Xu Jing and Ma Hai weren’t beggars.

Though they came to ask Xia Xiaolan for money, seeking investment was different from begging.

Begging meant taking something for nothing, while investment implied returns.

The two had Xia Xiaolan’s contact information and had learned the Wen family’s address. They’d taken a bus from New York but were too embarrassed to disturb anyone, so they waited outside.

As it happened, Xia Xiaolan drove back today, and Professor Wen’s house looked quite nice – Xu Jing and Ma Hai’s spirits lifted. Xia Xiaolan truly had money. If they could convince her to invest, their project could be saved!

Seeing their embarrassment, Xia Xiaolan considered:

“Let’s go find a place to sit and talk properly.”

Ithaca had coffee shops – at least that would be a proper place for discussion.

Xia Xiaolan’s new car’s first passengers turned out to be Xu Jing and Ma Hai, which Du Zhaohui strongly objected to. He insisted on finding out who these two were. Though Xia Xiaolan hadn’t invited him along, he shamelessly followed.

Xia Xiaolan didn’t stop him. Money-making opportunities were everywhere, and Xu Jing and Ma Hai had come to her voluntarily. She hadn’t analyzed whether it was viable yet, and she wasn’t afraid of Du Zhaohui stealing the deal… Perhaps Xu Jing and Ma Hai’s “investment” far exceeded Xia Xiaolan’s budget. If Du Zhaohui wanted to take it on himself, she wouldn’t mind.

At the coffee shop, the outgoing Ma Hai broke the awkwardness:

“Classmate Xia, that day at the party you said we could talk once Xu sobered up – does that still stand?”

Xia Xiaolan was speechless, “Senior Ma, if it didn’t stand, why would I come to the coffee shop with you? Tell me, what exactly are you and Senior Xu working on? How far along are you, how much investment do you need? I need a complete understanding before deciding the next steps.”

The next steps meant whether to invest and how much.

Neither knew who Du Zhaohui was, but this silent observer was well-dressed and not short on money. Wasn’t it said that rich people’s friends were also rich? Ma Hai was eager to have another potential investor listening – in case they couldn’t swin… no, no, in case they couldn’t secure Xia Xiaolan’s investment, this young man might be interested.

“It’s like this – have you heard of something called an electronic dictionary? You input a word and can look up its meaning, switching freely between two languages. You can think of it as a miniature computer…”

Since Xia Xiaolan studied architecture, Ma Hai tried to explain it as simply as possible.

Electronic dictionary!

Of course, Xia Xiaolan knew about these.

In her past life, she first saw one around ’94, when classmates used them to study English. They cost several hundred yuan each – Xia Xiaolan, who worked to pay her tuition, naturally couldn’t afford one.

Gradually, more classmates used electronic dictionaries. She didn’t know if they actually helped improve English scores, but brands like Wenquxing, Noah, and BBK all made electronic dictionaries – student money was easy to earn!

Xia Xiaolan grew interested and sat up straight:

“You two have made an electronic dictionary?!”

She was somewhat skeptical.

This shouldn’t be a Chinese invention. Like pagers, cell phones, and mobile phones, these electronic and communication products all came to China from abroad. Years ago, pagers could only display phone numbers. Later, domestic companies developed Chinese character displays – being able to see incoming message content, weather updates, and stock information helped them enter every household.

Hearing the doubt in Xia Xiaolan’s voice, Xu Jing’s face reddened:

“We-we didn’t invent it, but Ma Hai and I think it has potential. We want to make an English-Chinese version…”

Xia Xiaolan looked at Xu Jing more carefully.

“Senior Xu, you have good ideas. Tell me in detail – can you and Senior Ma make this without infringing on others’ patents?”

If they could avoid infringement, that meant independent development inspired by others.

If they couldn’t, that meant copying.

But many domestic technologies started this way. Without copying, how could “Made in China” have begun? First copy to build a foundation, then develop independently – this was many brands’ survival strategy.

Xu Jing and Ma Hai were surprised that Xia Xiaolan understood so much.

Xu Jing spoke more carefully:

“It’s not that complicated. Let me explain the electronic dictionary system’s three components: First is storage, recording dictionary content and information. Second is the operating device – treating stored information as text requires a machine to read it, right? That’s why Ma Hai called it a miniature computer – browsing and searching need software to run. Operating devices usually include reading, output, and input devices. Third is external control…”

Xia Xiaolan didn’t interrupt Xu Jing.

In ’86, laypeople hearing this would likely be confused, like Du Zhaohui beside them.

In ’86, many people didn’t understand computers. Many viewed personal computers as expensive typewriters and gaming machines!

In the future, electronic digital products will become increasingly common, updating and innovating yearly. Even non-computer professionals could explain these basics.

So while Du Zhaohui didn’t understand, Xia Xiaolan did.

After Xu Jing finished, Xia Xiaolan asked:

“You want to make an English-Chinese electronic dictionary, and you’re not satisfied with the current versions’ search speed and storage space. You want to upgrade these things, which obviously can’t be solved by just you two. These need to be manufactured by companies with technology, and your biggest problem is lack of money?”

“But we’ve programmed better operating software-“

Ma Hai couldn’t help defending.

Xia Xiaolan smiled ambiguously, “Software? Without proper hardware, software is useless. Besides, I haven’t seen whether the software is good or not.”

Xu Jing and Ma Hai were on the right track.

Bi-directional English-Chinese electronic dictionaries would have a market – Chinese people had to study English for many years.

Making money from students was always easy. Chinese parents never hesitated to invest in education. Though Xia Xiaolan doubted electronic dictionaries’ usefulness, they were better than selling game consoles disguised as learning machines!

If Xu Jing and Ma Hai had told her today they’d discovered Nintendo’s game console could be copied to make the “Little Tyrant” that would dominate Chinese primary and middle school students for years, Xia Xiaolan might have walked away – now she thought this could be salvaged. But Ma Hai and Xu Jing didn’t know her well, thinking her words meant rejection. Xu Jing anxiously pushed their materials toward her:

“Classmate Xia, couldn’t you learn more? You could come with us to New York to see the prototype we assembled at our place!”