Wen Zhao/Wen Many years later, some of us still remember the young man leaving the newsstand with a newspaper in his hand. At that time, we, like him, were full of imagination about this world.

On April 16, 2001, the Economic Observer presented an orange news paper to its readers. We are eager to try and debate our understanding of business and social life; We are cynical, but we are also easily moved by beautiful things; We are full of energy, stirring up words, and believing that what we need to do is change the world.

That young man is a college student and also a loyal reader of ours. We are as excited and curious as he is to visit distant places. Later, the young man suffered from a terminal illness, and even during his illness, he continued to read our newspaper. Later on, he unfortunately passed away. The young man's father goes to a fixed newsstand every week to buy newspapers. Under the influence of his son, this father became a columnist for the Economic Observer newspaper.

For so many years, it was that young person who kept us asking ourselves, through us, what kind of world will readers see?

We are standing on the starting line together with China, which has joined the World Trade Organization. At that time, we believed that transforming China required a serious financial newspaper, and all those inspired by their dreams of wealth looked forward to having loyal companions and witnesses. In the midst of hustle and bustle and extravagance, we believe in the power of reason and have written the five words "reason, constructive" under the headline. This is not enough. In the inaugural issue, we expressed our stance through a four panel comic: no impulsiveness, no hypocrisy, no vulgarity, and no destruction. It is only after experiencing many worldly experiences that we realize how bold this declaration is.

If we honestly face history, we should admit that few people expected this country to usher in such a passionate era. At the moment when the country's borders opened, there was a surge of emotions that were both uneasy and inexplicable resistance. No one dares to guarantee, Chinese companies will definitely be able to withstand the competition that comes their way. But the decision-makers of this country are determined and open their hearts to join the tide of globalization.

This is a miraculous era. Fortune legends have emerged, but one after another, they have fallen from the pedestal. Real estate, the Internet, traditional manufacturing and chip semiconductors are changing from barbaric growth to technological success. Chinese people gradually understand and understand the meaning of wealth. Money never sleeps. Survivors emerging from the Internet foam were pushed into the brutal battle of mobile Internet before they had a chance to celebrate. Today, in the narrative of big country competition, they tried their best to prove that they would not be abandoned in the AI (artificial intelligence) wave.

However, it is obvious that only after several trials and tribulations of time can we glimpse the secret of long-lasting success - the myth of never being unbeatable, and companies that can survive cycles follow the simplest business principles.

The feeling of witnessing history is mixed. We experienced Wenchuan together in May, which was 2:28 pm in China. Millions of people shared the same sorrow - our young journalist, who had just joined the company, volunteered to go into the ruins to save people and became the subject of the interview. Originally, we only hoped that more people would be seen and inadvertently became a part of the story. We sing along the long street together, and in the chanting of 'Beijing welcomes you', a new era is about to emerge. Then, we experienced the same warmth and coldness around the world amidst the financial crisis and the waves of the 'four trillion yuan'.

No one would have thought that the world would experience the ravages of two epidemics. Nowadays, people are more willing to replace those long days and nights with "masks". As a doctor who has stood firm on the front line of the epidemic twice said: Go face it, don't be afraid, bravely walk over. Difficulties will eventually be overcome. However, only those individuals' firsthand experiences and observations, suffering and loss are unforgettable, and those who will never forget are sealed in the depths of their hearts and cannot be touched.

This world and war meet unexpectedly. The trade war has caused Chinese foreign traders to reposition themselves in pain, and going global has become a necessary choice for many enterprises. From the Russo Ukrainian War to the conflict between the United States, Israel, and Iran, the planet we live on is filled with even more uncertainty. Chinese enterprises are destined to experience more storms along the way, which is a process of discovering themselves on a global scale.

We, a group of sad young people, yearn to see China and the world in a larger coordinate system. We eagerly shuttle through the past, present, and mirror images of China and the world, anxiously but sincerely raising seemingly grand yet realistic concerns. The restlessness of youth, the anger of youth, and the tireless questioning turn into flowing words, photos, and newspaper pages like wine. That's what we see, we talk to life in this way.

This is a group of people who are "harmonious but different", like a fire gathering together, or like stars scattered across the sky. Some people stay because they believe that the world they see from here is still worth it; Many people leave, knowing that the unknown they encounter will be even more exciting. It's not surprising, young life is full of various possibilities - and then there are new additions and departures. Anyway, this group of people has shaped a unique spiritual temperament of the media. This temperament also permeates everyone to some extent. We are searching for a better version of ourselves on long or short journeys.

It must be admitted that time endows us with more than just gains. We not only lost the young person who likes to read newspapers while running. Life blooms like a flower, leaving an eternal light in our hearts. From now on, all we need to do is to see for them. In our sight lies their unchanging expectations.

This is the quarter century we have walked through. When time condenses into a long roll of film, what kind of image will it reflect under the light of memory? We believe that history is not just a series of leaping growth curves, even though the Chinese stories they tell are considered miracles, the innovative creations that soar into the sea are enough to make everyone proud. But we always follow the people behind the curve, the worldly fireworks in the streets and taverns, the joys and sorrows of the masses, are also worth seeing.

We feel their feelings, breathe their breath, those desires and resilience, those endless steps taken for the dignity of life. We are convinced that the source of all wealth creation always comes from ordinary people's persistence in the good days of Taiping. Sweat, tears, blood, and countless individual visions supported by hands and arms will ultimately determine the background color and direction of a country.

They jointly wrote the historical manuscript. We are one of them. Differently, we are still recorders. We often feel anxious about whether all our efforts are worth the company of those storms and hardships, after all, this is a long period of time. We are afraid of betraying those unreserved trust and expectations. To be honest, we have had moments of cowardice and helplessness; We have made many mistakes, and perhaps we will make more mistakes in the future.

If we were to travel through a time tunnel, the young man who has passed the confusion would probably not hold an orange news paper in his hand anymore. He would be like us, chatting about big models and "lobsters". We met in the last golden age of print media, and no one can forget those shining days. Later, we collided head-on with the Internet and contacted with the mobile Internet, and constantly reshaped in the tide of integration. The Economic Observer has long been more than just a newspaper. Now, AI is unstoppable invading. Many people assert that the media industry will be one of the earliest professions to be replaced.

That father will still submit articles to us for publication, he understands us. We have never talked about that young man in these years. However, we have asked ourselves more than once whether we are still needed and trusted - to be honest, we are not so certain. What we want to confirm is that we have never lost something that has been cherished by everyone for 25 years.

The spring scenery in April spreads across the earth, and it is another season of blooming flowers. Turning back, we look towards the road ahead.