Defector from the System: How Ding Lei Quit His Iron Rice Bowl for the 'Wild Era' of the Internet

Prologue: A Life with a Visible End

In the summer of 1995, the air in Ningbo was hot and humid. 24-year-old Ding Lei was sitting in the office building of the Ningbo Telecom Bureau, processing tedious technical documents on a bulky computer.

Outside the window was the growing prosperity of the port city. But inside, Ding Lei felt that his life was like a slowly flowing, yet stagnant, inland river.

Two years earlier, he had graduated from the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China in Chengdu and was assigned here. For most Chinese people of that era, this was undoubtedly a top-tier job: stable, respectable, with good benefits—a true "iron rice bowl." His colleagues were content with this comfort, going to and from work, drinking tea, reading newspapers, and discussing the company-assigned housing and their children's futures.

But in this stability, Ding Lei sensed a hint of danger.

He was a person naturally full of curiosity about new things. In college, he was the most active tech guru on the campus BBS. After graduation, he was among the first to come into contact with that distant and mysterious new world—the Internet—through his workplace.

Every day after work, he would lock himself in the server room, greedily exploring the latest technological developments from across the ocean through a slow dial-up connection. He saw how Yahoo used a simple directory to change how people accessed information; he saw how browsers turned cold characters into lively, illustrated content.

A thought, like a seed, began to sprout wildly in his mind: This is the future!

In stark contrast was the rigid and hierarchical work atmosphere within the Telecom Bureau. Many of his new ideas about network technology were either dismissed as "fanciful" or simply ignored.

"I could clearly see what I would be like at 60," Ding Lei later recalled, "just like my older colleagues, repeating the same things every day until retirement. That kind of life, where you can see the end from the beginning, terrified me."

Act I: A Soul-Searching Question on BBS

What truly ignited the fire in Ding Lei's heart was an accidental online exchange.

Late one night, on an overseas technical forum (BBS), he saw a post discussing Hotmail. The newly emerging free email service shocked him.

"So this is how you can play with the internet!" Ding Lei thought excitedly. "It's not just a tool for a few professionals; it can be a platform that serves hundreds of millions of ordinary people."

He immediately posted on a domestic BBS with the title: "If there were a free email system in China, would anyone use it?"

The post received an overwhelming response. Countless young people like him expressed their desire for free and convenient email.

At that moment, Ding Lei's heart was struck like never before. He clearly realized that a huge era of the Chinese internet was dawning. And he was holding the "ticket" to this era—his love and understanding of technology.

"Why don't I do it myself?" a voice screamed from deep within him.

Once this idea was born, it could no longer be contained.

During that time, he was like a man possessed. By day, he was the quiet young engineer at the Telecom Bureau; by night, he was searching for his future in the world of BBS and code.

He began to seriously consider the possibility of leaving. He wrote to his parents in Beijing, tentatively proposing his idea, and was met with strong opposition from the entire family, as expected.

"Are you crazy? Giving up such a good job to go venture in Guangzhou, a place you know nothing about?" His father's voice on the phone was full of anger and confusion.

Act II: The Resolve to Go South

His family's opposition, his friends' advice, the stability of his current life... all of it felt like ropes binding Ding Lei.

He struggled for a long time.

What made him finally decide was a direct conflict with his supervisor. He had painstakingly written a detailed report on developing local internet data services in Ningbo, but his boss merely glanced at it, tossed it aside, and said, "Xiao Ding, don't waste time on these imaginary things. Just do your job well."

At that moment, Ding Lei's heart turned completely cold. He understood that this "big ship" would never sail in the direction he wanted.

One night in June 1995, alone in his office, he wrote the resignation letter that was destined to change his life.

The letter wasn't long, but each word seemed to drain all his strength.

The next day, when he handed the letter to his department head, the entire office was in shock. In everyone's eyes, this was nothing short of a crazy act of "self-destruction."

"Ding Lei, think it through. Once you walk out this door, you'll have nothing," his boss advised him earnestly.

Ding Lei simply replied calmly, "I've thought it through. I want to see if I can survive without this iron rice bowl."

Epilogue: Rushing into the "Wild"

In the spring of 1995, with a simple bag and the few thousand yuan he had saved over two years of work, Ding Lei boarded a train south to Guangzhou.

As the train pulled away from Ningbo, he looked back at the familiar city. There was no confusion in his heart, only an unprecedented sense of relief and excitement.

He didn't know what the future held, but he knew he was rushing into an era that, while "wild," was full of infinite possibilities.

And that era belonged to the internet, and eventually, it would belong to him.