(Note: Pannu Islands is a fictitious location)
After ending the conversation with Robert, Jiang Chen returned to the pool. Just as a smirk spread across his face and he was ready to jump into the pool and have an intimate moment with Ayesha, his phone rang again.
It was Xia Shiyu.
It was not the right time.
He cursed in his mind, as he unhappily picked up the phone. But when he heard the news from the other side, his unhappiness faded.
First was from Future 1.0.
Because they were approaching 250 million downloads shortly after the software was available. In a few days Jiang Chen was gone and based on the marketing department’s plan, Future 1.0 welcomed its first update. Now, the earnings were already evident as a result of the update.
Rather than an update, it was releasing a previously locked function.
The update opened up the community system; everyone would acquire a random account after the patch.
Other than cleaning the exquisite design, the chat interface had nothing special. To put it simply, everyone had an account that they could freely add friends, set up chat groups, and post statuses on.
The functions were not unique as all the other chat program had it, but the one thing that made it stand out among its competitors were – smart friend search!
Based on the user’s description, Little White can accurately search for the chat partner based on the description. Of course, it was up to the user to decide on what information to make available or not.
The user’s personality was based on the data collected during daily interactions and analyzed based on a special software. The results were 97% accurate and would be hidden from the user and stored on the server’s side. The personality only recorded positive traits and did not include negative traits, since no one would want to expose their weakness. The user could choose to publish these traits, or reevaluate after a period, but could not change the traits.
For example, if a man wanted a “big boobed, gorgeous, energetic, being able to cook, nice to parent girl”, Little White would find it since the user base was already at 250 million. Except that it would be up to the other side to add you or not. Even if you get rejected, Little White would suggest you lower the standards, and improve upon oneself.
If the random selection were activated, Little White would use smart setting to match friends with the highest compatibility.
Apart from that, Future 1.0 also introduced VIP.
Although it was similar to QQ’s member policy, there was a slight innovation. Other than putting the red VIP symbol beside the user ID, it also introduced contribution system correlated with levels.
There was a funny joke on Weibo before: The designer was driven insane, suddenly, he jumped up and yelled, “I want to design a game with only two functions; pay and ranking.” So, in the end, the game was actually introduced – which was Bilibili’s new anime sponsorship plan.
Mhmm, the innovation was replicated by Future Technology.
1 RMB equaled to 10 contributions, 100 contributions would level up to VIP1. To upgrade to VIP2, it would require 1000 contribution which was equivalent to 100 RMB. Based on this scale, VIP5 would need 100 thousand RMB. To maintain the current status, 10 RMB would be enough. Not paying would hide the VIP symbol but it would not level down.
Other than that, there were also 10 Diamond VIPs that were granted automatically to the top 10 contributors.
Would people actually pay?
Yes!
Two days after the introduction of the community feature, there were two hundred VIP5 users born. The top of the contribution list was a coal tycoon with a contribution of one hundred million. That meant he paid one million!
Why would people be so willing to pay?
Imagine this. If a beauty searched you, the first thing she saw was a VIP6 or diamond symbol, what kind of reaction would it be? Or some would actually put a VIP limit on the search, prohibit anyone below VIP3 from adding them.
Showing off and bragging were common flaws of all humans, especially rich people that have too much money. They only needed to be recognized. The massive user base of Little White and the existence of the contribution system gave them the perfect platform to show off.
Based on the backend stats, the guy at the top of the list almost had his friend request feature blow up.
Although it was not Jiang Chen’s intention, the pure Little White became another great app for one night stands after Momo and Wechat.
Other than that, VIP user also had other exclusive privileges. For example the invitation for Beta testing of the mobile game <New Era>, it would select ten thousand users from each of the different levels. Therefore, the one hundred million users would split ten thousand codes. The millions of VIP1 would also split ten thousand codes, the VIP5 users, would each get one as there are only a few hundred of them. Do you want the invitation code? Then pay more money.
This era-defining mobile game had a lot of expectation and hype. Based on the marketing department’s research, on Taobao, an invitation code was propped up to 1000 RMB, which almost broke the record for highest price paid for an invitation code.
Of course, this design certainly caused some people to be unhappy. Especially those people with ill intentions who hired internet armies to control the direction of criticisms. The only point was that it was unfair for so many normal users to split only ten thousand codes. That’s un fair! We are going to protest.
But those brain-dead comments did not have any negative impact on Future 1.0, but rather it triggered angry responses from Little White’s fan. Once it turned into a debate, it became a hot topic which was a form of free advertisement for Future 1.0.
When the people with ill intentions realized that the internet armies they hired did not create the perception they wished, it was too late to regret.
Part of the success was because of Xia Shiyu’s effort. When she discovered the signs, she immediately responded and hired her own internet army to steer the direction of the conversation. She perfectly used the tricks of the opponents to turn this into a successful marketing campaign.
All in all, Future 1.0’s financial report was very impressive. Within ten days of the community function, the company’s net earning was one hundred million RMB! The number would only increase with the continued operation of Future 1.0, as well as higher user dependence.
Xia Shiyu even confidently stated that within two years, she could break the yearly revenue record set by the member system of Penguin group!
The other area was the mobile game, after a period of marketing, the invitation code was already distributed to the market through Little White. Part of the invitation codes has been circulated through the VIP system. Even if it has been circulated to people who didn’t want to play, because it was not tied to the account, third parties could purchase the code and sell it for margin.
As to the code being propped to 1000 RMB, even if they were not fans of New Era, they would be interested in the invitation code. If they didn’t play the game, they could always sell it for money. There was nothing to lose.
So naturally, it turned into another form of advertisement. Since the Little White user base already reached 250 million, those people would pay attention to the game because of the expensive invitation code even if they didn’t play the game.
Within two months, Future Technology was already profitable. It made the venture capitals that were waiting for the opportunity frustrated that they missed the hen that laid golden eggs. They previously planned to wait for Future Technology to have cash flow problems before they opened their greedy mouths and took the company with endless amounts of potential.
But who would have thought that Future Technology didn’t lack money in the first place? Even Penguin had to beg venture capitals.
When he heard one hundred million in profits, Jiang Chen straight up told Xia Shiyu that he would use one million as a bonus. Unlike other tech companies, Future Technology’s cost was insanely low. Other than the cost of labor and server maintenance, after-tax, the rest would be profit.
As to research and development, what was that? Only a couple of cans of food.
“Seeing that you are working so diligently, should I give you a raise?” Jiang Chen laughed.
His mood was indeed delighted. Although the one hundred million was nothing to his net assets, it was a good start. It was the first stream of “clean” money he earned.
“No need. My 1% dividend is already enough.” From her voice, that girl was also in a good mood. It was a feat being able to accomplish this with a new team.
After the one hundred million equity infusion, she proactively brought up decreasing her share percentage. So after the change, her share in the company changed to 1%. Although Jiang Chen was surprised, he didn’t stop her.
Even if it was just 1% share, the one hundred million profit this year was a lot. Because she was not the legal representative, there was a 20% income tax. But even after that, it would still be 800 thousand RMB. Two more months until year end, with this year’s profit, any dividend would exceed her current salary.
Bonus and salary were meaningless to her now.
Because it was work time, Xia Shiyu ended the call after reporting to Jiang Chen.
It wasn’t until now that Jiang Chen noticed that there were a bunch of missed calls. Starting from yesterday, there was a call every half an hour. After going to the Apocalypse, the phone was in his storage dimension. He only took out the phone after calling Robert, so all the missed phone call messages came in.
“This girl…” A smile curled up on Jiang Chen’s mouth.
Although she always kept a cold and serious face, she could be surprisingly cute at times.
Ayesha leaned beside the pool. Her mouth pouted slightly. The graceful and serene legs were moving through the water disinterestedly.
She was not the type to get jealous, but for the phone call that clearly interrupted the intimate moment with her and her husband, it did make her a little unsatisfied.
Jiang Chen threw the phone into the storage dimension before noticing the expression on Ayesha’s face. He smiled.
He didn’t even take off his clothes before he dived into the water.
In Ayesha’s light outcry, Jiang Chen hugged the gentle and loyal girl with a smirk. Compared to before, they were no longer awkward. From her daily actions, he clearly sensed her love.
To be fair, he did not have feelings for her in the beginning. He just somewhat accepted her.
But because of her proactiveness, Ayesha’s love finally slipped into his heart. Her gentleness, her understanding, and her sacrifice were almost extinct in the modern world. Just by looking into her eyes, he would be melted by the love. He was uncontrollably drawn to her.
It was time for him to be proactive.
“Can you teach me how to swim?” Jiang Chen said with a smirk, as he blew into her ear.
Ayesha lowered her head shyly, and then she put her hands on his wet shirt.
“Mhmm.”