Sitting in the car, watching the scenery pass by through the window, Li Feng couldn't help but think about their next destination.
San Francisco lay in a well-known earthquake zone. Because of that, many of its residential buildings were made of wood—more flexible, less likely to collapse. The great San Francisco earthquake had nearly razed the city to the ground. What stood now had been built atop the ruins, much like how Tangshan had been rebuilt after its own disaster.
Li Feng didn't have the luxury of sightseeing. As soon as they arrived in San Francisco, he had Zach drive them straight out of downtown and toward Silicon Valley. On the way, they passed the world-famous Golden Gate Bridge. He only had time for a quick glance at the iconic landmark.
Li Feng couldn't help but smile.
In the future, the Golden Gate Bridge would become a cinematic punching bag. Earthquakes, alien invasions, robot attacks—if there was a disaster movie, chances were the bridge was getting destroyed. Whether it was Transformers, Godzilla, or The Hulk, the Golden Gate Bridge always seemed to suffer.
San Francisco was only a few dozen kilometers from Silicon Valley, and over the years, the route between them became a popular tourist attraction.
In the future, whenever Chinese tourists came to the U.S., Silicon Valley was a must-visit. Visiting the headquarters of Apple, Google, and Facebook was practically a pilgrimage.
When you talk about Silicon Valley, one name always comes up—Fred Terman.
A visionary professor at Stanford, Terman noticed a problem: Stanford students were graduating and leaving the area to pursue careers elsewhere. He decided to change that. He encouraged his students to stay local, even setting up a fund to support their startups and selecting a location near campus to get things going.
Under his mentorship, two students started a company in a small garage with just $500. That company was Hewlett-Packard—HP. This garage would later become a symbol of Silicon Valley's legendary "garage startup" culture.
Apple was started in a garage. So was Google. And countless others followed.
HP stood witness to the rise of Silicon Valley. That garage was later preserved as a historical landmark—the official birthplace of Silicon Valley.
In the 1950s, Terman went further. He pushed to establish a high-tech research park linked to Stanford, laying the groundwork for Silicon Valley's explosive growth.
From that foundation, a wave of great companies followed: Fairchild Semiconductor, AMD, Intel, Apple, Cisco, Oracle, and many more.
As the tech boom expanded into fields like biotech, aerospace, energy, and materials, Silicon Valley became synonymous with high-tech innovation.
When you hear "high-tech hub," you think of Silicon Valley. And when the world builds new tech parks, they all want to be "the next Silicon Valley."
In China, two places were often called the "Chinese Silicon Valley": Shenzhen and Zhongguancun. It's said that Shenzhen's development model was inspired by the Bay Area.
Less than an hour later, Zach drove them into San Jose, the heart of Santa Clara County—and the beating heart of Silicon Valley.
They weren't here to wander or take pictures. They had a clear goal. They had already contacted Jerry Yang, and both founders were waiting. So they didn't stop. They drove straight to Stanford, where Yahoo was still based.
Yes, both Jerry Yang and David Filo were still students at Stanford.
Ten minutes later, they pulled up in front of Stanford University. It was winter break, so the campus was quiet.
Li Feng and Zach drove onto campus, following directions to the engineering building.
Li Feng was buzzing with anticipation.
From a distance, he spotted a familiar face. As a Chinese person, Jerry Yang was instantly recognizable—slightly short, round face, wire-frame glasses. Beside him stood a young white man—David Filo. Both wore suits and ties, obviously having dressed up to meet a potential investor.
Before the car even stopped, Li Feng jumped out and strode toward them. The two founders didn't react much—after all, it was clear Li Feng was just a kid. At 15 years old and about 5'9", he still had a boyish face that couldn't be hidden.
"Hi, are you Jerry and David?" Li Feng greeted them with a big smile, extending a hand.
"Yes, and you are…?" Jerry shook his hand, eyebrows raised in confusion.
"I'm here to talk investment. St. John Lee. Nice to meet you."
"Oh my God," David said, blinking. "Jerry, pinch me. Am I dreaming?"
Jerry smiled awkwardly. "Mr. Li… are you Chinese?"
"I'm not sure, honestly," Li Feng replied with a shrug. "I'm an orphan. But I've always liked Chinese culture. Clearly I've got some East Asian blood, so I gave myself a Chinese name."
Just then, Zach parked the car and walked over.
"This is my lawyer, Zach John."
Everyone exchanged greetings.
"Wait, Mr. Lawyer, is this real?" David asked Zach. "He's really here as an angel investor?"
"I can confirm it," Zach said with a nod. "We were surfing the web together when he found your site and got interested. He hired me, brought me here, and insisted on meeting you."
"Oh my God… Li, thank you. Thank you for believing in us," David said, visibly moved.
"David, he hasn't invested yet," Jerry reminded him with a chuckle.
Li Feng smiled, observing the pair. He already knew from future history that Jerry was the all-rounder, while David was more focused on the tech side.
"Don't worry, David. I didn't fly here from L.A. just for fun. If I didn't want to invest, I wouldn't be here."
"In that case, let's go upstairs and talk," Jerry offered, gesturing toward the building.
The four of them headed inside.
Yahoo was still just a passion project, operated from a small office in the engineering building. The server they used? It belonged to the university. The startup life was rough—they were still just students.
The room was tiny, maybe 30 square meters at most. A pile of pizza boxes sat in a corner. It looked like the place had been hastily cleaned, but it still felt messy.
Two buzzing computers and a server sat against the wall. With four people inside, the space felt cramped.
"Apologies, Mr. Li," Jerry said, noticing Li Feng's frown. "We're still students, and we're borrowing university equipment. This is all we've got for now."
"It's fine," Li Feng said, waving it off. "All great startups begin like this. This is Silicon Valley, after all—the land of garage legends."
"Exactly!" David grinned. "This is Silicon Valley."
But Li Feng hadn't come here for nostalgia. He came to strike gold.
Before he invested in Yahoo, he needed to negotiate seriously. After all, every percentage point would be worth hundreds of millions down the line.
It was time to show them what it meant to be someone reborn—with knowledge of the future, and the confidence to change it.