We agreed not to date, so why are you crying now that I've become the richest man?

Lin Zhenhua's Adam's apple bobbed, and he pressed his palm against the edge of the report.

"Mr. Ye, Ali's e-commerce ecosystem is unique in China. Exclusive cooperation is to concentrate traffic, expand the market, and benefit both parties..."

Ye Chen raised his hand to interrupt him, leaned back in his chair, and spoke in a calm tone.

"Everyone in the industry can see how much Ali has invested in the wireless business this year. Mobile Taobao has recently changed several promotional plans, and you personally came all the way from Hangzhou to talk to me about getting a featured spot."

"Manager Lin's eagerness for exclusivity is simply to quickly drive users from Mobile Taobao to mobile devices. Judging from your recent actions, this result is probably very important before the end of the year, right?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Zhenhua's fingers, which were resting on his knees, tightened subtly. Ye Chen noticed this subtle reaction, which gave him more confidence, and he immediately changed the subject.

"Exclusivity clauses for e-commerce are out of the question."

"Star Market is a full-network distribution platform. Whoever pays the highest promotion fee and has the best conversion rate will be featured on the first screen of essential app installers. I can't cut off my promotion revenue from other e-commerce platforms just for the sake of a payment interface."

"If you want a fixed featured spot on the first screen of Taobao Mobile, you can pay based on the actual, valid activation price after deduplication. The price is clearly marked and fair to all."

Upon hearing this, Lin Zhenhua's face darkened, and his voice lowered slightly: "President Ye, without the backing of the group's technology and brand, it's difficult for a startup to build user trust in the security of funds when promoting mobile payments. If fraud or bad debts occur, you may not be able to afford the consequences."

"Manager Lin is right, so I was just about to add two safety clauses."

Ye Chen held up one finger, clearly stating his bottom line.

"First, since it is a joint test, Baofoo must grant Xingchen Software the highest level of priority for calling its underlying interfaces and provide a dedicated technical team to provide on-site support around the clock."

"In the event of fraudulent transactions, lost orders, or network outages during the payment process, Baofoo will assume full responsibility for advance compensation, and Xingchen Software will not provide any additional compensation."

Just as Lin Zhenhua was about to speak, Ye Chen had already extended his second finger.

"Secondly, regarding user data, I've drawn a red line here."

"All underlying user data, device information, and behavioral profiles generated by the Star App Market are the independent property of Star Software."

"When a payment is triggered, our servers will only transmit the encrypted and anonymized transaction serial number and amount to Baofoo. If you ask for even a fraction of more data, this negotiation can end now."

After he finished speaking, the office fell silent. Lin Zhenhua's forehead was beaded with sweat, and his gaze returned to the real-time reports on the coffee table. Ye Chen didn't urge him, but simply picked up his teacup and took a sip.

Four hundred thousand uniquely activated devices are his biggest bargaining chip right now. After Green Bean Pod withdrew from the competition, Star Market's new user growth curve on Android devices has been rising steadily. As long as this trend is not interrupted, Mobile Taobao will certainly not be the only company willing to come knocking on his door to discuss cooperation.

Other e-commerce platforms, and even internet companies that are developing mobile payment systems, could become partners of Xingchen Software. Lin Zhenhua naturally understood these possibilities.

In just a few seconds, he glanced down at the report several times, his thumb rubbing the edge of his business phone back and forth. After a moment, he took a deep breath and took the phone out of his pocket.

"President Ye, please wait a moment while I confirm with headquarters again."

This time, instead of going to the small conference room next door, he dialed the Hangzhou headquarters directly from the sofa and repeated Ye Chen's conditions in a low voice.

The voice on the other end of the phone was very low. Lin Zhenhua frowned several times during the call, and then added a couple more sentences explaining the current activation growth rate of the Star Market. After a while, his tense shoulders relaxed, and he wiped his forehead with a tissue after hanging up the phone.

"President Ye, headquarters agrees in principle."

"Non-exclusive first-screen recommendation slots will be settled at market price. Baofoo will assume the responsibility for advance compensation in case of payment channel failure. The data exchanged between the two parties will be strictly limited to the anonymized information necessary to complete the transaction."

"Manager Lin is very agreeable."

Ye Chen didn't hesitate and pressed the internal phone button directly.

"Notify Attorney Zhou from Junhe Law Firm who is stationed here, and have him bring two blank copies of the cooperation memorandum to my office."

"Okay, Mr. Ye."

A few minutes later, lawyer Zhou Ming, carrying a briefcase, knocked on the door and entered.

Ye Chen gestured for him to sit down opposite him at the coffee table and briefly reiterated the terms that the two sides had just agreed upon.

"Write down the 0.3% channel fee rate, the automatic settlement node for the next day, the liability for advance compensation for channel failures, and the ownership and usage boundaries of anonymized data into the memo item by item."

"Let's sign the cooperation framework today, and complete the legal process for the formal contract within three days."

Attorney Zhou Ming turned on his computer and confirmed the specific wording with both parties item by item. The sound of typing echoed continuously. After drafting each clause, he would stop to check the responsible party, the triggering conditions, and the consequences of breach of contract, to avoid leaving any room for arbitrary interpretation.

In less than fifteen minutes, the two memoranda of understanding were completed. Zhou Ming read through the entire document again to confirm that there were no errors, and then used the office printer to print them out directly.

Lin Zhenhua took the document and carefully reviewed the clauses that restricted Baofoo's data access and clarified compensation responsibilities. When he saw several bolded sections, his lips tightened, but he did not raise any further objections. After a moment, he picked up a pen, signed his name in the "Party B Representative" column, and stamped it with the official seal he carried with him.

The two sides exchanged original copies of the memorandum. When Lin Zhenhua got up to leave, he still had a businesslike smile on his face, only it was a little less pronounced than when he entered.

After the office door closed again, Ye Chen pressed the intercom, called Chen Wei in, and handed him the memo.

"The person leading the technical team and Baofoo should create a communication group. The test interface must be running by next Tuesday. You will personally oversee the data anonymization module."

At this point, Ye Chen paused, his voice becoming serious.

"No information other than transaction serial numbers and amounts is allowed to leave our servers. Interface permissions and data logs are reviewed daily, and no backdoors can be left."

"Understood, Mr. Ye, don't worry!"

Chen Wei took the document, his face beaming with excitement, and quickly went out to make arrangements.

The office quieted down again. Ye Chen glanced at his Vacheron Constantin watch; it was just past 4:10 PM.

Today is Thursday, and I have no classes this afternoon or evening. We've won the first half of the battle in the app store arena; Chen Wei can handle the technical integration from here on out.

He picked up the Mercedes car keys from the table, turned off his computer, walked out of the office, took the elevator down to the underground parking garage.

It's about time to go and see our store manager, Mr. Xia, who's currently overseeing the project.