Pei Qian coughed lightly twice: “The quality of real estate agents varies greatly nowadays. Working with them would cause enormous damage to our reputation. Besides, since our business model is rental-based, it wouldn’t be appropriate to get involved with other websites.”
“In any case, there’s no rush for promotion. Our product isn’t good enough yet.”
“Houses are meant for people to live in, so we must strictly adhere to environmental standards! These houses have just been renovated, so they still contain formaldehyde. Airing them out for a month or two is the absolute minimum requirement.”
Liang Qingfan hesitated before saying, “Um… Mr. Pei, all the houses were decorated according to your requirements. We used only the most environmentally friendly materials. The formaldehyde levels in the houses now meet national safety standards and are ready for occupancy.”
“Huh? Really?” Pei Qian suddenly couldn’t tell whether he had lost or gained.
Using eco-friendly materials for renovation meant spending more money, but allowed for earlier occupancy; while ordinary materials were cheaper, renovated houses would require longer ventilation, and the later they were rented out, the more rental income would be lost.
But after thinking about it, Pei Qian still preferred the former option. The customers’ health came first.
Although these customers were lining up to give Mr. Pei money, causing him considerable distress, Mr. Pei was a magnanimous person and wouldn’t hold grudges.
Pei Qian coughed lightly twice: “Even if standards have been met, we still need to continue ventilation!”
“We must hold ourselves to strict standards. Simply meeting national standards isn’t enough.”
“In short, air them out for at least another month.”
“Don’t worry about the promotion. You’ve worked hard lately, so take a good rest.”
Liang Qingfan nodded: “Yes, Mr. Pei.”
…
…
August 5th, Friday.
Shangyang Games.
Lin Wan was in her office, seriously considering promotion activities for the GOG world server.
Mr. Pei had generously provided 500 million yuan, which was impressive but also put great pressure on the Shangyang Games team.
It wouldn’t be difficult to spend the money quickly, but the key was to spend it effectively.
If they spent 500 million and made barely a splash, it would be an international joke, and everyone at Shangyang Games would become the laughingstock of the entire world.
Therefore, shortly after completing their work on the IOI domestic server, the entire Shangyang Games team returned to an intense work state.
“Knock, knock, knock.”
There was a knocking sound outside the office, and Ye Zhizhou pushed the door open.
“Director Lin, the head of Finger Company’s domestic branch, would like to meet with you.”
Lin Wan was stunned: “With me?”
Ye Zhizhou nodded: “Yes, he initially wanted to meet with Mr. Pei, but was ruthlessly turned away…”
Lin Wan found it somewhat amusing. Who did he think he was to want to meet Mr. Pei?
Meeting with me isn’t even guaranteed.
“What’s the background of this head?” Lin Wan asked.
Ye Zhizhou answered truthfully: “I did a bit of investigating. This person seems to have a significant influence. He’s not the original Greater China regional head that Finger Company had chosen, but rather someone who was recently parachuted in. He was originally a high-level executive in Dayak Group’s media business, called Eric.”
Lin Wan suddenly understood. No wonder Eric felt confident enough to want to meet Mr. Pei. From a logical standpoint, his position was indeed not low, and he did qualify to meet Mr. Pei.
Unfortunately, Mr. Pei never played by those rules.
Finger Company had already become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dayak Group, and Dayak Group was fond of meddling. Parachuting in a high-level executive to directly handle IOI’s domestic server operations was something they would do.
Lin Wan sighed: “Finger Company established this branch rather quickly. I suspect they’ve been preparing for some time.”
Ye Zhizhou nodded: “That’s right. Reclaiming the operational rights for IOI’s domestic server was likely the shared desire of both Finger Company’s leadership and Dayak Group’s executives.”
“Finger Company has always had a strong desire for expansion. They sold themselves to Dayak Group precisely to obtain more abundant funding to promote IOI globally more quickly.”
“They also value the domestic market greatly. They believe our promotional efforts were inadequate, leading to IOI’s struggles domestically while being crushed by GOG. They even suspect that Tenda bought their shares to facilitate behind-the-scenes sabotage and support GOG.”
“So, Finger Company has long been planning to take over IOI’s domestic server themselves. Dayak’s privatization offer was a natural progression that aligned with both their interests. Dayak simply sent a high-level executive to oversee everything after all this fell into place.”
“As for why Eric wants to meet Mr. Pei and you, that’s unclear.”
Lin Wan was silent for a moment, then said: “Fine, I’ll meet with him.”
“Mr. Pei certainly wouldn’t deign to meet him—it would be beneath his dignity. But I can go. Knowing your enemy is key to victory. Since we’re going to face off against them, we might gather some useful information.”
…
Lin Wan arrived at a café in the center of Jingzhou City and met Eric.
He had standard Western features, appeared to be in his forties, and kept himself in good shape, though his hairline was concerning. His beard was longer than the hair on his head, but at least it was meticulously groomed.
The two exchanged brief pleasantries, both fully aware of their status as enemies.
What surprised Lin Wan was that Eric’s Mandarin was quite good, with only a slight accent.
Eric took a sip of coffee and casually glanced at his watch: “My flight is at five o’clock this afternoon, so we have plenty of time.”
Lin Wan smiled slightly. She could see that Eric was trying to intimidate her with his several-hundred-thousand-yuan watch, his entire outfit, and certain specific gestures and expressions, but she remained completely unfazed.
Even the President of Shenhua Group doesn’t impress me, and you’re just a high-level executive of a media company under Dayak Group, yet here you are putting on airs.
Lin Wan smiled slightly: “Missing your boarding time is no problem. I could consider lending you my private jet.”
Eric’s hand holding the coffee cup visibly stiffened.
He was confused—wasn’t there some basic principle to showing off?
Tenda was just a local snake enterprise in Jingzhou, and she was merely in charge of one of Tenda’s business departments. How could she have a private jet?
Are people nowadays all so dishonest?
Although annoyed, Eric considered that he should maintain his composure. There was no need to argue with a young woman in her twenties, so he ultimately decided to skip this topic and get to the main point.
“Well, Miss Lin, it seems we both know very clearly why we’re here.”
“I came from Magic City to Jingzhou specifically to observe my opponent, and I believe Miss Lin shares the same intention.”
“That Mr. Pei’s not coming to meet me personally is his attempt to hide his intentions as much as possible. Sending you is his way of gathering information about me.”
“An interesting little cleverness, but meaningless.”
Lin Wan’s expression darkened: “You know nothing about Mr. Pei. Such groundless speculation is extremely foolish.”
Eric wasn’t angered. He leisurely took a sip of coffee, then said: “How do you know my speculation is groundless? This is my first time setting foot in Jingzhou, and although it’s only been a few short hours, my gains have already been sufficient.”
Lin Wan remained noncommittal: “So what has Mr. Eric gained from his trip to Jingzhou?”
Eric spoke slowly and very confidently: “Confirmation of some of my theories, such as the truth about the competition between GOG and IOI.”
“When I first learned that IOI’s original operating company was in Jingzhou, I was shocked, because it defied common sense. By any measure, the operating company should have been set up in Magic City.”
“Later, I learned some inside information, which further confirmed my inference.”
“I must say, Tenda was quite lucky to seize the opportunity when IOI was still little known, buying Finger Company’s shares at an extremely low price and obtaining the domestic server’s operational rights.”
“But you were too greedy. The only purpose of doing this was to better promote GOG domestically.”
“Why has IOI advanced successfully and achieved great success in every other region of the world, yet repeatedly faltered here? This was never a fair battle from the beginning—it was merely two departments within your own company putting on a show!”
“Why were the main promotional activities and competitive matches all held in Jingzhou? Obviously because Tenda has a stronger influence in Jingzhou and can manipulate match results without others noticing, predetermining the winners.”
“So, we understand clearly that if we continue to leave IOI’s domestic server operational rights with Tenda, IOI will never be able to gain traction domestically. This is intolerable to us because the Greater China region has a massive player base that we cannot afford to abandon.”
“You seized this opportunity to extort a large sum, but that’s fine. For Dayak, this is nothing. The profits IOI can obtain in the Greater China region are far more than just a few hundred million dollars—it will be on the scale of billions!”
Lin Wan listened silently to the end, then said: “Is Mr. Eric so certain that IOI can defeat GOG and get a piece of the domestic market?”