Chapter 5 A Problem with the Agreement

Wu Ye was in such a hurry to get the contract drawn up immediately, which Gu Fei didn't find strange. After all, there's a saying, "The longer the night, the more dreams arise." He could understand Wu Ye's eagerness after negotiating such a big deal. Acting swiftly to prepare the contract was a way of showing how seriously he took the business and how sincere he was!

What Gu Fei found a little off was that during the previous negotiations, both sides had been pulling back and forth, sticking to their guns, and in the end, neither had yielded an inch. But when Gu Fei proposed the "profit-sharing" agreement, everything suddenly went surprisingly smoothly. Thirty percent, then twenty, they haggled casually and agreed. Gu Fei didn't think his sword-wielding threat could really have worked; it was just a game. Death was nothing to these guys, certainly not more important than profit, right?

More importantly, when he had just suggested the profit-sharing agreement, the other three, especially Ao Huang and Za Cao, had flashed a look of surprise, although it was fleeting. But how could that escape Gu Fei's sharp eyes?

What was so surprising about that? In that situation, since they were balking at the risk issue, a profit-sharing agreement to jointly bear the risk was naturally the best solution. Gu Fei could understand why they hadn't proposed it; after all, everyone was cooperating to make a deal, not to play with risk. Profit-sharing was still twenty million, still required payment, so they preferred to hold onto that disgusting two million offer and not budge.

But they hadn't suggested it, and he had. Wasn't that something to be surprised about? Did they really think he was so clueless?

Gu Fei had been a little puzzled at the time, but Wu Ye had jumped in so quickly that he didn't have time to think about it. Now that everything was settled, thinking back to Wu Ye's earlier hype, the fleeting surprise when he heard about the profit sharing, and then the decisive, no-nonsense attitude afterward, rushing to log off and draft the contract—putting it all together, Gu Fei realized: there was probably something wrong with this profit-sharing agreement. He and Bai Shi Jing Lun were really too inexperienced in the muddy waters of this game; had they been tricked?

Moreover, he had proposed the plan, but Bai Shi Jing Lun was the one selling himself. Gu Fei didn't dare to be careless. He saw that Wu Ye had already arranged to contact Bai Shi Jing Lun offline later. Contracts were often full of hidden traps. The more Gu Fei thought about it, the more uneasy he felt. He immediately leaned in and said, "Let's take a look at the contract when it's done. We'll talk about it if there are no problems."

Those who practiced martial arts valued promises immensely. To them, a contract was just a constraint on the other party; for them, a verbal promise was enough to bind themselves. Of course, trivial jokes didn't fall into this category.

So when Gu Fei brought up this sentence, others might have thought it was perfectly normal, but to Bai Shi Jing Lun, it was very important. If he didn't make it clear beforehand that "we don't have to sign if there's a problem," Bai Shi Jing Lun might still sign it with a stiff upper lip and allow himself to be exploited, even if he found a problem, because he had already agreed to it in the game. Wu Ye, a business-is-business type, certainly wouldn't understand that.

So Wu Ye didn't think anything of it when he heard it and smiled, "Of course." But Bai Shi Jing Lun heard something different in those words. To them, saying that meant they were already thinking of backing out, so Bai Shi Jing Lun glanced at Gu Fei, puzzled.

"Then we'll have to trouble you, Brother Wu Ye. We'll also ask some friends to get a better understanding of the details of this kind of cooperation," Gu Fei said, while keeping a close eye on Wu Ye's expression.

Wu Ye gave a forced smile and said, "Okay, I'll be in touch."

"Then we'll take our leave now," Gu Fei said.

"I need to log off and draft the contract too, so I'll see you out," Wu Ye said, getting up.

"Don't bother, don't bother!" They exchanged polite words, left the Yingqi Barbecue, and Wu Ye led Ao Huang and Za Cao to the left, while Gu Fei and Bai Shi Jing Lun went to the right, bidding farewell and leaving.

As soon as Wu Ye and the others left Fourth Street, Wu Ye immediately said, "That guy seems to have noticed something."

Ao Huang immediately chimed in, "No way? He came up with the idea himself. Why would he be suspicious?"

"I don't know. I just have a feeling. I won't log off yet. I'll quickly draft a contract for them to look at in the game. It looks like this matter might be a bit of a hassle!" Wu Ye said. "Za Cao, find someone to keep an eye on those two and see what they're up to."

"Okay!" Za Cao nodded. In the environment of the game, the business methods of studios were different from those of regular companies in real life. Businesses like robbery and equipment theft were strongly condemned by studios like Yingqi on the surface, but they secretly dabbled in this gray industry. In a society like the game, which lacked sound laws and regulations, the dirty and dark things were even more prevalent than in reality, especially when real profits were involved.

After leaving Fourth Street, Bai Shi Jing Lun was asking Gu Fei, "What's wrong? Is there something else wrong with this?"

"I don't know," Gu Fei frowned. "I'm just worried. We don't really understand this, what if we get tricked?"

"Would they? I think that Wu Ye guy is pretty good! What he said made sense."

"Naive, very naive. If he didn't even have that much eloquence, how would he be qualified to talk about deals worth hundreds of millions? The director of the six main cities—it seems that position isn't low in the studio," Gu Fei said.

"Then what should we do now? We don't understand things in the game. I should have called Brother You along," Bai Shi Jing Lun still admired Brother You very much. It wasn't easy for Brother You to have such a master fan.

"It's not too late to ask now!" Gu Fei said, sending a message.

Of course, Gu Fei and Bai Shi Jing Lun weren't so unkind. They had already told the Young Master Elite group and Jian Nan You about their plans to talk to the studio about cooperation. The Young Master Elite group didn't care much; they had already made hundreds of thousands of gold coins each and were quite content. After all, they didn't want to rely on this to make a living. But Jian Nan You and the others were a little unhappy. Gu Fei had asked them to come, and it was over after only two jobs. That wasn't right… Although the income from those two jobs was more than they had made from many previous jobs.

But after learning that only Bai Shi Jing Lun would be going to cooperate, while Gu Fei would stay and continue with their Thousand Miles Drunk studio, everyone was happy. Some even looked down on Gu Fei's despicableness, sending Bai Shi Jing Lun to the studio to make big money while leading people here to compete with the studio for business. He was holding onto the food in his bowl while also grabbing what was in the pot. He was really too bad.

Jian Nan You and the others really didn't want to follow the studio to make big money. Because they knew very well that they weren't technical backbones like Gu Fei and Bai Shi Jing Lun. If they also went to the studio, the rewards they received would definitely not be comparable to what they were making now. So although they might become competitors with the powerful studio in the future, small workshops had their own way of survival. Brother You was the type to start worrying before anything had even begun, but Jian Nan You and his seven companions weren't like that. Moreover, they were all old-timers in online games, and they had been wondering how long this efficient leveling method could last.

At this time, Gu Fei contacted these people again and told them about the negotiations. When they heard about the huge profits involved in this cooperation, everyone was shocked. Jian Nan You now felt that it was a little unkind of him to mind that people had ditched them to eat alone when they had such a big deal in their hands. Wasn't that delaying people's future? Moreover, in the end, they hadn't ditched them.

Gu Fei then talked about the profit-sharing agreement he had proposed and the suspicions he had, and then asked, "Masters, I really don't understand this too well. Can you give me some advice?"

There was silence.

"What's going on? Aren't you usually all so talkative?" Gu Fei asked.

"Brother, we've never done studio work with tens of millions of dollars involved. We only have a half-baked understanding. We don't dare to speak rashly!" Brother You said.

"Just say what you know!" Gu Fei said.

"I'll speak," Han Jia Gongzi said.

Everyone sweated. Han Jia Gongzi only ever praised himself. To others, there were only two options: silence or bad words. Now that he was about to speak, it was clear that this Yingqi studio was doomed.

Jian Gui then interjected, "You don't know too much about studios, do you? Now that there's a tens of millions of dollars deal, don't make your inferences…"

"My inferences are facts," Han Jia Gongzi said.

Jian Gui ignored him directly and continued to say to Gu Fei, "Thousand Miles, there's someone you can ask about this. He'll know more clearly."

"Who?"

"Shui Shen," Jian Gui said.

"Oh!" Brother You was the first to realize. If Brother You wasn't allowed to say a few words of information at this time, then Brother You's sense of existence really couldn't be reflected, so everyone tactfully shut up, allowing Brother You to say, "It's not too clear now, but Shui Shen used to be a professional gamer, and was he the kind in a studio?"

Jian Gui was obviously quite familiar with Shui Shen, and said with a smile, "He's always hanging out in studios, and he hangs out in many of them, changing places every few days. He has no professional ethics at all."

"Oh, what's going on?" Brother You's gossip soul was ignited again.

"Back then, many people in the studio were still part-time online players. Everyone contacted each other online and didn't know each other in reality. Shui Shen used this to his advantage and created many aliases to infiltrate various studios. I don't know how he managed it, but he got to a very high position in many studios. The studios were all in competition with each other. That guy controlled the resources of so many companies and acted as a double agent, so naturally, he was getting more and more successful! Of course, the studios also had core QQ groups, and that guy also applied for multiple accounts to infiltrate each one. Later, things went wrong because of this. One day, he had too many chat windows open and shouted in the wrong window. Just imagine, he took the police group as the drug dealer group and shouted, 'The cops are coming to sweep tomorrow, brothers, hide your goods tightly.' How could his identity not be exposed?" Jian Gui said.

Everyone marveled at what they heard. For players like them, they looked down on the studio for being profit-driven and completely ignorant of the fun of the game. Jian Nan You, who was between the two, would take the game as a tool for making money, but the starting point was still the love of the game, so they chose to show their value in the game. This was completely different from the studio, which was completely aimed at the commercial value of the game. So Jian Nan You and the others also looked down on the people in the studio. Shui Shen's playing of double agent was obviously not a decent thing, but because he was playing with the studios that everyone looked down on, so talking about it was still very enjoyable and they felt very happy.

Gu Fei was dealing with people from a formal studio for the first time today, and he didn't leave a good impression, except for Bai Shi Jing Lun, this honest man, who still thought Wu Ye was a great guy. Now, listening to Jian Gui talk about Shui Shen's past, he also felt very funny, and immediately responded, "Okay, I'll ask him!"

"Have you added him as a friend? I'll let him know for you," Jian Gui said.

"I don't seem to have…" Gu Fei flipped through his friends list. He had talked to Shui Shen, drank with him, and even chopped him with his own hands, but he had always forgotten to add him as a friend.

"Wait a moment," Jian Gui said to Gu Fei. They were still busy in the Youye Valley, with messages coming and going.

Before long, Jian Gui said to Gu Fei, "Thousand Miles, turn on your friend switch!"

"Oh, oh, I forgot." Gu Fei hurriedly turned on the friend switch, and soon received a system message asking him to add Shui Shen as a friend. Before Gu Fei could take the initiative to say hello, a message also arrived: "Cough, I heard from Jian Gui that you have a problem to consult me about?"

"Yes, about the studio," Gu Fei said.

"Oh, then you've asked the right person. That brother is familiar!" Shui Shen said boldly.

If Gu Fei said it all as it was, Shui Shen immediately replied after listening, "Damn it, that was too dangerous. You almost got fooled!!!"

"How?" Gu Fei heard that there really was a problem?

"Profit-sharing agreement? Humph, with this kind of thing, the specific income is still up to the studio to say. As a private party, you can't possibly grasp the studio's financial income at all," Shui Shen said.

"This… wouldn't they fake it?" Gu Fei wondered. It was a formal contract, so of course, there had to be a real statement of account details.

"Hehe, if it was the old studio, you'd be done for. The studio isn't a formal company, so where would the legitimate account details come from? It's completely made up by them privately, and they can say whatever they want. Now it's formal, especially like Yingqi studio, he will eventually have legally recognized income details, as a basis for you to implement the profit-sharing agreement, but there will be a lot of tricks in this detail, do you know what the details are based on?" Shui Shen said.

"Based on what?"

"Taxation, brother. He will definitely use his tax bill to prove the profitability of this project, don't you understand now?" Shui Shen said.

"Are you saying, tax evasion?" Gu Fei realized.

"Correct answer! And I tell you, it's too easy to evade taxes in the studio industry. Most of his transaction channels are all in the gray area. The relevant departments don't understand, and they can't supervise it at all. Where can they supervise the circulation of virtual items in the game? Through the game company? The game company can't tell which transactions are the player's part and which are the studio's commercial activities! If you really sign this kind of profit-sharing agreement with him now, don't say anything about 20 million, I can make the result of losing money as a whole, you want to share the profit? Okay, I'll give you a negative number, you pay back!" Shui Shen was eloquent. Although Gu Fei couldn't digest too much of what he said for a while, at least he clearly understood one thing: cooperating with the studio to talk about profit-sharing will inevitably eat you up to the point where not even the bones are left. No wonder those guys flashed a hint of surprise when he took the initiative to propose this plan. He was walking right into the trap!

"Damn it, they really are cunning merchants!!" Gu Fei couldn't help but curse.

"Of course, there are no merchants without cunning. By the way, who did you talk to at Yingqi?" Shui Shen also became curious at this time.

"Someone called Wu Ye, who said he was the director of the six cities here. Do you know him?" Gu Fei said.

"Wu Ye? He went to Yingqi now? Damn, isn't he also eating inside and out? I'm the ancestor of this aspect!!!" Shui Shen said.

Gu Fei wiped his sweat. Eating inside and out was such a disgraceful thing, why did this guy not feel ashamed, but instead feel honored?

"Are you still planning to do this? If you do, I'll help you talk about it! It's been a long time since I've dealt with the studio, and I'm a little itchy in my heart. Hey!" Shui Shen said.

Gu Fei wiped his sweat again: "Didn't you still make clothes with Yingqi in the Linyin City?"

"That's a business, not a deal," Shui Shen said.

"You have to eat inside and out to be a deal?" Gu Fei asked.

"I thought so, but I didn't have the chance. I'm on the blacklist of all studios now. If you make an appointment with Wu Ye again, don't say I'm coming, I'll give him a surprise," Shui Shen said.

"Are you really coming?" Gu Fei said.

"Come, come immediately, I'll buy a ticket and take a plane." Shui Shen said.

"Plane?"

"Teleportation scroll, brother, you don't even understand this, you're so earthy." Shui Shen said.

"The problem is, I don't seem to have said that I plan to continue to cooperate with them, right?" Gu Fei said.

"Not cooperating? Then you can play a little, it's too empty to fight monsters every day, you should learn to fight the studio when you have time, otherwise all that good skill will be wasted." Shui Shen, for torturing the studio, seems to have spatial enthusiasm.

Although Gu Fei took the initiative to send himself to the door to be eaten, he also deeply despised Wu Ye, this kind of unkind guy. Even if you are a businessperson and take profit as the most important thing! But this does not affect Gu Fei's dislike of his habits, and he can rectify it as much as he can! Gu Fei was thinking this, ignoring the fact that Bai Shi Jing Lun, who wanted to make money, also seemed to have to ask for his opinion.

So he turned his head to talk to him, but saw Bai Shi Jing Lun looking cautiously and said, "There seem to be two guys staring at us over there?"

"Which two?" Gu Fei looked back.

"Don't look back, just the two behind you, don't be discovered," Bai Shi Jing Lun said.

"What's there to be afraid of when they're discovered, go over and ask, and kill them if they're not right!" Gu Fei also guessed a little about the origins of these two guys, so he walked over very unfriendly.