Chapter 87: He is indeed a genius, amazing

Lin Xiao asked: "Who are they?"

Xia Xi opened the mailbox on Lin Xiao's computer. There were two emails in it, one from Sohu and the other from Tom.

The contents are similar. They really appreciate the design and content of Yangwang and think it is complementary to their company, so they want to acquire it in full. Of course, they didn't mention the price in the email, but just said that the price will definitely satisfy you.

Xia Xi asked: "Do you want to talk?"

Lin Xiao said: "I definitely won't sell it, but we can talk about it."

Xia Xi understood it immediately. First, it was to establish a relationship. Maybe they would really meet in the future.

The second is to understand the other party’s strategic intentions, whether they are determined to win or they think that buying it would be icing on the cake.

Lin Xiao said: "These two companies are coming for the mobile SP. They are interested in our traffic."

"Let's meet them in Hangzhou."

Xia Xi asked: "Do you want to go and talk, or should I?"

Lin Xiao said: "You go."

Xia Xi: "Okay."

"The second thing is that we need to rent another server. It can no longer support the current traffic. It's very slow to open the website now. The bandwidth of our server also needs to be upgraded, so our expenses will soar next month."

"Third, our company still has 170,000 yuan in its account, and our funding chain is about to break."

Over the past half month, the sales have been too fierce and too much money has been spent, with nearly 200,000 yuan spent on advertising.

The effect is also extremely significant, with the website's daily IP reaching an astonishing 190,000.

This shows how amazing the retention rate of this website is. Most websites may not be able to retain users even if they spend money to attract traffic.

And because the content of their website is so good and the website format is so comfortable, those who come in with urgent needs can really stay.

Young and energetic, visit once a day.

Middle-aged people, visit once every two or three days.

This is really a rigid demand, and the loyalty is indeed very high.

Therefore, the advertising fee is absolutely worth it. If someone else spent two million, they might not get the same effect.

But the price is that the capital chain that could originally support four months can now support less than a month.

Due to the explosion of traffic, server costs and bandwidth costs have also increased.

So, this is totally a happy trouble.

"Our first month's advertising fee at the Asian Dating Center should be around 7,000 US dollars." Lin Xiao said, "But it will take at least a month for them to settle the bill and send out the check."

Faced with the current tight capital situation, both of them were of course aware of it and were mentally prepared.

When we decided to continue to expand, we already knew the result. And since the website was about to make a lot of money, this price was nothing.

"I'll go find the money." Xia Xi said.

Lin Xiao asked: "How much interest?"

Xia Xi said: "Not low."

Lin Xiao asked: "Are they the creditors you owed before? You snatched these twenty computers from them with a knife?"

Xia Xi said: "Yes."

You are awesome. You haven’t paid back what you owed before, and now you want to borrow again.

Lin Xiao asked: "How much more money do we need to maintain the company?"

Xia Xi said: "According to what you said, Mobile SP can make a lot of money, but it will take at least two months for us to be paid."

"So, we must have about three months of cash reserves on hand."

"So, we need about 300,000 more."

In fact, Lin Xiao has two plans regarding this money.

The first plan is to sell "Feng Yue", "Jiang Shan" and "Jin Lin" to publishers on the other side of the strait. Currently, the three books have a total of about 700,000 words, with a total of 12 volumes of manuscripts. Because there is no sales verification, but the quality of the works is high, they can probably still be sold for about 180,000.

In my previous life, Feng Yue almost had the highest sales there, about 10,000 copies. This sales volume could be used to negotiate a royalty of one thousand yuan per thousand words.

Jiang Shan is well-known, well-written, and has a very good reputation, but its sales volume is only about 3,000 copies. However, it is also very popular on the domestic Internet, and is a top-notch work.

Another plan is to sell the manuscript of "The Graveyard Book" to domestic publishers.

The publishing market in 2001 was certainly much better than it was 20 years later, but it was not very good either.

Lin Xiao himself knew that "The Graveyard Book" was extremely impressive. It not only won the Hugo Award, but also swept more than 20 major awards.

This book is excellent in terms of story, fun, and depth.

But is there any publisher who dares to take the risk and pay Lin Xiao 300,000 yuan in advance for his royalties?

The hope is still very slim. To earn 300,000 yuan in royalties, I need to sell about 150,000 copies.

In the current market, selling 150,000 copies domestically is already considered a bestseller.

Of course, if the New Concept Writing Competition ends and Lin Xiao wins the first prize, then there will be a lot of room for hype for this book.

Sales will explode.

The content is good, there are topics and gimmicks.

Han Han's Triple Door sold one to two million copies.

Compared with "Triple Door", this book "Graveyard Book" is far superior and it was considered a global hit at that time.

No matter which website it is reviewed on, it has received extremely high scores.

However, Lin Xiao has not finished writing it yet, and there are still about 20,000 to 30,000 words.

He contacted Professor Bai Wanqing more than ten days ago, saying that he had written a book and wanted to entrust her to find a suitable publisher, and was willing to pay a large sum of royalties in advance.

At that time, Bai Wanqing tried to ask how much the advance payment would be, and Lin Xiao said it would be around 300,000.

Professor Bai Wanqing paused for a long moment.

She admired Lin Xiao's talent very much, but composition is composition and novel is novel.

Writing a novel is completely different from writing an essay.

Moreover, you have no fame and have never produced any works. How is it possible for you to get an advance payment of 300,000 yuan?

She had dealt with Lin Xiao before, and felt that this kid was slow and steady, not so flamboyant.

Although she had some complaints in her heart, she still agreed to help Lin Xiao contact the publisher.

"You actually brought it up too early. You should wait until you win the New Concept Writing Award before looking for a publisher to publish your book," said Bai Wanqing.

Of course Lin Xiao knew it, but it was too late.

The company is growing rapidly and needs money.

Xia Xi said: "It is said that many companies did not die from depression, but from large-scale expansion. We can feel a little bit of the horror of expansion."

you do not say.

How many awesome companies have collapsed due to a breakdown in their capital chain when they were growing rapidly.

"Professor Bai Wanqing hasn't contacted you yet, right?" Xia Xi asked.

Lin Xiao said: "Not yet."

"After talking to them, I will go back to Beijing to find money." Xia Xi said.

Lin Xiao sighed. In fact, it is better not to let Xia Xi go to find money, because what she finds is considered usury.

………………

Lin Xiao was typing frantically in the office when suddenly Feng Xian and Su Tao knocked on the door.

"Enter."

After two people came in, they each put down an envelope.

"Boss Lin, there's a total of 39,000 yuan here, which was collected by the thirteen of us."

"It is used to pay for the company's annual meeting."

Lin Xiao was stunned and said, "The company's capital chain is tight right now. It's ok that we didn't give you year-end bonuses, but you're still paying for the company's annual meeting out of your own pocket?"

Su Tao said: "The company is also ours, and this annual meeting was largely for me."

Feng Xian said: "The most important thing is that we all know that the company will soon make money. The number of visits is skyrocketing every day, which has shocked everyone."

Lin Xiao thought for a while, then returned the two envelopes to the other party and said, "I am very grateful for your kindness, but we don't need it for the time being. We will go find the money right away. If I don't find the money, I will ask you again."

Then Lin Xiao continued typing and finished writing the "Graveyard Book". Regardless of whether there was any news from Professor Bai Wanqing, he had to finish the book first to be prepared.

But, another day has passed.

Professor Bai Wanqing's phone still didn't ring.

………………

The next morning, Xia Xi left Linshan and drove to Hangzhou to meet with people from Sohu and TOM.

TOM's people chose the cafe in Huanglong Hotel.

The other party is a typical returnee who has lived in Hong Kong for a long time and has a strong elite aura.

He sat elegantly on the sofa, holding a cup of coffee, looking at the people coming and going with a sense of superiority.

The Dragon Hotel might be a decent hotel in Hangzhou, but compared to Hong Kong, it is nothing.

Moreover, he looked down on the Itchy Network that he was about to acquire.

In the final analysis, it is just a marginal website, with no structure, no future, no story, and at best it is just a personal website.

He imagined that the person who would negotiate with him next would probably be a very greasy and wretched man.

And the price you set yourself will probably make you ecstatic.

After all, this is money that an ordinary mainlander cannot earn in his entire lifetime.

Soon, a woman stood opposite him.

"Lucas?" Xia Xi asked.

The elite man was slightly stunned and looked at Xia Xi in disbelief.

It turned out to be... a woman who was so beautiful and impactful.

Xia Xi's face is really dazzling to everyone who sees it.

In other words, Lin Xiao was used to seeing her abstract true face, so he had a certain immunity to her stunning beauty.

But when Xia Xi was in a daze or kept silent, Lin Xiao couldn't help but see this face.

Today Xia Xi did not dress in a deliberately neutral style, she just wore an ordinary business suit.

But her clothes are quite expensive.

"Hello, hello..." The elite man immediately stood up and very gentlemanly moved a chair for Xia Xi.

Then, hand over your business card.

Deputy Director of TOM's Investment Department.

And his name is Lucas.

"My real last name is Lu, and I had an English name first, then a Chinese name." The elite man smiled, making sure his posture was kept perfect.

"How much?" Xia Xi asked directly.

At this time, the waitress came up and asked, "Miss, what would you like to drink?"

"American style, thank you." Xia Xi.

Elite man Lucas was slightly stunned. It was so simple and direct. No greetings were given at all?

Lucas said, "Two million for a full acquisition. This is already a very high price."

Xia Xi complained inwardly that this price was indeed in line with Li Jiacheng's stingy personality.

"Hello, no need for Americano." Xia Xi stood up and said to the elite man, "Sorry, I have another meeting to discuss."

Then, she just left.

The elite man Lucas was stunned. It was the first time he met such a woman.

Leaving now?

I flew to Hangzhou from Hong Kong with great difficulty. If we didn't need your website for our SP business, why would we care about your crappy website? No matter how high the traffic is, it has no business structure and no hope.

Besides, I am quite handsome. Didn’t you see the brand names on me? Didn’t you see the Rolex Cellini on my wrist?

You don't even have the interest to look at me for a second? Lucas asked from behind: "Ms. Xia, how much money do you want?"

Xia Xi casually said, "It's 10 million now."

Lucas was so angry that he laughed and said, "You are kidding me."

………………

In another cafe.

Xia Xi met the person from Sohu, who was a plain-looking woman wearing simple work clothes.

"Ms. Xia? We meet again."

Xia Xi said, "Hello, Mr. Lu. Why do you have to personally handle such a small case?"

Lu Yanfeng is definitely a senior executive in the current Sohu system.

Lu Yanfeng said: "Oh my god, I really didn't expect that this Itch website was created by you. It's really too drastic for you to transform from a local portal in such a short time."

Xia Xi said: "The fate that is swept up in us always inevitably leads to vulgarity."

Lu Yanfeng said: "But your website is definitely a genius design. It gave us a lot of illegal inspiration. Its aesthetic concept is at least ten years ahead of all current websites."

"Also, your fake video presentation method deprives users of their right to choose. These points are simply too good to be true. We are all amazed."

The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!

"Of course, as for your content..." Lu Yanfeng said: "Can I complain?"

Xia Xi said: "Of course."

Lu Yanfeng said: "The new column you opened is specifically for us women, which is good. But the content is too little, and it completely favors boys over girls."

"You know, female users are much more loyal than male users. I even registered you guys on the Asian Dating Center."

Next, the two people had a pleasant conversation. Both of them are masters from Tsinghua University, so they can be considered classmates.

The only difference is that Lu Yanfeng's is an EMBA and he had to pay for it, while Xia Xi is a top student who swept all the colleges and universities.

Lu Yanfeng said, "Okay, let's get back to the point. We are all acquaintances, so I won't hide it from you. We acquired your Itch.com mainly for mobile SP, as a content supplement."

Xia Xi asked: "How much?"

Lu Yanfeng said: "Three million, three hundred thousand."

Xia Xi didn't say anything. If we just look at it from the perspective of a personal website, the price is indeed not low.

In 2004, Baidu acquired hao123 for only 11.9 million yuan, and also received 40,000 shares of Baidu stock.

At its peak, hao123's daily IP visits exceeded three million.

Xia Xi said: "Sister Lu, we can't sell it at this price."

Lu Yanfeng asked: "What is your target price?"

At this time, Xia Xi was also a little embarrassed, because the psychological price given by Lin Xiao now sounded very outrageous.

Xia Xi said: "Ten million."

Suddenly, Lu Yanfeng was stunned.

What a joke, how is this possible?

At best, you are just an image site disguised as a video, and your value is due to your close fit with mobile SP.

Lu Yanfeng asked: "Xia Xi, are you kidding?"

If it was just Yin.com, last year, no one would buy it even for one million, let alone three million, because there was no possibility of making a profit.

This year, mobile SP has exploded, which makes such sites valuable. But three million is already a very high price.

However, according to Lin Xiao’s strategy, Yangwang is just a traffic entrance, and he wants to start a whole new business model.

It’s the Oxygen Live Room.

If we fail, then of course, forget about everything and just make money from the advertising fees of Yanwang and the money from Mobile SP.

But if it succeeds, it will be incredible.

That’s a whole new business story.

Where there is a story, there is a future and there is a price.

"Xia Xi, if I didn't know you well, I would definitely think you were playing a trick on us." Lu Yanfeng said with a smile.

Xia Xi said: "Boss Lu, I suggest you keep an eye on our website. Our company may give you new surprises in the future."

Lu Yanfeng said: "Okay, even if the deal fails, we still have our righteousness."

At least now, in Lu Yanfeng's eyes, Itchy.com is just a personal website that is not presentable.

In other words, the design is really beautiful and genius.

…………………………

Xia Xi returned to Linshan from Hangzhou in the evening and discussed the negotiation process with Lin Xiao.

"If there is no Oxygen Live Room, then our website will always be just an ordinary personal website."

"But if it really creates a new business model, it will be like a golden fish that cannot be kept in a pond. Once it encounters wind and clouds, it will turn into a dragon."

"Let Cheng Hai and his team work overtime to quickly write the software for this live broadcast room."

"The next two months will be the most critical two months for us."

"Whether it will remain a small website forever or soar to the sky will depend on the next two months."

Although Xia Xi didn't say anything, she was still a little angry inside.

The local portal that I had built before was not successful, but at least it was highly regarded. However, although the traffic of this Itch website is very high, it is a small website that is looked down upon.

"I will go to the capital to find money tomorrow, and we will continue to charge!"

Even if the interest rate is high, she will borrow it.

If successful, you will have everything in a few months, and the return will be many times greater.

At this moment, Cheng Hai knocked on the door outside.

"Boss, we seem to have found an opportunity to make quick money that will help us get through this period of tight capital chain."

Lin Xiao said: "Come in."

After Cheng Hai came in, he directly opened a web page on Lin Xiao’s computer.

"Sohu, Sina, NetEase and other portal websites all have pages like this."

Lin Xiao saw that in order to celebrate its third anniversary of listing and embrace the Internet, Yager Group was soliciting designs for its brand's official website from around the world, and welcomed outstanding teams from all over the world to actively participate in the submission.

Yager Group is an absolute leading enterprise and an absolute famous brand in 2001.

At this time, the boss Li Rucheng also had various honors, such as National Model Worker, Representative of the Ninth National People's Congress, National Outstanding Entrepreneur, etc.

Cheng Hai said: "The specific content of the official website is the responsibility of the Yager Group itself. We only need to design a high-end official website homepage for them. It will be very quick and will not take long. What we are competing for is aesthetic talent and design vision."

"Boss Lin, this is what you are best at. Whether it is the Southeast Information Port or the design of Itchy Network, they are all unique."

Lin Xiao took a look at the price, three hundred and eighty thousand!

Wow! They are indeed a giant in the clothing industry. A simple website design costs 380,000 yuan.

With these 380,000 yuan, the tight capital chain situation was directly solved.

Cheng Hai said: "It's just that the price is so high that we are tempted, and I'm sure others are tempted too. I don't know how many teams from home and abroad will participate. Our competition should be very fierce."

Not only that, teams in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and even abroad will be very tempted by this money.

Then I looked at the deadline again: December 29th, 12 noon.

Shit, only 36 hours left.

Lin Xiao closed his eyes and began to think about it. This job really all depends on aesthetic design.

Countless plans popped up in his mind.

It has to conform to the domestic entrepreneurs' pursuit of high-end thinking and also keep pace with the international standards.

Domestic entrepreneurs have a strong sense of personal heroism and like to engage in personality cult in their companies.

Currently, the official websites of these companies are very old and outdated.

It is just a base map with a photo of the boss himself, and then the group’s dynamics, group history, group party building, leadership inspections, etc.

About ten minutes later, Lin Xiao had a complete plan in his mind.

East meets West.

It is absolutely stunning, absolutely high-end, and can definitely conquer local big-name entrepreneurs like Li Rucheng.

"Four programmers, working overtime, working overtime!"

“Design the homepage of Yager’s official website.”

"I have a complete design idea. You guys will do your respective work, and then we will put it together."

“The whole job was done in four hours.”

“Quick, quick, quick!”

…………………………………………

Next, Lin Xiao and the four programmers once again immersed themselves in their work.

Detailed division of labor.

Some make animation frames, and some make pictures.

Some are PS pictures.

Some have beautifully crafted subtitles.

The nine young ladies were infected by the atmosphere and stopped making any noise. Instead, they ran to the small gym upstairs to train their peach buttocks and snake waists.

And Xia Xi was waiting in the big office.

If possible, she certainly didn't want to go to an underground bank to borrow money. In addition, she was really looking forward to Lin Xiao's talent in this area.

So she was looking forward to Lin Xiao’s design plan for Yageo’s official website more than anyone else.

In this way, the five people were busy for four and a half hours.

The whole work was completed at about twelve o'clock in the evening.

The design of the homepage of Youngor's official website designed by Lin Xiao is completed.

Open the saved URL and press Enter.

"exhibit!"

This is an animation of a book slowly opening.

The first thing that appears is the image of Leizu, accompanied by the subtitles: The history of silk, four thousand seven hundred years.

What appeared next was the image of Huang Dao Po, accompanied by the subtitles: The history of cotton cloth, eight hundred years.

Then a picture of King Charles II of England (the inventor of the suit) appeared, accompanied by the subtitle: The history of the suit, three hundred and twenty years.

What appeared next was a photo of revolutionary pioneer Mr. Sun Yat-sen, accompanied by a subtitle: The history of the Zhongshan suit, seventy-eight years.

The last photo that appeared was the photo of Li Rucheng, the chairman of Yager (Photoshopped to look very impressive), accompanied by the subtitles: Yager's history, twenty-two years.

When the last page of the book is closed, the back cover features Fei Xiang, the new spokesperson for Yager.

There is also a line of big words: Create an international brand, build a century-old enterprise, Yager. (This is the original advertising slogan of the group)

At the end, the picture gradually changes. It is not a bunch of words or corporate culture.

Instead, it is a high-definition release picture of Yager's latest clothing, a typical nine-square grid picture. When the models wear it, it looks very high-end, and the pictures are slowly gradient, showing one piece of clothing after another.

The following display method is actually the unified standard of luxury goods official websites more than ten years later.

It took these luxury brands several years to raise their official website aesthetics to this level.

Remove unnecessary words and display high-end products.

Lin Xiao was more than ten years ahead and applied the same approach used by luxury goods official websites to the Jaeger official website, directly comparing it to the official websites of LV and Chanel more than ten years later.

For a corporate website in 2001, this was very advanced, very original, and absolutely stunning.

A true combination of things.

Lin Xiao asked Xia Xi and the four programmers, "How is it?"

“Can this official website homepage design win the bid? Can it convince Li Rucheng, the CEO of Yager?!”

Everyone just gave him a look of amazement and awesomeness.

……………………

Note: The second update is here. Today's update is still 12,000. Those who have monthly tickets, please take action! It's about to explode!

(End of this chapter)