Rebirth: Starting from Lighting Up the Tech Tree

Chapter 13 Take Your Positions

Shen Yue was brought by Fang Ze. They met at a coffee shop next to the school on Saturday afternoon.

She was more outgoing than Zuo Cheng had imagined—short hair, round-framed glasses, spoke quickly, and her laughter was as clear and crisp as tapping a glass. After sitting down, she didn't exchange pleasantries but immediately opened her tablet to demonstrate a recent course project she had worked on—creating an interactive, dynamic, and visual interface for a complex machine learning algorithm process.

Zuo Cheng understood the limits of her abilities after swiping through two screens.

Her technical depth is average, roughly equivalent to a first-year graduate student. However, she has an excellent sense of information presentation—she knows better than many product managers with years of experience when to use charts, animations, and analogies to determine which data to use.

"Fang Ze said you guys are going to participate in the Rising Star Cup?" Shen Yue put away her tablet, rested her chin on her hands, and looked at Zuo Cheng. "What are your plans for the roadshow presentation?"

"PPT presentations plus live demonstrations," Zuo Cheng said. "Performance comparisons of core algorithms are presented using data charts, and business plans are explained using a logical framework."

Shen Yue wrinkled her nose: "It's too dry. There are investors on the judging panel. They look at dozens of business plans every day. If you just throw data charts at them right away, their attention will wander within three minutes."

"So what do you think we should do?"

"Tell a story." Shen Yue held up one finger. "Your core technology is signal processing algorithms, right? Then start with a specific scenario—for example, a car traveling at high speed is passing through a tunnel, and the signal drops drastically, causing navigation to fail, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) connectivity to collapse, and autonomous driving to malfunction. Then your algorithm intervenes, and the signal stabilizes within three seconds. First, let the judges feel how serious the problem is, then let them see how elegant your solution is. Use data as support later, don't put it at the beginning."

Zuo Cheng leaned back in his chair and tapped the table twice with his fingers.

This is a good idea.

The most common mistake tech people make is "believing that data speaks for itself." Data can indeed speak, but first, someone has to be willing to listen. Shen Yue's approach is to first draw the audience in with a scenario, creating an emotional connection, and then use data to solidify trust. This logic has been repeatedly validated in business pitches; in his previous life, Zuo Cheng had seen that almost every entrepreneur who secured funding was a master storyteller.

"Would you like to join the competition team?" Zuo Cheng asked, "to be responsible for the overall visual design and presentation logic of the roadshow."

Shen Yue glanced at Fang Ze. Fang Ze nodded slightly, expressionless.

"Sure," she readily agreed, "but I have one condition—I have veto power over the final version of the presentation. You decide the technical content, but I decide how it's presented."

"make a deal."

Shen Yue smiled and extended her hand: "Pleasure doing business with you."

The team of five is finalized. But there's still one thing to take care of.

That evening, after returning to the dormitory, Zuo Cheng took the initiative to talk to Liu Wei.

"Wei Zi, I want to talk to you about the competition team."

Liu Wei was leaning against the bed scrolling through his phone when he heard this, and sat up straight, a fleeting look of nervousness in his eyes.

Zuo Cheng cut to the chase: "The Rising Star Cup is limited to five participants, and the four of us plus Fang Ze make up the quota. But Shen Yue's presentation skills are exactly what the team needs, so I'm planning to include her in the competition lineup. You'll be guarding the back of 402."

Liu Wei opened his mouth, but didn't say anything.

"I know this arrangement might make you uncomfortable," Zuo Cheng said, looking at him frankly, "but I don't want to comfort you. The competition team needs five people whose technical skills and presentation abilities are the best match. This decision isn't because you're unimportant; quite the opposite—402's business can't stop during the competition. We need to maintain existing clients, take on new orders, and handle all external communications on your own. If you also go to the competition, there will be no one left to support us."

Liu Wei remained silent for about ten seconds.

"Brother Cheng, tell me the truth—do you think I'm not capable enough?"

"Your communication skills are the best among us; no one can compare," Zuo Cheng said. "But the competition team needs technical demonstrations, not client communication. These are two different abilities. Your particular skill might not be useful on the competition stage, but it's irreplaceable in the daily operations of 402."

Liu Wei lowered his head and thought for a while, then looked up and grinned.

"Alright, Cheng-ge, I'll listen to you. You've never let us down when you make decisions." He scratched his head, a hint of disappointment in his smile, but no resentment. "But if you guys win first prize, you have to let me choose the restaurant for the celebration banquet."

"You decide." Zuo Cheng patted him on the shoulder.

Zhang Lei poked his head out from the top bunk: "Wei Zi, don't worry, you're the most reliable home front as long as you're holding the fort! When I come back from the roadshow and win an award, I'll brag to you first!"

Liu Wei hurled a slipper and accurately struck Zhang Lei on the forehead.

The dormitory erupted in laughter, and the atmosphere became lively again.

Zuo Cheng lay back on the bed, feeling a sense of relief. Liu Wei wasn't a petty person, but being excluded from important projects was a bitter pill to swallow. Fortunately, he had been open about it—if the person making the decision were secretive, it would only hurt feelings.

For the next two weeks, the entire team entered a high-intensity preparation mode.

Chen Hao is in charge of organizing technical documents and intellectual property materials. He has already drafted two technical disclosure documents for invention patents as requested by Zuo Cheng. After the lawyer reviews them, the applications can be submitted.

Fang Ze began to research how to create a real-time demonstration prototype of the algorithm on an embedded platform—not a complete product, but just a demo that could run at the roadshow, allowing the judges to see the algorithm's effect firsthand.

Shen Yue took over the entire visual design for the roadshow presentation. She scrapped Zuo Cheng's initial PPT plan and rebuilt a presentation flow centered around scene animation. Zuo Cheng read the first draft and immediately admitted that it was far superior to his own work.

Every night, Zhang Lei practiced his speech in front of the mirror in his dorm room. Zuo Cheng wrote three versions of the speech, and after Zhang Lei memorized them, he reorganized the language in his own way—his instinct was right; natural expression is worse than reciting from a script. After watching him practice for two days, Zuo Cheng was relieved. This kid was born to stand on stage; all he lacked was content, not performance skills.

Liu Wei wasn't idle either. He single-handedly managed the daily operations of room 402, taking on three small jobs in two weeks. Although they weren't big, they didn't damage his reputation. At the same time, he also completed a competitive analysis report as requested by Zuo Cheng—clearly outlining which teams in the same city offered similar technical services, their pricing ranges, and their strengths and weaknesses.

After reviewing the report, Zuo Cheng posted in the group chat: "Wei Zi's competitive analysis is better than that of many junior analysts at consulting firms."

Liu Wei replied with a grinning emoji, but Zuo Cheng knew that most of the disappointment in his heart had dissipated.

October 15th, five days before the registration deadline.

The team's application materials are basically complete—a 30,000-word business plan, 20,000-word technical documents, submitted patent application materials, finalized roadshow presentation plan, and the embedded demo prototype has completed its core functions.

Zuo Cheng checked all the materials in the laboratory from beginning to end. After confirming that there were no loopholes, he opened the system panel.

On the screen, a new notification was quietly waiting for him.

Side Quest Generation: The Startup Path

[Task Description: Achieve a top-three ranking in the BGI New Talent Cup Technology Innovation Competition.]

[Task Reward: Unlock the "Systems Engineering and Project Management" blade, +6 points]

[Duration: Synchronized with the competition schedule]

Six points added.

Zuo Cheng's lips curved slightly.

The system always moves precisely to his rhythm—wherever he goes, tasks are generated. Like a silent observer, it neither guides nor urges, but simply lays a stepping stone for him with each step he takes.

He turned off the control panel, picked up his phone, and sent a message in the team group chat.

"All materials are ready. I will submit my application tomorrow."

The five people almost simultaneously replied with a single word—

"good."

Looking at the five neatly arranged "good" characters, Zuo Cheng suddenly felt that this scene made him feel more at ease than any system reward.

Technology can be copied, and points can be accumulated, but the feeling of five people working together in the same direction cannot be achieved through accumulation.

Night had fallen outside the window, and a few lights were still on in the distant teaching buildings. Zuo Cheng shut down his computer, picked up the half-cup of tea that had cooled on the table, and took a sip.

The countdown for the main quest chain is still ongoing. There are eleven days left in the first phase of the Blue Bay Communications project. Yu Ying has already completed half of the first draft of the top-journal paper. The preliminary results of the New Talent Cup will be announced within a week of registration.

All four lines are being advanced simultaneously, and none of them can be neglected.

He put down his teacup, stood up, and stretched his shoulders.

Not afraid.

The more lines there are, the wider the road is.