Already in the senior year, classes were very few, mostly professional electives and general electives.
The school usually arranged this way to give students enough time to complete their graduation thesis or arrange their own internships.
Wang Lei didn't plan to take the postgraduate entrance exam, nor did he look for internship opportunities.
He comforted himself that he should make the most of the last six months to have fun, as he wouldn't be able to after graduation.
After Zhao Shaoyang and Wang Lei left the dorm as usual, they headed straight for the internet café, their restless hearts already uneasy on the way.
Unlike others, Wang Lei didn't like playing games; he went online just to follow novel updates.
He enjoyed reading several popular novels recently, such as "Douluo Dalu," "Battle Through the Heavens," and "Xian Ni."
Zhao Shaoyang used to mainly play World of Warcraft online, but recently World of Warcraft changed its publisher.
Jiucheng was stabbed in the back by NetEase, and the servers wouldn't reopen until September 19th.
However, even if the servers reopened, Zhao Shaoyang had no interest in playing anymore, because his heart had already secretly pledged itself to DNF.
Zhao Shaoyang used to look down on Wang Lei a bit, thinking the guy was dirty and unsociable.
But ever since Chen Pingjiang stopped living in the dorm, Dorm 603 also lost its cohesiveness.
The youngest, He Siyu, only knew how to read every day, planning to take the postgraduate entrance exam.
Dong Tinghui went for an internship, and Guo Dewen was happily in love.
Out of boredom, Zhao Shaoyang started hanging out with Wang Lei, just to have company online.
After arriving at the internet café, Wang Lei read novels as usual.
As soon as Zhao Shaoyang opened the computer, he saw a pop-up window appear on the desktop.
"League of Legends, waiting for you to battle! Closed beta activation codes are being distributed for a limited time."
Just as he was about to move the mouse to the top right corner to close the pop-up, Zhao Shaoyang glanced at the game description and saw that the game was operated by Renren.com.
Zhao Shaoyang smiled:
"Since it's Chen-ge's game, I have to support it no matter what."
After entering the game, it wasn't long before Zhao Shaoyang became immersed in it.
The personal experience of MOBA-type games and MMO-type games is very different.
In MMO-type games, such as World of Warcraft, the fun lies in exploring unknown worlds, constantly clearing dungeons and doing quests, and as the game character continuously grows, players also gain achievements and satisfaction from it.
But the fun of MOBA-type games lies in the endless joy of competing against others.
Zhao Shaoyang, who had played DOTA, clearly had a foundation and quickly got the hang of it.
"Stop reading novels, come play games with me. It's Chen-ge's company's newly released game. Teaming up with two people gives experience and gold bonuses."
Besides the two of them, almost half of the other computers in this internet café were also playing League of Legends.
If not for the scarcity of closed beta accounts, this number would be even higher.
The other half were playing DNF, with only a very small portion playing CF and other games.
Backed by Renren.com's powerful promotional channels and successful experience operating DNF, League of Legends had already captured public attention during its warm-up phase.
Of the 100,000 closed beta accounts prepared in advance, most were cleared on the day of the closed beta, with only a small portion released before it.
"This is beyond my expectations, bros. League of Legends actually received so much love from female players?"
"Not surprising at all, that line 'Captain Teemo, on duty' just made me melt."
"Is the person upstairs also a female player? Holy moly, then I have to try it."
"You can't try even if you want to, because the activation codes have long been distributed. Unless Renren.com releases a second batch."
"League of Legends has better graphics than DOTA and is more beginner-friendly than DOTA. No denial greatly reduces the difficulty of laning, and unified hotkey settings mean you don't have to memorize keybinds for each hero like in DOTA.
More importantly, heroes like Invoker, Tinker, and Meepo in DOTA are impossible to understand without practicing for a month or two, but League of Legends is different."
"Bro, I highly recommend Master Yi. This hero is awesome. You can jungle to quickly accumulate gold, and once you hit level six, you can frequently get kills with your ultimate. When others attack you, you heal, and after healing, one Q ability can directly get you a double kill."
"That's just you running into inexperienced players. If you encounter someone who knows how to play a bit, one crowd control and you're dead. Mid-lane mages are more fun; if you play well, you can truly one-shot enemies."
"Strongly demand Renren.com to release a second batch of activation codes, we want to play!"
"+1"
Tian Hongrui was very calm about the success of League of Legends.
With DNF as a precedent, what was League of Legends?
If DNF, a 2D fighting game, could become popular, how could League of Legends not?
After all, to some extent, MOBA-type games were an untapped market.
DOTA was slowly declining, with no one updating it anymore.
The creators had all been poached by Riot Games.
"Issue another 50,000 activation codes. Reserve a portion for major gaming website partners and friendly competitors."
After making arrangements, Tian Hongrui headed to the airport under his secretary's arrangements to meet up with the main group.
The day of Renren Group's listing had arrived!
In the VIP lounge, as soon as Tian Hongrui sat down, Wen Yan and several other executives came over to congratulate him.
"Old Tian, it has to be you. Every game you develop turns into a success."
Tian Hongrui said with a smile,
"It doesn't have much to do with me. Anyone else could do it well. It's mainly because Chairman Chen plans things well; operations are a piece of cake."
Renren's listing was imminent, and everyone was relaxed yet a little excited.
In a few days, every single person present would be a billionaire.
...
Unlike the previous trip to New York, this time the team was larger in number and scale.
There were almost fifty people in total.
A small portion of these were Renren Group's many executives, some were the accompanying business team, some were the mysterious bell-ringing guests invited by Renren.com, and others were journalists.
Yes, that's right!
Renren.com's listing was a major event.
As the first Chinese company to list on the US stock market after the financial crisis, and also the domestic internet social giant, Renren.com and Chen Pingjiang attracted too much attention.
Even CCTV-2, CCTV's Financial Channel, sent reporters to live broadcast the bell-ringing ceremony.
The closer to the bell-ringing, the higher the market's attention.
Unlike other companies' IPOs, which usually only receive attention from relevant industries and financial news, Renren.com's listing was also of great interest to the general public.
"Time flies so fast, a few years just passed in a blink, and I didn't expect it to be listed now."
"Are there any experts who can explain how much Chen Pingjiang's net worth will be after the listing?"
"According to currently disclosed information, based on the initial stock price, Chen Pingjiang's net worth has already exceeded 50 billion. If the stock surges on the first day of listing, this figure will increase further."
"Holy crap, wouldn't that mean he'd directly parachute onto the Hurun Rich List at number 1?"
"Yes, and he'd be significantly ahead of the second place. But globally, he would be outside the top twenty."
"Is it that high? Chen Pingjiang retained so many Renren.com shares?"
"It's written in the prospectus. Renren.com only had two rounds of financing, and he personally holds 50% of the shares."
"Truly frightening, so young and with more money than he can ever spend."
Major financial news outlets reported frantically.
"How popular is Renren.com abroad? It is reported that during its earlier roadshow, Renren.com had already secured $3 billion in full subscriptions in just two days. The first roadshow in New York reportedly attracted 800 investors, with queues stretching almost eighteen bends, and elevator waits of thirty minutes."
"A Wall Street fund manager said that he had been investing in New York for over ten years and had seen many IPO roadshows, but he was still shocked by Renren.com."
"The Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York was almost dyed blue (Renren.com's main color) that day. As one of the world's most luxurious hotels where heads of state frequently stay, the spectacle created by Chen Pingjiang was no less impressive."
"For investors, they generally believe that the minimum issue price of $32 means Renren.com still has strong upside potential, which is why investors flocked to the roadshow."
On TV, after the host finished introducing, he asked the guest next to him: "Teacher Lai, could you explain to us why Renren.com has received such enthusiastic acclaim?"
Teacher Lai adjusted his glasses and explained slowly:
"This primarily depends on several factors. The first is that SNS social networking sites are very popular worldwide. In the US, it's Facebook, and in China, it's Renren.com. Both are similar in scale and size, but for some reason, Renren.com's valuation is significantly lower than Facebook's, which makes it a lucrative deal from this perspective."
"The second reason is that the current prevalent view is that Renren.com's listing is at least a year earlier than expected. Many people thought Renren.com would wait 1-2 years to list, and after mobile internet matured further, Renren.com's valuation could at least triple to quintuple. I'm actually quite curious about this point myself."
"The third reason is the recent financial crisis. The US stock market also needed a high-quality company to boost capital confidence, and Renren.com was the most suitable candidate."
"The final reason is that Renren.com's founder Chen Pingjiang brought greater imagination and confidence to investors."
"In summary, this explains why Renren.com's IPO has been so popular."
At Cai Da, Ning Yongde, Kuang Minghong, and others sat around the TV, smiling brightly, having guarded the budding flower for over three years, quietly waiting for it to bloom.
At the Cai Da cafeteria, during breakfast time, countless students had no mind to eat, their eyes fixed on the host on TV.
At Zhongshan Villa, Chen Guangming, Xu Fangjuan, and Yan Yan, a family of three, smiled and chatted, as live broadcast footage continuously played on the TV.
Ge Mengshi smiled and sent a message to Chen Pingjiang: Hope it goes smoothly.
Soon after, Chen Pingjiang replied:
"Wait for me to come back."
Escaping the surrounding hustle and bustle, Chen Pingjiang hid in the restroom to catch his breath.
His phone was filled with various congratulatory messages.
Cong Nini's message read:
"Dad, they're saying you're about to become the richest man. Can you be my sugar daddy then?"
Zhang Xinyue also sent a message:
"I feel like the distance between us is getting further and further. Congratulations to you."
After Chen Pingjiang replied to a few messages, he didn't even have time to look at the rest.
He straightened his tie, a charming smile on his face, and walked out of the restroom.
At the very least, this morning on Nasdaq belonged to Renren.com, and to him, Chen Pingjiang.
(End of Chapter)