Chapter 118: The Beautiful QQ Spokesperson
Ma Huateng replied with ill-concealed excitement, "Our Penguin Company's shareholders have unanimously decided to agree to Mr. Lin's venture capital investment of 55.2 million chinese yuan to acquire 60% of our company's equity."
"That's great, cousin! Your financial crisis is finally resolved!" Ma Qiang exclaimed, clenching his fist.
Lin Lang, however, merely smiled faintly, exuding the aura of a big boss, as if everything was under his control.
Ma Huateng slightly bowed and proactively shook hands with Lin Lang, saying, "From now on, the development of Penguin Company and the success or failure of the Penguin QQ instant messaging software will all depend on Chairman Lin!"
Lin Lang politely stood up from his chair and shook hands with Ma Huateng, saying, "President Ma, you flatter me. Then, I wish us a pleasant cooperation in advance!"
Ma Qiang quickly took out his camera from his bag and said with a smile, "Come on, let me take a photo of you and Chairman Lin shaking hands as a souvenir."
"If your Penguin Company's Penguin QQ becomes popular in the future, I'll be the witness who introduced you to this cooperation. Look at the camera and say 'cheese' with me!"
Lin Lang and Ma Huateng maintained their handshake, looked at the camera together, and happily said "Cheese..."
"Click... click..."
Ma Qiang pressed the camera shutter several times in a row, capturing precious photos of Lin Lang's venture capital acquisition of Penguin Company and his successful cooperation with Ma Huateng on that day.
In the following years, after Penguin QQ exploded in popularity and became a national social software, this photo of Lin Lang and Ma Huateng, two business magnates, shaking hands, also became a widely circulated and extremely precious, out-of-print commemorative photo across the entire internet.
Skipping the tedious commercial acquisition contract negotiations.
The discussion between Ma Huateng and Lin Lang regarding the investment acquisition contract was a process of mutual pulling and striving for benefits. Both of them were extremely shrewd, each wanting to include several clauses in the venture capital acquisition agreement to protect their own interests.
AI Generates Original Penguin QQ
Or clauses that restrict the other party.
There were even hidden "word games," invisible Unfair Terms that secretly set traps for the other party.
However, because both Ma Huateng and Lin Lang were as cunning as monkeys, the final drafted "Penguin Internet Co., Ltd. Investment Agreement" contained clauses that only guaranteed the interests of both parties, making it a fair, just, legal, and reasonable venture capital business acquisition contract.
Rights and obligations of Party A and Party B.
Interests and distribution.
Tax burden.
Confidentiality obligations.
Withdrawal and liquidation.
Breach of contract compensation clauses.
Dispute resolution methods.
Other agreed clauses...
The agreement stipulated that the investor (Party A), Lin Lang, needed to transfer 55.2 million chinese yuan in two installments to the Shenzhen City Penguin Internet Co., Ltd. account.
The first payment was to be made within 48 hours after the investment contract was signed, with the amount being 30 million chinese yuan.
The final investment payment was to be made within seven working days after the first payment, with the remaining 25.2 million chinese yuan.
The contract was in duplicate.
Ma Huateng suggested, "Chairman Lin, do we need to hold a signing ceremony?!"
Lin Lang replied, "I don't care about those formalities or ritualistic things. Let's sign the contract now, and then you can just issue an online announcement."
Ma Huateng pushed up his glasses and said with a smile, "Okay, Chairman Lin. Then we'll handle this simply and efficiently, as a special case."
Ma Qiang prepared pens for the two of them.
The invested party, Penguin Internet Co., Ltd. (Party B's legal person), Ma Huateng, signed the investment acquisition agreement and affixed the company seal.
The investor (Party A), Lin Lang, signed the agreement and affixed his fingerprint.
The two exchanged contracts and signed again.
Finally, after both copies of the contract were signed by Party A, Lin Lang, and Party B, Ma Huateng, the contract immediately became effective. If either party reneged, they would face a huge penalty for breach of contract.
After shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries.
Ma Huateng tentatively asked, "Chairman Lin, the lease for Penguin headquarters in Shenzhen City expires next month. You require Penguin headquarters to move to Shanghai. Have you arranged a company office location?"
Lin Lang replied, "The company's office location has already been decided. It's at Commercial Office Building No. 88, Jingan Financial Street, Shanghai."
Ma Huateng couldn't hide his happiness when he heard this, saying, "That's excellent."
Lin Lang instructed, "Mr. Ma, this afternoon, take your cousin to see the new company office building. Make a list of the necessary company facilities and office supplies, and arrange for their procurement in advance."
Ma Qiang replied, "Yes, Chairman Lin."
Ma Huateng continued to ask, "Chairman Lin, the company's office building is arranged. For Penguin headquarters staff coming from Shenzhen to work in Shanghai, will you also resolve the accommodation issue?"
Lin Lang replied, "Just find your cousin, Ma Qiang. I invested in 90 apartments across three buildings in their Binjiang Haoge development. Currently, 89 of those apartments are vacant, which are perfect for employee dormitories."
Ma Huateng rubbed his palms together, unable to hide his joy, saying, "It's really different to start a business with a venture capital backer. Our Penguin headquarters can move to Shanghai to work without any worries at all!"
Lin Lang continued, "If 89 apartments aren't enough for employee dormitories, my classmate, Miss Mengyao, also has a building with 30 apartments in the Binjiang Haoge community. With just a word from me, you can directly get the keys and use them."
"Oh..."
Ma Huateng exclaimed, "Even Chairman Lin's female classmate is so capable. It seems Chairman Lin is truly a god of wealth!"
Ma Qiang said with a smile, "Cousin, you might not know, but Chairman Lin's female classmate is Zhou Mengyao, Asia's number one female racer."
Ma Huateng was shocked to hear this, saying, "You mean the very famous, fourth-generation rich young lady from the old Shanghai prominent family, the sweet and cool Motorcycle Goddess Zhou Mengyao, who is so popular online?"
Ma Qiang replied, "Exactly!"
Ma Huateng slapped his thigh after hearing this, unable to hide his excitement, saying, "Chairman Lin, I've always wanted to invite Motorcycle Goddess Zhou Mengyao to shoot an endorsement advertisement for Penguin QQ and release it on the internet to attract traffic."
"Because Penguin QQ's user base is mainly composed of students and young people, Motorcycle Goddess Zhou Mengyao's healthy image, which is fashionable yet sweet, not only exudes passionate positive energy but also has no scandals, making her deeply loved by a wide range of young fans."
"If we can invite Zhou Mengyao to be our Penguin QQ's spokesperson, it will definitely further expand Penguin QQ's popularity and influence on the internet."
Lin Lang said after hearing this, "That's a really good suggestion."
"Mengyao's sweet and cool Motorcycle Goddess image, if slightly re-packaged with a touch of anime style, would be a perfect match for Penguin QQ. Plus, with Mengyao recently breaking through to win the championship and becoming Asia's number one female racer, she brings her own traffic and popularity. Having her as Penguin QQ's spokesperson would be absolutely amazing!"
Ma Huateng continued, "A while ago, I even asked someone to inquire about Miss Zhou Mengyao's endorsement fee. The annual endorsement fee alone is 3.5 million chinese yuan, and signing for two years starts at 7 million chinese yuan. We simply couldn't afford it due to tight funds, so we were forced to give up on that idea."
Ma Qiang said with a smile, "Cousin, you couldn't afford Miss Mengyao to be Penguin QQ's spokesperson before, but now with Chairman Lin and Miss Mengyao's relationship, you can afford it."
Ma Huateng's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he tentatively asked, "Chairman Lin, given your classmate relationship with Miss Mengyao, what kind of discount can we get on the endorsement fee if our Penguin QQ invites her to be our spokesperson?"
Lin Lang replied, "A fractured discount."
Ma Huateng laughed after hearing this and pressed, "How much of a discount is a 'fractured discount'?"
Lin Lang smiled slightly and said, "Becoming our Penguin QQ's first-generation goddess spokesperson is also a win-win for Mengyao. I can't say exactly how much the 'fractured discount' will be, but it's best to spend less or no money at all."
Ma Huateng was astonished to hear this, "No money? Is it a friendship endorsement then?"
Ma Qiang winked and said, "Cousin, don't ask so many questions. Miss Mengyao is Chairman Lin's high school deskmate and his master's daughter. Isn't it better if she endorses your Penguin QQ out of friendship?"
"Cousin, why do you have to get to the bottom of everything?"
Ma Huateng scratched his head and gave an awkward laugh, saying, "Uh... I didn't expect Chairman Lin and Miss Mengyao to have such a deep friendship. It seems like the matter of our Penguin QQ inviting Miss Mengyao as a spokesperson is almost certainly settled, hehe..."
"Even if I, Lin Lang, use personal connections to get Mengyao to endorse Penguin QQ out of friendship, I can't save the company the production costs for shooting the advertisement song 'QQ Love'."
Ma Huateng asked after hearing this, "Chairman Lin, are you planning to spend money to invite a composer and lyricist to customize an advertisement song for Penguin QQ, to be sung by the spokesperson, Miss Mengyao?"
Lin Lang replied, "Yes, this 'QQ Love' endorsement advertisement song can help Mengyao successfully cross over from a goddess racer to a female singer. Even if Mengyao endorses Penguin QQ out of friendship, we can't give her absolutely no benefits, right?!"
"Yes, yes, yes! Chairman Lin, you're absolutely right!" Ma Huateng nodded repeatedly.
In fact, Lin Lang had some selfish motives for launching the 'QQ Love' endorsement advertisement song for Penguin QQ. He wanted to use Penguin QQ's growing influence to further expand Motorcycle Goddess Zhou Mengyao's popularity and help her transition into an idol female singer.
After all, being a professional female racer was too dangerous.
Lin Lang didn't want the day to come when his beloved white moonlight, Zhou Mengyao, would be injured because of a motorcycle race; that would break his heart.
AI Generates Zhou Mengyao's Beautiful Pictures
Having thought that, Lin Lang continued, "Another point is that there's no need to spend money to invite a composer and lyricist to customize 'QQ Love', this network song suitable for promoting Penguin QQ. I can handle the lyrics and music myself."
"The company only needs to cover the production cost of renting a recording studio, as well as the expenses for shooting the MV and releasing the advertisement song."
Ma Huateng exclaimed, "Chairman Lin, do you also write songs and compose music?"
Lin Lang replied with his catchphrase, "I'm not very talented, I just know a little about everything, just a little! Just a little!"
Ma Qiang, standing by, said, "Cousin, you might not know, but Chairman Lin just participated in a piano competition organized by Shanghai Television Station a few days ago and won the China Piano Performance Master Cup, making him a top domestic piano performer."
Ma Huateng was utterly shocked to hear this, saying with some disbelief, "Chairman Lin, you're too amazing, aren't you?"
"It's one thing to be handsome, but you're also so wealthy! And being rich aside, Chairman Lin, you're also so talented!"
Lin Lang laughed after hearing this, "President Ma, stop flattering me. Our Penguin's corporate culture does not include flattery."
"Haha..."
Ma Huateng and his cousin Ma Qiang both laughed after hearing this.
It must be said that the business cooperation between Lang Ge and Little Ma sparked a warm connection.
Little Ma held Lang Ge in great awe and respect.
Lang Ge deeply admired Little Ma and treated him well. There was a hint of a 'meeting too late' sentiment between them, a sense of heroes appreciating heroes.