Don't get married if you're reborn.

Chapter 321 Happy Landlords and Hero Kill
"This is Ms. Feng Xiao, President of Marleneia Greater China."

Zeng Wenjie explained to Tony Ma, "Currently, our Marlenia online store is in the initial development stage, so the conditions are relatively simple."

"Mr. Feng is in charge of things like online operations and marketing."

Tony shook hands with Feng Xiao and said with a smile, "Nice to meet you!"

Feng Xiao snapped out of her daze and calmly said, "Hello, Mr. Ma."

Tony Ma actually knew a little about Malenia, but he wouldn't say it; he'd just pretend he knew nothing.

He also understood that the person who was truly effective was Zeng Wenjie, while Feng Xiao was just a figurehead.

Actually, there wasn't much to see in the office. After sitting for a while and having a cup of tea, Tony Ma suggested that they talk privately.

Zeng Wenjie immediately agreed and led Tony Ma to sit down in the small conference room 209 next door.

Feng Xiao brought over some tea, then closed the door and left, giving Zeng Wenjie a deep look before she left.

Tony Ma spoke skillfully, slowly introducing the topic of the internet and subtly guiding the conversation to the gaming sector, which is of utmost importance to Tencent.

"Mr. Zeng, what do you think of our Penguin Games Hall?" Tony asked.

"That's impressive. The once-famous Lianzhong has faded into obscurity since you launched your company. Now your company has a monopoly," Zeng Wenjie said.

Tony said, "But these kinds of game halls are still quite limited, relying on card and board games. However, card and board games are also very limited, so I've always been troubled by this. The reason I came out for a walk this time is precisely because of this problem that has been bothering me for a long time... And Mr. Zeng happens to be a young man with a very imaginative mind, so while I'm here to apologize, I also happen to be here to learn from you and see if I can get some inspiration?"

Zeng Wenjie laughed and said, "Mr. Ma, you're too kind. You don't need to tell me about the apology. If you really feel bad about it, just talk to the person involved yourself."

Tony nodded, looking at Zeng Wenjie with a sincere expression.

Feeling a bit awkward under his gaze, Zeng Wenjie said, "The development of game halls is indeed limited by card and board games, but card and board games can also be made into something new. We can put new wine in old bottles, or we can explore new ideas."

“For example?” Tony Ma pinched his chin and frowned.

"For example, the game of Dou Dizhu can be innovated and updated."

"Please advise?"

"The scoring system in Dou Dizhu is outdated and boring. Many people just give up and don't care about being in the red for thousands of points, which makes the game experience very unpleasant for other players who want to win."

"Indeed."

"Why not introduce a chip-based system?"

"Isn't that illegal?"

"How about we consider changing the name to 'Happy Landlords'? Then, we can give players a certain number of Happy Chips every day for free, which can be named Happy Beans or Happy Coins. Players need to pay a certain amount of chips to qualify for the game... At the same time, we can also open up a channel for recharging Happy Beans with QQ Coins?" Zeng Wenjie asked slowly.

Tony was taken aback upon hearing this, then suddenly realized that this way of playing Dou Dizhu was much more interesting than the traditional version! And, you could even make money from it.

"Sure enough, just as Old Tang said, he's got a lot of knowledge in his head!" Tony Ma immediately sat up straight, his body involuntarily leaning forward slightly.

Zeng Wenjie continued, "We can also develop more game modes for 'Happy Landlords,' such as a no-shuffle mode to make the card combinations smoother and give players more bombs than in regular Landlords; we can also develop a wild card mode, where a card is randomly drawn as a wild card that can be used as any card..."

Tony nodded repeatedly and said, "President Zeng's idea is indeed brilliant and imaginative! Even a traditional card game like Dou Dizhu can be made into such an enticing gameplay."

"I wonder if Mr. Zeng has any more brilliant ideas?"

Zeng Wenjie laughed and said, "Traditional board games can all be optimized using this approach. Mr. Ma just had his team figure it out. However, I do have a completely new idea for a board game..."

“I’m all ears!” Tony Ma said sternly.

Zeng Wenjie coughed but didn't speak. Tony Ma came to his senses, smiled apologetically, and said, "If Mr. Zeng's idea is feasible, we can cooperate and develop it together! Whether Mr. Zeng wants the copyright or a share of the profits, we can discuss it."

Zeng Wenjie stared intently at Tony Ma for a few seconds, then slowly nodded and said, "I have a condition."

Tony said, "Please speak."

Zeng Wenjie said, "If Mr. Ma thinks this project is worthwhile, I would like to keep it at the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics and let our faculty and students develop it. Of course, Mr. Ma can send a project director over to supervise it."

Tony asked doubtfully, "Does your school have this technology?"

Zeng Wenjie laughed and said, "It's just a card game, what kind of skill does it require?"

Tony Ma suddenly realized, nodded, and smiled, "Mr. Zeng's condition is simple, there's nothing we can't agree to. We can even draft a contract and sign it. If this game can really bring traffic to our game hall, I'm even willing to give up a portion of the game hall's equity to Mr. Zeng."

"So generous?!"

Zeng Wenjie was a little shocked. Wasn't Mr. Ma being far too generous?

"Mr. Zeng, please tell me. I'm really eager to hear it," Tony Ma said, grasping Zeng Wenjie's hand.

"Row……"

Zeng Wenjie nodded, then lit a cigarette, took a couple of puffs, and gathered his thoughts.

"I have a very novel board game card here, which I have named 'Hero Kill'."

"Hero Kill?" Tony Ma muttered, frowning.

"Hero Kill" is actually a copy of "Three Kingdoms Kill" by Tencent. The latter became a nationwide sensation upon its release, becoming a wildly popular card game. So, Tencent activated its Sharingan and quickly copied it, with decent results, but not as expected.

As for the later critical failure of "Three Kingdoms Kill", it can only be blamed on the stupid planners who made a simple game complicated, tricked players into spending money, and crammed all sorts of random things into it, which led to a sharp decline in players.

Zeng Wenjie said, "Here's what we've designed: a group of famous historical heroes from our country, such as Yue Fei, Guan Yu, Li Shimin, Zhu Yuanzhang, Song Jiang, Wu Song, and so on. We've divided these figures into three camps according to history: ruler, minister, and commoner, and given each figure different role abilities..."

"Then, we added five basic card categories to the cards: Kill, Dodge, Medicine, Equipment, and Tricks. Players use these cards to attack each other, and are eliminated when a character's health bar reaches zero."

"The competitive mode can be divided into simple and straightforward two-way confrontation, or it can be more brain-teasing, with four different factions: Lord, Loyal Minister, Rebel, and Traitor, making the game more fun and in-depth."

As Zeng Wenjie recounted his story, Tony was completely stunned.

His mind had already begun to simulate the card game that Zeng Wenjie had described.

"If you play a Kill, then I have to play a Dodge, otherwise I'll lose health, right? And the Trick Card is like the Spell Card or Trap Card in Yu-Gi-Oh!?" Tony asked.

"Mr. Ma is indeed the boss of Tencent; he understood immediately! That's roughly how it is," Zeng Wenjie said.

Tony's eyes lit up. "This game allows us to create special character designs and sell them for money, all without affecting the game's fairness. It's a win-win situation!"

"..."

Zeng Wenjie was stunned when he heard this.

Good, good, good, as expected of you, Tony.

No wonder a picture from later generations went viral: Tony Ma sitting on a bus laughing – "Yes, yes, you guys are lucky, I'm so unlucky I can only take the bus now."

There's also a picture of him gazing ahead with his chin resting on his hand, accompanied by a rather dark filter—"You have to spend money to become stronger."

(End of this chapter)