Chapter 1132: Stealing the Child
"What a beautiful weather." Mai Shutoku stood by the floor-to-ceiling window of the building and looked at the golden and green clothes woven for the city in recent autumn, holding a cup of hot coffee.
Behind her is a standard conference room in the Beijing Second Ring Office Building. The conference room is located at the northwest corner of the 32nd floor of the office building. It faces the sun and faces the Forbidden City. Bright natural light can be revealed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, making the interior The walls with light colors are more transparent, spacious and bright.
The long dark table in the center of the conference room is covered with smooth wooden panels. On the table are high-end lacquered pen holders and paper folders, neatly arranged to show professionalism and orderliness. Facing the scenery outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, the winemaker Behind Mai, a man in a crisp gray suit and a tie of the same color was sitting on a swivel chair, his hands squared on his knees, looking forward and waiting patiently.
After a while, the door of the conference room was knocked and then pushed open. The person who walked in was the owner of the 32nd floor office building, the project management department manager of "Bei'an Flower and Bird Culture Communication Co., Ltd." Kong Xi, a 28-year-old young men left and right.
He was also wearing a formal suit, but compared to the man waiting behind the conference table, his suit was slightly ill-fitting, especially the shoulders and waist were too tight, which also made his already slightly nervous mood leak out even more, making him People felt that what was about to begin in the conference room was a job interview rather than a serious business cooperation.
"Sorry to keep everyone waiting." Kong Xi walked to the conference table and pulled out a chair, but did not sit down. Instead, he glanced at the tall figure in front of the floor-to-ceiling window who was so beautiful that he did not dare to look at it more.
"This is Miss Shutoku Mai, right?"
He tried to talk, and at the same time tried to control himself not to let his eyes fall on the good legs tightly wrapped in black stockings under the hip-hugging skirt. Beibei was rich in resources, and he boasted that he had seen not only a hundred but also eighty good legs in black stockings. It was indeed the first time today to see such good legs that he was embarrassed to look at them and felt that it would be rude to look at them any more.
But in order not to offend his sponsor and possibly the company's largest business partner since its founding, he honestly set his sights on the capable man who looked like a lawyer behind the conference table.
"Let me introduce myself. I am a practicing lawyer from Los Angeles. Our firm is engaged in legal services related to corporate mergers and acquisitions, spin-offs, refinancing and listings." The capable man stood up and shook hands with Kong Xi politely.
Kong Xi didn't realize what the law firm behind this man represented. He was engaged in the project management department of his game company rather than the financial department or legal department. He just shook hands with the man cautiously and said, "M&A and IPO ? Our company should not be planning to sell anything for the time being, and there is no such consideration in the near future. Do you need me to help you contact the boss of our company to talk about it? He should be still in Beigan City now. If possible, it may be troublesome. Please wait until around three o'clock in the afternoon. During this time, I can show you the working environment of our company."
"No, what we are looking for is your company's project management department. As far as I know from market research, 'Bei'an Flower and Bird Culture Communication Co., Ltd.' is a game company that focuses on developing niche and high-quality independent games, right? If not If you are wrong, the purpose of our visit is to develop a game with your company." The lawyer sorted out the documents in front of him, took out an envelope and handed it out with both hands.
Although Kong Xi didn't know what method this was, his workplace habits made him immediately bend down slightly and take the envelope with both hands. The next words of the other party almost made him lose control of the light paper envelope, "This is It’s a promissory note for two million U.S. dollars, and our customers are very interested in several stand-alone games developed by your company.”
"Sorry, I have no say in the matter of the company's shareholding. I have to ask my boss for instructions." Kong Xi was so frightened that he broke out in cold sweat after hearing half of the words. He remembered the "split" mentioned by the other party when he introduced his firm. When it came to "merger and acquisition", my heart almost jumped out of my chest. The sale of the company's shares was not something that he, a small department manager, could make the decision about. Today's meeting should be held by someone from the legal department!
The lawyer smiled and shook his head, "No, you may have misunderstood me. We have no intention to acquire or invest in your company. We just represent the client and want to cooperate with your company to develop a game for the market. But this game The content and scripts must be provided by us, and must be developed and uploaded to the Internet within one month. We will provide additional stable funds for the promotion of the game and the research and development funds that may exceed expectations. "
Kong Xi was stunned, and the hand holding the envelope was shaking. If he heard the price and unit correctly, two hundred dollars to develop a niche stand-alone game? Or should we cooperate with a little-known game company like them that is still on the rise?
He wasn't sure whether this was a trap or a late April Fool's Day joke. The most expensive game their company had ever produced was a stand-alone tower defense game, with the cost from announcement to development not exceeding one million US dollars. The market revenue obtained is only about 30%. Although it is an achievement that can be proud of, it is only a small achievement compared to large companies.
The lawyer saw his sluggishness and added, "I know this cooperation plan sounds a bit unbelievable, but the selection of your company is based on many considerations on our side. It is difficult for us to refuse the request of a large client. I was late at night I received a call from Ms. Mai Shutoku. She said that her boss is a loyal player of several games produced by your company. From your company's games, we can see the persistence and polish of the game itself by real gamers. He has been playing since childhood. His dream is to become a professional gamer, but he ended up taking a different path. Now he hopes to regain his dream, invest in your company to create the perfect game of his dreams, and complete the 'first pass'."
"Miss Shutoku Mai's boss?" Kong Xi was shocked. He looked at the woman in front of the floor-to-ceiling window. The woman just gave her a back view. She never turned around to give him a positive impression since she entered the door. That high-profile posture made her He subconsciously felt that this woman was the speaker of this meeting, but he didn't expect that the other party was actually the secretary of the real boss behind the scenes!
He was instantly in awe of this boss who could easily throw out two million US dollars. Even if it wasn't for his financial resources and dedication to the game, he was impressed by the quality of his female secretary.
"Although this meeting was mainly conducted by our side, in order to show the importance of this game development cooperation, Ms. Shutoku Mai also made a special trip from the United States on a cross-country flight to witness this meeting and control some of the details. It shows that our real clients attach great importance to this cooperation." The lawyer folded his fingers gently in front of him.
"But with all due respect, from the perspective of the game development department, your request may be a bit difficult to fulfill." Kong Xi hesitated for a long time, and finally spoke his mind.
"Are the funds insufficient? If not, you can add more. I don't play games. I also searched for your company in the car. I have a rough understanding of the games produced by your company, but I don't quite understand the specific funds and publicity required for the development of a single game. Pay the fee." The lawyer took out another envelope from his arms and said with the blood vessels in Kong Xi's brows beating wildly, "We can increase the R&D funding by another two million US dollars. Talk in detail.”
"It's not a matter of price." Kong Xi really felt like he was about to rupture a cerebral blood vessel. He forced himself to stay calm and said helplessly, "It's a matter of the research and development cycle. Developing a new game is definitely not something that can be completed within a month. Work, and it’s a game with two million or four million dollars as research and development funding!”
If the value of the promissory note in the envelope handed over by the lawyer is only one hundred thousand US dollars, and in one week, Flower and Bird Game Company vomited blood from top to bottom and worked overtime for a month, almost living in the company, then hurry up and make a good one, at least There should be no problem with decent small-scale independent games, such as "Defend the Carrot" and "Plants vs. Zombies" level (game production difficulty).
But with a research and development budget of four million U.S. dollars, the finished product will have to be on the level of "Grand Theft Auto" and "The Elder Scrolls", right? Medium-sized games require more time and resources. The complexity and structure of this kind of game are completely unmatched by small-scale games. The drafting of the script alone may take a month or more to finalize!
"I said that our clients decided to cooperate with your company through careful selection." The lawyer did not back down because of Kong Xi's expression of embarrassment, but calmly pushed the second envelope in his hand onto the table. At this time, he finally realized, "My client heard that your company has been promoting a secretly developed magic tower game produced by Unreal Engine called "Nine Layers of Demon Tower". This game has been developed to DEMO It is in the testing stage, but the final copywriting and world view settings have not yet been finalized.”
Kong Xi instantly felt that the envelope in his hand became extremely hot, and he subconsciously put the envelope in his hand on the table. As the manager of the game department, he stood up and took a few steps back in horror, looking at the professional lawyer from the United States behind the table. I just feel that there is some kind of wolf or leopard hidden under the other person's skin, and he wants to swallow their truly precious things, including the skin and flesh, in one bite!
"You guys can't be like this. The direction of our game polishing has been basically determined, and the script has also entered the review stage. The employees have high expectations for her. Next, we only need to raise funds again." Kong Xi suddenly became Somewhat incoherent.
"You do have such a game that is nearing the end of development, right? I heard that there is a lack of funds in the final stage, so you are currently preparing for the first financing?" the lawyer asked slowly.
"We are but"
"Your company's liquidity has also been cut off due to game development issues, and the issue of publicity has not yet been put on the agenda, right?"
"Well, no, you guys can't just be like this."
"As the manager of the game project department, can you make the decision on this cooperation?" The lawyer interrupted Kong Xi's possible negative remarks about this cooperation and asked seriously.
"I have to call the boss to ask for instructions." Kong Xi left these words hastily, turned around and hurried towards the door of the conference room, his back looking a little lost.
Only the lawyer and Mai Shutoku, who had been standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, were left in the conference room. The lawyer frowned slightly and was confused after seeing Kong Xi's panic. "We were just discussing the purchase of the company's production plan for a game that has not yet been released." Sovereignty, why did I have this reaction? Did I say something wrong that made him misunderstand that we wanted to completely buy out their game rights?”
"You didn't, but what you bought out was something more important, something that is considered a treasure by real game makers." Mai Jiude took a sip of hot coffee in front of the French window and said casually, "My boss chose this game company because they do have a qualified game that has been developed to the end stage, and secondly because the boss really likes the games made by their company. He said that he tasted the 'dream' from those games. In the words of the boss, this company is made up of real game developers from top to bottom, who have joined this field purely for the love of games. Companies like this have become less and less with the rise of capital. This is a regret of the times and an inevitable result of the development of the times."
"Dreams and passion?" The lawyer thought for a moment, then shook his head, "I don't quite understand, but in Los Angeles All bosses of Wall Street companies will talk about passion and dreams, and I don't quite know what the difference is between the two. Rather than buying out his dreams and passion, his reaction always makes me feel as if I'm trying to snatch his child away with money. "
"From a certain perspective, you are indeed doing this." Jiude Mai glanced at the lawyer, "So do you feel guilty about snatching someone else's child?"
The lawyer adjusted his tie in front of the bright conference table, ".We are professional child snatchers."
The notorious Los Angeles firm always chases companies with tight financial resources like a wolf, and makes profits by acquiring companies, chopping them up, and selling them on the market. Behind them are super institutions with huge funds. The bosses and employees of the companies whose families have been destroyed can fill most of Santa Monica Beach.