mesbooks Chapter 108 Information Gathering Team
Chapter 108 Information Gathering Team
Two weeks later, Zhou Bin finished his work and came to report for duty.
To welcome his arrival, Lin Feng arranged for the administration to rent a single room with air conditioning for him near the company in advance. He also had a separate office for him to work in.
At 10:00 AM, Lin Feng gathered his core team in Shenzhen: Wu Wenjie, Lin Xiaoqiang, and Lin Xiaowen, as well as Xu Qiang, Zhou Zhongcheng, and Tan Zhao, who had been temporarily transferred from Chengdu. Including Lin Feng himself, there were seven people in total, and they held a brief welcome ceremony in the conference room.
"Everyone, let me introduce you." Lin Feng stood at the front, his voice clear, "This is Zhou Bin, General Manager Zhou. Starting today, he officially joins our company as the Chief Technology Officer and Head of the Technology Development Department."
Zhou Bin stood up and waved to the crowd. He was wearing a new dark blue shirt and had his hair cut, making him look much more energetic.
"Welcome, President Zhou!" Wu Wenjie led the applause, and the others followed suit.
Lin Feng continued, "President Zhou has extensive experience in software development and project management, and is the core of our technical team in building 'Tongcheng Life Network.' We will cooperate closely and communicate actively in the future."
After a simple welcoming ceremony, Lin Feng asked Wu Wenjie to take Zhou Bin to familiarize himself with the surroundings.
Zhou Bin's office was slightly smaller than Lin Feng's, but it also had a window. The desk and chair were newly purchased by the administration, and an unopened computer host and monitor were already placed on the desk.
"Mr. Zhou, please let me know if you need anything else," Wu Wenjie said enthusiastically. "The internet was installed yesterday, a dedicated line, speed guaranteed. The computer configuration is a Pentium 4 with 1GB of RAM, that should be enough."
"That's enough, thank you." Zhou Bin put down his laptop bag and looked around. The office was clean and private, much better than his previous messy studio.
After settling in, Zhou Bin went to Lin Feng's office.
Lin Feng closed the door, and the two sat on the sofa, drinking tea and chatting.
Lin Feng cut to the chase: "President Zhou, the salary will remain the same as previously agreed, 10,000 yuan per month, paid on the 15th of each month. There will be a year-end bonus based on project progress and company performance. Social insurance and housing fund contributions will be made according to Shenzhen standards."
A monthly salary of 10,000 yuan was considered upper-middle class in Shenzhen's IT industry in 2004. It was slightly higher than Zhou Bin's salary at Mingke, and far more stable than the sporadic income he earned at his studio.
Zhou Bin nodded: "Okay."
Then, Lin Feng picked up the sketch on the table and handed it to the other person: "These are some ideas I've drawn over the past few days about 'Local Life Network.' Take a look."
The sketch shows several simple page layouts: homepage, category list page, information details page, publishing page, and a diagram of the backend management.
The lines are rough, but the structure is clear.
Zhou Bin looked through the photos one by one, occasionally tapping a certain area with his finger.
The homepage primarily uses category navigation, highlighting the search box... List pages display title, price, region, and publication time...
The details page displays complete information and contact details, but the contact details need to be processed… The publishing process should be simplified as much as possible.
"Yes." Lin Feng continued, "My idea is that in the first version, we will only implement the most core functions."
Users can post a rental or job ad for free by simply filling in the title, description, price, location, and a mobile phone number.
Once approved by our system backend, the article will be successfully published.
Visitors can browse information lists by category and region, and contact the publisher on the details page using a system-generated temporary number, protecting the real number.
"What about the backstage?" Zhou Bin asked.
"The backend needs to be able to review newly published information, mark it as approved or rejected, and delete spam and illegal information. Reviewers rely on manual judgment, but we can gradually accumulate rules, such as automatically marking certain keywords as suspicious."
Lin Feng emphasized: "The goal of the first version is to make this process work smoothly, with real and usable information and real people using it."
Zhou Bin pondered for a moment: "Technically, using the LAMP architecture is fine. PHP development is fast, MySQL is sufficient, and Linux servers are low-cost. But we need to consider a few issues for the first version:"
How is information stored and retrieved? How to prevent malicious spamming? How to ensure a smooth posting process?
"You're the expert in these areas, so you decide on the solutions. My requirement is speed. I need to see a version that can be internally tested within two weeks, three weeks at most."
Features can be fewer, and the page aesthetics can be optimized, but the core process must work smoothly and stably; it cannot crash easily.
"Three weeks..." Zhou Bin quickly calculated the workload in his mind.
"If we only do the core functions you mentioned, plus the basic backend, it can be done in three weeks. But we need people."
At least one front-end developer to handle page layout; one back-end developer to help me build the framework and write the core logic; and ideally, one tester/operators as well.
"The Human Resources department is in charge of recruitment." Lin Feng was straightforward. "As the technical director and the hiring manager, you decide what kind of people to recruit and what the standards are. You oversee the interviews. If you think they're suitable, bring them to meet me. If there are no problems, we'll finalize the offer. The salary range will be based on industry standards. Exceptionally outstanding candidates can be discussed further."
Zhou Bin was somewhat surprised by Lin Feng's delegation of authority, but immediately nodded: "Okay. I'll contact some people in the next couple of days. There are a few I've worked with before; I'll ask about their interest."
"In addition," Lin Feng added, "I suggest using an iterative approach for the development process. We'll meet once a week to decide on the features to be completed that week, then proceed with development, testing, and quick adjustments. We'll communicate any issues that arise."
"Agile development," Zhou Bin agreed, "This allows for rapid response to changes and timely adjustments to the direction."
The two then discussed some technical details for more than half an hour, such as how to design the database tables, how to manage user permissions, and how to make simple log records.
Although Lin Feng doesn't write code, his understanding of product logic and user needs surprised Zhou Bin. Many of his questions were spot-on.
At the end of the meeting, Lin Feng said, "President Zhou, you are fully responsible for the technical aspects. Go ahead and get to work!"
"Okay." Zhou Bin stood up, took the sketches, and said, "I'll start setting up the environment and designing the database this afternoon. I'll work with the HR department on the recruitment."
After Zhou Bin left, Lin Feng called Lin Xiaoqiang, Xu Qiang, Tan Zhao and others to his office.
The website's technical framework was built by Zhou Bin, but the content needed to be collected and populated simultaneously.
Lin Feng decided to establish a special information gathering team, led by Lin Xiaoqiang, with Xu Qiang, Tan Zhao, and several employees transferred from Chengdu temporarily under his command.
In addition, several local young people were hired. There are ten people in total.
The team's first objective was clear: to collect real property rental information in and around the science park.
It must be a first-hand property directly rented by the landlord or properly managed; we reject properties with inflated prices and false information from intermediaries.
Lin Feng emphasized that the accuracy of information is the lifeline; address, area, price, and contact information must all be preliminarily verified.
Lin Xiaoqiang accepted the task. That afternoon, he gathered his team members together.
Ten people, divided into two groups, five groups went out to sweep the streets.
They designated Baishizhou, Dachong, and Chaguang, several urban villages adjacent to the science park, as the first areas to be "sweeped away".
The action plan is simple and direct: use your eyes to find, use your pen to copy, use your phone to verify, and use your legs to run.
The process was far more difficult than imagined.
The alleys of Baishizhou are like a maze, with layers upon layers of "For Rent" signs plastered on walls, utility poles, and even next to trash cans, a mix of smudged ink, neatly printed, and illegible handwriting.
Lin Xiaoqiang and his partner took notebooks and pens and copied down the text line by line. Their fingers were quickly stained with the rough walls and paste.
Copying is only the first step.
The real test lies in verification.
Many messages have long since expired; the other party either doesn't answer the phone, or after answering, they impatiently say "It's rented out" and hang up abruptly.
Some people who answer the phone are extremely vigilant, repeatedly questioning their identity. When they hear words like "website" or "free registration," they often scoff and assume it's a new type of scam.
On one occasion, the other party even swore at them, warning them to stop harassing them.
Xu Qiang's group was in a similar situation in Dachong.
They finally met a landlord who was willing to chat a bit more, but the landlord demanded to see their "business license" and "registration certificate," otherwise there was no point in talking.
By the end of the day, the five groups had run their legs thin and their throats were dry. Their notebooks were filled with dense records, but next to them were crosses and question marks indicating invalidity or failure.
When they met up in the evening, all five groups looked tired and a little frustrated.
Lin Xiaoqiang tallied the results: out of more than 120 calls made, only 17 listings were confirmed to be genuine, valid, and the landlords were willing to communicate further.
"The efficiency is too low." Xu Qiang rubbed his burning ears.
Lin Xiaoqiang didn't speak, but just looked through the seventeen valuable information records.
One of the landlords was a retired teacher who inquired carefully over the phone about what their platform did. Finally, he sighed and said, "It would be great if there were a place where I could rent out my house transparently without being constantly harassed by real estate agents."
These words made Lin Xiaoqiang feel that all the running around and the cold looks he had endured that afternoon were worth it.
Back in the office, Lin Xiaowen was responsible for registering and classifying the information.
Lin Xiaoqiang handed her the notebook that recorded all the battle results.
Lin Xiaowen took the notebook. She first numbered each piece of valid information, and then neatly copied it onto the computer according to her own designed format: number, district, detailed address, apartment type, area, rent, landlord's name and contact number, verification status, verifier, and most importantly, the "remarks" column.
In her notes, she carefully recorded the important details she obtained during the phone conversation:
"The landlord is a retired teacher who prefers quiet and requires stable tenants."
"The apartment is on the seventh floor and there is no elevator, but it has excellent natural light."
"Rent includes property management fees; utilities are not included."
"One month's rent as deposit and one month's rent in advance is acceptable, but it depends on the tenant's qualifications."
Lin Xiaowen worked very slowly, striving to make every word accurate.
When she encountered unclear records, she would call her brother to confirm them. These seemingly trivial pieces of information would become the cornerstone of the website's future survival, and could not be taken lightly.