Chapter 41

Chapter 42

The new-concept home electronic pet software With You, launched on December 26, achieved the first sales miracle in PS software history thanks to SCE's aggressive publicity. By the end of December, only 220,000 PS consoles had been sold, yet software sales had reached an astonishing 120,000 copies. SCE's confidence soared, and it began vigorously promoting the portable version of With You.

Only then did the Japanese public learn that China had a software company called Sun Electronics.

The Japanese side kept laughing throughout its phone call with Liu Mingyao. SCE hoped Sun Electronics would consider what it called further cooperation. Essentially, this meant becoming a powerful ally beyond the status of a third-party software developer, sharing many resources with SCE and, when cash flow ran tight, applying through SCE for financial assistance from the parent company.

For the insular Japanese, these terms were already extremely generous. Even EA, the world's leading software giant back then, had never received such treatment.

I knew what was going on. Kuta saw the development potential of electronic pets. Done well, this thing's financial prospects wouldn't just be fairly good-they would definitely be tremendous. Back then, electronic pets had been airlifted into Europe and sold better than marijuana, while Nintendo had used Pokémon, which sold over twenty-six million copies, to revive a handheld console on the verge of death and turn its own fortunes around in the process. Clearly, after 1995, the portable gaming market would trend toward limitless growth, just like the mobile phone industry.

Naturally, SCE didn't want to miss this opportunity. We had applied for a patent for With You before even porting it, and had already registered a patent in China before that. Sun Electronics was now the big shot holding a money tree, and SCE had to bring it into the alliance, even if that meant putting on a fawning smile.

For a time, Liu Mingyao basked in unparalleled glory. Industry giant Sony wanted to work with him! Even Square, Japan's leading software developer, had never enjoyed such prestige. As one gaming magazine put it, "Now this is what it means to make China proud." It left several companies claiming to develop first-rate domestic games too embarrassed to keep publishing puff pieces in magazines praising their own products.

The more smugly Liu Mingyao smiled, the worse my headache became.

Damn it... all the heavy software development work lands on me. Every day, I rack my brains planning his next generation of products, and I have to account for technological advances too, so the games can stay about six months ahead of current technology and gradually demonstrate their staying power over those six months of marketing.

On New Year's Day, I invited Yang Yuanzhe, Ge Jinqiu, and Guo Zhen out for a meal. I couldn't be the only poor bastard doing all the work. I had to drag a few others into it.

Yang Yuanzhe and Ge Jinqiu had seen how busy I'd been lately, practically wishing I could split myself into four or turn into the thousand-armed Guanyin, and knew nothing good would come of my invitation. Still, we were brothers. Even knowing it was a trap disguised as a banquet, both arrived looking perfectly composed.

Guo Zhen was twenty minutes late. He explained, "Sorry, I just saw off someone from Nanshan City who came to make friends through martial arts."

I rolled my eyes. "How'd it go?"

Guo Zhen sat down and poured himself some liquor. "I gave him a stretcher."

We all laughed, and I laughed hardest. This Guo Zhen was becoming more and more like the Guo Zhen I'd known before.

Once all the dishes had arrived, Yang Yuanzhe raised his glass and made a round of clasped-hand greetings. "Gentlemen, a new year. May everything go smoothly, and may we all find our proper places."

I raised my glass and drained it. "Well said. We should all find our proper places."

"All right, cut the act," Yang Yuanzhe said, setting down his glass. "Tell us. What did you want us for?"

I crossed my legs and said leisurely, "The time has come to put you to the test, comrades..."

Ge Jinqiu glanced at me. "Out with it. Quit keeping us in suspense."

Grinning, I answered with an unrelated question. "Have you played that new With You?"

All three nodded. "Yeah. Pretty good."

Guo Zhen knew the truth and smiled without saying anything. His expression left Yang Yuanzhe looking a little puzzled. "Say, Xingwen, that... that electronic pet wouldn't have anything to do with you, would it?"

I smiled and nodded.

Yang and Ge reacted quickly, grabbing my neck one after the other. "You little bastard, you really kept this under wraps! You didn't tell us until you were already selling the damn thing in Japan! We'll kill you!"

With one fat man and one thin man choking me, I couldn't get a word out. Only after struggling for ages did I recover enough to speak. "Cough, cough... brothers, don't, don't... I'll, I'll confess, all right...? I... I'm... terrified of torture..."

The two nearly choked me to death before letting go. Guo Zhen stood off to one side with his arms folded, watching the show without intervening. Only after I'd been released did he hand me some water. "So, planning to find us some work?"

I pulled several sheets of paper from the schoolbag I'd brought along. "I can't explain it clearly. Take a look at this."

Their attention shifted from my flushed face and neck to the sheets of paper. Yang Yuanzhe read the heading first. "New Voyage Chronicles development proposal?"

I nodded. "Do you understand it?"

"No."

"..."

I had no choice but to explain from the beginning. "Well, to be honest, you could say I came up with that electronic pet game... Do you have to look so surprised? Put your mind to it and you can come up with portable things like that. You could do it too; you just don't have the means to make the game. Now I have an idea for a new game, and a technical team that can bring all kinds of ideas to life. Interested in taking part?"

Guo Zhen wasn't particularly surprised. Yang Yuanzhe and Ge Jinqiu each punched me. "Damn it, why didn't you say so sooner? How could you leave us out of something this good?"

I clutched my chest, acting as though I were in unbearable agony. "I'm telling you now, aren't I...? Have you two trained in Iron Palm? That was vicious..."

"We can't go easy on a rich landlord press-ganging workers," Yang Yuanzhe said, punching me again. "Tell us. What do you want us to do?"

I said, "My idea is to make a game people can keep pouring themselves into endlessly. The overall framework can be close to the concept behind Uncharted Waters: a real-world map, with all the famous sights and historical sites included. The setting would still be around 1560, much like Uncharted Waters, with trading and adventure elements. I want you to distill as many good elements as possible from the RPGs you've played and add more progression elements. The problem with Uncharted Waters is that there isn't much to strive for later on, and accumulating wealth is too easy. What I want to improve are the item collection and progression systems. Can you give me a complete proposal?"

Yang Yuanzhe studied my draft with his head lowered for a long while, then looked up and asked, "Would... would this count as plagiarism?"

"Yes." I nodded. "But we just need to make it better than theirs. We're making an RPG-plus-SLG game. To put it in your terms, every element in this game is part of the world's shared heritage. Why should others be allowed to use them, but not us?"

"Well said," Ge Jinqiu said. "Let's give it a try, then..."

Yang Yuanzhe nodded casually. "How detailed?"

"As detailed as possible," I said. "Every detail, every element's design, everything involving numerical values, what systems should be added, what items there should be. Tell me what reference materials you need. As long as it isn't something hidden away in the British Royal Library, I should be able to get it for you. I want a detailed, complete, captivating world. Think you can do it?"

Yang Yuanzhe looked at me for a long time, then sighed. "Fuck."

I raised my eyebrows. "What?"

"I won't have time to play games!"

We all laughed.

Before leaving, I gave Yang Yuanzhe a deadline. "Get it done before Spring Festival. I'll have Sun Electronics pay you at the senior planning supervisor rate: eight thousand a month."

Leaving Yang Yuanzhe and Ge Jinqiu to discuss where to start, Guo Zhen and I hurried off to Lu Wei's office as though rushing between engagements.

Before New Year's Day, Sun Electric Appliance City had begun scouting locations for branches in nearby cities. I had told Lu Wei to count this directly as property investment. This charming little beauty was now run ragged too, but she rarely complained to anyone. She was the quietly effective sort of capable person.

Business at Electronics City was excellent now. Chinese consumers were becoming increasingly conscious of buying electrical appliances, more people had money, and adding new appliances for the New Year had become fashionable. Guo Zhen and I once again experienced the power of a sea of people, making it into Lu Wei's office in a thoroughly bedraggled state.

Inside, Zhang Xiaotong was looking down at the annual financial statements, with Lu Wei sitting beside her. They still looked like sisters, except Zhang Xiaotong seemed a little more mature, while Lu Wei hadn't changed at all.

"Hello, beauties."

Seeing me arrive, Zhang Xiaotong put down the statements and came over to give my hand a welcoming squeeze. "Have a good meal?"

"Not bad," I said. "Why are you two beauties working overtime on New Year's Day?"

Lu Wei smiled faintly. "There's nothing much to do at home anyway. High pay, hard work. It's only right."

Lu Wei certainly knew what to say. I turned to look at Zhang Xiaotong. She really is beautiful...

"Did Handsome Liu and Beautiful Cai call today?"

"Yes." Lu Wei opened her memo book and looked through it. "The Japanese side is still insisting that we join their PS project. Liu Mingyao wants you to help make the decision. The school renovations in Sichuan and Anhui are basically finished, and they can open after Spring Festival."

"How about the teaching staff?"

"We found as many good retired teachers as we could, along with some newcomers. Cai Qing is making adjustments. Staffing shouldn't be a problem."

"Cost quite a bit, didn't it?"

Lu Wei opened another folder. "The two schools together cost about twenty-three million. Monthly expenses afterward are projected to exceed eight hundred thousand."

I scratched my head. "So if there's no income, we'll lose ten million a year?"

Lu Wei smiled at me. "That appears to be the case."

"Then there's no problem," I said. "We can afford to lose ten million a year. We've been making yen hand over fist lately. Sales in Europe should be starting soon too, right?"

"Liu Mingyao plans to launch the first-generation Electronic Pet in Europe before Spring Festival, followed by With You three months later," Zhang Xiaotong said beside me. "You're awful, selling people outdated things."

"They're happy to buy them." I glanced at Guo Zhen and grinned. "We've been buying foreign junk for years. Now it's our turn. Besides, we're not the only ones doing this. Look at the Japanese. They wait until their own country is sick of their games before selling them to Europe and America. Europe and America swallow huge quantities of reheated leftovers every year, but don't they still eagerly chase after Japanese games?"

Thinking it over, that was exactly how it worked. As long as your product was good, nobody cared what country or period it came from. If it was useful enough to me, that was all that mattered. Most ordinary people thought that simply.

In the past, if the Boxers saw a household using foreign matches or candles, they killed the whole family. Times were different now. Using products from any country was legal. Most of the time, before complaining that others were dumping junk on you, it was best to ask whether your own national industries were measuring up.

Of course, this was also a vicious cycle. If even other people's second-rate goods were better than your own, dreaming of building an industry by funding its development through sales was wishful thinking. Without income or willing buyers, where would the money come from?

If we can sell abroad, we should sell abroad... I wondered whether I should establish another subsidiary and head overseas under the banner of a joint venture. That would save a lot of intermediate steps.

But I'd brought Guo Zhen here today for something else, so that idea could wait. "Sister Lu, I've brought Guozi here to beg you for food."

Lu Wei looked startled. "Beg for food?"

Guo Zhen was already very familiar with Lu Wei, so he began himself. "Sister Lu, we want a shipment of light industrial goods and food to resell in Russia."

Lu Wei looked a little confused. "Light industrial goods and food?"

I nodded firmly. "Yes."

"You're planning to..." Lu Wei was beginning to understand.

I smiled. "We want to trade for some military supplies and do a little dealing."

Guo Zhen smiled too. He knew Third Brother was about to get busy.