Chapter 16: Interview

Translator: Atlas Studios

Editor: Atlas Studios

It’s that young man again!

Some of the reporters who met Ren Hong earlier were baffled and curious about him. He walked out of Starbucks with the social media bigwig, Zuckerberg, and now the CEO of Twitter personally came to meet him.

The reporters were itching to break pass the strong, burly bodyguards for an interview. They recognized one thing—there was definitely some explosive news about this young man, so much so that celebrities like Zuckerberg and Dorsey personally traveled across the ocean to meet him.

At that thought, the reporters were extremely excited.

“The product launched by your company is so eye-catching that Twitter is very interested. We’re looking forward to the possibility of a partnership with your company.” Dorsey, who stood at the corridor, pointed to the bustling crowd, and said, “Shall we find a more comfortable environment to talk?”

Ren Hong didn’t answer right away, but was incredibly delighted.

Look! That’s the charm of my product. We merely sent out two emails and now, the two companies who received them had their CEOs rushing over to meet me.

Ren Hong felt like this feeling was inexplicably wonderful.

“Mr. Ren?” Jack saw no response from the other party and couldn’t help but remind him.

They spoke in English. Although their volume wasn’t loud, the reporters not far away could still make out the words.

And they heard a few key words.

Partnership! Product!

Did Zuckerberg and Dorsey come for this young man’s company? For the products of this company whose name they didn’t even know yet? To seek partnership?

These reporters were getting increasingly thrilled by the minute.

“It’s a pity!” Ren Hong calmly said.

When Dorsey heard his remark, he had a bad feeling. The reporters managed to snap a picture of his surprised, dazed, and haggard face.

Dorsey gaped, but before he replied, Ren Hong said, “Mr. Dorsey, just earlier XlouS has successfully entered into a strategic partnership agreement with Facebook, granting Facebook an exclusive license to use XlouS’s Real-time Online Translator in the social networking field. Unfortunately, if the partnership that you are talking about is regarding Real-time Online Translator…”

“Exclusive license?”

“Yes!”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure!”

Dorsey was speechless. When he first saw the power of Real-time Online Translator, he thought it was literally created for the internet and social networking.

It occurred to Dorsey that if Twitter had the sole and exclusive right to Real-time Online Translator, the company’s slack would start to rise like a body on a rocket.

For that reason, he flew to China as soon as he saw the application and went to the address on it.

What he found hard to accept and had no choice but to accept was that Facebook was so quick. And if the world’s number one social networking giant owned the sole right to use Real-time Online Translator in the social networking space, who else would be able to shake its position?

“In that case… I shall take my leave.” Dorsey mulled the situation over for a long time, forced a smile, and eventually said.

“As you wish, Mr. Dorsey!” Ren Hong politely smiled and stretched out his arm.

Dorsey nodded silently, stopped talking, and turned around.

“Mr. Dorsey! May I ask you…”

The reporters couldn’t stop chattering when they saw Dorsey walking toward them. The very upset Dorsey neither said a word nor gave any interviews. He left under the escort of his bodyguards.

The reporters didn’t go after them. One by one, they shifted their target to Ren Hong who stood in the corridor. The ones with quicker reactions went up toward him immediately, and the rest returned to their senses and followed.

Ren Hong witnessed the group of reporters swarmed in a terrifying momentum. However, he didn’t avoid them. This was his office, so where could he run to?

“Sir!”

“Excuse me, Sir, may I ask for your name?”

The group of reporters instantly surrounded Ren Hong with microphones aimed at him. “Keep your distance; don’t squeeze. I’ll take your interview. Hey, the reporter over there! This is my company office and it is temporarily closed to outsiders. Thank you for your cooperation!”

Ren Hong immediately struggled to block the doorway with his body. Looking at the army of reporters made up of men and women, his face was covered in sweat.

“Sir! Could you please tell me your name?”

“Ren Hong!”

“Mr. Ren, are you a student of this university?”

“Sophomore, Computer Science!”

“Rumor has it that you recently stopped school to start a business, is that true?”

“Yes!”

“May I ask what you and Mr. Zuckerberg discussed in Starbucks today?”

“Normal business partnership discussions!”

“May I ask what the specifics of the discussion were about?” The reporters’ eyes glinted at his answer. And the fact that the social networking bigwig, Zuckerberg, came to partner with a university startup was almost a sign that something huge was going to happen!

“Sorry! Trade secret! No comment!”

“May I ask what the outcome of the negotiation was?”

“Satisfactory!”

Ren Hong looked at a group of reporters who kept talking and couldn’t finish their questions at all. He felt like they were almost done and finally said, “That’s it, the interview is over!”

“Hey! Mr. Ren, wait a minute!”

Ren Hong returned to the classroom without turning back and closed the door with some force. The reporters continued to clamor at the corridor, but he no longer cared about them. “Gotta move out of the school as soon as possible!” he muttered to himself.

“Boss! I admire you so much. There are so many reporters. I can’t believe you dealt with them so easily. If it were me, I would have panicked and told them everything!” Zhang Han said, staring at Ren Hong with a face like he was looking at an idol.

“Right! Right! Your skillful response feels like you’ve been interviewed often!” Chen Kai added.

Ren Hong laughed and accepted the adoration of the group, “After all, I’m the boss. I’ve never actually experienced it, but I have imagined this scenario 10,000 times in my head already!”

“We really need to give in to you!” The group raised their arms and retreated in defeat.

The group of reporters were stationed outside the door for a long time. After figuring that the door wasn’t going to open anytime soon, they left one by one. The earlier interview was enough to write a headline.

‘A university start-up has social networking giants rushing in and establishing a partnership’ was enough to make a headline!

Ren Hong looked at the door. The corridor was gradually becoming quieter. He smiled speechlessly. He knew that from today, XlouS had officially sailed!

He believed that the name, Ren Hong, and the technology company, XlouS, would officially enter the national spotlight through the media or from the internet. He had no doubt that the internet was highly informative. The company’s first product, Real-time Online Translator, would also be made known at extreme speed along with the topic.

He could also imagine the Facebook press conference that would bring XlouS into the global spotlight.

Everything went on smoothly and exactly as he had envisioned.