Chapter 1230: A Fool Wouldn't Pass Up Money

Opportunities in business are always fleeting.

Many people always complain that they were born at the wrong time and never met a good opportunity, often saying that if they hadn't taken a wrong step back then, they would be so-and-so now. But in fact, that's all hindsight. Those people, even if opportunities came at them like raindrops, would find a way to dodge every single one and be proud of it.

Zhao Fusheng had experienced this in his previous life.

Now, he himself had reflected on the problems of that past life. Thinking carefully, at that time, he had indeed been a bit too impulsive, often making choices without considering reality, and had missed quite a few opportunities.

And now, to be honest, Zhao Fusheng felt that since the opportunity was right in front of him, there was no reason not to try.

Just yesterday, he told Fan Baobao that you don't need to be a hundred percent sure to do something; if it's over thirty percent, you can try, and if it's over fifty percent, you must do it.

Now, since Dong Guoxiang had already drawn up the plan, and the prospects were decent, plus he had the memory of his previous life to assist him, Zhao Fusheng felt he had no reason to refuse.

With that thought, he took a deep breath and said solemnly, "Since that's the case, contact Dong Chenxi and start negotiations with Blizzard about the agency rights right away."

Dong Guoxiang on the other end of the phone was taken aback, then asked subconsciously, "You mean... you agree?"

Zhao Fusheng was the boss, and his opinion mattered a lot. If Zhao Fusheng disagreed with this plan, Dong Guoxiang knew very well that he couldn't convince Dong Chenxi to have Future Investment step in.

After all, according to his subordinates' estimates, securing the domestic agency rights for Blizzard's World of Warcraft would cost at least tens of millions of dollars.

Moreover, that money might not even be permanent; it could be just for a few years.

There was no help for it; those foreigners at Blizzard were shrewd. They looked like game-developing programmers, as if they knew nothing, but in fact, they were smarter than monkeys.

"Mm, your plan has a lot of implementation value, and Blizzard is a company we can trust," Zhao Fusheng said lightly.

After a moment's hesitation, he didn't tell Dong Guoxiang what had just crossed his mind, only instructing him to contact Dong Chenxi as soon as possible and start the negotiation process.

Although nominally Future Network Technology Company and Future Investment Fund Company both belonged to Future Group, when it came to matters like this, whether it was Dong Chenxi or Dong Guoxiang, their first reaction was to talk to Zhao Fusheng, not to report to Zheng Yao.

And Zheng Yao was happy to have less work. Usually, if there was business requiring cooperation between the subsidiaries, she would notify them; otherwise, she focused mainly on the advertising company and rarely interfered with the three major subsidiaries' operations.

Hanging up the phone, Zhao Fusheng sat on the sofa and began to think quietly.

Dong Guoxiang's plan was actually not complicated. According to him, because the online game World of Warcraft had the user base of the single-player game Warcraft as a foundation, it could quickly be promoted domestically. Moreover, due to Blizzard's high-quality production, Dong Guoxiang asserted that this game was likely to squeeze the market of the currently booming Legend.

In other words, in the future, internet cafes might not be dominated solely by Legend; World of Warcraft would become the new darling in players' hearts.

After all, compared to Legend, World of Warcraft showed more sincerity in terms of both worldview and production.

There was no way around it; the gap between Koreans and Americans in game production was like the military strength of the two countries—completely incomparable.

Plus, in Zhao Fusheng's memory, World of Warcraft had indeed been hugely popular for several years, so he really liked Dong Guoxiang's plan.

The problem now was how much it would cost to secure the agency rights for World of Warcraft.

Originally, he had planned to let Future Technology lie low for a few years, waiting for the right moment to rise. But now it seemed that although Dong Guoxiang was a bit lacking in ability, he had good luck; among the programmers he hired, he had actually recruited a few talented people.

"Maybe this is an opportunity," Zhao Fusheng sat there in silence for a long time, then muttered to himself after a while.

His family had gone to sleep. This was the villa he had bought back then. Later, when his identity was made public, he simply told his parents, and his father bought the neighboring houses as well.

Besides Li Yuan and Fan Baobao's mother and daughter living in one, the remaining four were given to a few old comrades, who were now top executives at Wanda. Chen Hai's family lived next door to Zhao Fusheng's.

Because they were home on break, Li Yuan and Fan Baobao had things to talk about, and Zhao Fusheng couldn't stay with Fan Baobao anymore, so he was now living with his parents.

At that moment, Zhao Fusheng sat alone in his room, his mind trying hard to recall which company had ultimately secured the Chinese agency rights for World of Warcraft in his previous life.

After thinking for a long time, Zhao Fusheng only remembered that the boss of that company seemed to be surnamed Zhu. He really couldn't recall anything else, because this industry had little to do with his own advertising business. Different trades are separated as by mountains; even with his good memory, Zhao Fusheng could only remember things he had once known.

Strangely enough, Zhao Fusheng's mind could now clearly recall movies and TV shows he had watched, but not things he didn't know. Even with films and shows, he only remembered those he had seen; for those he only knew by name but hadn't watched, he simply couldn't recall the specific content.

Sometimes Zhao Fusheng thought that this was probably the benefit of rebirth.

……

……

Zhao Fusheng underestimated Dong Guoxiang's determination. After hanging up, the guy contacted Dong Chenxi. While Dong Chenxi was baffled, Dong Guoxiang briefly introduced his plan and told her that it was approved by Zhao Fusheng, hoping she would cooperate with him.

Although Dong Chenxi found it a bit odd, after calling Zhao Fusheng and getting confirmation, she agreed to Dong Guoxiang's plan.

To be honest, after reading the plan, Dong Chenxi even thought that Dong Guoxiang might have gone crazy.

Back then, when Shengda Technology teamed up with Zhao Fusheng to secure the domestic agency rights for Legend, it cost so little. But in Dong Guoxiang's plan, the valuation for the Chinese agency rights of World of Warcraft exceeded two hundred million.

"This guy is crazy, you know?" When Dong Chenxi called Zhao Fusheng, she was completely exasperated.

At that moment, she had already been dragged by Dong Guoxiang to the United States, leading a negotiation team, and was in talks with Blizzard.

"Just yesterday, because Blizzard wasn't satisfied with the price, he raised the agency rights price to thirty million dollars," Dong Chenxi complained to Zhao Fusheng. "This is the first time I've seen someone negotiate like this. Are all these programmers out of their minds?"

Zhao Fusheng laughed heartily: "What's the matter? Not what you expected?"

Dong Chenxi didn't hide her feelings from him, nodding and saying, "Mainly, I wonder if this game is worth investing so much money in."

Thirty million dollars, that was a lot. And judging by Dong Guoxiang's attitude, there might be further increases. If Zhao Fusheng hadn't already given the go-ahead, Dong Chenxi would have considered turning around and leaving.

Damn Americans!

An agency right sold for only a few years at a time—Dong Chenxi found that hard to accept no matter what.

After all, not every company was like Shengda Technology, and not every online game could be as explosive as Legend. If World of Warcraft failed, that agency fee would be like drawing water with a sieve.

A loss of tens of millions of dollars was hard for even Future Investment to bear.

Dong Chenxi had always felt that since Zhao Fusheng had entrusted her with the company holding the most liquid assets in the entire group, she had to be responsible to him.

So, she was actually very nervous about this matter.

Hearing Dong Chenxi's words, Zhao Fusheng smiled silently. To be honest, if he hadn't known how popular World of Warcraft would be, his thoughts would have been the same as Dong Chenxi's.

This was normal logical thinking. After all, Shengda Technology's success was just an isolated case. Many domestic internet companies had imitated Shengda's approach, going abroad to find games, either as agents or outright acquisitions, but when they returned to China, very few truly succeeded; the vast majority ended in failure.

Those who made money were always in the minority.

So Zhao Fusheng was actually pleased with Dong Chenxi's caution. After all, if someone in investment didn't always have a vigilant heart, they could easily get carried away and ultimately fail completely.

"Let him try," Zhao Fusheng said to Dong Chenxi with a smile. "I've thought this over carefully. Blizzard's track record is clear, and World of Warcraft is well-made. If nothing unexpected happens, this game should be popular for at least a few years. That's enough for us."

He had never considered relying on this game for the long term. In Zhao Fusheng's mind, Future Network Technology Company's goal was the crazy APP era after the advent of smartphones. As for acting as the agent for World of Warcraft, it was just an unexpected bonus.

So Zhao Fusheng's thinking was simple: no matter how popular World of Warcraft became, Future Network would only act as its agent this one time, regardless of how many years the contract lasted. Once Apple launched its smartphone, Dong Guoxiang and his team had to focus on software development.

Zhao Fusheng would never do something like picking up sesame seeds and losing the watermelon.