69novels Chapter 144 Penguin's Huge Robbery in Hong Kong, Huge Cash-Out from Games
Chapter 144 Penguin's Huge Robbery in Hong Kong, Huge Cash-Out from Games
Chapter 144 Tencent's Huge Robbery in Hong Kong: Huge Gains from Games (6k)
The office fell silent again, and everyone's eyes turned to Geng Zhi, waiting for his answer.
"I don't know who our competitors will be," Geng Zhi shook his head, speaking frankly. "It could be a startup, or it could be a big company. We'll only know who will imitate us after we become popular."
"That's how the internet industry works. If you break through, others will naturally follow suit. If you don't break through, you don't even have the right to be imitated."
"Oh." Du Yixuan nodded thoughtfully and didn't ask any further questions.
Next, Shu Beibei went over the promotion plan for next week with everyone again before the meeting was declared over, and everyone got up to leave.
"Siyu, Beibei, Mingxia, Yujiao, Senior Brother Song, please stay behind." Geng Zhi's expression suddenly turned serious. "Let's check the preparation progress for the Momo product launch event on March 18th again."
The others left the office one after another, and the door closed softly.
The five people who remained were the heads of the special preparation team for the 3.18 product launch.
This product launch event has been handled by a professional third-party company providing one-stop service—dedicated personnel are responsible for venue setup, process design, and on-site execution.
However, Geng Zhi still assembled his own core team to be responsible for the most critical control aspects and ensure that the press conference went perfectly.
Du Yujiao was primarily responsible for the conference affairs, overseeing aspects such as venue coordination, third-party management, material coordination, and on-site execution.
Song Qing was in charge of the technical aspects, overseeing on-site network support, on-site demonstration equipment, and live streaming technology integration.
Yang Mingxia is mainly responsible for external liaison, including media invitations, live broadcast collaborations, and guest invitations, while Lü Siyu assists her with guest invitations.
Lü Siyu is primarily responsible for the content aspect, including creating press conference PPTs, controlling the content of presentations, and writing product demonstration scripts.
Shu Beibei, as the overall coordinator, was responsible for overall planning and reported directly to Geng Zhi.
The meeting began.
Geng Zhi glanced at the five people and got straight to the point: "Everyone, please briefly introduce the progress of your respective tasks and any potential risks."
As soon as he finished speaking, he subconsciously looked at Yang Mingxia, who always rushed to report first.
Yang Mingxia deliberately avoided Geng Zhi's gaze, lowered her head slightly, and stared at the notebook in front of her. This time, she didn't proactively report anything.
Du Yujiao waited a few seconds for Yang Mingxia, and seeing that she didn't seem inclined to report first, she broke the silence first: "Let me speak first. As for the venue, we've finally decided on the Shanghai International Convention Center, right next to the Oriental Pearl Tower. It has an LED screen and can accommodate over 1000 people. The third-party event management team is very professional, and everything is progressing smoothly so far."
Geng Zhi nodded, then interjected, "What was the total cost?"
"The total cost, including venue, stage setup, AV equipment, materials, outsourced personnel, and third-party event management company fees, is close to 30 yuan, which is within budget. The details are here."
As Du Yujiao answered, she handed Geng Zhi a printed expense list. The list was clearly marked, with notes for each expense.
Geng came over and glanced at it twice, then hummed in agreement.
He was about to call on Yang Mingxia when he turned around and saw her still with her head down, like an ostrich. He smiled slightly and turned his gaze to Song Qing: "Senior Brother Song, please continue."
Song Qing coughed lightly: "I haven't made any progress on my end yet. The live streaming technology integration, on-site control console, network, and product display all need to wait for on-site joint debugging, testing, and rehearsals."
"Okay." Geng Zhi nodded, then turned his gaze to Yang Mingxia again. "Mingxia, what about you over here?"
Yang Mingxia was called out, and her body stiffened slightly. She had no choice but to bite the bullet and say, "Uh—boss, I've contacted more than 30 technology media, mainstream media, and online media outlets regarding media invitations."
But apart from a few local media outlets in Shanghai giving me face —
She paused, bit her lip, and lowered her voice involuntarily: "The others—only two small tech media outlets and three mainstream media outlets have agreed to attend. The other major media outlets either complained that the travel expenses were insufficient or directly questioned our professionalism, so they are not coming."
"Oh?" Geng Zhi raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "How are you unprofessional?"
Yang Mingxia explained slowly, "The media generally believes that only companies releasing hardware products hold offline press conferences. Even when releasing software products, that's the domain of industry giants. For a startup team like ours to hold a press conference—it's absolutely unique."
She glanced up at Geng Zhi, then quickly looked down again: "Besides, the travel expenses we're offering aren't high—"
After she finished speaking, she looked at Geng Zhi with embarrassment and grievance, her eyes filled with "Boss, I really tried my best."
Embarrassment comes from not completing the task, and feeling wronged comes from being unable to cook without rice.
Geng Zhi only told her to tell the media that the company was going to release an APP product, but he didn't say what it was or mention that it was Geng Zhi's company.
Moreover, Geng Zhi even tried to negotiate a lower price for travel expenses, offering less than the industry average.
The company has no reputation, no news buzz, and a tight budget. Why would a major media outlet come to them?
Seeing this, Song Qing couldn't help but suggest, "Junior brother, I think the best way if we don't want to increase travel expenses is to directly tell the media that this is a product spearheaded by you, Geng Zhi. That will immediately generate buzz, and they'll definitely be scrambling to cover it."
Geng Zhi shook his head: "No, it can't be made public yet."
"Then, boss, won't it be difficult for me to complete the task like this?" Yang Mingxia asked, looking puzzled.
"It's okay. Your task was to make contact with them beforehand, and you've already done that. Just keep in touch with them. Before the press conference, they'll be vying to contact you." Geng Zhi said confidently.
"Huh?" Yang Mingxia's eyes lit up. "Really?"
"When have I ever lied to you?"
Yang Mingxia breathed a sigh of relief, instantly perking up and regaining her composure, even sporting a hint of smugness: "I believe in the boss!"
Geng Zhi smiled and shook his head, then turned his gaze to Lü Siyu.
Lü Siyu understood, opened her notebook, and began to explain: "The PPT content is still being polished, and we will continue to work with you, boss."
Geng Zhi nodded.
Regarding guest invitations, investment luminaries include Shen Nanpeng, Zhu Xiaohu, and Li Kaifu. Xu Xiaoping said the timing is still uncertain and depends on availability.
"Regarding internet leaders, besides President Tang Yan, there are also Wang Xing and others introduced by President Shen. In addition, there are more than a dozen KOLs."
"They've agreed to attend. We haven't started inviting the professors from National Chiao Tung University yet; we'll wait for you to finalize the list, boss," Lu Siyu added.
"Okay." Geng Zhi nodded, then asked, "What about the mystery guest?"
"We are still in communication with the mystery guest. He agrees with our values and strongly agrees with Momo's product philosophy, but he is still experiencing the Momo app. He said he needs to experience the product more before deciding whether to come and endorse it."
She paused, then added, "He offered that if we really decided to come, he would come as a friend and wouldn't charge us any appearance fees."
"Oh? No platform fee?" Geng Zhi was slightly taken aback at first, then overjoyed. "That saves us hundreds of thousands!"
Upon hearing the words "[mystery guest]", Yang Mingxia's gossip spirit instantly ignited.
She couldn't help but lean closer and ask in a low voice, "Sister Siyu, who exactly is our mystery guest?"
Lu Siyu only responded with a smile, her lips slightly upturned, but she remained silent.
Yang Mingxia waited for a long time, but seeing that Lü Siyu still didn't speak, she had no choice but to quickly shut up and start guessing to herself:
He must be a well-known figure in the business world, right? Xiong Xiaoge? Yu Minhong? Chen Yizhou? Or some internet mogul?
Next, Shu Beibei introduced the progress she was working on—overall coordination, resource allocation, and risk contingency plans.
Geng Zhi asked two simple questions, and the meeting agenda was basically over.
Geng Zhi concluded with a serious expression: "Next week's Momo promotion is still very important, but you can leave it to the lower-level staff. You guys need to devote more than 90% of your energy to the preparations for the 3.18 product launch. This is the most important thing, and it may even determine the fate of Momo."
"Understood!" the five replied in unison.
After leaving the conference room, Geng Zhi glanced at Gu Wan Ning's empty office, then turned and went into the CEO's office, while the others dispersed to their respective workstations.
Shu Beibei, Yang Mingxia, and Song Qing were heading in the same direction.
"Beibei, what are you thinking about?" Yang Mingxia gently nudged Shu Beibei, who was lost in thought, with her elbow.
Shu Beibei snapped out of her reverie and sighed, "It's nothing, I'm just a little anxious."
"What are you anxious about?" Yang Mingxia tilted her head curiously.
"You mean—" Shu Beibei asked in a low voice, her voice tinged with worry, "With just these actions, can we really make it to the end of the month—"
100 million users?
Yang Mingxia paused for a moment, then nodded vigorously: "Of course we can! Look how confident the boss is, I believe in him 100%! And Brother Peng also said that he firmly believes we can accomplish it."
"Hmm————" Shu Beibei nodded, but she was still a little nervous.
"It's alright." Song Qing leaned closer, a mischievous grin on his face. "If we really don't achieve that, I'll just create some fake data in the backend."
Before Song Qing could finish his joke, he was met with glares from Shu Beibei and Yang Mingxia. Those gazes were like two knives, piercing straight at him.
"Senior Song!" Yang Mingxia fired directly, her voice so loud it startled Zou Lu and Chu Jiatong nearby. "Your idea is dangerous! It seriously violates our company's values! Integrity is the bottom line, have you forgotten?"
Song Qing shrank back at her shout and waved his hands repeatedly, "Hey, hey, hey—I was just joking, just joking—"
After saying that, he slipped away and ran back to his workstation in a flash.
Yang Mingxia and Shu Beibei exchanged a glance and couldn't help but laugh.
In the CEO's office.
Just as Geng Zhi finished packing up his computer and was about to head to the airport, his phone vibrated.
It's news from Li Haipeng.
[Li Haipeng]: Boss, I've already hired six people, and the business plan is ready as you instructed. Could you please take a look and tell me if there's anything I need to change?
Immediately afterwards, a file was sent over.
I clicked on it and read it carefully. I made a few suggestions for revisions and sent it back.
[Li Haipeng]: "Received! Boss, I'm planning to register the company now, it'll be called [Weiju]. How do you plan to participate in the investment? How much will you be investing?"
[Straightforward]: "Limited partnership shareholding platform, 30% stake, I'll have Wan Ning explain the specific logic to you later."
[Li Haipeng]: "Received. I'll contact Arctic Capital again after the Momo press conference."
[Straightforward]: "That's right."
After sending the message, Geng Zhi glanced at the time, closed his laptop, grabbed his suitcase, and left the office.
Downstairs, Hao Pengxiang, Xu Youqing, and Sun Xiaoguang were already waiting.
The four of them took a taxi to the airport, preparing to fly to Hong Kong.
Red Palm Studio will be both having team building activities and participating in the handover negotiations for the "Fruit Ninja" game as an outsourced developer.
In a private meeting room at the Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong.
Le Aimin, accompanied by legal experts from Tencent, financial experts from the investment department, lead programmers, lead planners, business development and operations managers, and senior translators, is conducting the third round of negotiations with the agency team from AvengersGame.
The senior translator, Xiao Liang, was specially brought over from the international department by Le Aimin, so that he could conduct technical communication with AvengersGame's international outsourcing development team later on.
Before coming to Hong Kong, Lok Oi-man specifically pulled Xiao Liang, Sun Binbin, and Lao Kong together to practice translating technical terms.
Meanwhile, two black Rolls-Royces were smoothly driving toward the Peninsula Hotel.
In the car behind, Wang Kai turned to the two young men with a smile: "Xiao Sun, Xiao Geng, did you sleep well last night?"
Sun Xiaoguang nodded, but her voice was a little tense: "I'm used to it, very used to it. It's warm and beautiful here—"
Wang Kai glanced at him and noticed that the boy's forehead was slightly sweaty: "Xiao Sun, are you feeling unwell? Why do you look so nervous?"
"Teacher Wang, no, no!" Sun Xiaoguang quickly waved his hands. "I'm just—I'm just a little nervous. I don't know what to say when we get to the venue—"
"Don't be nervous. We're just doing outsourcing for the client. If they ask us about technical or artistic aspects, just answer truthfully," Wang Kai reassured them with a smile.
"Oh—" Sun Xiaoguang nodded, thought for a moment, and then couldn't help but ask curiously, "Teacher Wang, how much are you planning to sell this Fruit Ninja game for?"
Wang Kai shook his head: "That's their company's trade secret. How could we outsiders know? We'll probably only know for sure after the official announcement. But—"
He paused, then guessed, "It should sell for at least tens of millions."
"Selling for tens of millions? At least??" Sun Xiaoguang's eyes widened, and his mouth remained agape for a long time.
Although Fruit Ninja is very popular now, he still can't believe that just a few people, who have only developed it for three months, can sell it for tens of millions of dollars.
This is too amazing!
Wang Kai smiled and nodded, patiently guiding her: "To make games, you need a keen sense of smell and accurate intuition. As long as you choose the right direction and are willing to put in the effort, you have the opportunity to achieve great things."
Sun Xiaoguang fell silent, but something flickered in his eyes.
"Teacher Wang," he couldn't help but ask again, "after the Fruit Ninja game is sold—how much money will our studio get this time?"
Wang Kai gave him a meaningful look: "Right now, we're just working for others. They get the meat, and we only get the soup. Only when we make our own games will we have the chance to really make big money."
After he finished speaking, he secretly glanced at Geng Zhi next to him.
Geng Zhi, however, did not participate in their discussion at all.
He leaned back in his chair, gazing at the rapidly receding street scene outside the window, his mind preoccupied with thoughts of the future of Red Palm Studio.
After the overseas and domestic distribution rights for "Fruit Ninja" were sold and the handover was completed, will Sun Xiaoguang, Hao Pengxiang, and Xu Youqing choose to stay?
None of the three of them have replied to [Teacher Wang] yet.
If we don't stay, the team will have to be rebuilt, and trust and the adjustment period will have to be started all over again. If we stay, then the future operating model—
While I was pondering this, the Rolls-Royce had already come to a steady stop at the entrance of the Peninsula Hotel lobby.
The doorman jogged over, opened the car door, and respectfully gestured for the car to open.
Geng Zhi and the other two got off the bus one after the other.
Hao Pengxiang and Xu Youqing, who had gotten off in the car in front of them, were now standing at the hotel entrance, looking around and frantically taking photos with their phones, as if they wanted to record every corner.
"Wow, this hotel is so luxurious!" Hao Pengxiang exclaimed as he took pictures. "This carpet, this chandelier, this—is this real marble?"
As they were about to enter the hotel, Hao Pengxiang suddenly became nervous again, leaning close to Geng Zhi and whispering, "Senior Geng, I'm still a little nervous—"
"I'm nervous too," Geng Zhi replied calmly.
"Huh?" Hao Pengxiang was taken aback, looking at Geng Zhi's calm and collected face. "You call this nervous?"
"I'm even more nervous than you." Geng Zhi said without changing his expression.
Hao Pengxiang stared at him for two seconds, and suddenly he was no longer nervous.
The five of them sat in the hotel lobby for more than half an hour.
Hao Pengxiang refilled his coffee twice, scrolled through his phone countless times, and counted the crystal chandelier in the lobby three times.
Finally, AvengersGame's agency team sent someone to call them.
The agency team and Tencent have reached an agreement on the acquisition intention. At this point, the technical team needs to step in and answer some technical questions from Tencent.
"Everyone, please follow me."
The five people got up and followed the man through the long corridor to a closed door.
The door opened, and the conference room lights shone in.
The members of Le Aimin's team all turned their attention to the doorway.
What they were about to witness was the [international development team] that created the legend of Fruit Ninja.
Wang Kai, a middle-aged man, strode into the conference room first, followed by four young men: Hao Pengxiang, Xu Youqing, Sun Xiaoguang, and Geng Zhi.
The group took their seats one by one, guided by the staff.
Le Aimin's brows furrowed instantly.
His gaze lingered on the doorway for several seconds until the conference room door was completely closed before turning back to the five people who had just entered.
"These people—are they the international development team for Fruit Ninja?"
He couldn't help but mutter to himself frantically.
"Are they all of Chinese descent? ABCs? Grown up abroad?"
"But aren't the other four—aren't they far too young?"
Lead planner Sun Binbin and lead programmer Lao Kong exchanged a glance, their eyes both showing the same doubt.
The translator, Xiao Liang, looked blankly at Wang Kai and his group of five, then turned to look at Le Aimin, somewhat unsure of the value of his trip to Hong Kong.
The meeting room was silent for a few seconds.
Leo, the head of the agency team at AvengersGame, introduced Le Aimin's team: "Mr. Le, these are some of the members of our employer's R&D team."
Lok Oi-man opened his mouth, intending to say "Hello" in Chinese, but the words inexplicably veered off course and he said, "Nice to meet you!"
With standard pronunciation and elegant intonation, he exudes an international flair.
Wang Kai was suddenly taken aback. Why were they speaking English?
Tencent is indeed an internet giant; even its pronouncements have such an international flair!
He had been quite calm, but suddenly he became nervous.
He quickly recalled the contents of his daughter's junior high school English textbook and stammered out a reply:
"Nicetomeetyoutoo——————"
However, Wang Kai's pronunciation is not as standard as Le Aimin's.
Hao Pengxiang and his companions had originally intended to greet him politely, but upon hearing the other party's fluent English, they all fell silent.
They decided to strictly follow Wang Kai's previous instructions: never ask questions, never speak, and just listen.
So the four of them sat there, their expressions perfectly controlled, their eyes vacant, like four quiet, unassuming tools.
The translator, Xiao Liang, was now in a deep dilemma.
She wasn't sure whether she needed to translate "Nice to meet you".
She glanced at her own team: legal, finance, lead programmer, lead planner—each with a calm expression, clearly understanding. She then looked at the person opposite her; the middle-aged man, though his accent was a bit strange, had at least responded.
Forget it, let's not translate it.
Leo was also bewildered by Le Aimin's actions, but he didn't press the matter. As a professional agent, he remained calm and smiled at Le Aimin: "Mr. Le, if your company has any technical issues, you can communicate with our R&D team."
"Okay." Le Aimin nodded, turning his gaze to the main programmer, Lao Kong.
Old Kong took a deep breath and cleared his throat.
This was his first public statement since the start of this round of negotiations. For the previous few days, the legal and finance departments had been tearing down the terms, while he mainly stood by, nodding and drinking water.
"Dear experts, let me first clarify the delivery list. You need to deliver the source code, technical documents, art assets, development tools, and account assets of the Fruit Ninja game in their entirety."
After Lao Kong finished speaking the first sentence, he looked at the translator, Xiao Liang.
Just as Wang Kai was about to speak, Xiao Liang immediately followed up with a complete and professional translation.
He froze again, his brows furrowing.
Is this a test of my English? But my English is terrible! Leo didn't mention this before we came.
He first looked at Leo and found that Leo was also a little confused. He then looked at Gengzhi, his eyes filled with "What's going on?"
Without batting an eye, Geng Zhi reached out and nudged Sun Xiaoguang, who was standing next to him.
Sun Xiaoguang shuddered. He panicked, but he was in a bind, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and say, "Yes, boss, all the information on our side is ready as required."
He spoke Chinese, pure Chinese, Mandarin.
boom-!
The meeting room was silent for a full three seconds.
The translator was dumbfounded, Le Aimin was dumbfounded, and the rest of Le Aimin's team were also dumbfounded.
The translator, Xiao Liang, opened his mouth, then closed it again.
She looked at Lao Kong, then at Sun Xiaoguang, and for a moment she didn't know what the meaning of her existence was anymore.
Le Aimin's expression was priceless.
Although the atmosphere remained somewhat awkward for the rest of the time, the fact that the language was finally agreed upon made communication exceptionally smooth.
At Red Palm Studio, the main technical instructor is Sun Xiaoguang, with Geng Zhi occasionally providing supplementary information. The main art director is Hao Pengxiang, with Xu Youqing occasionally providing supplementary information.
Two hours later, the talks concluded smoothly. All terms were finalized, and the meeting ended amicably.
Ultimately, Tencent agreed to acquire the exclusive domestic distribution rights for "Fruit Ninja" for $400 million in cash and a 50% revenue share.
The payment structure has also been agreed upon: 30% upon signing the contract, 40% upon technology handover, and the remaining 30% after a three-month technical support period.
As required by Tencent, after the contract was signed and the technology was handed over, Red Palm Studio, as the technical support provider, was required to provide technical support for three months.
Although Geng Zhi is the behind-the-scenes boss of AvengersGame, he is a minor character who participated in the final technical negotiations.
At this meeting, he also made it clear that he was already starting his own business, and the subsequent R&D handover would be supported online by Sun Xiaoguang alone.