After dinner, Zhou Xueyin saw that Wei Jingzhu had sent her quite a few virtual hosting providers, including Wanwang, Ying Haiwei, Network+, and Hong Network... Zhou Xueyin didn't know which one to choose.
"Huh? Ying Haiwei is making a comeback?" Kang Siyin glanced at Zhou Xueyin's screen and sat back down at her own computer.
"Eh? Yeah! I remember their website was dead a long time ago, wasn't it? How come they are starting this business again?" Zhou Xueyin was also puzzled.
Although the website had been very familiar when her family first started using the internet, it had closed down a few years ago due to poor management.
During her university years, she hadn't had much time to keep up with it. Could it be that they were making a comeback?
With a continued fondness for Ying Haiwei, Zhou Xueyin opened their homepage. It was still that deep, familiar blue theme.
Since the website she used most back in the day had started a new service, it was necessary to support them with actual action!
Zhou Xueyin didn't think much of it and quickly opened the page for virtual hosting services.
"OMG! KK, come and look! Come and look!" Zhou Xueyin excitedly called out to Kang Siyin.
"Yinyin, don't make such a fuss... What's up?" Kang Siyin lazily walked over and glanced at the screen, "OMG! It's so cheap?"
"Right? Right? The key is buy half a year, get half a year free! And look at this space! These promised connections! Wow!!! Not supporting them just wouldn't be right!" 2GB of enormous storage space and the capacity for up to 500 simultaneous connections—no other service could offer this at a price of 5000 yuan for six months.
"This service is too tempting! You'd be foolish not to buy it!" Zhou Xueyin said dreamily, "My God, look at the number of orders!"
Each refresh showed an increase in the number of buyers.
"What do you think? KK? Buy or not? And look at this discount, it only lasts until the end of this month! Only a few days left!" Zhou Xueyin sought Kang Siyin's opinion, "After this village, there might not be another store..."
"It's up to you... Anyway, you're holding the money. But I think we should look at other providers, see if there are any deals..." Kang Siyin always felt that it was too good to be true, although she also knew who Ying Haiwei was, but something about it felt a bit off intuitively.
"I've looked at others, and Ying Haiwei has the best value for money!" Zhou Xueyin confirmed, nodding her head, "Just to be safe, I'll ask Xiaojing!"
For Zhou Xueyin, Wei Jingzhu was an internet whiz. Whenever she didn't understand something, she would ask him, and he could explain everything.
"Xiaojing, Xiaojing! I looked at the references you gave me!" Zhou Xueyin messaged Wei Jingzhu directly on QQ, "Is Ying Haiwei reliable? Their price-quality ratio is the highest!"
"Ying Haiwei is good to go! My senior actually bought their six-month package not long ago. The connection speed is super fast, absolutely no problems as a server for forums!" Wei Jingzhu quickly replied to Zhou Xueyin and even gave the address of the forum his senior had built.
Even during the peak internet usage times in the residential area, the speed at which that address loaded was really flying, definitely faster than most other sites.
"OMG, if it really is 5000 yuan, to buy a six-month service package at this speed. Wow..." Zhou Xueyin began to imagine the bustling scene of the forum in six months, "Alright! This is it! Place the order!"
Following the step-by-step instructions on the website, Zhou Xueyin directly transferred 5000 yuan to the site using online banking, and soon the backend configuration address for the virtual hosting was sent to her email.
Additionally, she received a dedicated customer service number, including QQ and phone numbers.
It wasn't long before her phone rang with a 400 number, informing her that the virtual hosting package she had purchased was officially effective, and she could start setting up her website step by step according to the instructions in the email.
"Yay! Our 51buy forum is finally going to go live!" Zhou Xueyin said excitedly, "No way, such good news definitely calls for some beer to celebrate!"
"Hold your horses, send me the email you received. I'll upload the forum first, and it's never too late to celebrate after everything is done without a hitch!" Kang Siyin told Zhou Xueyin, reminding her not to get too excited just yet.
"Ah..." Yao Shanshan suddenly sighed in an ambiguous way.
"Shan, what's wrong with you? You've been off all day today," Li Jiniang asked with concern. "Is there something troubling you? It's not good to keep it all bottled up."
"Ah... I don't know if I'm just overthinking things," Yao Shanshan blurted out, "Maybe you guys can help me analyze it?"
"Go ahead!" Li Jiniang nodded.
"Analyze what?" Zhou Xueyin, having delegated the task of uploading the forum to Kang Siyin, also leaned in to listen.
"I joined this cosplay group, right?" Yao Shanshan thought for a moment, "And recently, a new member joined, claiming to be a famous cosplayer from the Guangzhou District."
"A cosplayer from Guangzhou District? Couldn't be Mi Lu, could it?" Li Jiniang asked in return.
"Exactly! It's her! Can you believe it? What's she doing in our tiny group? It sounds like a fairy tale," Yao Shanshan continued, still bewildered.
"Hey, nothing's impossible, especially with her," Li Jiniang scoffed knowingly. "By the way, make sure your boyfriend stays away from that Mi Lu! Better safe than sorry!"
"You're too late..." Yao Shanshan sighed again.
"Huh? Mi Lu? That Mi Lu? The one who looks like she's mixed, with features that are all pretty individually, but a bit weird when put together?" Zhou Xueyin's brain finally made the connection, remembering who Mi Lu was after her thoughts had travelled the globe.
"Who else could it be then? The top star in the Guangzhou scene!" Li Jiniang said, rolling her eyes.
"Ugh..." Zhou Xueyin made a vomiting gesture, "Shan, good luck to your group... Eh? Wait! Isn't Guo Zidai leading your group?"
"Yeah, Guo Zidai is the leader. But Mi Lu has already joined, it's not like we can just kick her out," Yao Shanshan explained, feeling troubled.
"Shan, keep an eye on your boyfriend. Mi Lu has a bad reputation for stealing men," Li Jiniang said seriously, "I guess she couldn't make it in Guangzhou District, so she came to Beijing!"
"I could say... you're all too late..." Yao Shanshan's tears welled up, "On her first day, Mi Lu had already taken all my boyfriend's contact details... And look..."
Yao Shanshan opened her boyfriend's QQ space, where the latest picture was of a night scene where a woman had taken a photo for her boyfriend. Although the woman wasn't visible in the photo, her shadow on the ground gave her away.
Moreover, Yao Shanshan's boyfriend added text: The rehearsal ended too late, missed the last bus. Luckily, a team leader took me in, no need to sleep on the streets. Long live!
Note: In 2004, there was no Baidu Baike, and the information received online was very complex, making it very easy to be deceived.