When Hu Ge saw Feng Yu’s modified Land Rover, he gasped in surprise. There were Land Rovers in Beijing at this time, but it was rare to see them on the roads. Hu Ge, himself, was only driving a Volkswagen Santana. Master Lu was worst. He travels via taxi.
When they reach Hu Ge’s company, Feng Yu noticed that it was not as bad as he thought would be. A pirated games company’s office was even bigger than the Machinery Company’s General Manager office!
“My office is a bit small. Please bear with it.” Hu Ge humbly said.
Feng Yu: “……” This was considered small? In a few more years, maybe those MNC’s CEO office will be this big. This office should be at least 300 sqm.
“How many people do you have in your company?” Feng Yu asked.
“If we don’t include the factory workers, I have a total of 18 staffs. I am the General Manager, and I have two deputies. There are 6 department heads and 6 deputies department head. There is also an office administrative head and his deputy.”
Damn. A total of 18 people and you appointed 17 leaders? That means only one person is working?
A pirated game company was so well structured? Do you really need so many departments?
“Hu Laosan, get all your people from the technology department here.” Feng Yu shook his head, but he still needs to do what he needs to do first.
“Errrr…… My company does not have a technology department.”
Huh? 6 departments and you do not have a technology department? Then what are those 6 departments?
Hu Ge saw Feng Yu had an irritated look on his face and immediately said: “We have a technical staff. He is the one that cracks the code of those game cartridges. I will call him here.”
That was the only staff which was not a leader. What an unlucky guy. This person should be the most essential staff of this company.
That staff arrived. He looks like he was in his 30s and had messy, unkempt hair. He was wearing a pair of thick glasses and was unshaved. He seems like he does not care about his looks.
“Xiao Li, come over. This is Master Lu, and this is Mr. Feng. They are looking for you.”
Xiao Li pushed his spectacles and asked earnestly: “Manager Hu, what happen to your eyes? Did someone beat you up?”
Hu Ge was furious. Stop talking about this! Everybody can see for themselves! You don’t need to say it out!
“I banged into a tree. Mind your own business. Hurry up and come over!”
“Xiao Li, where did you graduate from? What is your expertise?” Feng Yu looked at Xiao Li and asked.
“Me? I am from TV University. I major in TV repairs.”
TV university? Did he mean Radio and TV University? Almost every city has this university. There is another name for this university. Night University.
Damn. How unprofessional. Even if you are producing pirated game cartridges, there should still be some professionalism. A TV repairman as the software engineer? And this company can actually still succeed. Life was really unfair.
“Are you the one that cracks the code of those game cartridges?”
“That’s right. I am the one who cracks it. Actually, it is quite simple. You only need to……”
“Stop. Xiao Li. We don’t need to know the details. You just need to answer Mr. Feng’s questions.” Hu Ge hurriedly stops Xiao Li. Once this Xiao Li starts on the technical aspects, he will go on and on. If it wasn’t for his expertise and his low salary, Hu Ge had wanted to fire him.
“Can you develop games? Create your own games and not cracking the codes of other games.” Feng Yu asked seriously.
“I can, but no one wants to play the games I created.” Xiao Li felt embarrassed.
“Then tell me about the games you made.”
“I made a fighting game that is similar to Street Fighters. But the characters cannot be seen clearly, and their moves are not very nice. The game also keeps hanging. The main reason is Manager Hu does not want to give me the funds. If I have sufficient funds, I can surely create a better game.”
“You know how to create those action games with multiple stages?”
“I have never created those type of games. But it should not be a problem for me. However, I still need money to create it.”
Hu Ge angrily shouted at him: “Stop asking for money. You don’t even want to play the games you created. Why should I give you the money to develop new games?”
Feng Yu thought for a while. This shows that this Xiao Li had the skill, but he lacks the funds. Hmmm….. Maybe he also requires some ideas. If Feng Yu could give some pointers, he should be able to succeed.
“Hu Laosan, how much is your company worth?”
“About a few million.”
“Speak the truth!” Master Lu shouted.
“Errr…… I had spent 120,000 RMB to rent this office. I do not have a factory. I just hire contractors to manufacture those games.”
Feng Yu: “……” This Hu Ge can really brag. This company was worth a few million? There were no factories, and even the office was rented.
“What was your highest profit in a month?”
“Less than 200,000 RMB. Errr…… to be exact, 113,000 RMB.”
Selling pirated game cartridges can earn so much? Maybe it was because he was Hu Ge and had made use of his background. If not, he might not even earn 13,000 RMB.
“I will invest 1 million in your company. Go and find a few more people like Xiao Li to develop some games. You will continue to sell your pirated game cartridges and must increase your scale. At the same time, you must set up proper sales distribution channels. Once the new games are developed, you must let your distributors sell those game cartridges in the shortest time possible. Can you do that?”
“Brother Feng, you are going to give me 1 million RMB?” Hu Ge swallowed his saliva. 1 million RMB! He had never seen so much money in his life!
“That’s right. I will be the major shareholder of this company, and you will run it. I will take 70% of the profits, you will get 20%, and Master Lu will get 10%. I guaranteed that within two years, you will be a real businessman and your monthly income will be at least 1 million!”
Master Lu pointed to himself: “I am also included? What do you need me to do?”
Feng Yu would not give him money for no reason. There must be something he needs to do to get this 10% shares.
“I need a government policy. A policy to develop China’s video games industry!”
“China’s video games industry?”
“Yes. Video games are already popular in China. Not only with the kids. Many adults also enjoy playing video games. For instance, Contra and Super Mario Bros. These games were bringing in more than 1 billion USD of profits from worldwide. This profit is still growing.”
Master Lu was shocked. Video games can bring in over 1 billion USD of profits?
“Also, video games are also a form of cultural invasion. For example, Japan had introduced a game that resembles Romance of the Three Kingdoms. They claimed that this game was based on their history. You can tolerate this? In another few years, they will claim that they are the ones who built the Great Wall of China!” Feng Yu start to rouse Master Lu’s emotions. He knew that this Master Lu was also a patriotic anti-Japanese person. Influencing him was easy.
“We cannot tolerate this. Let this to me! But if we are going to develop our own games, what sort of games should we develop?”
“Our 4 great classical novels do not only have Romance of the 3 Kingdoms. Dream of the Red Chamber is not suitable to develop into a game as there is no fighting in that novel. But Journey to the West and Water Margin can! And it will be extremely popular!”
Everybody was listening attentively. They do not know how to turn a classic novel into a video game.
“We can make a fighting game using Water Margin. There are 108 characters in Water Margin and players can get to choose those characters. Each of those characters should have their individual iconic moves. Journey to the West can be made into action games that scroll from left to right. The characters will keep moving towards the right like a scroll. Those stage bosses can use the iconic demons, like Bull Demon King, Black Wind Demon and Golden Horned King, from the novels. Players can choose to use Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, Sha Wujing, Tang Sanzang, and White dragon horse as their characters. In future, you can also include some female characters like the Goddess of Mercy.”
Master Lu and the rest, opened their mouth wide. The Goddess of Mercy? They understand that players will choose Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, and Sha Wujing as their characters. But who in their right mind would select Tang Sanzang, the monk who was also captured by demons?
Feng Yu saw that they do not believe what he said. He continued to explain “his” ideas to them. There were melee characters and magician characters. In a video game, players must work together to clear the stages. Feng Yu was imitating the video game produced by the Japanese in a few years’ time.
Feng Yu wants to turn those classic arcade video games into game cartridges for The Little Tyrant gaming console.
“Manager Hu, this idea is interesting. It will surely be popular with the consumers. Leave this to me. Mr. Feng had already invested money.” Xiao Lu really likes Feng Yu’s idea and starts to plead with Hu Ge.
“Fine. Didn’t you say you have some friends? Call them here. If they have the capabilities, I will provide the funds for you and your friends to develop these games.” Hu Ge had also made his decision.
“Thank you, Manager Hu. I will go out now. Oh yes, Manager Hu. Please be more careful. Stop walking into trees all the time!” Xiao Li said.
“Get lost!”
Translator notes: This is the longest chapter since I started translating this novel. Took me 3.5 hours! If you like this novel, please leave me a positive review on novel updates.
