The Shanghai Youth Venture Capital event Wang Weidong had mentioned was being held at the Shanghai Innovation Park.
Xu Ye had to change subway lines twice to get there.
There were quite a lot of people on site, and all manner of luxury cars parked outside. Besides young entrepreneurs and officials from within the system, events like this also invited a batch of investors to lend the occasion some weight.
This afternoon was mainly just a conference — officials would deliver long-winded speeches, then entrepreneur and investor representatives would take the stage for some impassioned remarks, and finally the highest-ranking official present would declare the event officially open.
Xu Ye walked to the entrance, handed his invitation to the security guard outside, and made it into the venue without trouble.
Not everyone had arrived yet; people stood around in clusters of three and five, chatting.
Xu Ye had intended to get to know a few people, but after approaching several and talking for a while, he found that seeing how young he was, none of them took him seriously. So he stopped pressing his warm face against cold backsides, found a seat in the very last row, and planned to sit a while and slip out once the conference started.
At 2:20, the host walked onstage to announce the conference was about to begin, asking all invited guests to be seated. Those who’d been standing quickly sat down.
With only five minutes left before the start—
“Hey man, is this seat taken?”
Someone suddenly tapped Xu Ye on the shoulder from behind. Xu Ye turned his head, froze for a moment, then immediately smiled. “It’s free.”
The man was about 180 centimeters tall and had to weigh at least two hundred jin — a big, heavy guy.
Xu Ye had felt he looked familiar at first glance. It was only once he’d sat down beside him that Xu Ye suddenly realized who it was, and asked in astonishment, “You’re PDD?”
Liu Mou looked equally surprised, and countered, “You know me?”
With that question, Xu Ye knew he hadn’t misidentified him.
This guy was a professional player of League of Legends, with the in-game ID “PDD,” which was what most people called him. He’d only retired this past June, and by now had probably already started streaming.
His luck was pretty good — in the years that followed, he’d thrive in the livestreaming industry, and once the “reverse smoking” and “I am a lewd pig” memes blew up, he’d become one of the biggest internet celebrities in streaming. [TL: PDD (刘谋) is a real figure — a former pro LoL player turned massively popular Chinese streamer, known for signature comedic bits and catchphrases that became widespread internet memes in the late 2010s.]
But right now, his fame wasn’t nearly that great. If you didn’t play League, hardly anyone would recognize him.
“I play League occasionally.”
“That explains it.”
Xu Ye was genuinely curious why a gamer would be attending an event like this, so he asked directly, “What brings you here?”
Liu Mou shrugged. “Came in place of my dad. Show my face and leave.”
“Same, same.”
Xu Ye only knew of the man and didn’t know much about him. After exchanging a few words, the two of them went back to their phones.
Once the conference began, Liu Mou raised his phone and took a few photos. The speaker onstage hadn’t been talking two minutes before he was already itching to leave.
Seeing him pull back his chair and rise, Xu Ye got up and followed.
The two of them, one after the other, had just stepped out of the venue—
“Liu Mou! Liu Mou~”
A clear voice called out beside Xu Ye. He didn’t pay it much attention at first, walking toward the road while looking at his phone…
A young man in jeans and a down jacket ran up to Liu Mou and walked alongside him, talking the whole way: “Our game picked up a lot of fans right when it launched. Monthly downloads have already passed a hundred thousand. Why don’t you give it a try, and then seriously reconsider investing in us—”
“Brother Cai, I really don’t understand investing. You’d have to go to my dad about that.”
“But you understand games. The game our company has made is completely different from anything on the market right now. Really — you’d know if you played it.”
“I genuinely don’t have time today.”
“Can you at least take a look?”
“Another day.”
Liu Mou walked ruthlessly to the curb, flagged down a taxi, got in, and before Cai Haoyu could finish his sentence, the taxi had already driven off.
Only then did Xu Ye look up at this man who’d suddenly appeared.
Seeing the worry written across his face, Xu Ye struck up a conversation. “Hello. Can I ask — which game were you talking about?”
Cai Haoyu glanced over at Xu Ye, sighed, and said, “Houkai Gakuen 2.” [TL: 《崩坏学园2》 — the second game from miHoYo, released in 2014. The Honkai franchise would go on to be enormously successful, and miHoYo would later become one of the largest game companies in the world.]
“Houkai Gakuen?!“
Xu Ye’s eyes went round, his face registering pure shock.
Seeing his reaction, Cai Haoyu asked curiously, “What is it?”
Xu Ye quickly shook his head, stepped forward, and said, “Could I take a look?”
Cai Haoyu handed over his phone without hesitation. Xu Ye took it, briefly looked over the visuals, then returned it, and hurriedly dug a business card out of his pocket and handed it over. “My name’s Xu Ye. This is my card. And you are?”
“Cai Haoyu.”
As he spoke, he likewise fished a card out of his pocket and handed it to Xu Ye.
After the exchange, both men looked down at what was printed on the cards — and both of their expressions registered a degree of shock.
What shocked Cai Haoyu was that someone this young was already the head of a company.
What shocked Xu Ye were the three characters on the card: miHoYo.
“Is there somewhere convenient we could talk? I’m very interested in your game.”
Had Xu Ye not produced that business card, Cai Haoyu would certainly have politely declined. But now, he agreed readily.
The two of them went to a Starbucks across the street.
Xu Ye ordered two lattes, and once they’d sat down in a corner, he said, “I overheard you talking to Liu Mou just now about investment?”
“That’s right. I approached his father before, but his father felt our company’s project had a single-track revenue model and questionable sustainability. So I wanted to talk to his son about it instead — after all, he’s a gamer.”
Xu Ye frowned. “Didn’t you just say the game’s download numbers were quite good?”
Cai Haoyu explained, “We spent a great deal on promotion. Downloads are good, but the distribution channels take a large cut. We’re seeking investment partly to prepare funding for our next project.”
Xu Ye fell silent for a moment, then said with great “sincerity”: “I’m very interested in your game. If I were inclined to invest in you, would you be willing to work together?”
Cai Haoyu paused a moment too, then smiled. “The amount of funding we need isn’t small.”
“How much do you want?”
“Five million.”
“For how much equity?”
“Eight percent.”
“I want ten percent. But I don’t need to participate in your company’s management. Meaning: if the company loses money, I absorb it. If the company makes money, all I want is the dividends.”
Cai Haoyu, born in 1987, was an engineering student — his speech had none of the usual roundabout maneuvering. “I have two other partners. I need to go back and discuss it with them. But whatever the outcome, I’ll call you back.”
“No problem.”
“Do you mind if I ask your age?”
Xu Ye smiled. “I just started university this year.”
Cai Haoyu blinked, then shook his head with a sigh of feeling. “I didn’t start my own company until the final year of my master’s. I never imagined someone would start one as a freshman.”
“I’ve just had good luck.”
“Have you played our game before?”
“Most of my time goes to work — I have very little leisure, so I can only say I’m familiar with it rather than having really played it. But I think you’ve opened up a new track in the gaming world. As long as you keep moving forward according to your own vision, you’re certain to shine brilliantly in the games industry in the future…”
Xu Ye held forth, speaking with color and conviction.
Listening to him, Cai Haoyu felt as though he’d suddenly found someone who truly understood him.
Meanwhile, Xu Ye was doing everything he could to suppress the heart hammering wildly in his chest!
(End of Chapter 155)