Free Web NovelChapter 84: Chapter 79: How Unscrupulous Merchants Are Formed
Zhou Fangsheng was shocked and excited after witnessing Zhao Yi’s performance. "Zhao Yi! You must come on our show. The stage of "Brain Power Burst" is perfect for you!"
Feng Lai was just as eager.
Her eyes sparkled as she looked at Zhao Yi, filled with the urge to devour him whole. "Successfully challenging the world record on our show will definitely go viral, even making it to the top of the trending topics!"
The two of them pictured the scene where Zhao Yi would come on their show and successfully challenge the Guinness World Records.
The show’s ratings would surely skyrocket.
Zhao Yi, on the other hand, seemed to be deep in thought. He rubbed his chin and pondered for a moment before finally shaking his head. "Forget it. After careful consideration, I still don’t think I can accept going on the show. It’s just too much of a hassle."
"Jiangzhou is far away, and I’d need to ask for time off work. One day wouldn’t be enough – it might take two or three days."
"If it helps you, you can help me apply and go through the process. I’ll sell you the rights to broadcast the challenge video."
Zhao Yi ultimately decided.
Zhou Fangsheng and Feng Lai felt like they had just missed out on a big opportunity, and they began to persuade Zhao Yi to go to the show and challenge the record in person.
It’d be best if he succeeded.
Even if he didn’t, it would still be good for their show.
It was evident from his recent Rubik’s Cube blindfold demonstration that Zhao Yi was far more skilled than Jia Hongning.
But Zhao Yi just shook his head. "If you’re interested in the world record challenge video, I’ll sell it to you when the time comes, and you can air it on your show as if I were on stage."
"Of course, if you don’t want to, I can find someone else. It doesn’t have to be your production company."
Guinness World Records has an agency, and Zhao Yi could simply pay an official company to go through the process on his behalf. He wouldn’t need to do anything – just wait.
"Brain Power Burst" was a good choice. The challenge video would help them improve their ratings and reputation, and Zhao Yi himself could also earn some money.
In the end, Zhou Fangsheng and Feng Lai could only agree.
Though they felt like they had missed out on a big opportunity, getting the video was still a great outcome. They could use the record-breaking attempt as publicity. Even airing it once would change public opinion and increase ratings.
The best outcome would be if he actually succeeded.
Afterward, Lin Xiaoqing joined in, and Zhao Linlin also came over to say a few words. They negotiated the broadcasting fees for the video and the publicity content about Zhao Yi during the program.
This involved the issue of image rights.
Airing the challenge video on their show could easily lead the audience to associate Zhao Yi with their program.
Lin Xiaoqing was truly amazing. During the negotiation, she even cited several legal provisions related to image rights, which made Zhao Yi look at her in a new light.
At the end of the negotiation, both parties reached a general agreement.
...
Sun Liang remained silent throughout the whole negotiation process. Only after Zhou Fangsheng and Feng Lai had left did he finally speak up, stunned. "So..."
"Did we just negotiate a deal worth up to 600,000 yuan?"
"Not us."
Zhao Linlin clearly felt included. She pulled Lin Xiaoqing to stand beside Zhao Yi, leaving Sun Liang on the other side. "We did."
Lin Xiaoqing’s face was filled with excitement. "This was my first time participating in a negotiation!"
She turned to Zhao Yi and asked, "Can you do it?"
"I’m a man!"
"?"
Zhao Yi clenched his fist and declared confidently, "Remember one thing, a man must always say: I can do it!" freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
Lin Xiaoqing and Zhao Linlin looked at him curiously. They didn’t quite understand what had happened, but they felt there must be some hidden meaning in his words.
"Let’s go back to playing cards!"
Sun Liang said sourly, "Zhao Yi made money today, so we should play bigger stakes – two yuan, four yuan. We’ll double whatever Zhao Yi loses!"
"Right!"
"Great idea!"
The two girls nodded in agreement.
Zhao Yi said indifferently, "No problem, as long as you can win."
"Of course."
Two yuan, four yuan – small change.
The key was playing cards.
Although card games were largely about luck, he had been practicing Causality Law all this time. Sometimes he would unconsciously use it, allowing him to easily know other people’s cards.
So... losing would actually be difficult!
Two hours later.
Zhao Yi looked at the stack of money in front of him, and a smile bloomed on his face.
The money wasn’t much.
Most of it was in one-yuan and five-yuan notes, adding up to no more than 200 yuan. But that’s how card games were – even one yuan felt like a lot, and winning made you happy.
The others, however, weren’t happy at all.
Sun Liang was doing slightly better.
Lin Xiaoqing had gone to the supermarket to get a bunch of change to play cards, and now there was nothing left in front of her. Furious, she kept wanting to take out red notes.
Zhao Yi simply said, "Just owe it for now. We’ll settle up when you have 100 yuan."
Zhao Linlin had bad luck too, but she wasn’t very competitive and hadn’t lost much money, so she didn’t care.
She was the first to suggest ending the game.
"My aunt told me to go back and do my test papers early, or it’ll be too late." She showed her phone screen – Niu Lianhua had already begun urging her.
Lin Xiaoqing complained, "Teacher Niu is really annoying. We finally have a day off, and we’re already attending cram classes."
When Zhao Linlin left, Lin Xiaoqing followed.
Sun Liang decided to leave with them. "I’m going to the Internet cafe to play for a while. I miss the atmosphere there. I held back from going this morning."
At the door.
Lin Xiaoqing suddenly turned around and said, "I’ll pay you back the money the day after tomorrow."
"No need."
Zhao Yi immediately shook his head. "I was actually thinking of giving you some money. You helped a lot today. If I had negotiated on my own, I wouldn’t have been able to get such a high price. I should give you a commission."
"No need!"
"I must give it!"
Zhao Linlin playfully asked, "What about mine?"
"Both of you, you’ll have a share too." Zhao Yi said seriously, "Regardless, we have to settle the money properly."
Zhao Linlin hurriedly waved her hands, "I was just joking! You didn’t ask for our help, and we didn’t really do any work."
Zhao Yi smiled.
The three of them went downstairs together.
Zhao Yi stood at the door for a while, looking at the rundown walls on both sides and the dusty staircase. He thought that after making money, he should indeed buy a better house. Once he went to college, he would definitely come home less often, so it made sense to give his parents a better place to live as a way to show filial piety.
He was just about to go in.
A figure hurriedly rushed up.
It was Lin Xiaoqing.
Before Zhao Yi could speak, Lin Xiaoqing bumped into him. He almost fell to the ground but managed to maintain his balance with some effort.
Then he noticed his right hand seemed to be pressing on something soft.
He gave it a squeeze.
It felt nice.
He suddenly realized what was happening and quickly looked up at Lin Xiaoqing.
Lin Xiaoqing held the spot he squeezed with one hand and looked awkward with her face flushing red, clearly at a loss.
Zhao Yi laughed, "I told you yesterday that you lost all your money... Hehehe, so now, we’re even."
"How are you still at the door!"
Lin Xiaoqing said this and hurriedly rushed in, grabbed something from the sofa, and quickly ran out saying, "I forgot my phone!"
Thump, thump, thump.
She went down a floor and then immediately ran back to stand in front of Zhao Yi.
"What are you coming back for!"
Zhao Yi asked with a smile on his face.
Lin Xiaoqing stared at him fiercely and suddenly stomped on his foot with her right foot, then ground it several times for good measure.
"Hiss~~~"
"Humph!"
Accompanied by Zhao Yi’s scream, Lin Xiaoqing walked briskly downstairs.
Thankfully!
Not high heels!
Lin Xiaoqing’s strength was not small, but Zhao Yi was wearing sneakers, so the force was greatly reduced by the shoe’s support. His toe was just slightly sore.
He returned to his bedroom.
When he sat back down at the computer and saw the group chat, he remembered the big sister who had rushed to call him ’Dad.’
Sister Awesome?
Qian Hong?
It was a pity there was no photo in her profile, otherwise, he could decide whether to let her call him that or not.
Zhao Yi scrolled through the group messages and found that the topic of the "Rubik’s Cube Calculator" had long been concluded.
Probably because he’d been lurking.
People were neither fully convinced nor disbelieving.
Of course, none of that mattered.
Zhao Yi continued with his next tasks.
The core design of the Rubik’s Cube Calculator was completed, but there was still a lot of work to do. The purpose of designing a complex algorithm was not to share it freely with others.
Knowledge is money!
Now that he has designed it, he must consider selling and monetizing it.
Since he wanted to publish a paper about the core algorithm, he had to find a way to quickly monetize it.
This was the path Zhao Yi wanted to take, but he needed to perfect the software first.
Three tasks--
Encryption.
Anti-theft.
Beautification.
Encryption was the most important.
The core algorithm had to be well protected. It would be too embarrassing if it was cracked as soon as it was designed.
Beautification meant making the software more visually appealing and comfortable to use, as well as adding some related features to make it easier for users to understand. For example, inputting a text description for the Rubik’s Cube, preferably with images and animations. However, creating animations would be too complicated, so designing simple images with higher reusability would be better.
Anti-theft was also complex.
Zhao Yi’s anti-theft method was to design a set of password algorithms.
When the calculator program runs, it reads the computer’s information, such as the physical address, serial number, and model, and then generates a fixed password through the password algorithm.
Users who want to use the software must enter the password.
Users who want to obtain the password must go to a designated website, complete the software purchase, and then obtain a chance to generate the password.
This was where the income came in.
Zhao Yi had to set up the password-generating website himself.
So, he simply went to a design service intermediary website and paid an 8,000 yuan ($1,255) annual service fee. His applied website could accommodate over a thousand people browsing at the same time.
He then designed a simple payment page and linked it to the password generator.
A week later.
He completed the final step.
He put the "Rubik’s Cube Calculator" on a free download and installation website. He sent a link to the group and yelled, "New software, free to download and use!"
For the first ten minutes or so, no one said anything.
Then, Meng Ruohao lamented, "The download is indeed free, but using it costs money? It’s twenty yuan."
Zhang Junlei followed up, "That’s expensive!"
"[/hehe]"
Zhao Yi sent an emoticon and then continued, "Knowledge is worth paying for. We all understand. When you can’t solve the Rubik’s Cube, who cares about twenty yuan..."
"You make so much sense that I can’t even argue... Scoundrel!"
"Scoundrel!"
"Scoundrel!"
