E-Ladies: Navigating the Wired World-Chapter 62 - Episode 62 The Intricacies of the Internet Wanwan

“Am I sick? It’s not that much money, would I run away for that!” Yao Shanshan pretended to be angry and slapped her, “I want to systematically learn some painting skills.”

“Oh? Found a good training course? Don’t get scammed again, will you…” Anyway, Zhou Xueyin could say whatever came to her mind when with the three of them, without being looked down upon.

“Ptui, ptui, ptui! Shut your jinxed mouth! It’s a class taught by an associate professor from the Crafts and Fine Arts Institute. There’s an interview and a written test! If you don’t pass, he won’t teach you!” Yao Shanshan showed Zhou Xueyin the art magazine she had been buying, which was quite authoritative.

“Alright then… you go and have a try!” Zhou Xueyin was also familiar with the magazine and trusted its content a lot.

Learning some skills wouldn’t hurt, and besides, Yao Shanshan loved painting and had taught herself quite a bit.

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Now that she had the opportunity and the capability to further improve her skills, why hold her back?

“How much is it going to cost?” Zhou Xueyin asked seriously.

“80,000…” Yao Shanshan was really asking for the moon!

“8,000?” Zhou Xueyin’s eyes widened as she looked at her, double-checking, “8,000?”

“I know it’s a bit expensive… but it starts with the basics and goes all the way up to oil painting and printmaking. Most importantly, it includes human anatomy classes… Also, it’s a full-time course, and it’ll take about 3 months… from 9 in the morning until 9 at night…” It seemed Yao Shanshan had really done her homework.

“Okay, so you’ll be working for me for free for four months then…” Zhou Xueyin said this, but was still a bit worried, afraid that Yao Shanshan’s 8,000 yuan might go to waste.

“As long as I succeed! Not just four months, I could do four years!” Yao Shanshan said happily.

“Do you two also agree with Shanbao studying?” Zhou Xueyin looked at the other two for their opinion.

“Go for it, it’s not a bad thing!” Both Li Jiniang and Kang Siyin agreed.

“Fine, I’ll give you the money tomorrow!” Since everyone agreed, there was nothing to oppose.

“Yinyin, I’ve also found a course that I’m interested in… not sure if you’re interested…” Kang Siyin shared her chat with Cui Hu with her.

“What class? Let me see…” Zhou Xueyin sat back in her seat, “Alex’s Ranking Lecture Hall? What the heck is this?”

“It’s a system that compiles website rankings and estimates the value of websites based on this ranking. For example, the websites currently in the top 100 are almost all world-renowned. And our website isn’t even included…” Kang Siyin rattled on in explanation.

“So, you mean to say that if we make it into this Alex ranking thing, we’ll have more confidence in negotiating investments, right?” Zhou Xueyin’s thinking was indeed straightforward.

“Uh, that’s pretty much the idea. How about we go listen to it?” Kang Siyin looked at her interestedly.

“Sure, listening won’t hurt, will it?” Zhou Xueyin nodded, “How do we sign up?”

“Hold on, I’ll ask Cui Hu for the registration details.”

Before long, Kang Siyin sent the details of Alex’s Lecture Hall registration to Zhou Xueyin.

It seemed like a bona fide seminar, located just across the street on the 16th floor of the Dinghao Building, so it was pretty convenient to get to.

Zhou Xueyin followed the website’s instructions, registering her information step by step before hitting the sign-up button.

Then her phone received a message—a string of numbers to be used as entry proof.

As expected of a statistic-based website that deals with global rankings, it was certainly meticulous!

On the day of the lecture, Zhou Xueyin casually wore a set of leisure clothes only to discover upon signing in that everyone was in suits and formal wear, while she looked like she was out for a stroll.

Fortunately, the entrance only required showing the message, not a dress code. Zhou Xueyin showed her message, and that was how she smoothly got in.

The meeting location was a regular multipurpose hall, with the kind of seating that came equipped with writing tablets, quite space-efficient.

Many people took out paper and pens as soon as they sat down, and some even pretentiously pulled out their laptops.

And as for someone like Zhou Xueyin, who brought nothing at all, there really weren’t many like her.

She figured, with something like this, understanding the essentials was enough; why bother with paper and pen? Bringing a brain should suffice, right?

“Good morning, everyone! I’m the speaker for this session: Xiaoke! For the next three hours, I will give you a comprehensive understanding of the Alex Ranking!” After his introduction, he started clapping for himself.

When Xiaoke began the lecture, Zhou Xueyin was certain that indeed, bringing her brain was enough. It was better to remember the key points in her mind than to write them down and not review them.

Plus, Xiaoke spoke at a breakneck pace, giving no time to those who were taking notes. While one was hastily jotting down a previous point, they would miss the next two key pieces of information.

Soon, the audience became restless, borrowing notes from each other.

“Ahem…” Xiaoke cleared his throat a couple of times, trying to regain everyone’s attention, “So, am I speaking too fast?”

“Yes!” The audience was almost unanimous in their response.

Actually, it wasn’t too bad, Zhou Xueyin thought to herself. After all, the stuff he was talking about was all in the website’s introduction. Many of the terms were searchable and could be found online.

This guy was basically just summarizing all the professional jargon from the internet; there was really no need to focus on taking notes. Just by operating her own company, she would understand everything he was talking about…

The seminar was so boring Zhou Xueyin wanted to leave, but she was curious about what Xiaoke would talk about next. So she propped her head up with her hand, enduring the incredibly dull lecture.