Time Travel: The Queen's Coronation

During my internship in the US, I was inspired to develop an algorithm with Rong Zixuan. This algorithm has been continuously refined and refined. An internet company has already made an offer to buy it, and I'm considering which company to sell it to.

"Are you busy?"

When I was revising the manuscript, I received a message from Li Zhanwen.

"Editing the manuscript"

“I heard you have an algorithm for sale.”

"Yes"

"do you have time tomorrow"

"What's wrong"

"My brother wants to buy your algorithm and wants to ask you out to talk. Is that okay?"

"let me consider it"

"Have you already promised another company?"

"no"

"Does that mean our sincerity isn't enough? We still need to consider just talking about it."

“Uh, not really.”

"Are you afraid your boyfriend will misunderstand?"

"Not really, I already made it clear to him last time."

"So, do you have any concerns?"

"It's just too cold outside and I don't want to go out." I just wanted to create a condescending feeling that my algorithm was very popular and I had to consider it if someone wanted to discuss it with me. I never expected Li Zhanwen to keep asking me, so I had to find an excuse to get away with it.

"Then we'll go find you near Jinghua."

"also"

"Then I'll let you know when I've booked a place later."

"it is good"

I had hoped to seize the initiative, but he ultimately led me by the nose. He even decided the time and location. I'll have to learn more negotiation skills in the future; more skills are always better. I'm not a good talker. In previous negotiations, I'd always agreed with Rong Zixuan in advance and asked him to go along as a spokesperson, and this time was no exception. When he heard the other party was Li Zhanwen, he became even more motivated, as if he was going to devour Li Zhanwen.

The next day, we arrived at the agreed-upon location, a cafe near Jinghua. They'd booked the place for better negotiation and to prevent interruptions. I entered cautiously, while Rong Zixuan strode ahead of me. Upon seeing us, everyone stood up. A middle-aged man approached us, extending his hand. Rong Zixuan reached out and shook his. We shook hands with everyone present, then sat down to begin our negotiations.

Li Zhanwen spoke first. "Let me introduce you. This is my third brother, Li Xiaowen. This is our representative lawyer, Fang Zhijian. And these three are our executives, Liu Cheng, Jing Ping, and Zhao Tianyu, who are also participating in our negotiations."

Rong Zixuan then spoke on our behalf, "Okay. My name is Rong Zixuan, and she is Wei Qing. This algorithm is the work of both of us. Tell me, what's your offer?"

Rong Zixuan's direct question about the price right from the start surprised me. Although neither of us had much negotiation experience, the previous attempts had been relatively normal. This time, however, seemed unbelievable. The people present were likely seasoned negotiators. Seeing Rong Zixuan's quick revelation, they exchanged smiles, their eyes seemingly saying, "He's a naive young man, completely unafraid."

Li Xiaowen smiled and said, "Mr. Rong, you are very straightforward. Then I will not beat around the bush. We offer 10 million US dollars."

Rong Zixuan and I looked at each other because this was the highest price at the moment, but we remained calm.

"Do you have any requests?" Rong Zixuan picked up the coffee on the table and tasted it.

"The requirements are not many. We just want you to help us install this algorithm into our company's system, and provide after-sales service for a certain period of time. Then our contract has been drafted, please take a look," and the person behind took out a contract from his bag and handed it over.

Rong Zixuan took the contract, and I leaned over to read the terms. "Oh, let's go back and study it. Are these the only two requirements?"

“Also, I hope you can provide some training to our engineers and explain the principles of this algorithm.”

"This will cost a premium. Explaining our principle is like selling a formula."

“But if you don’t tell us the principles, we won’t be able to adjust it according to the system.”

“Isn’t there after-sales service?”

"But after-sales service also has a time limit. What we hope is that you can teach us the principles of this algorithm. Our engineers can then modify, develop and upgrade it on their own after understanding the principles."

"That's going to cost more. We're selling products now. If you want to buy our formula and research and upgrade it yourself, you can sell products later and become a competitor. That's a trap for us."

"That's not the case. How much do you want to increase the price?"

“How much can you add?”

The other party discussed in low voices for a while.

"What if we buy it out? Can you give us the complete set of principles?"

Rong Zixuan was speechless for a moment, so I took over, "We need to go back and discuss it. We can't come up with a conclusion in such a short time."

"Okay, then we look forward to your good news." After saying that, he stood up and stretched out his hand. We stood up as well, shook hands, and left first.

After walking a distance out of the cafe, "Zixuan, what's wrong with you today? Why are you so blunt?"

"I want to see if they are sincere, so I have to use the most unexpected method to kill them by surprise."

"Is that so? I thought you were deliberately trying to make things difficult for Li Zhanwen."

"Tsk, I don't take a little Li Zhanwen seriously," he said, then put his arms around my neck and held me in his arms.

"Do you think we should buy them out?"

"I'll listen to you"

“Can’t you give me some advice?”

“I don’t like to think about business matters, I just want to write code.”

"Okay, you're a straight guy from a science and engineering university."

"You're straight, so be it. You're my wife anyway."

We returned to school, laughing and talking all the way. Every day after that, Li Zhanwen kept asking about the outcome, but I hadn't yet decided. But every day, I'd tell him a condition, asking him to let his brother know if he was okay with it or if we could negotiate. We went back and forth, negotiating on-site and over the phone dozens of times. Finally, before we went home for the holidays, we signed the contract. The final price was $300 million, a staggering sum in our local currency. Rong Zixuan and I were overjoyed.

After signing the contract, we went to eat a famous roast duck restaurant. We used to despise its price, but now that we have some money, we decided to give it a try, as a way to reward ourselves for all our hard work. However, after eating this roast duck, I felt it wasn't much better than the smaller restaurants out there. It was more expensive and the portions were smaller. The only difference was the presentation and the restaurant was a bit bigger, but otherwise, there was nothing special. And the meal cost over 2,000 yuan. That's a lot of hot pot meals. I'd better not do something this costly anymore. Even though I have money, I can't spend it recklessly. Money doesn't just come out of thin air.