If I don't have money to go to college, I can only go to slay the dragon

"It's such a beautiful weather." Standing by the floor-to-ceiling windows of the building, Mai Shutoku looked at the golden and green clothes that Jinqiu woven for the city, holding a cup of hot coffee with emotion.

Behind her is a standard conference room in the BJ Second Ring Office Building. The conference room belongs to the northwest corner of the 32nd floor of the office building. It faces the sun and faces the direction of the Forbidden City. The floor-to-ceiling windows can reveal bright natural light, making the walls that are already light-colored inside more transparent, spacious and bright.

The long dark table in the center of the meeting room is covered with a smooth wooden panel. On the table are high-end lacquered pen holders and paper folders. They are neatly arranged to show professionalism and order. Facing the scenery outside the floor-to-ceiling window, behind Jiude Maiyi, a man in a gray suit and tie of the same color is sitting on a swivel chair, with his hands squared on his knees and his eyes on the front, waiting patiently.

After a while, the door of the conference room was knocked and pushed open. The owner of the office building on the 32nd floor and the manager of the project management department of "Beiqian Flower and Bird Culture Communication Co., Ltd.", Kong Xi, a young man around 28 years old, walked in.

He was also wearing a formal suit, but compared to the man waiting behind the conference table, his suit was a little unfit, especially the shoulders and waist were too tight, and the side made his own nervousness overflow even more. It made people feel that what was going to start in the conference room was a job interview rather than a serious business cooperation.

"Sorry for keeping everyone waiting." Kong Xi went to the conference table and pulled out a chair, but instead of sitting down, he glanced at the tall figure in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows who was so beautiful that he didn't dare to look more.

"This is Miss Shutoku Mai, right?"

He tried to strike up a conversation, and at the same time tried to control himself not to let his eyes fall on the good legs wrapped in black silk under the hip-wrapping skirt. Beijing is a vast land and rich in resources. He claimed to have seen eighty if not a hundred good black silk legs, but it was so good that he was embarrassed to look at it. It was the first time he saw such good legs today.

But in order not to annoy the benefactor and possibly the biggest business partner since the company was founded, he still honestly set his sights on the capable man who looked like a lawyer behind the conference table.

"Let me introduce myself, a practicing lawyer from Los Angeles. Our firm is engaged in legal services related to corporate mergers and acquisitions, spin-offs, refinancing and listing." The capable man got up and shook hands with Kong Xi politely.

Kong Xi didn't realize what the law firm behind this man represented. He was working in the project management department of his game company rather than the financial department or the legal department. He just shook hands with the man cautiously, "Mergers and IPOs? Our company should not be selling for the time being and preparing to go public. We don't have such considerations in the near future. Do you need me to help you contact the boss of our company to talk about it? He should still be in Beiqi City now. If possible, I may trouble you to wait until around three o'clock in the afternoon. During this time, I can show you the working environment of our company."

"No, we are looking for the project management department of your company. According to my market research, 'Beijia Flower and Bird Culture Communication Co., Ltd.' is a game company that focuses on the development of niche and high-quality independent games, right? If it is correct, 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 from it, and handed it out with both hands.

Although Kong Xi didn't know what the number was, but his workplace habit made him bend down slightly to take the envelope with both hands, and the other party's next sentence almost made him lose his grip on the light paper envelope, "This is a $200 million promissory note. Our customers are very interested in several stand-alone games developed by your company."

"Sorry, I have nothing to say about the company's shareholding. I have to ask my boss for instructions." Kong Xi was so frightened that cold sweat broke out behind his back halfway through hearing what he said. When he remembered the "split" and "merger" mentioned by the other party when he introduced his firm, his heart almost jumped out. The sale of the company's shares is not something that a small department manager can decide. Today's meeting should be made by people from the legal department!
The lawyer smiled and shook his head, "No, you may have misunderstood me. We have no intention of acquiring or taking a stake in your company. We are just representing the client who wants to cooperate with your company to develop a game for the market. But the content and script of this game must be provided by us, and the development must be completed within one month and uploaded to the Internet. 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, his hands shaking the envelope.If he heard the price and unit correctly, two hundred dollars to develop a niche stand-alone game?Or find cooperation with a small game company like them that is still on the rise?

He didn't know if it was a trap, or a late April Fool's Day joke. The most expensive game his company had ever produced was just a stand-alone tower defense game. The cost from announcement to development was no more than 100 million US dollars, and the market revenue was only about 30%. Although it could be regarded as an achievement to be proud of, it was nothing compared to big companies.

The lawyer saw his sluggishness and added, "I know that this cooperation plan sounds incredible, but the selection of your company is based on our various considerations. It is difficult for us to refuse the request of a big customer. I received a call from Ms. Jiude Mai in the middle of the night. She said that her boss is a loyal player of several games produced by your company. From your company's games, I can see the persistence and polishing of the game itself by a real gamer. His childhood wish was to become a professional gamer, but Naihe finally took a different path. Now I hope to regain my previous dream, invest in your company to create a perfect game in his ideal, and complete the 'first pass'."

"Miss Jiutoku Mai's boss?" Kong Xi was startled. He looked at the woman in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows. The other party just gave her a back view, and never turned around to give him a positive impression since entering the door. That high-profile attitude made him subconsciously think that this woman was the person who was talking about this meeting, but he didn't expect that the other party was actually the secretary of the real boss behind the scenes!
In his heart, he was in awe of the boss who could throw out 200 million US dollars at will. Even if it wasn't for the other party's financial resources and dedication to the game, he had to be impressed by the quality of the other party's female secretary.

"Although this meeting is mainly conducted by us, in order to show the importance we attach to this game development cooperation, Ms. Mai Shutoku also made a special trip from the United States to take a cross-border flight to witness this meeting and control some of the details to show that our real customers attach importance to this cooperation." The lawyer folded his fingers lightly 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 said what was in his heart.

"Is it insufficient funds? If not enough, 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. I don't know the specific development and publicity costs of a single game." The lawyer took out another envelope from his pocket, and said under Kong Xi's frantic brow blood vessels, "We can add another 200 million R&D funds. 200 million US dollars. We can discuss the price in detail."

"It's not a matter of price." Kong Xi really felt that he was about to burst a blood vessel in his brain. He forced himself to remain calm and said helplessly, "It's a matter of the R&D cycle. Developing a new game is definitely not a job that can be completed within a month, and it's still a game with $200 million to $400 million in research and development expenses!"

If the promissory note in the envelope handed out by the lawyer is only worth [-] US dollars, in a week, Huaniao Game Company vomits blood from top to bottom and works overtime for a month, almost living in the company, then there should be no problem in rushing to make a good, at least passable, small-scale independent game, such as "Defend the Carrot" and "Plants vs. Zombies" (game production difficulty).

With a total of 400 million U.S. dollars in research and development funds, how come the finished product will have to be a product of the level of "Grand Theft Auto" and "The Elder Scrolls" to compete?A medium-scale game requires more time and resources. The complexity and structure of this kind of game is not comparable to that of a small-scale game. It may take a month or more to finalize the draft script alone!
"As I said, our clients decided to cooperate with your company through careful selection." The lawyer did not retreat because of Kong Xi's embarrassment, but calmly pushed the second envelope in his hand onto the table. At this moment, he finally saw it, "My client has heard that your company has been publicizing a secretly developed magic tower game made by Unreal Engine called "Nine Layers Demon Tower".

Kong Xi instantly felt that the envelope in his hand became extremely hot, and 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. Looking at the professional lawyer from the United States behind the table, he felt that there was a jackal hiding under the other person's skin, and he wanted to swallow their real precious things including the flesh!
"You...can't be like this. The direction of our game polishing has basically been determined, and the script has entered the review stage. The employees are full of expectations for her. Next, we only need to raise another round of financing." Kong Xi suddenly became a little incoherent.

"You really 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 preparing for the first financing recently?" the lawyer asked unhurriedly.

"We do but"

"Your company's liquidity has also been broken due to game development issues, and the issue of publicity has not yet been put on the agenda, right?"

"This... No, you can't just do this"

"Excuse me, as the manager of the game project department, can you be the master of this cooperation?" The lawyer interrupted Kong Xi's possible unfavorable remarks on this cooperation, and asked seriously.

"I have to make a call to ask the boss for instructions." Kong Xi hurriedly left such a sentence, turned around and hurried to the door of the conference room, his back was a little lost.

Only the lawyer and Mai Jiude, who had been standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows, were left in the meeting room. The lawyer frowned slightly after seeing Kong Xi's panic, "It was just discussing the purchase of the company's production plan for a game that has not yet been launched to finalize the sovereignty. Why did I have such a reaction? I shouldn't have said anything wrong, so that he misunderstood that we wanted to completely buy out their game copyright?"

"You really don't have one, but what you bought out is something more important, something that is considered a treasure for a real game producer." Mai Shutoku, who was in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, took a sip of hot coffee and said casually, "My boss chose this game company first because they did have a qualified game that had been developed to the end, and secondly because the boss really liked the games made by their company. It is a pity of the times and an inevitable result of the development of the times to invest in this field purely for the love of games. There are fewer and fewer companies like this with the gradual rise of capital.”

"Dreams and love?" The lawyer thought for a while, then shook his head. "I don't really understand, but the bosses of all Wall Street companies in Los Angeles talk about love and dreams. I don't know the difference between the two. Compared with buying out his dreams and love, his reaction always makes me feel as if I'm trying to use money to take away his children."

"From a certain point of view, you are indeed doing this." Mai Tokuro turned his head and glanced at the lawyer, "So, will you feel uneasy about taking away a child who loves someone else?"

Facing the brightly lit meeting table, the lawyer straightened his tie, "...we are professionally robbing children."

That notorious Los Angeles firm is always like a wolf chasing and biting financially-strapped companies, chopping up companies after acquisitions and selling them on the market for profit. Behind them are super institutions with huge funds. Just because of their ruined company bosses and employees can float half of the Santa Monica beach.