Chapter 59: OO Kicks the Butt

"Zhiruo, do you know how to date online?" With something on his mind, Huang He asked directly.

"Ah!" Leng Zhiruo was so startled that her mouse slipped from her hand and clattered onto the desk.

"I'm not joking!" Huang He looked utterly serious. "These days of being single are just too hard to endure. And look at you—so pretty. Every day, watching you, your brother-in-law here just… sigh, anyway, I can't take it anymore. I need to find myself a girlfriend!"

He was still savoring the memories of the previous night, recalling the strength of that slender waist and the grip of those legs, clamping down on him like a pair of pliers.

No, he had to find a girlfriend.

"Oh," Leng Zhiruo whispered. "Brother-in-law, why not just find someone in real life? Why bother with an online romance?"

"You don't get it," Huang He replied, his tone earnest. "Everyone in real life knows I have money. Any woman I find will be after my wealth for sure. But online, it's different—things are still relatively pure in the virtual world, not so many frauds around. If I try hard enough, I might actually meet a nice girl!" With all seriousness, he continued, "So, do you know how to date online?"

"I've heard… I've heard that people usually use software like QQ to have online relationships. Why don't you try finding someone on QQ?" Leng Zhiruo suggested softly.

"Come on, Zhiruo, we're the owners of OO! How can I use QQ to date online? That would be boosting their reputation and undermining our own!" Huang He muttered, then sat down at the computer.

This internet café wasn't bad; it had both OO and Coral QQ installed. Huang He logged into his OO account, ready to start his quest for online love. But to his dismay, his friend list was pitiful—apart from Leng Zhimeng and Leng Zhiruo, there wasn't a single other contact. Truly tragic.

"Zhiruo, do you know any girls' OO numbers?" Huang He asked helplessly.

"Nope!" Leng Zhiruo shook her head decisively. "Brother-in-law, if you really want to date online, just search for some female users and add them!"

"Alright," Huang He nodded. He set the search filter to "female" and started searching.

To his surprise, OO had actually accumulated quite a few female users lately. A hundred results popped up at once, and he sent friend requests to ten of them in one go.

And then he waited. And waited. After about ten minutes, not a single request had been accepted.

"Zhiruo, why do you think none of these women are accepting my friend requests?" Huang He asked, frustrated.

"Brother-in-law, even online, us girls have to maintain some dignity, right? We can't just add any stranger who comes along. Besides, they might not even be online—they may not have seen your request yet."

"Sigh, if only there were a feature where your friend request would be automatically accepted!" Huang He sighed. At that moment, a female user named "Snow in Summer" finally accepted his friend request.

Huang He stared at her profile photo, interests, and bio for several minutes before timidly asking, "Zhiruo, what should I say to her first?"

"Just say hello," Leng Zhiruo replied, exasperated.

"Hello!" Huang He typed, and quickly got a "Hello" back.

"And then?" Huang He looked at Leng Zhiruo, eyes wide.

"Ask her about her hobbies!" Leng Zhiruo had no choice but to teach him step by step. A few seconds later, Huang He said, "She told me she likes reading. She asked about my hobbies."

"Just honestly tell her what you like," Zhiruo replied, not hiding her annoyance.

"Okay," Huang He nodded, and typed, "My hobby is becoming the richest man in the world!"

Minutes passed without a reply. Huang He sent a question mark, but was notified they were no longer friends and the message couldn't be sent. The woman had deleted him.

That damned woman, did she know what she had just rejected?

She had rejected the love of a billionaire!

"Brother-in-law, you are truly a genius at chatting!" Leng Zhiruo exclaimed, after reading the chat log.

"It's not my fault—it’s that OO's features are lacking!" Huang He protested. "I didn’t even get a chance to show her my vast knowledge, my rich experience, or my overflowing wallet. If only I could chat with her for at least twenty messages, show her all that, she'd definitely fall for me!"

"Hmph, as if there would ever be a piece of software that could force someone to talk to you for twenty messages. That's impossible!"

"True, if there was, it'd be even more domineering than Pony Ma's QQ," Huang He chuckled. Then, suddenly, he froze.

"Brother-in-law, what's wrong?" Leng Zhiruo asked, worried after seeing him sit motionless for over ten minutes.

"Good Zhiruo, now I know exactly how to give Pony Ma a real kick!" Huang He shot to his feet and ran out the door. "Call everyone from the Jiangnan Computer Technology department, Chen Shoufu, and Leng Zhimeng to the meeting room! I have an important assignment for all of you!"

———

"Gentlemen, today is the day OO will truly make a name for itself!" In the Jiangnan Computer Technology conference room, everyone from the development and tech departments, along with Chen Shoufu and Leng Zhimeng, had gathered to hear Huang He excitedly outline his idea.

As for the staff, they were all completely bewildered, clueless about what was going on. Many had been dragged straight from their beds—today was supposed to be their day off. After all, they had endured the 997 work schedule during OO’s development. Now that things had finally stabilized and they could take turns resting, this ruthless capitalist, Brother Huang, had dragged them right back in.

"This is an idea that will allow us to truly challenge QQ and Pony Ma—give him a proper kick!" Huang He declared. "I call this feature 'Message in a Bottle.'"

Most were familiar with QQ's "Message in a Bottle," but Huang He's version was entirely different from that of the other world’s QQ. The concept in his mind was something else altogether.