike!" Zhou Hui finally reacted. And soon after, everyone also responded.
Since everyone present was currently using these social networking platforms and proficient in English, they weren't affected by the communication barrier too much. That was why they didn't react instantly. But after a few moments, they finally discovered the magic. This was an incredibly powerful translation software. When Ren Hong browsed pictures on Instagram, the accompanying comments were all in Chinese characters—be it English, German, Russian, Arabic, Japanese, etc., all texts were translated into Chinese characters, while retaining Instagram's original user interface. All that changed was the text. Similarly, when Ren Hong logged on to Facebook, the same was true for websites with huge cultural differences and belonged to different countries and regions; the text displayed was all in Chinese characters, while the website UI remained unchanged.
What did that mean?
It meant that a Chinese person who knew absolutely no English could understand the content of foreign websites.
And what did that mean?
This was a godlike translating software.
Ren Hong smiled, looking at the stunned and exhilarated crowd. All of a sudden, he made a cameo appearance, saying, "Hey! My name is Gabriela, and I am a 16-year-old girl from Buenos Aires, one of the biggest cities in South America. This is the first time I am using Instagram to share my personal life and I look forward to making new friends on this social media platform and seeing new people from all over the world sharing their local specialties."
Ren Hong continued. "The words that Gabriela said were originally only understood by those who knew Spanish and the written language. But with Real-time Online Translator, whether you are German, Chinese, American, or Russian, you will know what Gabriela was trying to say when you read the message."
"That's just how interesting it is!" Ren Hong wore a plain smile, gazing at his stumped roommates. He added: "Technology changes life. With the development of the internet, and in the era of mobile internet, the high degree of information sharing and trend of globalization are unstoppable. By relying on these social media platforms, two people located in the eastern and western hemispheres can communicate and interact face-to-face across time and space. By relying on the internet, we are able to learn about the outside world even quicker, and at any time we want. However, what always troubles us is that different regions, languages, and cultures make a natural barrier to communication between people."
"But we can finally say goodbye to this annoyance with the birth of Real-time Online Translator; the perfect solution to this barrier."
The more Ren Hong spoke, the more thrilled the five of them became.
"With Real-time Online Translator, when a user logs on to Instagram, his or her circle is no longer limited to the region, but reaches out globally in the true sense of the word. If the user is a German who can't read comments or messages composed in ancient Chinese characters, it doesn't matter; Real-time Online Translator can translate them into German for his viewing pleasure. Or if an American who doesn't speak Arabic is interested in Dubai, Real-time Online Translator can translate Arabic into the English language he is most familiar with.
"… But wait, there's more! Real-time Online Translator has the ability to quickly and efficiently translate several languages from more than 150 countries and regions worldwide. With this application, users can browse any website that isn't their mother tongue. As long as you log on to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc, no matter which country you are from, and no matter which country the person you are communicating with is from, you will be able to communicate with people from all over the world. The language and textual barriers that arise when communicating and interacting with one another are basically non-existent.
"Real-time Online Translator! Bringing the world closer together! Making communication more frequent and interactive!"
The always smiling Ren Hong faced the crowd, spread his arms apart, and closed his speech.