01
In the summer ten years ago, young people were unwilling to become civil servants, and the number of people taking the national civil service examination plummeted by 360,000. A popular post claimed that “government jobs offer little money and require a lot of work.”
That year, there were over 7 million graduates nationwide, with an employment rate exceeding 90%. Fudan University students rented a yacht to hold a graduation ball, girls spent two thousand yuan on evening gowns, and they went night cruising on the river and sea.
That year, the gears of the world meshed steadily, and China and the United States celebrated the 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. In a US poll, over 72% of young people regarded China as a “friend.”
Before the summer, the First Lady of the United States visited, experiencing the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, and Chengdu hot pot.
On the Mutianyu Great Wall, the First Lady watched the Yan Mountains undulate, feeling that everything was broad and wonderful, “The length of the Great Wall is almost four times the distance from Maine to Oregon in the United States.”
The fate of the country that year was also like the undulating mountains.
In the summer, the stock market was cold, with 70% of accounts idle. Stock investors joked about turning off the lights to eat noodles. In July, the IPO opened, triggering a wave of mergers and acquisitions. At the end of the year, the stock market saw a single-day trading volume of 710 billion, soaring.
The real estate story was similar. Ten years ago, on May Day, real estate companies were on their last legs. Beijing real estate developers launched zero-down-payment offers, Nanjing real estate developers offered a 100,000 yuan discount, and Shanghai real estate exhibitions used bikini-clad beauties to attract attention. In September, the real estate market was relaxed, and property speculators fell into a frenzy.
People ten years ago were still unaware of the concept of involution and decline. Occasionally, there were setbacks, but they were considered mere interludes, and they were full of confidence in everything.
Jia Yueting announced that he wanted to build a super internet car, and Luo Yonghao announced that he would release the best-looking mobile phone in the Eastern Hemisphere. The real mobile phone seller was Xiaomi, whose sales in the first quarter exceeded Apple’s.
After the summer, Lei Jun went to Wuzhen to attend the first Internet Conference. He stammered, saying that one should still have dreams, what if they come true?
That year, the most successful companies in Wuzhen were still BAT. All three had established branches in Silicon Valley. Li Yanhong said there were too many opportunities, and he was very anxious:
We are actually in a very interesting era, a magical era. It just so happened that our generation caught up with the rise of the internet.
At night, Wuzhen’s white walls, black tiles, water sounds, and the sound of oars. Ding Lei put together an old wooden table and set up the Wuzhen banquet. People at the table recorded on Weibo: after drinking a dozen bottles of yellow wine, old stories were told, wine was brewed and clouds were discussed, and a network of heaven and earth was set up.
Ma Yun, who was not invited, was the real protagonist that year. In the summer ten years ago, Alibaba launched the world’s largest IPO.
Before the listing, Ma Yun sent an internal email, advising employees not to squander and to handle their wealth well, “We work so hard, not to become a group of nouveau riche.”
In September of that year, Alibaba went public, Ma Yun became the richest man in China, and tens of thousands of Alibaba employees became millionaires. BMW sales and real estate agents blocked the entrance of the Alibaba campus.
The summer ten years ago was steaming like a dream, and a vast, hot wind blew across China. Beijing’s high temperature broke the record since 1951, and residents used 4.5 Kunming Lakes more water.
Jinan, Shanghai, Chongqing, and Turpan all became furnaces, and a larger heat wave was on the internet lottery servers. That year was the Brazil World Cup, and the football lottery sold 2.3 billion.
In Guangzhou, Evergrande was challenging for the Chinese Super League three consecutive championships. On the coaching bench, the new assistant coach Li Tie said that there were many things that could not be measured by money, “I give myself about ten years to strive to become the head coach of the national team.”
That summer, the image spokesperson for Evergrande Spring was Kim Soo-hyun, the professor from the stars swept across China, and his name was once mentioned at the National People’s Congress.
In the hot Korean wave, some people also withdrew. In October of that year, Luhan announced his contract termination with the South Korean side, and his Weibo single comment broke tens of millions, setting a Guinness World Record.
And in the summer, his teammate Wu Yifan terminated his contract earlier, leaving a domineering message on Weibo: Thank you to everyone who supports me, Wu Yifan has always been here!
Their era was just beginning, and the idol of the previous generation, Han Han, released his first film in the summer ten years ago.
He wrote the theme song “Ordinary Road” for the film and invited the reclusive Pu Shu to sing it. Young people liked the line “I once crossed mountains and seas,” which had a sense of Zen after going through everything.
They didn’t know that the real mountains and seas were still ahead.
02
During her visit to China, the First Lady of the United States gave a speech at Chengdu No. 7 Middle School, saying that she had unprecedented confidence in the common future, “I hope the ties will last for decades to come.”
A few months later, Obama said at the APEC meeting: Deepening US-China trade will benefit both countries and can also help the world stabilize.
That year, the World Bank predicted that China’s economy would continue to grow rapidly, and the Hurun Rich List said it was firmly optimistic about China, “China had 176 billionaires with a net worth of 10 billion yuan, and 8 of them were born after 1980 and built their wealth from scratch.”
That year, the era’s whistle was loud, and under the boom of the stock market and real estate market, the real driving force was the launch of infrastructure.
That year, the central government approved 1.56 trillion yuan in infrastructure projects, and the National Development and Reform Commission approved 16 railways and 5 airports within 21 days.
Ren Zeping passionately released three research reports, saying “Please do not let down this era, and completely bury the bear market.”
In the summer ten years ago, the Davos Forum first proposed “mass entrepreneurship and innovation,” saying that it wanted to break all shackles and let the blood of innovation flow freely:
“To set off a new wave of mass entrepreneurship and grassroots entrepreneurship on the land of 9.6 million square kilometers.”
Haidian Book City Pedestrian Street was renamed Entrepreneurship Street, and the garage cafe was filled with ambition. Zhu Xiaohu said that as long as you want to see, there are endless entrepreneurial projects waiting.
In the hit program “Super Speaker” that year, a post-90s girl said: I am not here to adapt to society, I am here to change society.
In the midst of the wave, entrepreneurs ten years ago also carried the youthful spirit. Sun Hongbin of Sunac said “idealism is soul-stirring and bone-corroding,” and Wang Shi of Vanke said “I firmly believe in the power of the market.”
That year, Yu Minhong published a new book “Finding Hope in Despair.” He went to Nankai University to encourage freshmen, “People have to choose their own way out of endless roads.”
When the world is open enough, the heart of the proud can always hold an empire.
In the summer ten years ago, Evergrande held an ordering meeting in the depths of the grasslands.
32 chartered flights flew directly to Ulanhot, 80 buses set off in a mighty manner, crossing the grasslands, turning over the mounds, and finally reaching the desolate valley of Arxan.
Evergrande connected water and electricity to the valley, and connected wifi. More than 5,000 people camped on the spot, and the fireworks after the banquet lasted for half an hour.
That night, Evergrande’s orders reached 11.9 billion, and Xu Jiayin vowed to strive to become a world top 500 company in 3 years. After getting drunk, he asked his subordinates “How can I be remembered forever?”
Wang Jianlin’s goal was further away. Wanda would become the world’s number one tourism enterprise in 2020, surpassing Disney.
That summer, he was buying the world, saying that the land price in London was as cheap as free, and that CNN could be bought if it wanted to be acquired.
In June, he spent 265 million euros to buy the iconic Spanish Building in Madrid, and rumors spread that “Wang Jianlin went abroad to inspect and bought a building by the way.”
That summer, what spread more widely was actually his son’s famous saying. He gave a luxury car to a grassroots friend on his birthday, “I don’t care if my friends have money or not, anyway, none of them have as much money as I do.”
The summer ten years ago was filled with golden powder. NetEase offered an annual salary of 500,000 yuan for campus recruitment, and China News Network said that the income of college graduates would double after three years of graduation. That year, Ant Financial was founded, and Yu’ebao was popular. Ma Yun said that Alibaba’s wealth was a burden.
Didi and Kuaidi fought a battle with 4 billion yuan in red envelopes, burning 100 million yuan in one day at the peak, which was shocking, “If you pile up 100 million yuan in cash and burn it in a room, it would probably take a whole day.”
The real spender was Li Xiaolai. In an exclusive interview, he lit a cigarette with US dollars in front of the camera.
Little Apple sang a summer, and the streets were full of fire, fire, fire, fire. Fan Bingbing was tossed on horseback, playing Wu Zetian, and said that there would never be a drama of this investment level again.
In the summer, Huayi Brothers celebrated its 20th anniversary, claiming to earn 10 billion yuan in box office in two years. That year, Sotheby’s in New York auctioned Van Gogh’s daisies and poppies, costing 377 million yuan.
In the summer ten years ago, The Paper went online. In the inaugural speech, Qiu Bing wrote:
Later, the noisy era came. We came from idealism to consumerism, to refined egoism, and we ushered in countless doctrines… That summer night, when I recall it, it is entangled, like countless centuries.
My heart is surging as it was yesterday.
03
In the summer ten years later, the White House announced that it would increase tariffs on imported electric vehicles from China to 100%, attempting to strangle the industry.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce responded that this was “politicizing and instrumentalizing economic and trade issues, which is a typical political manipulation.”
One of the unexpected beneficiaries after the US announced the tariff increase was Jia Yueting, who was stranded in the United States.
Faraday Future’s stock price increased by 1600%, although it only rose from $0.04 to $0.7. Ten years later, he finally built a car, but only 11 were made, and all were recalled due to safety reasons.
Ten years of vastness like the sea. Jia Yueting lost LeEco, Luo Yonghao lost Hammer, and Wuzhen has not had a night banquet for many years.
Ren Zeping, who claimed to bury the bear market ten years ago, was selling hair growth products last year. On Weibo, he showed his life rhythm: running three kilometers in the morning, one hundred push-ups and sit-ups, and a positive mind.
His former boss, Xu Jiayin, failed to be remembered forever and has been subject to compulsory measures in accordance with the law. Another real estate tycoon, Wang Jianlin, is selling Wanda’s assets everywhere, and it has been eight years since he sang “False Monk” at the annual meeting.
Before May Day, Wang Sicong was encountered by netizens in Tokyo, still driving a luxury SUV, but netizens said “Wang Sicong seems to be more haggard than usual.”
Wu Yifan, who recorded a program with him that year, has been imprisoned, and there is no trace of him on Weibo. The real-life wax figure at the Shanghai Madame Tussauds Wax Museum has also been removed.
When the wax figure was unveiled that year, Wu Yifan said in an interview that he often had gatherings with Fan Bingbing and others, “Fan Bingbing said I was like her twin brother and took good care of me.”
Fan Bingbing had no time to take care of her, and fell into the dust even earlier. When she appeared at the Singapore International Film Festival last year, she said “I feel like everyone has their own destiny.”
The fate of many people has been permanently changed. Xu Lei, the former CEO of JD.com, said in his circle of friends that the cycle and the era are two completely different natures.
At the end of last year, the number of people taking the national civil service examination increased by 400,000. Among the 11.79 million graduates this year, the highest expectation is to enter a state-owned enterprise. In the Quark report, landing is the keyword for young people in 2023.
Everything has turned to pragmatism and stability. Young people set alarms to grab large-denomination certificates of deposit and buy monetary funds to “make a small fortune silently.” They like what Lingzi said in “Blossoms”:
“Not everyone makes money like you, Bao Zong, doing math problems. Most people are like me, working hard, saving one coin at a time.”
The golden powder of ten years ago has long since dissipated. The 3W coffee shop is closed, and the new favorite of Entrepreneurship Street is hard technology. Investors rush to university laboratories to grab professors.
An investment institution said that it is gratifying that the number of small and medium-sized enterprises is still growing.
The frenzy is a thing of the past, and everyone is adapting to the new rhythm. Ma Yun, who returned from Japan, said in an internal letter, “The times have changed, and we must keep up with the times.”
At the beginning of this year, Wu Jinglian, 94, wrote an article saying that the most important thing is nothing more than two things: persist in reform and continue to open up. He said:
There is only one way, which is to create such a business environment as much as possible, so that individuals and the thousands of troops of enterprises can move forward, and eventually some people and enterprises can make breakthroughs, and then they can continue to move forward along the path of these breakthroughs.
Amidst the panic in the real estate market, Wang Shi gave up his 10 million yuan retirement salary due to Vanke’s financial difficulties.
He is still optimistic about the industry, “Real estate has not ended, but is just beginning.”
In the summer ten years ago, he took Tian Pujun to Ailao Mountain in Yunnan to visit Chu Shijian. The old man was wearing a round-neck shirt and black pants, waiting at the village entrance.
Chu Shijian said that he was also a young man, and since the founding of New China, society has changed a lot, and many things in life are not a straight line. The country needs to transform, and it always depends on people to solve problems.
He said that there are many difficulties, and if things are done a little better, the confidence will be greater. Only by doing this step by step.
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