Who would still start a business seriously after being reborn?

Chapter 405 A Gentleman's Pact
Cheng Yi had a general idea of ​​Chen Hui's purpose in coming.

This kid is ostensibly here to deliver jade, but he probably wants to take the opportunity to probe their strength.

Chen Hui and Chen Zhi have completely opposite personalities. Although Chen Zhi is also very cunning, he prefers to use open strategies, devising plans and charging forward first. Chen Hui, on the other hand, is the type of guy who follows behind the main force in group battles and suddenly launches a sneak attack on others.

How could it be ruined?

"President Cheng, oh my, why did you come to pick me up in person?" As soon as Chen Hui stepped out of the airport, he saw Cheng Yi and Lin Yongxing. He quickly walked a few steps and stretched out his hand from afar.

Cheng Yi shook hands with Chen Hui and said with a smile, "If I didn't come to greet you, Chairman Chen, I would be really insensitive."

Seeing Cheng Yi speak so frankly, Chen Hui laughed and said, "President Cheng is truly magnanimous."

Chen Hui had expected Cheng Yi to be very cold this time, since he and Cheng Yi were not really friends. In fact, back in Jingzhou, he had almost gotten into a fight with Momo Group, and they were still in the same industry.

The saying "rivals in the same trade" applies in any era.

However, for Cheng Yi, Chen Hui was not only not his enemy, but also his cash cow.

If it weren't for Chen Hui, Momo Group wouldn't have developed so quickly.

It can be said that Chen Hui saved Momo Group three months of development time.

Before long, Chen Hui's secretary, accompanied by six bodyguards, pushed the jade mountain out.

Chen Hui laughed and said, "I originally wanted to send it to you a long time ago, but that lousy jade shop insisted on going through some procedures, and that's how it got delayed until now."

Looking at the jade mountain, Cheng Yi smiled and said, "It's enough that you have the intention, why did you actually send it to me?"

Cheng Yi could tell that Chen Hui had indeed put his heart into it, because the jade mountain now had an exquisitely carved rosewood base.

Chen Hui exchanged a few more pleasantries with Cheng Yi before getting into Cheng Yi's car.

Upon arriving at Momo Group, Chen Hui immediately arranged for six bodyguards to push Yu Shan into Cheng Yi's office.

"Please have a seat. Our group building is a bit modest, please forgive us." Cheng Yi smiled and said while making tea, "President Chen, you didn't come here just to deliver the jade mountain, did you?"

Chen Hui was slightly taken aback, then feigned confusion and asked, "Why does President Cheng ask that?"

Cheng Yi didn't want to beat around the bush with Chen Hui, so he said, "We've known each other for a long time, and I'm also very familiar with your brother, so let's not beat around the bush and just get straight to the point."

Cheng Yi waved his hand, and Lin Yongxing immediately left the office with several secretaries.

Chen Hui was surprised that Cheng Yi would be so blunt. Based on his understanding of Cheng Yi, he thought Cheng Yi should be very shrewd.

Many thoughts flashed through Chen Hui's mind. He turned to look at his secretary, Yan Caidan, and said, "You two go out and rest for a while."

"Okay." Yan Caidan stood up somewhat reluctantly and left the office with the six bodyguards who had just put away the jade mountain.

Only Cheng Yi and Chen Hui remained in the office.

Chen Hui looked at Cheng Yi and said, "President Cheng, you said I came here with a purpose, so tell me, what purpose did I come here with?"

Cheng Yi laughed and said, "You want to see if our Momo Internet Cafe can survive this crisis, right? Or maybe you want to use the money power of your Lianjiang Group to see if you can acquire our internet cafe?"

A look of shock appeared in Chen Hui's eyes. He really wondered if Cheng Yi could read minds. He was silent for a long time before saying, "President Cheng, you are simply amazing. I really suspect that you have planted a corporate spy next to me."

Having his secret revealed by Cheng Yi, Chen Hui stopped hiding it. Continuing to conceal it would only backfire.

Cheng Yi smiled subtly and said, "It's not hard to guess. If I were in your position, I would have done the same."

Cheng Yi is very good at putting himself in others' shoes. Putting oneself in others' shoes is a skill that involves multiple disciplines such as psychology. This skill is one of the essential skills for future entrepreneurs. It is divided into three levels: putting oneself in others' shoes, acting from others' perspectives, and being a person from others' perspectives.

Cheng Yi laughed and said, "Actually, we're a community of shared interests. You even have shares in the internet cafes in Jingzhou City."

"Do you have a chance of winning against Time and Space Internet Cafe this time?" Chen Hui said. "I've heard that Xue Man is having a very pleasant conversation with two financial groups on Wall Street. He used the success of your Momo Group as a model and attracted a lot of investment."

“No problem,” Cheng Yi said. “Handong Province is, after all, our territory.”

Cheng Yi poured Chen Hui a cup of tea and said with a smile, "Mr. Chen, strictly speaking, our two internet cafes are most likely to coexist. You are developing in first-tier and super first-tier cities, while we mainly focus on cities below first-tier."

“I think we can sign a gentleman’s agreement. In first-tier and super first-tier cities, we will only set up one flagship store in each district and county. In cities below first-tier, you will also only set up one flagship store. In this way, we will not have any conflict of interest. The internet cafe market in China is huge. Why don’t we cooperate and share this huge market together?” Cheng Yi tempted him.

Chen Hui stared at Cheng Yi in shock and said, "Are you really planning to expand nationwide?"

“Definitely. At this point, even the internet cafes have come to our doorstep. Our chairman isn’t exactly known for his good temper,” Cheng Yi said. “Our expansion across the country is a done deal. It’s up to you to decide.”

Chen Hui picked up his teacup, his eyes gleaming.

Partnering with Momo Internet Cafe would be tantamount to standing in opposition to Shikuang Internet Cafe.

At this moment, the internet cafe is riding high, backed by Shengda Group and Lianxiang Group domestically, and by Wall Street financial groups internationally. Offending them would likely lead to dire consequences.

but……

If Momo Internet Cafe really starts competing with Shiku Internet Cafe, then he'll be relieved of some trouble.

It would be best to fight to the death.

Chen Hui thought for a while and said, "I don't want to get involved in your war with Shikuang Internet Cafe. Let's change the gentleman's alliance to a gentleman's agreement. I agree to the conditions you mentioned, but your war with Shikuang Internet Cafe has nothing to do with us, and we are not allies."

"Either way is fine," Cheng Yi said with a smile. "The result is the same anyway; our two companies will divide up the internet cafe market."

Faced with Cheng Yi's bold words, Chen Hui thought Cheng Yi was joking.

The internet cafe market is so huge, how could it possibly be monopolized by just two companies?

Lianjiang Internet Cafe is doing alright, barely managing to capture 60% of the market in first-tier and super-first-tier cities. But Momo Internet Cafe's market is scattered and fragmented, with countless illegal internet cafes. Even if Momo Internet Cafe were to fight for ten years, it probably wouldn't be able to capture the second and third-tier markets nationwide.
Chen Hui only partially believed Cheng Yi's promise. In the business world, if you're too naive, you won't even know how you died.

Chen Hui knew that Cheng Yi's suggestion was a delaying tactic to put all his efforts into fighting against Time and Space Internet Cafe.

If Cheng Yi and Timespace Internet Cafe join forces to squeeze out Momo Internet Cafe, even if Momo Internet Cafe is strong, it will probably struggle to survive. Cheng Yi's current tactic is something Germany used back then: first, sign a non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union, then deal with its rivals, and finally launch a blitzkrieg against the Soviet Union.

Chen Hui wasn't worried about this. In his opinion, Shikuang Internet Cafe was not something Momo Internet Cafe could easily shake. If the two of them were to fight, it would probably be difficult to determine a winner within three to five years. Even if a winner was determined, the victor would probably be exhausted. At that time, Lianjiang Internet Cafe could simply sit back and reap the benefits, acquiring the losing internet cafe at a low price.

Chen Hui and Cheng Yi each had their own ulterior motives, yet they talked very happily with each other.

After discussing these matters, Cheng Yi hosted a dinner party and invited Du Yusheng, chairman of Momo Group.

Du Yusheng's personal attendance made Chen Hui feel flattered.

This is the chairman of Momo Group, on the same level as his father.

The next morning, Cheng Yi sent a car to take Chen Hui and the others to the airport, and then published an official announcement on the Momo Group's website regarding the migration of the Honghuang Zhanji account.

All game data from Momo Legend has been migrated to Honghuang War Chronicles. User levels, equipment, game currency, friends, and guild information remain unchanged. It's essentially just a major upgrade to the game's graphics, classes, and gameplay.

The detailed account migration policy immediately caused a huge uproar in the gaming community of Handong Province.

Many people were worried that their accounts might have disappeared, but upon seeing this announcement, they were overjoyed.

Judging from the official announcement, the Momo Legend is not over, but a new beginning.

Actually, game equipment and levels are secondary; what they really miss is their brothers and sisters in the game.

For most of them, this was their first time experiencing online games; for them, gaming was their second life.

As long as there are friends, there is a world of friendship.

Less than three days after the announcement, Shengda Group also issued an announcement strongly condemning Momo Group's plagiarism, and they also posted a lawyer's letter.

In response to Shengda Group's condemnation, Fan Huamin, head of Momo Group's legal department, immediately held a press conference, publicly comparing the two games, Momo Legend and Honghuang War Chronicles, and denouncing Shengda Group's slanderous behavior.

Judging from the graphics alone, the two games are very different.

Ordinary people don't understand code infringement, and most people think that Shengda Group is making things up out of nothing.

Fan Huamin is a professional when it comes to business negotiations and wrangling. After a few days of confrontation between his legal team and Zhou Haibin's team from Shengda Group, he took the lead in suing Shengda Group, demanding that Shengda Group issue a public apology and compensate Momo Group one yuan.

Fan Huamin's bizarre actions left even the top management of Shengda Group completely bewildered.

Isn't this going against the natural order of the Heavenly Spirits?

After regaining their senses, they immediately filed a lawsuit with the Zhonghai City Court.

Both Momo Group and Shengda Group are major taxpayers in the area, so the court naturally took their claims very seriously and opened a VIP case settlement channel for both of them. Civil lawsuits that would normally take at least a month to resolve were settled in just 7-10 days for both parties.

As a result, both sides won the case.

The Shinan District Court of Jingzhou City ordered Shengda Group to issue a public apology and pay one yuan in compensation.

The Puhua District Court of Shanghai ordered Momo Group to cease its infringing activities.

Then I just ignored it all, like a tortoise chanting scriptures.

Both Momo Group and Shengda Group ignored the other court's judgment and then filed appeals in a different jurisdiction to a higher court.

The Jingzhou City Court accepted the appeal filed by Momo Group against Shengda Group in the "Honghuang Zhanji Infringement Case".

The Zhonghai City Court accepted Shengda Group's appeal against Momo Group for "defamation".

The outcome was still smooth, and both sides won their cases.

The legal dispute between Momo Group and Shengda Group has been jokingly referred to by the media as a "new litigation model where you fight your way and I fight my way."

While the legal teams of both sides were wrangling over each other, at 2 pm on December 15th, the open beta of "Primordial War Chronicles" officially began.

It was only noon, but the Momo Internet cafes in Handong Province and the computer labs of 1225 universities across the country were already packed with people.

Even the aisles of the internet cafe were packed with people, who kept glancing at the clock on the wall, waiting for that moment to arrive.

"What's going on?" At the other side, the occupancy rate of the Time and Space Internet Cafe plummeted from over 80% to less than 10%. Wang Kang, the person in charge of Time and Space Internet Cafe in Handong Province, was dumbfounded as he stared at the empty internet cafe.

What is this ghost?

He had only been in office for less than a week, how could he have encountered such a strange thing?

Their boss had just handed over this overcrowded internet cafe with 800 people to him. Wang Kang quickly picked up the phone and randomly dialed a few internet cafes' landlines. The other internet cafes were just like his flagship internet cafe, with hardly any customers.

"Mr. Wang, all the players from Momo Legend have already gone to the public beta of Primordial War Chronicles." The internet cafe manager said cautiously, noticing Wang Kang's grim expression.

"Are all internet users in Handong Province players of Momo Legend?" Wang Kang asked angrily.

The network administrator whispered, "Yes, because there's only one game in this entire Handong Province: Momo Legend..."

"What the hell!" Wang Kang slammed his fist on the table and roared, "We have Legend! We have Stone Age! We have Magic Baby! We have Fantasy Ranger! We have Westward Journey 2! We have MU Online! Are we really going to lose to a Momo Legend?"

The network administrator said, "These games are unfamiliar to most players. If we let them play for a while, I think we can still attract a group of players back."

Wang Kang, his face grim, pulled out his phone and dialed Mi Jing's number, saying, "Ms. Mi, there's a problem in Handong Province. During the open beta of Momo Group's 'Honghuang Zhanji,' all the players in our internet cafe have left."

After a moment of silence, Mi Jing said, "Let's lower the price first to bring back popularity. This period is crucial for us to negotiate investment with the American consortium. I just want popularity."

Wang Kang said with a wry smile, "How low do we have to go? Right now, Momo Internet Cafe has implemented a free policy. As long as you play Honghuang Zhanji at their internet cafe, you can get three hours of free playtime every day."

Mi Jing thought for a moment and said in a deep voice, "I'm not in Handong Province, how would I know how much it's been reduced to? I sent you there to deal with this kind of emergency. If you have to ask me for instructions on everything, what's the use of you?"

(End of this chapter)