Reborn in the red age

Li Qingfeng did not pay attention to Xu Wangyuan's flattery. Instead, he frowned, thinking about something, and his fingers tapped the table unconsciously.

Fang Wanzhen, who was standing by, saw Li Qingfeng closing his eyes in thought and couldn't help but ask, "Chairman, is there any technical difficulty in implementing the point card model?"

Most of the people in the conference room have a technical background. Even if they have switched to management, they still pay attention to technological developments.

Li Qingfeng didn't need to answer this question, as someone soon explained it to Fang Wanzhen.

"The point card mentioned by the chairman is not difficult to implement technically. We just need to add a timing system."

"The only difficulty is in-game purchases, which require real-time feedback from the system. But it's not a big problem, and our department is confident that we can do it within a month."

Fang Wanzhen, who had gotten the answer from her subordinates, looked at Li Qingfeng, who was still frowning, in confusion, not understanding why his expression suddenly changed.

Noticing everyone's stares at him, Qingfeng Li stopped what he was doing and said slowly, "I'm not worried about the technical issues. I'm thinking about how to solve the point card channel issue."

"Chairman, you don't have to worry about this. Our Lemon Company's sales channels are all over the world. Once the game is developed, we can fully rely on our sales channels to fully roll out the point cards."

Xu Wangyuan had carefully studied the operational model of the game after it went online, and had a general understanding of the resources that could be mobilized. As soon as Li Qingfeng finished speaking, he immediately took up the conversation.

After listening to Xu Wangyuan's words, Li Qingfeng slowly shook his head: "Point cards are consumables. If the props in the game are settled with point cards, the consumption of point cards will be even greater."

At this point, Qingfeng Li paused, and then turned to the crowd and said, "If the point cards start to be distributed, what discount will we give to channel dealers? 50% off? Or 40% off?"

"Taking into account our development costs and operating costs, our final profit may be less than 30%. If the company wants to make more profit, the channel partners must bypass us."

Lemon Company has an international presence and has cooperative sales channels in every country, with a sales network covering the globe.

However, these channels are not operated by Lemon Company itself, and commissions need to be paid to local channel dealers for selling products.

A point card worth 100 yuan is sold to distributors in small countries at 60 yuan, which is a 40% discount.

But in a huge consumer market like North America, a 100-yuan point card is sold to channel dealers for 50 yuan, or even 45 yuan.

The point card model is indeed the profit model for games in this era, but the commission rate of various channel dealers is too high, which Li Qingfeng cannot accept.

After Li Qingfeng finished speaking, the conference room fell into silence. No matter what everyone was thinking, they all looked thoughtful.

Others could remain silent, but Xu Wangyuan, as the director of the electronic game department, had to speak up.

Looking around, Xu Wangyuan carefully retorted: "Chairman, but if we want to continue operating the game, distributors are a hurdle we cannot avoid. If there are no distributors, how can we sell our point cards?"

"What a joke! Who says we can't avoid distributors? Without Zhang the butcher, do we have to eat hairy pigs?" Li Qingfeng's eyes narrowed, and he spoke with determination.

Everyone in the conference room was shocked by Qingfeng Li's sudden momentum. For a moment, they were silent and their breathing slowed down a bit.

Li Qingfeng straightened up slightly, slowed down his tone and continued: "We can't always be led by the nose by the channel dealers. They charge a high commission rate, so we will look for new sales channels."

Xu Wangyuan opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but didn't know where to start.

Glancing at the silent crowd, Li Qingfeng expressed his thoughts: "Is it possible for us to put the point cards on our website for trading?"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone in the conference room looked at each other in astonishment, shocked beyond words by Qingfeng Li's bold and unconventional idea.

After they realized what was happening, people around them began to discuss in low voices.

Fang Wanzhen was the first to break the silence: "Chairman, it is indeed a bold idea to sell point cards on the website, but how can we receive the money from users? We can't ask users to remit money to us, right?"

"Why can't users remit money to us?" Li Qingfeng asked in return.

As he spoke, Qingfeng Li took out his wallet from his jacket pocket and waved it at everyone: "I call the Internet online, and I call real life offline. Since there are wallets offline, why can't there be wallets online?"

"Online wallet? How to solve the security problem? Can users safely put their money online?"

Facing this question, Li Qingfeng said calmly: "Security is indeed a key issue, but don't worry too much for now. We have the world's strongest technical team, and it shouldn't be a problem to develop a transaction system from encryption technology to multiple verifications."

"In addition, online wallets are currently mainly used to facilitate users to purchase point cards online. These are small transactions, with each transaction costing only 10 or 20 dollars. Families who can afford a computer and use it to play games probably won't care too much about 10 or 20 dollars, right?"

Everyone in the conference room fell into deep thought. Some nodded slightly, but others still looked worried.

After all, online wallets and online payments, this novel transaction method proposed by Li Qingfeng, has exceeded everyone's cognition.

After hesitating for a long time, Xu Wangyuan asked a question: "Chairman, even if we solve the security problem, how can we make users accept online wallets and be willing to use them to purchase point cards?"

"It is simpler to solve this problem. We sell our point cards offline first, and then open online purchase channels after the game has a certain degree of popularity. On the day of the launch, we can do some preferential activities, such as giving away as much as you recharge for the first time."

As Qingfeng Li spoke, everyone's eyes became brighter and brighter, and the atmosphere in the conference room gradually became heated. Everyone realized the benefits of online wallets.

Currently it is only used as a point of sale card, but can it be used to sell other things in the future? For example, operating systems, various office software and all network software?

As technology becomes more and more sophisticated and the payment security of wallets is guaranteed, can online wallets replace cash payments and become wallets in the true sense?
After thinking about this, everyone took a deep breath, not daring to think about it any further, and began to actively discuss the specific implementation plan of the online wallet.

Looking at the eager eyes of the crowd, Li Qingfeng simply summoned all the company's executives to the top-floor conference room for a project seminar.

After a whole day of discussion, everyone in Lemon Company reached a consensus that the online wallet project was very promising and that they had to quickly mobilize people to start it without wasting a moment.

The technical staff who had already prepared for the Spring Festival holiday received a sudden notice before leaving get off work that the Spring Festival holiday was cancelled and all employees had to stay in the company to work overtime.

After receiving this temporary notice, there was a lot of wailing inside the company, complaining that the company was inhumane and had to make trouble during the Chinese New Year. However, after receiving the subsequent overtime subsidy standards, the complaints disappeared instantly, replaced by a kind of eagerness to try, shouting the slogan that the company is my home.

I patted my chest and said that there was no point in going home for the New Year, and it would be more lively to celebrate the New Year together in the big family of the company.

After all, the company gave too much.
In addition to triple wages, there is also an overtime allowance of HK$1,000 per day. After the project is completed, there is a ten-day paid vacation for family members, and all expenses are covered by the company.

With such rewards, technicians said it is hard not to work hard for the company.

Looking at the employees who started working overtime that night, Li Qingfeng nodded with satisfaction.

Not bad, not bad. Although I can’t go home for the New Year, it’s still quite lively here in the company with everyone around me.

Returning to the little hybrid's apartment, Li Qingfeng stopped the little hybrid who was enthusiastically packing for the Spring Festival vacation and informed him that he would have to work overtime at the company during the New Year.

"What? Didn't we agree to go on vacation together during the New Year? Why do we have to work overtime at the company again?" Upon hearing the news that the vacation was cancelled, the little mixed-blood sat on the bed and said dissatisfiedly.

Looking at the petty mixed-blood, Qingfeng Li said with a smile: "It's just a vacation. The company only said that we have to work overtime during the New Year, but it didn't say that the vacation is cancelled. We can still take this vacation."

"Really?"

"Of course it's true, but I can't go that far, I can only play around Hong Kong."

"The area around Hong Kong is also good. East Timor and Vietnam nearby are also good."

Looking at the little mixed-blood who was counting on his fingers where they were going to play, Qingfeng Li smacked his lips, thinking that he might have misunderstood, so he explained the vacation area again: "The surrounding areas of Hong Kong I mentioned are the surrounding areas of Hong Kong, not the Southeast Asian countries you mentioned."

After hearing what Li Qingfeng said, the little mixed-blood boy was stunned for a moment. After he reacted, he stretched out his hand in disbelief and drew a circle: "The surrounding area you are talking about is the small island near Xiangjiang?"

"Yes, you understand it very well. We can go to a place where we can return on the same day. After all, the company's employees are working overtime. As the chairman and initiator of the project, I can't go home for the New Year alone, right?"

"."

The little mixed-blood angrily accepted the vacation range proposed by Li Qingfeng. At night, he attacked in anger and almost broke his waist.

Li Qingfeng, who had been exhausted at night, went to the Chinese medicine clinic in person the next day wearing a mask. He got a prescription for health care from an old Chinese doctor and decided not to go home if he needed to work overtime at night.

Under the personal leadership of Li Qingfeng, the company's project progressed rapidly, and after the Spring Festival, the framework of the online wallet was set up.

In Li Qingfeng's plan, the initial online wallet was just a simple transaction system, without complex functions like binding a bank card, and the specific recharge process was still very primitive.

The user's recharge method is to transfer money. After obtaining the transfer receipt, upload the order number to the system. After the system has reviewed it, the account balance will be displayed in the wallet.

The same process is followed for cash withdrawals. A bank account is provided to apply for a cash withdrawal. Once the application is reviewed and approved, the receiving bank will transfer the funds to the bank card provided by the other party.

The recharge fee is borne by Lemon Company, but the withdrawal fee is borne by the user.

Of course, the withdrawal function will not be opened for the time being. It will only be officially launched after the validity period of the gift coins ends.

The progress of the game has also been accelerated a lot, and it is expected that online testing can start in two months.

After the Lantern Festival, Li Qingfeng did not return to Sijiu City. After calling Hu Jiabao and confirming that the three of them had returned to Sijiu City, Li Qingfeng continued to devote himself to his work.

The online payment project was so important that Qingfeng Li would feel uneasy if he didn't keep an eye on it the whole time.

"Chairman, HSBC is very interested in our online payment project and is willing to cooperate with our company to undertake global online payment business. We would like to invite you to dinner tonight. Do you want to go?"

Just before the end of the get off work day, Fang Wanzhen found Li Qingfeng and reported to him about her contact with the bank.

After hearing Fang Wanzhen's report, Qingfeng Li stopped what he was doing and sneered, "Global online payment business? HSBC is really bragging. HSBC can't take over the world's largest market, America."

"Although HSBC is not well accepted in the United States, it still has extensive branches around the world, and HSBC still has certain strength in the United States. It is more than enough to undertake our small-value payment business, and it is not an exaggeration to undertake the global online payment business," Fang Wanzhen said with a smile.

Qingfeng Li nodded: "What did Citibank say? What do they think of our project?"

In Li Qingfeng's mind, neither HSBC nor Standard Chartered in Hong Kong are the best partners.

The best partner is JPMorgan Chase in the United States. With the support of Citibank's resources, the online wallet business can be successfully launched in the United States and even the world in the early stages.

Neither HSBC nor Standard Chartered has this ability.

“Citibank is in contact and is optimistic about this project, but has not given a correct response.”

Li Qingfeng nodded in understanding, said nothing, and continued to look down at the documents in his hand.

Seeing that Li Qingfeng did not give any instructions, Fang Wanzhen reminded him, "Chairman, HSBC wants to invite you to dinner tonight, what do you think?"

"Just say I'm busy and you go in my place. Keep the other party stable first. If Citibank has no intention of cooperating with us, we can then consider HSBC," Li Qingfeng said calmly without even raising his head.

In April, the electronic game department's first large-scale online game, which had been in development for nearly a year, was officially completed and successfully passed the test, meeting the requirements for online launch.

Li Qingfeng tried the game himself and found it quite good. The game is very playable and has the potential to become a huge hit.

At the same time, news came that Citibank was willing to serve as the online wallet's successor bank and work with Lemon Company to promote global online payment business. (End of this chapter)