“Mr. Rong, Mr. Luo, let’s cut straight to the chase. You sent me the first five levels of your game, Plants vs. Zombies, and I gave it a try—I have to say, it’s really quite good.
Since the quality is there, I don’t have too many questions—mostly just about operations and sales.”
“Ask away, Manager Bai,” Rong Mu replied naturally, taking the lead in the conversation.
Back in their school days, Rong Mu had always been Luo Ming’s “external sound card.” Luo Ming had a real gift for programming, and whenever they entered competitions together for credits, Luo Ming handled the development while Rong Mu did all the talking.
“Alright then, I’ll get straight to it. First question: what’s your monetization model for this game?”
“We’re planning to go with a pay-to-own model, launching directly on the Steam platform with no in-game purchase options.”
Bai Jingwen raised an eyebrow at that, though his tone remained steady as he continued: “Second question: what’s the target age range for this game’s audience?”
“All ages.”
“Eight and up?”
“That’s right.”
This time, Bai Jingwen didn’t just raise an eyebrow—he frowned.
“Last question: will there be a mobile version of this game?”
“Yes, but the mobile version will come after the PC release.”
After hearing Rong Mu’s answers, Bai Jingwen was silent for a long moment before finally speaking: “Mr. Rong, to be honest, your sales plan doesn’t really align with our company’s approach.
First of all, a pay-to-own model just doesn’t make money in China. Piracy is rampant here—very few people are willing to actually pay for games.
If you launch under that model, you’ll end up losing everything with nothing to show for it.
Second, if the game is rated 8+, you’ll face a lot more regulatory scrutiny, and getting a license will be extremely difficult.
And finally—and most importantly—every major game developer is shifting toward mobile right now. By next year at the latest, Tencent and NetEase will both be making big moves in the mobile gaming space.
4G has already rolled out across third- and fourth-tier cities in China, and by the end of next year, it’ll cover most of the country except for some remote rural areas.
Our phones can already do things we never would have dreamed of just a few years ago.
Mr. Rong, Mr. Luo, I really think you should focus this game on mobile instead.
Put out a PC version, grab a quick profit, and move on. With the quality of your game, if you just crank up the difficulty a bit, plenty of people would be willing to pay for premium items to help them get through it.”
Lin Shuwen thought to herself: The gaming industry isn’t all that different from the entertainment world. In entertainment, they find ways to get fans to open their wallets—in gaming, it’s the same with players.
Meanwhile, Rong Mu turned down Bai Jingwen directly: “Manager Bai, I’m sorry, but we can’t really accept your sales strategy. What you’re suggesting is basically draining the pond to catch all the fish—it would seriously hurt our studio’s reputation.”
“Mr. Rong, you two aren’t thinking of building this studio into something big, are you?”
Rong Mu nodded.
Bai Jingwen smiled and shook his head. “Mr. Rong, Mr. Luo—judging by your looks, I’d say you just graduated from college. It’s not surprising you’d have those kinds of dreams.
But let me give you some advice as someone who’s been around: building a game studio from scratch with nothing to your name is incredibly difficult. Grabbing some quick cash and securing a comfortable life for the rest of your days is the better choice.
If you’re open to it, we could even send some of our people over to help you out. Within six months at most, you’d both be looking at a profit of at least ten million—more than enough to buy property in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, or Shenzhen.”
“Are you saying your company would be involved in managing our studio?”
“Mostly just overseeing the accounts.”
Rong Mu fell silent. At this point, there was really no point in continuing the conversation.
Someone with a shorter fuse might have already lost their temper, but Rong Mu was unusually level-headed in situations like this.
His face wore a warm, pleasant smile, and his tone remained just as polite: “Manager Bai, we’ll need some time to think over your terms. I’m afraid we can’t give you an answer today.”
“We didn’t expect to finalize anything today either. We’ll be staying in Bingzhou for the next couple of days, so whenever you two have made up your minds, just let us know.”
“Alright. Well then, let’s order some food first! Waiter!”
After a satisfying meal, the four of them shook hands and said their goodbyes at the hotel entrance.
Everyone wore smiles on their faces, as if the deal had already been sealed.
But once they parted ways, Rong Mu’s expression immediately darkened. “Damn it, Er Ming—will the investor you lined up send people to keep an eye on us?”
“No!” Lin Shuwen answered without a moment’s hesitation.
Send people? Not a chance. She’d be right there in person—what would they need anyone else for?
“Then we don’t have to hesitate. Feiyu Ventures just wants to make a quick buck and run—that’s completely opposite to what the two of us are aiming for.”
“I think so too,” Lin Shuwen agreed.
“Then it’s settled. We’ll go with the investment you brought in. By the way, which company is it from?”
“It’s not a company.”
“Not a company? An individual? Who’s that loaded?”
“Lin Shuwen.”
“Lin Shuwen? That name sounds familiar. I think I’ve heard it somewhere.”
“That’s her.” Lin Shuwen held up her phone, which displayed a news article about her accepting an award at the Golden Melody Awards.
Last night, when she and Luo Ming had exchanged information, they’d already agreed: if this investment fell through and they had to use her funds, she’d reveal the investor’s identity to Rong Mu directly.
Given their current situation, they needed a trustworthy “middleman” to run the company.
Luo Ming had assured Lin Shuwen that Rong Mu was absolutely reliable.
And since Lin Shuwen would be right there, able to keep an eye on him herself, she figured—if Luo Ming trusted him, then so would she.
“…Wait. Er Ming, are you serious about this?”
Lin Shuwen nodded.
“How do you even know her?”
“She was my high school classmate.”
“Come to think of it, Lin Shuwen is from Bingzhou. Hold on—didn’t you only move to Bingzhou for college?”
“No, I moved here in high school. I even went to one of the city’s key schools.”
“Xiao Jiang, we’ve probably made this trip for nothing,” Bai Jingwen sighed, leaning back in the rear seat.
“Manager Bai, do you mean they’ll turn down our investment?”
“Yeah. Those two young idealists want to build something that lasts.”
“So should we—”
“Book me a flight for tonight. We’re flying to Hangzhou—there are two other companies waiting for us there.”
“But didn’t you say we’d stay for two more—”
“That was just being polite. Rong Mu and Luo Ming aren’t naive enough to actually believe we’d hang around Bingzhou for two days.
I said that to keep things civil—you know, even if the deal falls through, there’s no need to burn bridges. And that Rong Mu is sharp—he played along and kept the conversation cordial.
Unless I’m mistaken, in a couple of days, Rong Mu will call and tell us that after discussing it, they’ve decided your terms just don’t work for them.”
“But you really liked their game, didn’t you?”
“What does my liking it matter? I’m not a senior executive at the company. If I had the authority to decide who to invest in and how, I wouldn’t mind taking a gamble on a game with that kind of quality. But at the end of the day, I’m just a messenger.”
