Chapter 46

Chapter 46: Successful Negotiation
Ye Sisi stared at the two of them for a long moment, took a deep breath, and a smile reappeared on her face as she said, “You’re right, but do good deeds without asking about the future. What if it works out?”

Before long, the dishes they ordered finally arrived.

A large basin full of spicy rabbit heads, soaked in red oil and sprinkled with sesame seeds, looked incredibly tempting.

The waiter thoughtfully brought over several pairs of disposable gloves.

Li Xinran’s eyes lit up as she looked at the full basin of spicy rabbit heads, already eager to put on the disposable gloves.

“Xinran, what exactly did you order…? It kind of looks like some animal’s head,” Ye Sisi asked curiously as she picked up a rabbit head.

“Spicy rabbit head, didn’t I just ask you about it?” Xu Yuan said matter-of-factly.

Ye Sisi had only nodded casually earlier and hadn’t paid attention to what Li Xinran had actually ordered.

“Ah!” Ye Sisi screamed in fright and quickly dropped her chopsticks.

“Rabbit is so cute, how can you eat rabbit?”

The sudden scream startled Li Xinran, who looked at the delicious spicy rabbit head in her hand, hesitating about whether to take a bite.

“Should I be reacting like this too?”

Li Xinran looked at Xu Yuan with a somewhat innocent and silly expression, regretting ordering this dish.

Xu Yuan almost burst out laughing. When Li Xinran got like this, she was irresistibly adorable. He couldn’t help but reach out and gently rub her slightly chubby little face, saying, “Go ahead and eat it.”

“Oh.” Li Xinran happily squinted her eyes into crescent moons.

Ye Sisi looked at the two of them being all lovey-dovey and really wanted to find a block of tofu to bash her head against.

  ……

“President Ye, let’s have a talk.”

Zhang Ming ultimately couldn’t hold back. Whether the Schrödinger company mentioned in Xu Yuan’s files actually existed was crucial to the future development of Character Jump.

Zhang Ming felt completely seen through. The potential developments in the future media industry mentioned in the files almost perfectly aligned with his own thoughts.
Some of Xu Yuan’s ideas were even more fantastical, making them feel like dreams.

The development of the media industry is not singular; it requires consideration of market changes as well as the growth of related industries.

Xu Yuan’s strategic plan not only involved the prospects of the media industry but also covered logistics, e-commerce, and a series of other industries that will become closely intertwined with the media sector in the future.

The future development of self-media has brought revolutionary changes to many industries, all of which Xu Yuan mentioned in the document.

Due to the limitations of the current era, even Zhang Ming himself dared not believe it, but if it were true, it would be unprecedented.

“Mr. Zhang, how would you like to proceed with the negotiation?”

Ye Hao was not anxious at all. Since Zhang Ming had taken the initiative to contact him, it meant the other party had most likely already compromised.

Xu Yuan’s bluff had worked.

“The document sent by President Ye should be an estimate of the future of character animation.

To be honest, it’s quite shocking! Like something out of a sci-fi movie,” Zhang Ming was still testing Ye Hao.

The data in the file roughly revolves around the estimated performance of Character Jump.

Zhang Ming is now eager to know whether losing the investments from Ye Hao and Xu Yuan would create a strong competitor for Character Jump.

“No one can predict the future; in the information age, anything is possible.”

Back in the day, smartphones were just science fiction during the era of pagers.

Even if there are no apples, there will be pineapples, right, President Zhang?

There was a strong warning implied in Ye Hao’s words. The fluctuating characters were not the only option; he wanted Zhang Ming to guess whether this Schrödinger company could actually exist.

On the phone, Zhang Ming fell silent. After a long moment of thought, he finally spoke slowly, “Alright, President Ye, you win.

President Ye, we can renegotiate the terms between us.”

The market is ever-changing. Although Xu Yuan’s document is rough and doesn’t resemble a formal strategic plan, many of the ideas within it could be effective if implemented by professionals.

Zhang Ming also couldn’t guarantee that Character Jump would outperform its competitors in the future market.

If that’s the case, it would be better to become friends and eliminate these potential risks.

“President Zhang, this is a win-win situation for both of us. I hope we can reach a cooperation this time.”

Ye Hao laughed; Xu Yuan’s Schrödinger company had successfully secured Zhang Ming.

  ……

“Really delicious, sorry, Bunny, it’s all because you’re just too tasty!” Ye Sisi said with a pained expression while showing off how good it tasted.

At first, Ye Sisi was firmly against eating, but Xu Yuan and Li Xinran were enjoying it so much, plus she was already a bit hungry.

Finally, Pandora’s box was opened, and things quickly spiraled out of control. Ye Sisi was eating so messily that her mouth was dripping with oil.

“Don’t get your hair in your mouth,” Xu Yuan reminded, still brushing Li Xinran’s hair up.

Just then, Ye Hao suddenly received a call.

Xu Yuan reluctantly put down the half-eaten rabbit head.

“Hello.”

“Where is President Xu now? I’ll come pick you up right away. Zhang Ming finally gave in; your bluff worked.” Ye Hao was in a good mood, and it was evident from the tone of his voice.

Xu Yuan was not surprised that Ye Hao could see through his bluff, and Zhang Ming probably knew too, but neither dared to risk that one slim chance.

“Alright, I’ll send you my location in a bit.” A smile involuntarily spread across Xu Yuan’s face. If this deal went through, he could just sit back and collect the money from now on.

Ye Sisi, who was proudly showing off the rabbit head, seemed to hear her father’s voice faintly through the weak phone signal, and she slightly furrowed her brows.
An hour later, Li Xinran rubbed her slightly swollen belly with satisfaction.

The three stood at the shop entrance as Ye Hao’s luxury car, worth millions, slowly approached from a distance.

Seeing Ye Hao’s car, Ye Sisi immediately became a bit anxious.

Xu Yuan and Ye Hao must be collaborating! If that’s the case, wouldn’t Xu Yuan be the elder?
“Sisi?” Ye Hao got out of the car and, seeing his daughter was also there, nervously scratched his nose.

Xu Yuan didn’t understand why Ye Sisi was so opposed to him working with Ye Hao, but Ye Hao, as her father, certainly knew.

“Hello, Uncle Ye.” Li Xinran greeted politely.

Ye Hao also smiled and nodded.

“Dad, I would never call Uncle Xu Yuan no matter what!” Ye Sisi said firmly, crossing her hands in a big X.

“Ah?” Xu Yuan was a bit stunned, looking at Ye Sisi with some confusion.

How is this girl’s way of thinking so hard to understand? Who told her to call him uncle?

Ye Hao also shook his head. When will Ye Sisi truly grow up?

“Who told you to call Xu Yuan uncle? That would just mess everything up. What are you thinking in that head of yours?” Ye Hao couldn’t help but firmly tap Ye Sisi on the forehead.

In the past, his business partners were about the same age as him, so it was only natural for Ye Sisi to call them “uncle.” But Xu Yuan was so much older than him, and Ye Sisi still blindly put herself in his shoes—what a silly head.

“Let’s send them back to school first. Zhang Ming has voluntarily asked to negotiate once more,” Ye Hao said, looking at Xu Yuan, his eyes involuntarily filled with admiration.

This time, Xu Yuan could be said to have secured the greatest benefit.

“Good!”

  ……

After sending Li Xinran and Ye Sisi back to school, Ye Hao immediately instructed the driver to head to the company.

This time, their negotiation didn’t take place at the Forbidden City. Zhang Ming seemed a bit impatient and brought the contract directly.

“President Xu really has guts. If Zhang Ming doesn’t care about that document, we’ll end up looking like a joke.”

Ye Hao said with some emotion, Xu Yuan’s plans in the documents were truly far-fetched, more like a joke.

“If Zhang Ming is just a joke, then why don’t we consider the demands he made? Does President Ye still care about face?” Xu Yuan chuckled lightly and said.

Ye Hao also smiled at this, Xu Yuan wasn’t wrong.

When it comes to business, one moment you might be arguing heatedly, and the next you could be shaking hands and as close as family.

All emotions are less important than interests.

“What terms do you plan to propose this time?”

“President Ye already has a plan in mind, why ask me?” Xu Yuan said calmly.

Longhua is such a huge commercial machine; Ye Hao has probably already made the most reasonable assessment.

“Talking to you is really pointless, but I want to know if the things in your plan are true?” Ye Hao was very curious about how Xu Yuan came up with those ideas.
Although they were wildly imaginative, the descriptions were as if they were real.

“Time will tell, President Ye. For now, Zhang Ming believes it. Not completely, but at least more than 50%.”

The story Xu Yuan told Zhang Ming was understandable to him, which also indicated that the character dynamics could indeed develop to such a scale in the future—it was no accident.

Ye Hao nodded. Even if Xu Yuan now assured him that those things would definitely happen in the future, he probably still wouldn’t believe it.

There’s no such thing as 100% success in business investment; risk and opportunity always coexist.

  ……

After three hours of renegotiation, they spent another two hours revising and finalizing the contract.

In the end, both parties reached an agreement.

The new company invested 117 million yuan, holding 35% of the shares. In addition, Zhang Ming requested that Xu Yuan’s document be classified as top secret.

Ye Hao and Xu Yuan added the condition that each be granted 7% of the dry shares, with specific profit sharing detached from the new company.

Longhua opened up a series of resources such as commercial channels for Character Jumping, and besides the initial fee, an annual channel fee of 25% must be paid thereafter.

This negotiation made Ye Hao the biggest winner. After all, Longhua belonged to him, and all channel resources and the new company were unrelated; Xu Yuan would not benefit from this.

“Pleasure doing business!”

The three took turns shaking hands, all smiling happily. However, Zhang Ming probably wasn’t truly happy; if he had known, he might as well have agreed early that day.

He wouldn’t have had to pay a higher price like today.

After seeing Zhang Ming off, it was already past two in the morning.

Ye Hao was also a bit tired, sitting in the boss chair rubbing his temples. Xu Yuan sat by the window, smoking a cigarette.

“Today is worth celebrating. I have two bottles of good wine here, shall we have some?” Ye Hao took out two unlabeled bottles of red wine from his private wine cabinet.

Not sure which winery they were from, but they were definitely not cheap.

“President Ye, since you’ve finished talking with Zhang Ming, shouldn’t we have a talk as well?” Xu Yuan smiled at Ye Hao.

Businessmen never rise early without profit; after all the effort he put in for Ye Hao this time, he should expect some return.

  ……