Chapter 46: Cooperation

  In 1998, the streets of Shanghai were far less crowded than those in Beijing today, but Shanghai is still a magical city that surpasses many second- and third-tier cities of later generations!

  Jinghao Grand Hotel, the highest-end hotel in Modu. The Presidential Suite of Jinghao Grand Hotel is also the most luxurious suite in Modu. The daily rate is as high as 18,000 soft sister coins!

  Su Jin and Pang Zong live here! Originally, Su Jin did not want to live here, although she had a mayor father, but Su Jin's life was still relatively frugal.

  But Boss Huang clearly told him that staying in this hotel for ten days and spending 1.8 million would be enough to save him 18 million in future negotiations!

  Su Jin, who had always believed in leaving professional matters to professionals, accepted it with ease!

  However, this suite is still worth the money, with crystal chandeliers, carpets, double Simmons beds, LCD TVs, refrigerators and so on. Maybe it's not much in later generations, but it's just a standard configuration for an ordinary three-star hotel.

  But this is a 1998 hotel! In 1998, only those true aristocrats could enjoy such amenities!

  The hotel's service is very thoughtful, perhaps they have studied the psychology of these customers, and the hotel has started a car rental business.

  Then Su Jin rented a Mercedes-Benz with a driver for $8,000 per day and went to Zhu Weilian's company location with Fat General.

  A spotless Mercedes-Benz is parked in front of a rather inconspicuous office building on the outskirts of the city. The second floor of this office building is where Zhu Weilian's company is located, also known as the headquarters of "Under the Banyan Tree"!

  Su Jin got off the car, looked around and couldn't help but laugh, "This Zhu Weilian is also a big boss, but looking at the headquarters of this company, it's not that impressive! It's not even better than our Dream Technology's headquarters!"

  Boss Huan smiled, pulled out a cigar, lit it and took a hard drag before saying: "Zhu Weilian is just a small-time boss with assets of nearly 10 million. He can't be considered a big shot! Moreover, all internet companies are currently worried about profit points, 'Rong Shu Xia' is no exception! It's normal for the headquarters to be located in this kind of place!"

  "Hehe!" Su Jin smiled ambiguously and nodded her head, saying: "Look, someone's here. Let's go meet this Mr. Zhu!"

  The security guard standing at the gate had already seen the Mercedes parked at the entrance and came over, awkwardly smiling at Su Jin and Fat Zhang before saying very calmly: "This is the Hengxin office building, I don't know what you two need?"

  Su Jin sighed in her heart, "The capital is indeed the capital, much better than the ancient city. Even a gatekeeper has such quality!"

  "Is Vice President Zhu from Lianmei Advertising Company here? We have an appointment with him." said Fat Zhang with a smile.

  "Director Zhu is on the second floor, please go to the conference room and sit down first, I'll go notify him immediately!" The security guard said politely, then called another security guard to lead Su Jin and the other person to the conference room.

  Zhu Weilian didn't keep them waiting for long and soon arrived at the conference room. "Sorry! The company's matters were a bit busy, making you two wait for a while!" As expected of a future top-notch manager who would manipulate the entire upper echelons of Magic City, Zhu Weilian's demeanor was impeccable, his smile as warm as spring breeze!

  "Director Zhu is busy with many things, no need to be polite!" Fat Director stood up with a smile and shook hands with Zhu Weilian.

  Su Jin stood by with a faint smile, not saying a word. This was what the two had previously agreed upon - let Fatong come and negotiate with Zhu Weilian in person; if there were any issues, Su Jin would supplement afterwards.

  This can make Zhu Weilian feel their sincerity even more. After all, Su Jin's age is still too restricted, and letting him negotiate would give people a joking feeling. Moreover, Su Jin also has self-knowledge, in this business negotiation, Fatong is far more experienced than him!

  The three of them exchanged a few pleasantries before sitting down. "I've already heard from my secretary about the purpose of your visit," he said. "To be honest, I originally created 'Under the Banyan Tree' on a whim. The fact that it has developed to this point today is far beyond my expectations! Looking at it now, it seems like I was very lucky to have discovered an uncharted piece of virgin land!

  Although it still has a certain distance from the dream network represented by the two, I am still full of confidence in its future! However, from the current form of the network, it can be called three kingdoms competing for hegemony! The Dream Network is Wei, 'Golden Book House' can be Shu, and our 'Under the Banyan Tree' can be Wu!

  From this perspective, it seems that we should cooperate with 'Golden Book House'! But now the two of them have come here, and for a moment, haha, I'm a bit at a loss! Zhu Weilian's words were very frank, but also pressing, the demeanor of a top professional manager is evident!

  Boss Pang smiled ambiguously, the cigar in his hand flickering with a faint flame, and said lightly: "General Zhu's metaphor is very vivid! But there's one point that doesn't seem to be clear! Wei, Shu, and Wu were fighting for the world! Of course, we're also fighting for the world!

  But after Wei, Shu and Wu contend for the world, they can rest easy, while we are facing a most realistic problem! This problem is currently troubling the entire Internet industry, that is, the issue of profit points!

  Currently, apart from those portal websites, all Internet companies are looking for profit points! Don't you think that in this situation, consuming limited strength on internal friction is a path to self-destruction?

  "On the contrary, if we can unite together and form a whole, our strength will be greatly enhanced. At that time, we can work together to make this industry bigger and stronger! I think this has a great promoting effect on us finding a suitable profit point!"

  "Break-even point? Ah, this is indeed a common problem for all internet companies at present! However, judging from Wang's tone, it seems like he has some ideas, I wonder if he can reveal some?" Zhu Weilian's expression turned serious when Fat General mentioned this issue, his face showing a listening attitude.

  In fact, the reason why Zhu Weilian finally sold "Rongshuxia" to Betasman was that he never found a suitable profit point!

  Su Jin smiled and said, "Actually, it's very simple. Currently, there aren't many network users, and the various information and resources on the internet are basically in a free state. It's unrealistic to implement paid services online at this time."

  We dream network currently adopted model is through online users to recognize books, promotion, and then cooperate with real publishers to issue physical books. The website gets a share of the publisher's revenue!

  However, Zhu also knew that mainland publishers generally had a resistant attitude towards publishing online works, and it was not easy to find a publisher willing to publish online works. A publisher like Wang who dared to do so was indeed rare!

  In fact, this is entirely Su Jin's polite way of putting it. The mainland has always had strict requirements for the publication of online literature, and in the past, there were very few publishing houses that published online literature. At present, apart from Tongji Publishing House, there are hardly any others willing to publish online literature!

  Of course, Boss Wan also relies on the current government not having clear regulations in this regard, and because it is a private publishing house with flexible control, he dares to play edge ball. This is also the reason why the major publishing houses in the ancient city were envious of Boss Wan for finding online literature as a gold mine, but they only dared to make secret moves behind his back and did not dare to reach out and take a share!

  Zhu Weilian glanced at Su Jin, thought for a moment, and smiled: "I have to say that both of your arguments make sense! I wonder, if 'Rong Shu Xia' were to cooperate with Meng Xiang Wang, what kind of model would they adopt, and what benefits would it bring to 'Rong Shu Xia'?"

  As a professional manager, Zhu Weilian handled things with great efficiency and speed, without any hesitation or delay! Moreover, he deeply agreed with Su Jin's words, so he quickly entered into specific negotiations.

  Su Jin and Pang Zong exchanged a glance, with a hint of smile flashing in their eyes at the same time. They knew that the cooperative matters had basically reached a consensus, and what followed was the specific link.

  Boss Pang pulled out a document from the file bag and handed it to Zhu Weilian, saying: "This is the cooperation book we made. President Zhu can take a look first! If there are any problems, we can discuss them in detail."

  Zhu Weilian took over the cooperation book and read it seriously. Overall, the opinions in the cooperation book can be summarized into three points.

  Resource sharing, including: books, authors and Fat General's publishing house resources.

  Mutual recommendation, both parties must recommend each other's website in a prominent position on their homepage and set up a link.

  DreamWorks acquired a 20% stake in 'Under the Banyan Tree' for a 60% stake.

  Zhu Weilian is also a veteran of the business world, and this cooperative book can be seen that the other party has been very sincere. Although it seems that Dream Network's 20% stake in exchange for "Under the Banyan Tree" 60% stake is a bit excessive.

  But considering that Mengxiang Network itself is more popular and larger than "Under the Elm Tree", plus the unique resource of Pangzi's publishing house, it seems reasonable. However, in business, Zhu Weilian still needs to fight for his own greatest interests.

  "This third point seems a bit excessive, although I can understand your desire to control 'Under the Banyan Tree', but sixty percent of the shares is still a bit too much. I suggest changing it to fifty-one percent!" Zhu Weilian said calmly.

  "This..." Boss Wan was about to speak, but was interrupted by Su Jin.

  "Now that Director Zhu has spoken, I'll give him some face, but I believe Director Zhu also knows that a 60% stake is reasonable. If it's pressed down to 51%, it's a bit too low. How about this? Let's change it to 55%. This 5% stake can be considered as our gift to Director Zhu. Since we'll be working together in the future, let's just consider it as making friends!" Su Jin said calmly, looking at Zhu Weilian.

  Zhu Weilian was taken aback, and he looked at Su Jin with a serious expression, as if he had just realized that he had been mistaken about the main person all along, and that the one in front of him was actually the real mastermind.

  "It seems I've mistaken your identities. Would you mind reintroducing yourselves?" William Zhu said with a smile.

  Su Jin's face also hung a smile, stood up, stretched out his hand and said: "Then I'll reintroduce myself, Su Jin, CEO of Dream Technology Co., Ltd.!"