Chapter 71 - 71 Value for Money

71 Value for Money

“Captain, how do you feel? Wasn’t that satisfying?” Watching He Hongyun leave with his tail between his legs, Zhao Peng came to Li Chengqian’s side smugly.

“Why didn’t I realize before that you have such a vicious tongue?” Li Chengqian said.

“But I like it.” Li Chengqian patted Zhao Peng’s shoulder and gave him a thumbs up.

He Hongyun’s arrogant personality was very annoying.

“Hehe, Captain, don’t you know me? I’m only sharp-tongued when I’m dealing with arrogant people like He Hongyun. I usually use my glib tongue to tease people just for laughs.” Zhao Peng said with a smile.

While Li Chengqian and Zhao Peng were chatting and laughing, Bi Jialiang didn’t say a word. He followed Tian Wenming and kept walking with an awkward expression.

When Li Chengqian and He Hongyun entered the competition hall earlier, he had been showing off to Zhao Peng. “He Jingguo’s standards are very high. It’s a huge loss for you to take leave and not attend the training.”

Bi Jialiang was very smug when he said this.

However, after Li Chengqian’s results were released, he was totally embarrassed.

He lowered his head and didn’t say a word. He was afraid of attracting Zhao Peng’s attention. If Zhao Peng had scolded him like he scolded He Hongyun, it would be really embarrassing.

“Don’t lose hope, the hands-on programming test in the afternoon is your team’s forte. Don’t be discouraged.”

“Actually, 73 marks in the theory test is already a very good result. You can’t compare to Li Chengqian.”

“Bi Jialiang, you must perform well this afternoon! I still think highly of you.”Tian Wenming was a little worried when he saw Bi Jialiang’s dejected look. He tried to cheer him on by saying something encouraging.

“Li Chengqian had just learned computing. His actual hands-on programming ability shouldn’t be… good, right? It shouldn’t be… as strong as mine, right?” In the past, Bi Jialiang was full of confidence. He felt that he was stronger than Li Chengqian when it came to hands-on computing, but after recent events, he felt that he couldn’t be so sure.

…

Meanwhile, in the provincial office, Chief Zhao entered the director’s office at ten o’clock. A full hour and a half had passed.

In the office, after Chief Zhao had reported the 36 cases, the two of them sat and chatted.

“Well done, Chenggong! Capturing 39 suspects at one go. This would have a great impact on crime deterrence and also public security.” Director Guo praised.

“Chenggong, you said that it was the Divine Dragon Data Restoration software that helped you to solve 36 cases and prosecute 39 suspects in a day?” Chief Zhao’s name was Zhao Chenggong. Director-General Guo and him were ex colleagues, and thus they were on first name basis.

“Yes, I got the Internet Security department to conduct a comprehensive test of the Divine Dragon Data Restoration software. This data restoration software is the most advanced in the world. It’s even more advanced than the best data restoration softwares overseas,” Zhao Chenggong said with a smile.

“This software isn’t expensive either. It costs 100,000 yuan a year.”

“Coincidentally, we have a backlog of 37 cases at Tianyi Bureau where key evidence is missing because we couldn’t restore data from the hard disks.”

“The Internet Security department and the Criminal Investigation department used the Divine Dragon Data Restoration to solve these cases, even though we haven’t even signed any contract.”

“All the data was restored that very night.”

“In one night, we solved 36 cases and arrested 39 people.”

“Because the software was especially powerful, I asked them to come over and sign the contract the following day, after we have done all the due diligence background checks.”

“Is it really that good? Or is it because you heard that there are plans to make a provincial-level purchase of a data restoration software, so…” Director Guo looked at Zhao Chenggong with a wry smile.

“Director Guo, don’t you know me well enough?” Zhao Chenggong was well prepared. He took out the test report of the software and handed it to Director Guo. He then began to explain item by item.

Director Guo understood Zhao Chenggong’s personality. He was just joking earlier on. Although he didn’t know anything about technology, he knew data comparison.

The software test report included a comparison between the Divine Dragon Data Restoration software and the most advanced domestic and foreign softwares.

After Director Guo heard the report, he kept his opinion to himself. Instead, he called Director He from the Information department over and handed the software test report to him. “Go test the Divine Dragon Data Restoration software and verify the authenticity of the software test report. Report back to me immediately after the test is completed.”

Director He hurriedly proceeded as instructed. As it was only a verification of the software test report, Director Zhang got it done very quickly. Half an hour later, he went to the Director’s office again, with astonishment in his eyes.

“Director Guo, this is unbelievable. This software is amazing!”

“It’s even more advanced than the most advanced data restoration software overseas! The data recovery speed is ten times faster than the best software overseas. The integrity of corrupted data after restoration is more advanced than the best overseas. Its data recovery ability is superb.”

“If we can purchase the Divine Dragon Data Restoration software, we can definitely retrieve a large amount of hard disk data that couldn’t earlier be recovered. And we can do this within an extremely short period of time.”

“However, such advanced software might be very expensive. I estimate that the annual software usage fee for a county bureau would be at least 500,000 yuan. If the entire province adopts this software, it will cost more than 50 million yuan a year. We won’t have enough funding…” Director He said with a sigh. Anybody would be keen to use such an advanced tool.

It was efficient and effective!

However, there would always be a catch.

It was expensive!

After hearing Director He’s report and his lamentation, Director Guo nodded at Zhao Chenggong, and his smile became more relaxed.

The contract to supply data restoration software to the entire province was a huge one. Many people were vying for it. Director Guo had been a little worried that Zhao Chenggong was pushing for the Divine Dragon Data Restoration software to be chosen.

He was relieved by the results of Director He’s test.

The atmosphere of the discussion instantly became more relaxed.

“Chenggong, tell Xiaohe how much it costs to buy this software for a year,” Director Guo said with a smile.

“Could it be that this software is not expensive…” Director He thought.

“Director He, our bureau’s purchase price is 100,000 yuan a year! Two days ago, we used the Divine Dragon Data Restoration software to crack 36 backlog cases. We used the software to recover all the hard disk data that other softwares couldn’t recover,” Zhao Chenggong said under Director He’s expectant gaze.

“Only 100,000 yuan? That’s so cheap!” Director Zhang was very surprised. “We’ve been following up on the intensive testing of the Jingguo Data Restoration software during this period of time. It’s only advanced by domestic standards and is behind Divine Dragon by 30 years, and it already costs 200,000 yuan per year!”

“The previous recommendation of the Information department was to purchase the Jingguo Data Restoration software! That’s because it was by far the most advanced domestically developed software.” There were special considerations for public security systems. The first factor to consider was safety, as security breaches were a key concern. Technology advancement and functionality were only secondary considerations.

After comparison, the Jingguo Data Restoration software was found to be much better than other domestically-produced softwares. As there weren’t any other better options, they had to accept the high price.

Now that they had the more advanced Divine Dragon Data Restoration software and the price was lower, as long as there weren’t any safety concerns, the choice was obvious.

“Chief Zhao, there’s one last question. We can only use domestic software due to data security issues. Is this software domestic?” Director He looked at Zhao Chenggong solemnly. If it wasn’t a domestic software, it couldn’t be used no matter how advanced it was.

That is because no one knows if the software will steal data from the internal network when it was being used.

“The developer of this software is called Li Chengqian. He’s 17 years old and a third-year student. His household registration is in Tianyi City. His parents’ household registrations were also in Tianyi City. They’re clean and have no criminal records!” Zhao Chenggong answered very solemnly.

In fact, before signing the contract with Divine Dragon Software Company, he had arranged for someone to conduct background checks on Li Chengqian and his family members.

“What… This software was developed by a high school student?” He Zhang’s eyes widened. “Are all students so capable these days?”

He didn’t doubt Zhao Chenggong’s words because there was no reason for Zhao Chenggong to lie to him.

“This Li Chengqian is really quite impressive. He scored full marks and got first place in the second provincial joint mock exam!”

“He also scored full marks in the school’s internal selection test for a programming competition!”

“He is currently competing in the Youth Informatics Programming Competition…”

Just as Zhao Chenggong was speaking, he suddenly received a message. He picked it up and took a look. It was a message about Li Chengqian.

“I just received news that Li Chengqian scored full marks again in the theory test of the Junior Informatics Programming Competition!”

“This Li Chengqian is super talented and amazing! The Youth Informatics Programming Competition has been held for 15 years. He’s the first student to score full marks in the theory test.” Director He no longer had any doubts after he heard this.

The first reason was that everything Zhao Chenggong had mentioned could easily be verified.

The first reason was that Director He also specialized in programming. Due to his work, he knew a lot about the Junior Informatics Programming Competition and knew the difficulty level of the theory test.

Even a computer science professor might not be able to score full marks in the theory test.

“No wonder Li Chengqian could develop such an advanced data restoration software at such a young age.” With the results of the Youth Informatics Programming Competition as proof, there was no longer any more doubt.

“Xiaohe, go back and discuss it. Put up a proposal for my approval. Although I don’t know anything about software, I know a good deal when I see one. This Divine Dragon Data Restoration software sounds like value for money. I’ll choose this software for trial this year. Go get this done.” Director Guo instructed.

“Chenggong, let me be clear about this. If the Divine Dragon Data Restoration software works well, I’ll credit you for it. If it doesn’t, I will put this on you…” Director Guo took a sip of tea and said jokingly.

“Director Guo, you are simply giving me free credit,” Zhao Chenggong replied jokingly, his face full of confidence.

“Don’t count your eggs too soon. We’ll only know after we’ve put it to the test.” Director Guo chided him jokingly.

“Chenggong, why does the name Li Chengqian sound so familiar?”