Chapter 2 Chapter 1 The computer is so close and so far away from me

Zhou Hongyi actually had two goals in high school: a physicist and a computer company boss.It is as difficult to focus on the dream that you have been striving for all your life from the many changes and complicated temptations at a glance. The high school stage is very important for Zhou Hongyi, he just started to get in touch with computers at that time. There are computers at school and at home.The school is relatively simple, it is the kind of claw machine: a single board, with a keyboard connected to the TV.Because his father's unit is doing map surveying and mapping, so there are IBM computers and Apple computers at home.Fortunately, the new college students from my father's unit were computer majors, and he learned a lot from them.

He doesn't just play games on the computer.In fact, he already knew how to program in Basic language in high school. At that time, he subscribed to "Children's Computer World", a newspaper run by the Soong Ching Ling Foundation, and it was the first book for students of related majors.He knew from the name that there should be another newspaper called "Computer World", but he couldn't subscribe to it himself.The college student subscribed, and he often flipped through some old newspapers for him to read.Every issue of the newspaper had some program examples, and he changed those programs and input them into the computer for experiments.

Through "Children's Computer World", he knew the names of two people: one is Liang Jianzhang, and the other is this group. Liang Jianzhang is one year older than him and is a famous "child genius" in Shanghai. In 1977, when most Chinese people did not know what a computer was, 8-year-old Liang Jianzhang had already begun to try to write poems with a computer. At the age of 13, he won the gold medal in the first national computer programming competition because he developed a program for writing poems on a computer. In 1984, 15-year-old Liang Jianzhang was directly admitted to the computer undergraduate class of Fudan University without graduating from junior high school.A year later, before Fudan graduated, he was admitted to the Georgia Institute of Technology in the United States.

Liang Jianzhang is one of the founders of Ctrip. He once served as the CEO, then retired, and recently came out again to take charge of Ctrip. Mi Qun used to be the Director of Investment and Acquisition of Google Greater China, and now is the Managing Director of Lightspeed Venture Capital, responsible for the fund's China investment.He was three or four years older than Zhou Hongyi. At that time, he often published articles on "Computer World" and was the object of Zhou Hongyi's admiration - he could use machine language to write various functions that went deep into the machine, while Zhou Hongyi only knew Basic language.

Later, Zhou Hongyi imitated Liang Jianzhang and compiled a program that could write seven unique and seven rhythms.Others think that learning computer language is not easy, but he learned it very quickly, and later helped teachers write programs for arranging timetables.He spent a lot of time on the computer in high school. Of course, it was also at this stage that he discovered his special affinity with computers.Since then, the path he has taken, the hardships he has endured, the mistakes he has made, and the results he has gained are all related to computers. Another magazine that had a great influence on him at this stage was "China Youth". In the second half of 1986 or the first half of 1987, "China Youth" made a serial report, interviewing 100 small companies and their founders in installments.It talked about a small company, which was nothing at the time, that is, a college graduate resigned after being assigned to a certain agency, and came out to help people build machines.But at that moment, it made his mind buzz for a while—those people worked all night when they got the job, and went to Beidaihe to play when they didn't have the job.Working for a computer, that's what he wanted out of life.

Looking at it now, it is just a small system integration company. I'll go wherever you give me a computer!This was Zhou Hongyi's pursuit of university at that time. In fact, he had two goals at the time: either to study physics and quantum physics, like Li Zhengdao, or to start a computer company, like those young entrepreneurs in magazines. After all, he still understands that the hobby of computers should be turned into a career. As a physicist, this goal is easy to understand.The head teacher of the high school was very kind to him and knew how to educate. Instead of criticizing naughty students like him, he was very tolerant, which made him very embarrassed.The homeroom teacher teaches physics. Seeing that he loves computers so much, he cultivates his interest in physics and opens the school library, including the teacher's library, to him.He is really good at physics. At that time, he participated in the National Physics Contest and got the second place in the province in the preliminary competition.But only by taking the first place can you be selected for the National Physics Competition, and you can be directly recommended to the Department of Physics of Peking University.

Because English and Chinese are not very good, it is difficult for him to pass the national examination and enter the first-class school to study physics.He later participated in many competitions, such as the National Mechanics Competition for Middle School Students, but he didn't know whether it was the post office or the school. The notice was lost, and he didn't go to Shanghai Jiaotong University to participate in the finals. As a result, he also missed the Shanghai Jiaotong University. Later, he failed in the chemistry competition and the computer competition, which made him very disappointed.

Seeing that the college entrance examination was getting closer and closer, and the Spring Festival in early 1988 was over, a top student like myself who was "desired by everyone" still didn't even have a home.He felt unable to hold his head up and was depressed for a long time. Fortunately, his father was very enlightened and courageous.Hearing that there is a class for teenagers in Wuhan University by chance, his father actually wrote directly to the Admissions Office to recommend his son.As a result, the other party replied that he was willing to take a look. After all, he participated in such a big competition and his results were not bad.The problem is that Wuhan University did not have a computer department at that time, and he was unwilling to transfer him to another major.

South China Institute of Technology, which is now South China University of Technology, also wants him to go, saying that it has a food engineering major.His parents had experienced three years of difficult times, and they were very happy when they heard that, and felt that they would never worry about being hungry again after studying this major.But he was really not interested, and he only wanted to learn computers. After the setbacks in the physics competition, the goal of a physicist seemed to be drifting away, and he was even more clinging to the only goal of "the boss of a computer company".

South China Institute of Technology agreed to transfer him, but it will take time. At this time, the college entrance examination is just around the corner, and he still doesn't want to squeeze the single-plank bridge.Although his parents were worried, they couldn't help him, and the days passed day by day. There is no unparalleled road, Zhou Hongyi finally waited for the opportunity to come to Xi'an Jiaotong University to find extraordinary students in four provinces across the country. The national science pilot class is in Nankai, and the engineering pilot class is in Shanghai Jiaotong University. He doesn't want to go to the engineering pilot class in Shanghai Jiaotong University.That class is also called the education reform class, how could a middle school student know what the education reform class is.Besides, he only wanted to learn computer at this time, otherwise why would he give up Wuhan University.So when he heard from Xi'an Jiaotong University that he could study computer, electronics, and communication, he was tempted.The teacher said: "If you look for it, go."

So Zhou Hongyi entered Xi'an Jiaotong University and became a freshman in the Department of Computer Science. Ang Lee said: "Everyone has Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in their hearts." The tiger and the dragon, we can understand it as "fear" with the most popular interpretation at the moment, or as "dream" with the traditional interpretation.Masayoshi Son, chairman of Softbank, said his success stems from "a dream and unfounded self-confidence." Dreams are very important, but it is not easy to really lock in your goals.As for the reasons, there are generally two aspects: one is that with the change of age and circumstances, people's points of interest will continue to shift, and the "direction of the heart" will naturally change.The second is that there are too many temptations. Even in the same time period, two or more goals may appear, some of which are roughly similar, and some are even quite different. It is as difficult to focus on the dream that you have been striving for all your life from the many changes and complicated temptations at a glance.Just imagine, if Zhou Hongyi's physics competition goes well and he enters the Department of Physics of Peking University directly, who knows how long the two goals of becoming a physicist and a computer company boss will be entangled in his mind before he can decide the winner.It's not that he doesn't regret not being able to get into the Department of Physics of Peking University, otherwise why would he be so depressed, but some things seem to be destined.One dream pushes you away, and you get closer to another. Of course, voluntarily giving up is a more challenging thing, and sometimes it is more painful to have a choice than to have no choice.Especially for those with very superior conditions, because you can do this well, and you can do that well, so good that you can't tell which is interest and which is luck. However, we must try our best to shorten this selection process, because life is too short, and the time suitable for starting a business is even shorter. In fact, this topic almost ran through his entire growth process.It's just that compared with the later experience, his persistence to the computer at this stage not only does not show any heroism, but on the contrary seems stubborn and even selfish.Although his father is just an ordinary geologist, compared with his peers, he is already one of the lucky few who are at the forefront of technology. Without the full support of his parents, without a little bit of luck, if he failed the college entrance examination, it would be hard to imagine what the road ahead would be like for him.From another perspective, if he didn't look back at himself after being successful as he is now, but lived a mediocre life for half of his life and then looked back on this period of time, he might look down on himself.Why are you so stubborn?Why can't I take the college entrance examination like everyone else? However, after all, he did not allow himself to be reduced to mediocrity.Usually weakness does make people mediocre, but "staying behind" chosen because of clear goals will not.It can even be said that Zhou Hongyi’s most worthwhile reference at this stage is: he loves computers and finally holds on to them. For this dream of being a "computer company boss", he voluntarily gave up the more prestigious Wuhan University and Shanghai Jiaotong University.Zhou Hongyi in this period has many shortcomings, but he has a clear idea of ​​what he wants to do in the future and is also very independent. This may be the first brick of success.