If everyone is reborn, who will work for capital?

Chapter 9 Turning Crisis into Opportunity

As soon as the host finished speaking, the backstage staff had already projected the old version of the PPT onto the big screen.

The rudimentary title page was nowhere to be hidden on the huge screen.

"Ah! I... Gengzhi! This..." Ma Chunmei panicked instantly, stammering, and could only look at Gengzhi with a pleading expression, her eyes filled with "It's all over, it's all over".

With a slight smile, Geng Zhi gave her a reassuring look before calmly standing up.

He gestured to Ma Chunmei to quickly forward the latest PPT to the back-end control teacher, straightened his clothes, and walked towards the podium.

At this moment, just as Geng Zhi had accurately predicted, a faint sense of fatigue permeated the judges' seats.

Seeing the unremarkable project name on the big screen, most people had already categorized it as yet another unremarkable campus project.

Zhu Xiaohu pursed his lips almost imperceptibly, feeling slightly disappointed with his trip to Jiaotong University today.

After joining Jinshajiang Venture Capital as Managing Director, he focused on early-stage investments in the consumer internet sector, but so far he has not made any outstanding investments.

Today's roadshow projects didn't bring him any surprises, and the only one that was somewhat acceptable, "Fanjisong" (a food delivery service), seemed rather immature.

Professor Kong Fanqin from the medical school even turned slightly to the side and began to chat quietly with Professor Qi Chuqin next to her about their travel plans for the National Day holiday, her mind clearly no longer on the stage.

Since the next day was the National Day Golden Week holiday, a small number of students in the audience were eager to leave early and go back to start their "holiday mode".

"Huh? Ma Chunmei... she's actually a man?!" A college student exclaimed in surprise, making Ma Chunmei quite embarrassed.

His shout seemed to press the pause button.

The students who were about to slip away stopped in their tracks out of curiosity. The already somewhat scattered audience refocused their attention on the podium. Even Professor Kong, who was talking about the holidays, stopped talking and looked over with Professor Qi.

The students at Jiaotong University are generally of good quality. Although many people found the contrast between the name and the person on stage a bit funny, they tried their best to hold back their laughter and wanted to see what this guy named "Ma Chunmei" was going to say.

With a smile on his face, Geng Zhi calmly walked to the center of the podium under the gaze of hundreds of eyes with different meanings.

His gaze swept across the judges' panel, lingering briefly on Qi Chuqin and Zhu Xiaohu, before he bowed slightly and turned his attention to the host.

Geng Zhi calmly made an elegant "pause" gesture to the host and smiled, saying, "Teacher host, I'm sorry, please allow us to update the PPT first."

Huh? The host was clearly taken aback, his professional smile freezing for half a second.

Changing your presentation slides on the spot is a minor "accident" in a formal presentation. It usually leaves the judges with a negative impression of being unprepared, resulting in a lower score.

This is true.

During the judging panel, Professor Kong from the medical school frowned imperceptibly, while Vice Principal Yang Jinqian, who was planning to go home early to arrange a road trip, showed a clear hint of annoyance on his face.

At this moment, the male assistant in charge of the control panel in the back office had received the new PPT urgently sent by Ma Chunmei and was frantically replacing it.

Geng Zhi didn't wait patiently.

He turned his gaze to the judges' panel and explained in a calm voice, "Before the roadshow begins, please allow me to give a brief explanation."

He first turned his head and smiled at the girl in charge of timing on the side of the stage, indicating that the timing should not start yet, before continuing to explain:

"Our team's proposal for a 'University Student Campus Social Platform', submitted before the roadshow, was based on our previous thinking. But just now, after sitting in the audience listening to the presentations of the other students and the insightful comments from the judges, we gained new inspiration."

"Therefore, our team used the breaks between competitions to urgently iterate and develop a completely new solution. We believe that the greatest respect for entrepreneurship is to embrace change and come up with the most competitive new ideas at this moment."

boom--!

These two short sentences, when heard by different people, have drastically different effects.

For most of the student audience, this was just a routine explanation of changing the PPT, nothing more.

For Ma Chunmei, Niu Baoguo, Huang Lijuan, and others, the straightforward use of "our team" to attribute the new solution to the collective made them feel inexplicably proud—even though they hadn't contributed a single punctuation mark. This was especially true for Ma Chunmei, who was required to be credited.

However, to the experienced judges in the audience, this straightforward explanation was a "golden example".

"Gaining inspiration from the comments" – this phrase not only compliments the judges' professionalism but also demonstrates a humble acceptance of criticism.

"Emergency iteration offstage" – This implies that the solution was innovated in a very short time, demonstrating an amazing ability to learn, absorb, and execute.

"Respect for entrepreneurship," "embracing change," and "the most competitive thinking"—these words accurately depict the image of an agile, pragmatic entrepreneur who values ​​real-time feedback and dares to make decisive adjustments.

This quality is a hundred times more valuable than an entrepreneur who can only mechanically execute a pre-determined plan, and it is precisely the founder quality that early-stage investors value most.

Thus, this unexpected incident, which should have resulted in a deduction of points, was instead interpreted by Geng Zhi with wit and sincerity, earning him initial favor with the judges.

Professor Gou Youqian pushed up his glasses, a hint of interest flashed in Professor Qi Chuqin's eyes, and Zhu Xiaohu, who had been relaxed, put down his pen, leaned forward slightly, and focused his scrutinizing and curious gaze on the young man on the stage whose demeanor was not quite in line with his age.

At that moment, the big screen flashed, and the brand-new PPT cover was successfully projected.

Geng Zhi nodded his thanks toward the control panel, then took a deep breath, stood still, and focused his gaze, officially beginning his roadshow.

"Good afternoon, esteemed judges and fellow students! My name is Geng Zhi."

He paused slightly, then his voice, clear and penetrating, resonated throughout the hall:

"Today, on behalf of my team, I will present a project that concerns the lifelong happiness of tens of millions of college students and even hundreds of millions of people of marriageable age—'Jiaotong University Matchmaker: Redefining Encounters'."

Wait, isn't his name "Ma Chunmei"? How come he's suddenly "Gengzhi" (meaning "upright and straightforward")?

The students who had been holding back their laughter earlier now showed expressions of great interest.

Niu Baoguo and Huang Lijuan, members of the team, were also surprised.

They knew Geng Zhi had modified the PPT, but they never expected that even the project name and direction would be completely changed. The two of them opened their eyes wide in surprise.

With a straightforward hand, the laser pen produced a clean and simple cover design on the large screen.

Cover Title: Jiaotong University Matchmaker – Redefining Encounters

Subtitle: The Next Generation of Online Dating Begins with a Real Encounter

Unlike the previous eight project covers, this one features a deep red background that incorporates the iconic gate and emblem of National Chiao Tung University, in addition to the necessary text information.

Judging from the title alone, Vice Principal Yang cannot be entirely certain whether this project focuses on campus dating or has extended to the broader marriage and dating market.

But when he saw the familiar school gate and emblem as the visual focus, the slight displeasure between his brows quietly eased, and a sense of warmth unconsciously crept into his heart.

Professor Gou, Zhu Xiaohu, and others instantly grasped the key words: "tens of millions," "hundreds of millions," "next generation," and "redefinition." These words signified enormous market potential and disruptive innovation possibilities, instantly expanding the scope of the project.

Thanks to the cleverly resolved incident, the judges' curiosity has been subtly piqued.

At this moment, Geng Zhi threw out such a heavyweight and clearly positioned opening, instantly raising everyone's expectations to the max.