Restart life

Chapter 125 0122 [Three Kingdoms Kill Will Soon Be Charged]

Young people are full of energy; they really had a blast last night.

It's almost noon, and I'm still lying in bed, unwilling to get up.

Chen Guiliang also wanted to continue sleeping, but he had already reached his limit by being lazy for half a day.

He got up, drew back the curtains, and exclaimed, "Wow, it's snowing so heavily!"

Bian Guanyue was indeed energized. She put on two layers of clothing, got up, and excitedly looked out the window at the heavy snow falling.

The two stood by the window, embracing each other as they chatted and watched the snow.

After standing there dumbfounded for ages, I finally got dressed and went downstairs to find a place to eat nearby.

After filling her stomach, Chen Guiliang took a taxi to Wudaokou to catch the subway.

Bian Guanyue opened the car window and spread out her palm to catch the snowflakes: "This snow is so beautiful."

The taxi driver couldn't help but remind her, "Miss, why don't you close the window?"

"Sorry." Bian Guanyue secretly made a face at Chen Guiliang; she was becoming increasingly lively in front of her boyfriend.

Chen Guiliang whispered in her ear, "I'll build a snowman with you again next week."

"Mm." Bian Guanyue nodded.

When they arrived near the subway station, Bian Guanyue was still a little reluctant to leave, and Chen Guiliang coaxed her a few times before she got off the train.

"Master, to Peking University Science Park," Chen Guiliang said.

The driver stepped on the gas and said, "Young man, are you a returnee from Peking University?"

"How did you know?" Chen Guiliang asked.

The driver said, "Last time I gave a ride to a Peking University alumnus who had returned from studying abroad and started a company in the Peking University Science Park. Your girlfriend is a graduate student, right?"

Chen Guiliang laughed and said, "Master has discerning eyes."

“Hey, I’ve seen this kind of thing a lot,” the driver said smugly. “You two must have been dating since your undergraduate years. You went abroad to study, your girlfriend stayed in China to do her master’s degree, and then you got back together when you came back.”

"How about you talk about the situation in Iraq?"

"I know that, you've come to the right person..."

After a long, rambling conversation, Chen Guiliang returned to the company.

Ao Yanchen pulled him outside to talk: "You're such a carefree boss, always washing your hands of things."

"Thank you for your hard work, Senior Sister," Chen Guiliang said with a smile.

Ao Yanchen said, "I've arranged a meeting with UnionPay for you next Monday. I've also invited an alumnus who works at a law firm to discuss the specific contract details and supplementary clauses. His name is Zhou Yingzhuo, a graduate of Peking University's law department. His fees are quite high. I praised our company to the skies, saying that if this goes smoothly, we can have a long-term partnership, and that's why he agreed to give me a 50% discount to help."

"Senior Sister is so reliable!" Chen Guiliang said happily.

UnionPay's headquarters are in Shanghai, but it has an office in Beijing.

Once you've reached an agreement with UnionPay on online banking top-ups, you won't need to negotiate with any other banks that support UnionPay cards.

Ao Yanzhen said, "The company is about to get back on track, and we still need to hire a cashier and someone to manage the Taobao store."

“You’ll take responsibility for this,” Chen Guiliang said.

Ao Yanchen sighed, "I'm just destined to be a workaholic. Ten thousand sets of physical Three Kingdoms Kill cards have already been printed and will be delivered and put into storage tonight."

The previous 5000 sets of the card game "Three Kingdoms Kill," after deducting the ones Chen Guiliang gave away and other miscellaneous costs, only earned a little over 3 yuan. The profit margin will definitely be higher going forward, and sales will primarily shift to online stores, with offline sales limited to a few universities in the surrounding area.

……

That afternoon, Chen Guiliang called his senior colleague Zhou Yingzhuo, who worked at a law firm.

After listening to Chen Guiliang's explanation, Zhou Yingzhuo said, "UnionPay Electronic Payment Company was only established two years ago. They are still in the business development stage, so you might as well try to lower the price a bit during the negotiation."

"I've looked into it for you. The transaction fees in the gaming industry are generally between 0.6% and 1.2%, and can even be reduced to below 0.5% for large volumes. Prepare more materials and exaggerate your company's prospects as much as possible. The larger your company's user base, the lower the transaction fees you can negotiate."

"There's also the settlement period and the margin. Since you're a small company, a margin is definitely unavoidable; I estimate you can negotiate it down to around 10. Try to negotiate the settlement period towards T+1. If they really won't budge, agree to T+3, but take the opportunity to ask them to lower the handling fee."

“Your trip is just the initial negotiation stage; the agreement still needs to be approved before it can be signed. I won’t go with you; I’ll show up on the day the agreement is signed. The liability for breach of contract is standard; I’ll be responsible for negotiating supplementary clauses, such as the bank’s responsibility for handling transaction disputes.”

Chen Guiliang held a pen in his hand and quickly jotted down key information.

The lawyer's fee was well spent.

On Monday, Chen Guiliang took a taxi to the UnionPay Beijing office.

He was greeted by an account manager from the merchant business department.

"My surname is Qi, Qi Tao."

"Hello Manager Qi, my name is Chen Guiliang, and this is my business card."

"Please come inside and have a seat. Did you bring the materials?"

"I brought them." Chen Guiliang took out a large stack of documents.

While a game license is not required to operate at this time, game registration is still necessary. An ICP license and an Internet Culture Business License are also required.

Manager Qi quickly flipped through the various documents and inquired about the Three Kingdoms Kill game.

Chen Guiliang pulled out a stack of data materials: "The physical cards for 'Three Kingdoms Kill' sold 5000 sets in just two months. Moreover, our online store business has recently surged, and we've already printed another 30,000 sets. The online version of 'Three Kingdoms Kill' is still in its public beta phase, and it has already gained nearly 15000 users in less than a month, with the growth rate of registered users accelerating. We also operate the 'Three Kingdoms Kill' forum, and its user base has entered the top 50 nationwide... 'Three Kingdoms Kill' is a very promising online game..."

“The recharge rate for card and board games has always been very low,” Manager Qi said. “According to our usual practice, those who run card and board game platforms need to freeze part of their deposit or extend the settlement cycle.”

Chen Guiliang then presented a proposal for a paid subscription model: "Although Three Kingdoms Kill is also a card game, our subscription model is different. We will continuously release new heroes, and players will need to spend money to play them. In addition, we will also sell card backgrounds, room backgrounds, hero skins, game items, and so on."

Manager Qi took it and examined it carefully.

Chen Guiliang continued to produce materials, but these were about Renren.com: "Manager Qi, do you know about Facebook?"

"I've heard of it." Manager Qi hadn't actually heard of it.

Chen Guiliang said, "That's an American internet company. It's been established for less than a year, but it has already received angel investment and attracted the attention of many venture capital firms. My Renren.com is comparable to Facebook and currently has no competitors in China. The campus beauty pageant I planned has been reported by dozens of media outlets and has caused a sensation online. Now, the number of registered users on Renren.com is growing rapidly, and venture capital will definitely come in next year."

Chen Guiliang even took out a pile of newspapers.

Manager Qi spent a long time reading through various materials: "I remember Sohu has an alumni directory."

“The alumni directory has long been dead, and users are constantly leaving,” Chen Guiliang said. “Sohu Alumni Directory is a Web 1.0 website, and it’s an outdated product. My Renren.com is a Web 2.0 product, which is exactly the type of product that global capital is most willing to invest in right now.”

Web 2.0 has already started to be hyped up in China. Manager Qi had heard a lot about it and immediately thought much more highly of Chen Guiliang.

Chen Guiliang continued, "If Three Kingdoms Kill can cooperate with Manager Qi, then Renren.com will also connect with Manager Qi in the future."

The key point of this statement is cooperating with Manager Qi, not cooperating with UnionPay.

Manager Qi, understanding the implied meaning, picked up the newspapers again and carefully read the reports about Chen Guiliang and the school's intranet.

He thought he could lend a hand and become friends with Chen Guiliang.

If Renren.com does indeed attract venture capital, then they can come and negotiate with him, which would be a pleasant surprise.

Manager Qi quickly came up with a plan: "1% handling fee, T+3 settlement cycle, and a margin of 15 yuan."

Chen Guiliang said, "The handling fee is 0.6%, the settlement cycle is T+1, and the margin is 10 yuan."

"Don't even think about it," Manager Qi said. "The 0.6% handling fee is the rate given to well-known game companies. Even if I agreed, it wouldn't pass the review; your company's qualifications aren't up to par."

Chen Guiliang asked, "How much lower can Manager Qi's price be?"

Manager Qi started reading media reports again.

Chen Guiliang prepared a lot of things, but what really appealed to Manager Qi were the newspapers discussing the school beauty pageant.

That's pretty amazing.

Manager Qi didn't say anything more, and continued reading the news articles one after another.

Chen Guiliang roughly understood Manager Qi's idea: "I am about to publish a novel with the highest royalties in the country, even higher than Han Han and Guo Jingming's. It was also a hot topic in the media recently."

"Really?" Manager Qi hadn't really paid attention to this.

Chen Guiliang laughed and said, "If it's a lie, it's easy to expose. You can find out by searching online."

"Handling fee is 0.8%, settlement cycle is T+3, and margin is 10 yuan." Manager Qi is not optimistic about Three Kingdoms Kill, but he is optimistic about Chen Guiliang and Xiaonei.com.

Chen Guiliang stood up and shook hands: "I hope that next time Renren.com comes to discuss cooperation, we can also connect with Manager Qi."

Manager Qi wanted exactly this: "Here's my business card. Keep the photocopies of those certificates, as well as these documents and newspapers. The review will take 5 to 7 business days. Once it's approved, we can sign the agreement. At that time, bring your technical staff as well; we'll also need to discuss the access method and technical support."

"Thank you for the reminder, Manager Qi," Chen Guiliang said gratefully.

After chatting on the school's intranet for a while, Chen Guiliang said goodbye and left.

Chen Guiliang walked out of UnionPay, feeling completely relaxed.

The online banking top-up for the game "Three Kingdoms Kill" has basically been agreed upon.

This is the main way to recharge, rather than selling game cards like in "Legend of Mir".

Players of "Legend" are scattered throughout internet cafes, allowing for the sale of game cards. However, users of "Three Kingdoms Kill" primarily use their own computers, making game card sales too costly and ineffective.

Next, we should approach China Mobile and China Unicom to discuss mobile SMS payment.

These days, many companies and organizations offer mobile phone recharge subsidies, and they are very willing to recharge via SMS. They are even willing to pay 60-70% more, because it's not their own money.

Actually, there's not much to talk about with China Mobile and China Unicom.

These guys are big and bully their customers, and Chen Guiliang's company is small, so they're bound to demand the highest commission. "Take it or leave," Chen Guiliang had no choice but to accept.

Regardless, the online version of "Three Kingdoms Kill" is finally going to be a paid game.

(End of this chapter)