Hong Kong films: From street thugs to Hong Kong financial tycoons

Chapter 93 Harvesting, Thirty Percent of Ecological Toll Fee!

Hong Kong, Central, 48th floor of the Far East Finance Centre.

In the president's office at Yaosheng Capital's headquarters, it was so quiet that the only sound could be the ticking of the grandfather clock.

Outside the window, the waters of Victoria Harbour shimmered with golden light under the sun, and several white luxury yachts slowly carved white waves into the surface.

Lin Yao sat behind a large mahogany desk, holding a pure gold Parker pen, slowly signing his name on a thick document.

His movements were unhurried, each stroke exuding a calm and composed air.

Since 300,000 Loongson microcomputers were snapped up in the European and American markets, the outside world has been in complete chaos.

But for Lin Yao, life became increasingly leisurely. He went to get off work and left work on time every day, drank tea, and looked at reports, just like an old man who had entered retirement life ahead of time.

"Clang, clang, clang."

There was a gentle knock on the glass door of the office.

"Enter."

Lin Yao didn't even look up, and just gave a casual reply.

Chen Zheng pushed open the door and walked in. Today he wasn't wearing a stiff three-piece suit, but instead a slightly more casual shirt with the collar slightly open.

"Boss, the tea for this morning is ready. It's freshly arrived pre-Qingming Longjing tea. Please have a taste."

Chiu Shu-yee followed behind, carrying an exquisite tray, and walked over with light steps, placing a cup of fragrant green tea next to Lin Yao.

Lin Yao put down his pen, picked up his teacup, blew away the foam, and took a small sip.

"Hmm, cooked just right, with a slightly sweet aftertaste."

He nodded in satisfaction before looking up at Chen Zheng.

"Old Chen, you came all this way so early, is it another big company boss about to jump off a building?"

Chen Zheng gave a wry smile, pulled out a chair, and sat down opposite the desk.

"They'd rather not jump off a building, but the number of people lining up to kowtow to us is so high they've almost worn down the threshold of the company building."

As Chen Zheng spoke, he placed a thick stack of faxes on the table.

"Boss, take a look at these."

Chen Zheng pointed to the pile of papers, his tone revealing undisguised excitement.

"Since last night, our Yaosheng Capital's fax machine has been running non-stop; three rolls of paper have burned out."

"They were all official letters from well-known software companies in Europe and America, including Adoobi, which makes office layout software, Oracle, which makes databases, and even a few small studios in Hollywood that specialize in video game development."

Lin Yao didn't look through the pile of faxes; he simply leaned back in his leather chair and listened quietly.

"What did they say?"

Lin Yao asked.

Chen Zheng took a deep breath, trying to slow down his speech.

"They're all begging us."

"They say that the installation rate of Loongson Windows operating system is growing too fast. Now, among the middle class and geek circles in Europe and America, anyone who is still using those black-and-white DOS systems would be embarrassed to greet their neighbors when they go out."

"These software companies are getting desperate. Their existing software simply can't run on our Loongson system."

"If they can't port their software to our Windows platform as soon as possible, these companies can simply declare bankruptcy when the next batch of one million Loongson microcomputers floods the market."

At this point, Chen Zheng couldn't help but slap his thigh.

"Boss, they're lining up now, begging us to give them access to the Loongson system's underlying development toolkit."

"Several large companies even explicitly stated in their faxes that they were willing to pay an entry fee of five to ten million US dollars upfront, just to get us to give them the green light."

Paying a one-time admission fee of tens of millions of US dollars, with more than a dozen large companies involved, they can easily rake in hundreds of millions of US dollars just from ticket sales.

In the software industry of 1987, this was an absolute windfall that would make anyone envious.

However, after hearing these words, Lin Yao did not even smile. He picked up his teacup and slowly took another sip.

"You think you can buy my ticket for ten million US dollars?"

Lin Yao put down his teacup and looked at Chen Zheng with a calm expression.

"Old Chen, I started out in the financial trading business. Have you ever seen anyone in finance do something as stupid as a one-off deal?"

Chen Zheng was taken aback: "Boss, you mean—we won't charge for the tickets?"

"Yes, we should accept it, but not in this way."

Lin Yao stood up, walked to the huge floor-to-ceiling window, and looked down at the traffic on the Central Street, which looked like ants.

"Old Chen, remember this: these 300,000 Loongson microcomputers are a piece of land I've acquired around the world by spending hundreds of millions of US dollars."

"Now this land has running water and electricity, and the most bustling commercial street has been built. Software companies that want to come in and set up stalls to do business are welcome to do so."

Lin Yao turned around, a glint of shrewdness unique to financial tycoons flashing in his deep eyes.

"Tell Lu Qiu and the legal department to immediately draft a 'Loongson Ecosystem Developer Agreement'."

"First, the development kit can be distributed free of charge to all registered software companies and individual developers worldwide, without charging any entry fee."

Chen Zheng was completely confused. Just now they said they would charge money, so why are they giving it away for free now?

Before he could ask a question, Lin Yao raised his second finger.

"Second, all third-party software developed based on the Loongson Windows system, whether it is office software, drawing tools or video games, whether it is burned onto CDs or packaged into floppy disks for sale."

"If it wants to run on our system, it must pass our Yaosheng Technology security certification and be affixed with a Loongson-compatible anti-counterfeiting label."

"Third, and most importantly."

Lin Yao walked to the desk, placed his hands on the surface, and stared into Chen Zheng's eyes.

"Yaosheng Technology will unconditionally take 30% of all sales revenue from third-party software worldwide as an ecosystem maintenance fee."

boom!

Chen Zheng's brain went blank for a moment, and he jumped up from his chair.

A 30% commission on revenue? This isn't just charging admission; it's like inserting a blood-sucking tube into the heart of the software industry!

Whether you sell a small game for a few hundred dollars or a professional enterprise software for several thousand dollars, Lin Yao will take 30% of the profits from every single sale.

Moreover, this money was earned effortlessly; Yaosheng Technology didn't even need to care about how the software was developed or marketed.

All they have to do is sit at the top of this huge platform, holding an accounting book, and watch programmers from all over the world work like crazy for them.

"Boss—aren't these conditions too harsh?"

Chen Zheng's throat was a little dry, and a thin layer of sweat appeared on his forehead.

"Would those arrogant Western giants agree to such exploitative and domineering terms?"

"They had no choice."

Lin Yao answered decisively, his tone full of unquestionable domineering authority.

"In the face of absolute monopoly, there is no room for arrogance. If they don't agree, there are plenty of small companies that want to make money that are willing to agree."

"When those small companies grow big and strong by relying on our platform and completely devour their market share, they won't even have the chance to kneel down and call us daddy."

Lin Yao sat back down in his chair and patted the pile of faxes.

"Do as I say, send them this agreement, and let them sign it or not. It's too late."

"Yes, I understand!"

Chen Zheng took a deep breath, his eyes filled with deep awe as he looked at Lin Yao.

What is a financial tycoon? They don't engage in heavy asset investment, nor do they work themselves to the bone to promote their products. Instead, they use a system to set rules and turn all the talent and creativity in the world into interest in their own accounts.

Chen Zheng, carrying the pile of documents, strode out of the office to issue instructions.

Shortly after Chen Zheng left, the door to the president's office was suddenly pushed open forcefully.

"Boss, great news! Huge good news!"

Fatty Wang, with his shiny bald head and a long telegram in his hand, rolled in like a ball of flesh.

"You've forgotten all the rules, you don't even know to knock before entering?"

Lin Yao frowned slightly.

"Sorry, boss, I was just too excited!"

Fatty Wang quickly stopped, raised his hand and symbolically knocked twice on the door frame, then ran to his desk in a few quick steps.

"Boss, the opening weekend box office figures for our big movie in North America and Europe are in! (3,000 theaters)!"

Fatty Wang was so excited that his whole body was shaking, and the flesh on his face was squeezed together.

Lin Yao picked up his teacup: "How much? That makes you so happy."

"One hundred and twenty million dollars!"

Fatty Wang yelled at the top of his lungs, his voice echoing through the office.

"Boss, in the first week, just one week, we made 120 million US dollars in the European and American markets."

"The Hollywood film critics went crazy over it. They said the flying zombies in our movie were a miracle of the human film industry."

11

"Now young people all over America are flocking to Chinatown to buy peach wood swords, and some are even wearing Taoist robes to work!"

An Eastern mythology film with no foreign actors and relying entirely on real locations and physical props has carved out a bloody path in the heart of Europe and America.

"Hmm, it's alright."

Lin Yao nodded, his expression remaining calm.

The box office is indeed good, but compared to the grand scheme of the software ecosystem he just laid out, this amount of money is just a drop in the ocean.

"It's not just movies that make money, boss!"

Fatty Wang continued his report with exaggerated gestures.

"The foreigners who watched the movie in the theater went straight to the electronics store to ask if they had any of our computers. They said they hadn't seen enough of the movie and insisted on buying a Loongson microcomputer to take home and operate Uncle Nine to kill zombies themselves."

"Our distributors in Europe and America are calling non-stop, begging us to send the second batch of goods as soon as possible. They say that even if we raise the price to $2,500 now, those foreigners are willing to line up to buy it."

The huge cultural impact of film and television works has in turn spurred a surge in sales of hardware computers, which is the business loop that Lin Yao had designed long ago.

"Tell them that the price remains the same, still $1999. However, if they want the second batch of one million units, they should bring cash and queue up at the Hong Kong port to pick up the goods."

Lin Yao stood up and straightened his cuffs.

Just then, the air in front of Lin Yao's retina distorted slightly, and the pale blue light screen that only he could see, the Godly Wealth Prediction Panel, slowly unfolded amidst a pleasant notification sound.

Lin Yao's gaze fell on the panel.

[Ding! A closed-loop business empire has been initially established, and ecosystem dominance has been achieved.]

[Platform commission model (30% ecological tax) simulation launched —]

[The projection of how the cultural export of major films can boost hardware sales has been launched]

[Currently available liquidity: US$1025.2 billion.]

[Deep Wealth Forecast: Given that the host has successfully taken control of the heart of global PC software, it is expected that more than 30,000 software companies worldwide will connect to the Loongson ecosystem within the next twelve months.]

Based on the current installation growth rate and third-party software sales model predictions, the host can reliably generate over $15 billion in net cash flow profit annually simply by taking a 30% ecosystem commission – a risk-free business!

Furthermore, this profit will increase exponentially with the expansion of installed capacity!

$15 billion, pure profit, and it's all earned effortlessly every year!

Looking at the terrifying predictive data displayed on the panel, Lin Yao finally managed a very comfortable smile.

He turned off the control panel, walked to the liquor cabinet, poured two glasses of whiskey with ice, handed one to Fatty Wang, and picked up the other for himself.

"Fatty."

Lin Yao raised his glass, looking out at the vast sky, his eyes revealing a calm confidence that seemed to control everything.

"The movie was well made, but the real action is just beginning. Go back and tell the crew to take a few days off."

"6

"Next week, we'll prepare to film the sequel."

Lin Yao downed the whiskey in one gulp, the icy liquid flowing down his throat and turning into a blazing flame.

"Since they like our Eastern culture so much, then we will slowly, little by little, replace everything in their minds with our rules."