An Rou yawned, opened her eyes, and then noticed that she was pressed against Lin Chen's chest, and that something seemed to be poking her. An Rou suddenly realized something and blushed.
When Lin Chen saw that An Rou was awake, he got up and started getting dressed. An Rou watched Lin Chen turn his back to put on his pants and chuckled to herself while lying in bed. However, she had slept very well last night.
After the two finished washing up, they opened the door, and just then, Zhang Yiming from next door also came out.
"Mr. Zhang, don't go to the restaurant for breakfast. Mr. Lei brought ginseng porridge."
Zhang Yiming, sporting two large dark circles under his eyes, looked over with a gloomy expression.
"Ginseng porridge, Mr. Lin really needs to replenish his energy."
The three of them went to the lounge area in the hotel lobby. A short while later, Lei Jun arrived, carrying a large pot of ginseng porridge. The aroma was irresistible the moment the insulated lid was opened.
"It smells so good, Brother Jun, your wife's cooking is really good."
"Hehe, eat more if you like it."
Lin Chen drank three bowls before finally stopping, still feeling unsatisfied.
Zhang Yiming glanced at Lin Chen, then at An Rou, and thought to himself, "Young people are indeed full of energy."
After finishing their porridge, the four of them took a taxi to Gaode's headquarters again.
What Lin Chen and his group didn't know was that Gaode's leadership team had been holding meetings all night after they left, and they almost came to blows. Cheng Congwu thought they could contract out the internet business to Lin Chen and his team, while Xiao Jun believed that the internet business was the future and absolutely could not be contracted out to others.
Cheng Congwu relayed Lin Chen's words to all the senior executives present, especially the last sentence, which promised that the company would not offer free navigation services for five years, making way for Gaode's current pillar industry of physical navigation. To be honest, this made him very tempted.
However, Xiao Jun said that the company should move its business center to the Internet to achieve a complete transformation, and that the physical navigation business will eventually be eliminated.
It was Xiao Jun's words that made the other executives present decide to support Cheng Congwu. After all, Gaode's main business is still physical navigation, and everyone present has made a fortune from physical navigation. No matter what the future prospects of the company's transformation into the Internet are, their current profits cannot be touched.
Even the marketing director in charge of the physical navigation business said directly that after so many years of hard work and expansion, he finally managed to sell Gaode's physical navigation business to major car companies, but Xiao Jun just said that he wanted to give up the physical navigation business.
Xiao Jun had already gotten carried away and directly retorted that the future belonged to the internet, and with free mobile navigation available, anyone who bought a physical navigation device would be a fool.
The marketing director slammed his fist on the table: "Wasn't it you who advocated for the development of free mobile navigation? Otherwise, where would free navigation services come from in the market?" He almost spilled the tea in front of him, but luckily the person next to him reacted quickly and held him back.
Finally, a vote was held by show of hands. Except for Xiao Jun, everyone else agreed to the idea of outsourcing the internet business. Outsourcing would not only eliminate the risk, but also generate annual revenue. Most importantly, the larger the internet business grows, the greater Gaode's reputation will become, which will ultimately benefit Gaode's physical navigation business.
After the vote by show of hands ended, Xiao Jun slammed the door in anger. Cheng Congwu shook his head; that was just Xiao Jun's temper.
The next meeting was to discuss the price and duration of the contract. After some discussion, and under the intimidating presence of the marketing director, the contract duration was finally set at at least 10 years, with no upper limit. As for the price, it was 10 million yuan per year. Actually, the finance director originally wanted to accept 2 million yuan per year, since holding onto the money would be a loss. However, when it comes to business, you can always ask for an exorbitant price, and given Gaode's value, a price that matches its worth is naturally required.
Lin Chen and Lei Jun's group visited Cheng Congwu's office again.
"President Cheng, I wonder what Gaode thinks of the cooperation proposal I raised yesterday?"
"Mr. Lin, I know your company is in the internet industry, so you must have a deeper understanding of the internet than we do. I wonder if you could offer some pointers?"
Hearing this, Lin Chen narrowed his eyes. Cheng Congwu, that old fox, was testing the waters, trying to raise the price based on his understanding of free internet maps. The more he said, the higher the price would go.
"Hehe, Mr. Cheng, I don't have any insights. It's just that we make smartphones and happen to need to make a free map software. Gaode has a big reputation, so I came to ask if there is any possibility of cooperation. If it doesn't work out, then forget it."
Hey, you old fox, you're playing games with me, so I'll give you a taste of my own medicine. You want to raise the price, huh? Fine, I'll just forget about it.
Cheng Congwu was somewhat surprised to hear Lin Chen say this. Although this young man was not old, how could he have such a sharp eye? He saw through his thoughts at a glance and turned the tables on him without making a sound. This kind of game was somewhat similar to the situation when he negotiated with the officials.
Lin Chen: You're right. In my previous life, I was an official. Although an accident happened on my first day in office, I had made full preparations before taking office. I was already an official in every sense of the word.
"Mr. Lin is too modest. Let's get straight to the point: 20 million a year for a five-year agency agreement."
After hearing this, Lin Chen stood up and walked out.
"Mr. Cheng, please excuse me for bothering you. I'll go browse Baidu now. We'll cooperate again next time if there's an opportunity."
When Cheng Congwu saw that Lin Chen was almost at the door, he quickly stepped forward and grabbed him, cursing inwardly, "Young man, you have no sportsmanship! You didn't even try to bargain. Maybe I would have agreed?"
"Mr. Lin, please wait a moment. The price is still negotiable. Let's sit down and talk it over."
Lin Chen also walked down the steps, turned back and sat down, and said, "President Cheng, I came with sincerity. Yesterday I said I promised to give way to physical navigation within five years, and your company said you would let me be your agent for five years. So you're saying that I helped you build the market, and you're just waiting to take over?"
Cheng Congwu blushed; indeed, what he had just said was a bit unkind.
"Mr. Lin, since that's the case, I'll give you my bottom line: ten million a year for a 10-year agency agreement."
Lei Jun couldn't help but speak up, "President Cheng, there's no need to test our bottom line step by step like this. To be honest, the map is just a small piece of software on our phones. It doesn't matter whether we make it or not. Deciding to make it now is also advertising for Gaode. Besides, you've already made an iPhone version of Gaode Maps. There are already free map navigation services on the market. How much is this internet agency right worth?"
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