Who would still start a business seriously after being reborn?

Chapter 462 His Heart is in Turmoil

"Nonsense!" Chen Tianqiao glared and said, "Did you personally verify this information?"

“Although I haven’t personally confirmed it, this news is indeed true,” Chen Danian said. “This information was leaked to me by a senior executive at NetEase Entertainment. NetEase Entertainment is currently restructuring.”

"Impossible, absolutely impossible." Chen Tianqiao took out his phone and dialed Ding Sanshi's number.

"Sorry, the number you dialed is turned off, sorry..."

Chen Tianqiao's face immediately turned ugly. He said in a deep voice, "We still have 19% of the shares in the Journey to the West 2 project. Ding Sanshi has no reason to betray us."

Chen Danian said, "If Westward Journey 2 turns against us, we will be in a very passive position. Simply relying on burning money will probably not be enough to stop Momo.com."

This sudden blow left Chen Tianqiao's face ashen.

He slowly sat down in the chair and said, "What conditions did Momo Group agree to that made Ding Sanshi betray us?"

Chen Danian said, "I'm also very puzzled. The terms we negotiated with Ding Sanshi were already very generous."

In an effort to win over Ding Sanshi, Shengda not only invested in Fantasy Westward Journey 2, but also signed a commercial version of the "Non-Aggression Pact" with NetEase. The agreement stipulated that Shengda would guarantee not to develop or distribute turn-based games, while NetEase would guarantee not to enter the RPG game field.

This contract also became the cornerstone of the cooperation between Shengda and NetEase.

With these two companies joining forces, they are more than capable of dominating the Chinese online gaming industry.

But now, Ding Sanshi has betrayed us?
"I'm still a little skeptical." Chen Tianqiao stood up and said, "Buy me a plane ticket to Guangzhou. I want to go there and ask them myself!"

Chen Danian also knew the seriousness of the matter. If Ding Sanshi turned against them at this time, then their efforts over the past month and a half would have been in vain.

Chen Danian gritted his teeth and said, "We really should acquire A Chinese Odyssey Part 2."

"Let's not talk about these hindsight opinions," Chen Tianqiao said in a deep voice. "Pass down the word: if NetEase really goes against us, then all internet cafes in 334 districts and counties will be free, and we'll cover the costs."

"Brother, calm down." Chen Tianqiao's words startled Chen Danian, who quickly said, "We're already losing a lot of money. If we compensate 50 cents now, we'll have to pay nearly 10 million yuan to the authorized internet cafes every day. If we announce that it will be completely free, that would cost more than 600 million yuan a month. Our Legend revenue has already plummeted, and we can't keep going like this."

Chen Danian stood in front of Chen Tianqiao, his eyes unusually firm, and said, "Brother, we need to save some of our assets to make a comeback. Right now, we only have a little over 20 billion left in our accounts. The monthly income of our Legend and Legend 3 has plummeted to 1.6 million. We really can't afford any more setbacks."

"Make a comeback?" Chen Tianqiao stared coldly at Chen Danian and said, "Do you think we can make a comeback? If we lose, Momo Group will not give us a chance to turn things around."

Chen Danian said, "Brother, no matter how strong Momo Group is, it's only strong in the internet cafe industry. We can continue to follow the Windows route. With the money we have, even if we give up Legend and only make casual games, we can still get a share of the market. I've already reached an agreement with NEXON in South Korea. We will be the distributor for their MapleStory game."

Chen Tianqiao said, "You may be very knowledgeable about technology, but you don't understand business."

Chen Tianqiao's eyes were unusually firm as he asked, "If our revenue suddenly drops, then we'll be like Dragon Clan and Final Battle, finding it very difficult to recover. If you make MapleStory, then Momo Group will follow suit with Crazy MapleStory. They have ample funds and huge user base. What will you use to compete with them? You're not so naive as to think that as long as the game is fun, there will be many players, are you?"

Chen Danian fell silent.

Chen Tianqiao said, "Don't worry, I'm not the kind of person who acts rashly. Even if we really lose, I'll have a backup plan."

"Okay." Chen Danian saw Chen Tianqiao's decisiveness and didn't try to persuade him any further.

Chen Tianqiao quickly left the group's building and took a car to the airport.

Throughout the journey, he kept thinking about negotiation strategies.

Even if Ding Sanshi demands an exorbitant amount, he has no choice but to accept it.

His goal was simple: to buy the entire team and the game of Fantasy Westward Journey 2.

His most fatal mistake this time was trusting an outsider. In business warfare, you absolutely cannot trust anyone.

Driven by enormous profits, even brothers can turn against each other.

At 6 p.m., Chen Tianqiao arrived in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province.

He suppressed his anger and took a taxi to NetEase's office building.

As soon as he arrived at the office building, he saw a group of people dismantling the NetEase sign at the building entrance.

"?" Chen Tianqiao hurriedly got out of the car, quickly walked to the front of the office building, and asked, "What are you doing?"

"Didn't you see they were taking down the sign?" a worker said irritably.

Chen Tianqiao pressed further, "Doesn't NetEase have its offices here anymore?"

The worker said, "They're still here now, but they won't be here soon. I heard they're moving to an industrial park in Jingzhou City."

Chen Tianqiao's heart skipped a beat. He didn't have time to waste words with the workers and quickly ran to the elevator.

He had just run to the elevator entrance when he saw Ding Sanshi leading a few people out of the elevator.

"Ding Sanshi!" Chen Tianqiao shouted when he saw Ding Sanshi's high spirits.

"Oh dear, Chairman Chen, why didn't you call ahead before you came?" Ding Sanshi quickly greeted him, his face beaming with smiles.

Chen Tianqiao did not shake hands with Ding Sanshi. He said in a deep voice, "Do you think I would have come here in person if I could have made a phone call?"

The two bodyguards beside Chen Tianqiao also had fierce looks on their faces, and seemed ready to make a move.

Ding Sanshi reluctantly withdrew his hand and said with a smile, "I'm really sorry, I just changed my phone number yesterday and forgot to send it to you. Sorry, sorry."

"I heard you're going to re-release Fantasy Westward Journey 2 on the Momo system?" Chen Tianqiao stared directly at Ding Sanshi and questioned him.

"I was just about to talk to you about this," Ding Sanshi said somewhat embarrassedly. "Chairman Chen, come to my office, and I'll explain it to you in detail."

"Alright, I'd like to hear what you have to say." Chen Tianqiao knew this wasn't the place to talk.

Upon arriving at the floor where NetEase was located, Chen Tianqiao saw that employees in every office area were busy packing items, making the place look very messy and completely devoid of any office atmosphere.

Ding Sanshi invited Chen Tianqiao into his office, first pouring him a glass of water and placing it on the coffee table, saying with a smile, "Sorry, sorry, all the tea sets in the office have been packed up. Chairman Chen, please don't mind." Perhaps feeling that this was not proper hospitality, Ding Sanshi rummaged through the cabinet for a while, found a disposable tea bag, and placed it into Chen Tianqiao's cup by the string.

Chen Tianqiao didn't even glance at the cup of tea. He stared directly at Ding Sanshi and said, "I heard from the renovation workers downstairs that you're moving to Jingzhou City?"

“Yes.” Ding Sanshi sighed and said, “Chairman Chen, I’m really sorry, I had no choice. Momo Group bought up a lot of our scattered shares before the Lunar New Year, and then used its financial power to buy the shares of one of our shareholders. Now Momo Group holds 28% of our shares. As you know, for companies registered in the Cayman Islands, if one party holds more than 20% of the shares, the financial statements need to be consolidated. Once the financial statements are consolidated, I will lose control of NetEase.”

"Now Momo Group is asking us, NetEase, to move to the Momo Technology Industrial Park. We have no choice but to comply. Look, I've even gotten a SIM card for Jingzhou City."

"Why didn't you mention something so important before we started working together?" Chen Tianqiao asked in a deep voice.

Ding Sanshi said, "I certainly wouldn't tell you such a shameful thing if you didn't ask me. Family scandals shouldn't be aired in public. Who would spread their shameful secrets around?"

Chen Tianqiao took a deep breath and said, "Okay, let's not talk about that for now. I came here today just to get a straight answer from you: can you sell us A Chinese Odyssey Part 2?"

"I really want to sell it to recoup some of my losses," Ding Sanshi said. "Unfortunately, Momo Group has become one of our shareholders now, so I have no choice."

Chen Tianqiao slammed his fist on the table and roared, "Ding Sanshi, did you conspire with Momo to deal with me?"

"What makes you say that?" Ding Sanshi's face was full of grievance as he said, "We're friends, how could I possibly go against you? I really had no choice. Back when our stock was plummeting, I went to Zhonghai City and approached so many investment banks, including your Shengda, but not a single one was willing to invest in us. Now that Momo Group has invested, you suspect me of going against you. I'm more wronged than Dou E."

"Think about it, who would willingly give up 28% of the shares? If you had helped us back then, this wouldn't have happened," Ding Sanshi said, his tone full of resentment.

Chen Tianqiao said, "We get 19% of the profits from Fantasy Westward Journey 2. Shengda is also an investor in Fantasy Westward Journey 2. You should know that, right?"

“Understood.” Ding Sanshi smiled and said, “You have invested a total of 3100 million. I will return this money to you with interest.”

Chen Tianqiao realized that Ding Sanshi was determined to join the Momo group.

He strongly suspected that the current situation was a setup made long ago to give him hope.

This happened so suddenly that Chen Tianqiao couldn't find a suitable replacement.

His biggest reliance in squeezing out Momo Internet Cafes is Westward Journey 2 and Bubble Fighter. Their plan is very clear: first, to lower the occupancy rate of Momo Internet Cafes; second, to force Momo Group to shut down the Windows version of Primordial War Chronicles and come back to save the day; and third, to drive Momo Internet Cafes back to Handong Province or even completely eliminate them.

Before the Westward Journey 2 defection, Momo Group only had two options.

One option is to abandon Momo Internet Cafe and focus on the gaming business.

One option is to abandon the gaming business and focus entirely on defending internet cafes.

Whichever choice you make, Momo Group will suffer a severe blow.

This is an absolutely certain win.

But now, he's been stabbed in the back by that bastard Ding Sanshi.

A near-absurd movie scene flashed through Chen Tianqiao's mind.

Ding Sanshi pointed a gun at him and said, "Sorry, I'm a policeman..."

Chen Tianqiao picked up the teacup, took a small sip, and then threw the teacup away.

This damn tea is too hot.

Chen Tianqiao stared at Ding Sanshi and said in a deep voice, "I'll offer you two hundred million, and you'll sell the game to me."

“Chairman Chen, I advise you to give up.” Ding Sanshi sighed and said, “Even if I sell the game to you, you still can’t beat Momo Group. Momo Group has a complete industrial chain, with each link complementing the others. You can’t defeat them just by disrupting their internet cafe business. You’re in finance, so you must understand this.”

“Momo Group’s industrial chain is not yet complete! And as I said, Momo Group has a fatal weakness.” Chen Tianqiao said in an almost pleading tone, “Brother Ding, please help me this once, okay? I’ll give you an extra 5000 million.”

“This isn’t about money,” Ding Sanshi said. “I really can’t help you.”

He took a photocopy from the bookshelf and handed it to Chen Tianqiao, saying, "Take a look for yourself."

"A shareholding agreement?" Chen Tianqiao stared at the photocopy in his hand and exclaimed in surprise, "They actually let you hold shares on their behalf?"

“Yes, they asked me to hold the shares on their behalf, which circumvents the Cayman Islands’ controlling stake regulations. Tell me, do you think I would dare to trip them up?” Ding Sanshi pulled the photocopy back and said, “Chairman Chen, you’re a smart man. Think of another way.”

Chen Tianqiao glared at Ding Sanshi and said, "The nominee shareholding agreement was signed on February 25, 2003. This agreement is the condition for your cooperation with Momo Group, right?"

Now Chen Tianqiao is completely certain that Ding Sanshi's cooperation with him was clearly at the behest of Momo Group, and that this guy had ulterior motives from the very beginning.

Ding Sanshi did not respond to Chen Tianqiao's words, which can be regarded as an admission of Chen Tianqiao's inner guess.

He put the photocopy away and said, "Chairman Chen, I've said everything I needed to say. Think whatever you want."

Ding Sanshi stood up and said, "If there's nothing else, I'll go take care of things first. My employees are still waiting for me on the first floor."

"Fine, fine, fine." Chen Tianqiao was so angry he laughed. He gave Ding Sanshi another angry look and strode out of the office.

Now that Fantasy Westward Journey 2 is gone, they can only rely on Bubble Fighter.

"It seems I need to talk to Magic Baby." Chen Tianqiao felt somewhat flustered.

He had just gotten into the car when Chen Danian called again.

"Brother, hurry up and check the Tencent website homepage." Chen Danian's tone was urgent.

"I'm in the car, I can't see it. Just tell me directly," Chen Tianqiao said irritably.

"Okay." Chen Danian paused for a moment and said, "Tencent just announced that QQ Tang is officially in closed beta testing, and the closed beta testing channel is the Momo system."

"How could it be so fast?" Chen Tianqiao even forgot that he was still in the car. He tried to stand up abruptly, but his head hit the roof of the car hard.

(End of this chapter)