Chapter 55: The Mandate of Heaven and Human Effort

The mention of chickens made Zhao Zejun think of avian influenza, which in turn reminded him of SARS.

As early as 2002, SARS cases had already appeared in coastal and some inland cities. By 2003, the epidemic rapidly spread to the majority of inland cities, erupting into a large-scale infection that caused nationwide panic. Factories suspended operations, schools were closed and sealed off, and areas that were once bustling and lively became desolate and deserted.

Fortunately, infections were ultimately extremely rare, and everyone around Zhao Zejun remained safe and sound.

This completely awakened all his memories. In his previous life, during the school lockdown, to prevent students from growing overly bored and idle, the student union organized numerous activities. The "Fight the Landlord competition" was one of them. A portion of the University of Science and Technology students with fevers was quarantined, and rumors circulated that someone at the school had actually contracted SARS and died.

"What's wrong?" Su Yun looked strangely at Zhao Zejun, who had suddenly frozen.

"Oh, nothing." Zhao Zejun waved his hand. "Pretty good, eating chicken is great. My mom often boils chicken soup for me to drink."

"Kids your age are right in the middle of a growth spurt, chicken soup is nourishing." Su Yun nodded, carrying the chicken into the kitchen as Xiao Hei wagged its tail and followed behind.

Zhao Zejun also shook his head and followed them into the kitchen, rolling up his sleeves and saying, "Let me slaughter it."

"No need, just lead it outside." Su Yun gave Xiao Hei a light, tentative kick with the tip of her shoe. Zhao Zejun grinned. "Well, I've been downgraded to the same status as a dog."

"Then go boil some hot water, and be careful not to scald yourself."

"Oh."

Zhao Zejun obediently played the role of a nineteen-year-old youth, leading the dog away to boil water.

Su Yun bustled about in the kitchen. The poor old hen soon met its doom, letting out the tragic cackle of a "hen whose neck was being wrung." After a few frantic squawks, it fell silent, immediately followed by the clatter of pots and pans.

"Stay honestly in your den!" Tossing two beef sticks into the doghouse, taking advantage of the moment Xiao Hei crawled inside, he snapped the door shut. Then he walked out to the balcony and dialed Junzi's number.

"Are you busy?"

Junzi didn't bother asking whether he was busy or not, saying directly, "Brother, what's up?"

"Listen, go to the company right now. Take the company's mini-van, go to the pharmacies in the city, and buy Banlangen granules and disinfectant, as much as you can get. Don't charge it to the company account, I'll reimburse you. After buying them, leave a portion at the company, and keep a few boxes each at your place, my place, and Jiang Xuan's place. Oh right, buy a few boxes of white vinegar as well."

"Got it." Junzi didn't ask why, agreeing immediately to carry it out.

Although no one around him caught SARS in his past life, stocking up on some Banlangen was never a bad thing, sparing him from the situation where once panic set in, you couldn't buy any even with money. His home was easy enough to handle since it was just his parents, but the company had too many people. Especially Zetian Company—not only were there many people, but most of them had to run around outside and stay at construction sites all day long. Their exposure was simply too wide, making preliminary prevention necessary.

Besides, stuff like Banlangen was a panacea; if you were sick, it cured illnesses, and if you weren't, you could drink it like sugar water.

White vinegar was the same principle: if sick, it treats ailments; if healthy, it's used for cooking... Its disinfecting and sterilizing effects were quite impressive. When he had a cold as a child, every time, his mother would heat a large iron ladle fiercely over the fire, pour a little white vinegar into it, and make Zhao Zejun inhale the evaporating acidic vapor.

During the most exaggerated period, there had even been a sky-high price of 1,000 yuan for a single bottle of white vinegar.

"Why buy so much Banlangen?"

Standing on the balcony making the call, Su Yun had still overheard and asked Zhao Zejun during dinner.

"There's SARS over in the coastal regions, and I heard it has already spread inland. Both Banlangen and white vinegar are for sterilization, so I'm buying some to keep in reserve," Zhao Zejun said.

"Now that you mention it, when I went to the campus clinic last time, I heard several doctors chatting about this very thing. It seems a few people have died."

"Better safe than sorry." Zhao Zejun scooped a bowl of soup and said, seemingly casually, "Right, it seems our country isn't the only place with an epidemic; Australia has cases too."

Su Yun's two faint eyebrows immediately furrowed. She put down her bowl and chopsticks, took out her phone to dial a number, spoke a few sentences in English to the person on the other end, and then switched to Chinese.

Her ex-husband and child had immigrated to Australia.

Zhao Zejun put down his bowl and went out to the balcony to smoke a cigarette.

After nearly twenty minutes, Su Yun hung up the phone, and only then did Zhao Zejun walk back into the living room.

"Don't start saying thank you again." Seeing Su Yun about to open her mouth, Zhao Zejun waved his hand and smiled. "If you keep thanking me, seeing as you cooked such a huge spread of dishes, I'd have to thank you too. We'd just be thanking each other back and forth endlessly."

Su Yun gave a tight-lipped smile. "Alright, I'll reheat the soup."

Looking at her slender figure retreating in a high-necked sweater and small leather boots, Zhao Zejun felt a momentary daze.

Forget it, no need to overthink. Having a pretty, peer-aged teacher help cook meals and occasionally chat was certainly not a bad thing.

...

Time flew by. Before he could fully indulge in the blissful state of sleeping late, waking up late, and loafing around waiting to die, the New Year was over. On the tenth day of the first lunar month, his parents headed back home. On the way to send them off at the station, Zhao Zejun deliberately instructed them to try their best to avoid crowded places during the coming period, and to drink some Banlangen whether they felt anything or not... His mother, Zhou Ya, was naturally a fastidious woman who paid close attention to hygiene and wellness. Coupled with the fact that news of SARS had already reached inland, it didn't take much effort to persuade his parents.

At the same time, he notified Jiang Xuan. That fellow was relatively stubborn, so Zhao Zejun skipped appealing to emotions or reasoning and directly used administrative commands.

"Starting right after the New Year, I'll replace all the company's drinking water with Banlangen, and have the cleaners mop the floors with disinfectant all day long. That should do it, right!"

"I think that works!" Zhao Zejun grinned.

On the official first day back to work for Zeyue Company, the employees noticed a faint scent of disinfectant lingering in the office, along with a brand-new perk: one pack of Banlangen granules per person, every day.

Zhao Zejun called Ri Zhao and Song Yun into his office separately to hold a brief coordination meeting.

The SARS epidemic was a massive opportunity for Zeyue Company.

In fact, the vast majority of internet companies benefited immensely from this epidemic. People reduced their frequency of going out, and staying cooped up at home meant they always needed something to do. Creating little humans was exhausting after all, and with nutrition failing to keep up, the majority of their time was still spent surfing the internet.

Alibaba's C2C business, namely Taobao, and numerous domestic courier industries truly began their explosive growth right from 2003.

As for Taobao and the like, Zhao Zejun didn't harbor any hopes; he lacked e-commerce accumulation, and trying to do e-commerce simply for the sake of e-commerce would only lead to crashing and burning into ashes.

To repeat: the rise of an industry relies on far more than just an initial creative idea. There were many reasons behind Taobao's rise. Jack Ma's team had years of prior B2B business accumulation and a profound understanding of the industry—this was their internal foundation. Securing a continuous stream of massive capital injections was the driving force, while the nation's vigorous popularization of personal internet usage and the massive wave of laid-off employees from previous years provided the favorable political tailwind.

As for this SARS outbreak, it was Taobao's destiny.

Since Heaven has its destiny, I need not contend.

Zhao Zejun had his own advantages. The large mass of homogenous users accumulated previously through web novels was his greatest capital and the fruit of his arduous accumulation over the past year and more.

Even though Heaven has its destiny, human beings also possess agency.

Aligning human effort with the mandate of Heaven is like receiving divine assistance.