"Huh? They're here? Where?" Zhang Zhibei hastily looked around, but having never seen what Yi Feng looked like, he naturally couldn't recognize him.
Ma Huateng gestured towards a young man in a white shirt who was walking over, smiling, "If I'm not mistaken, that should be him."
Following his gaze, Zhang Zhibei indeed saw the young man in the white shirt.
The young man in the white shirt was walking while dialing his phone, and after a while, his phone started ringing.
"Hello, God Feng?" Zhang Zhibei answered the call, and then the two exchanged glances.
He finally confirmed that the young man before him was the developer of the 361 software, God Feng!
But what he hadn't expected was that the other party was so young, looking to be only about 20 years old!
Surprised, he enthusiastically greeted him, "Haha! Hello, God Feng!"
Zhang Zhibei extended his hand.
Yi Feng was also sizing up Zhang Zhibei, noticing at a glance that he was a tech geek, with round-frame glasses, a plaid shirt, the standard programmer attire.
"Haha, alright, Yi Feng, I didn't expect you to be so young, truly formidable!" Zhang Zhibei laughed heartily, his tone sincere.
He admired Yi Feng for being able to create heuristic antivirus software at such a young age, seeing him as a genius.
"Let me introduce, this is our company's president, Ma Huateng, president Ma!"
Zhang Zhibei began to introduce Ma Huateng to Yi Feng.
"Don't listen to his nonsense, Brother Yi. I'm his partner; he's actually my boss. Without Zhibei, there would be no Tencent today." Ma Huateng stepped forward to shake hands, carefully observing Yi Feng.
Yi Feng was also observing him.
Wearing glasses, with a square face, and a refined air about him, he seemed more like a scholar than someone with a background in science and engineering.
This was the future richest man in China, Ma Huateng!
He did have a bit of handsomeness in his youth.
However… Yi Feng didn't know much about him.
Such a person had deep schemes; it was hard to say whether they could work together.
"Hello, Boss Ma, I'm Yi Feng."
"Ha ha, Zhibei often mentions you to me, to independently develop the 361 software, indeed a genius!" Ma Huateng's eyes were full of admiration.
Zhang Zhibei said, "Let's not talk here, let's go to a private room to drink tea and chat."
"Alright." Yi Feng nodded.
The three of them walked shoulder to shoulder to the upstairs private room.
They each took their seats, with Ma Huateng giving the head seat to Yi Feng, while he and Zhang Zhibei sat on either side of him.
This surprised Yi Feng a bit.
Seeing that Boss Ma was not a haughty person but rather very considerate in his actions.
Indeed, if he weren't such a person, he wouldn't be able to become the richest man in China in the future.
Tea and snacks were served one after another, and the three of them used tea instead of wine, initially making polite conversation, each praising the other.
In social situations, praising the other party's strengths could certainly bring people closer and promote relationships.
This is also why in business, many bosses always greet people with a smile, feigning politeness and kindness, which comes naturally.
As long as you speak well, even someone with a bit of emotional intelligence wouldn't deliberately make things difficult for you.
If, after all the nice things said, the other person still makes things difficult for you, then either they are foolish, or there's enmity between you.
As Yi Feng and Ma Huateng praised each other, the atmosphere of the conversation was very good, feeling like if there were a few drinks, they might become sworn brothers.
Zhang Zhibei, not good at socializing, spoke little, just playing the supporting role, occasionally responding.
But he was quite depressed at the moment, having chatted with Yi Feng online for so long, and feeling even closer, how come as soon as they met, these two acted like long-lost brothers?
He couldn't understand, really couldn't understand.
After several pots of tea and eating half of the snacks, Ma Huateng saw that the atmosphere was right and it was about time to talk business.
"Brother Yi, developing and operating 361 by yourself must be quite tough, not easy at all, only a genius like you could handle it, anyone else would probably struggle." Ma Huateng said with a smile.
Yi Feng naturally heard the underlying meaning in his words, which was to say that handling it on your own would be exhausting, and it would be better to work together.
"It is indeed quite tiring, I've also thought about finding someone to work with to reduce the pressure and make things easier for myself," Yi Feng said calmly.
Hearing this, Ma Huateng was overjoyed, thinking there was a chance.
His purpose for coming was to make contact with Yi Feng, to persuade Yi Feng to work on 361 together. He had a mature technical team and also had QQ's massive user resources. If they made 361 a paid model, they could definitely make a lot of money.
This way, the profits could be funneled into the QQ project, continuing its development until they secured investment.
By enhancing computer protection with 361 Computer Security Manager, they could charge a small fee from ordinary users, which is essentially a protection fee. With so many users, that's instantly millions, even tens of millions!
This doesn't even include the B2B revenue, the future revenue model of 361 is very clear, unlike QQ, which now provides free social services. Once it starts charging, it would undoubtedly be suicidal. They haven't found a suitable profit model yet, burning money every day, and the money raised before is almost used up.
Without finding other sources of income, it's hard to say whether they can last until they successfully raise funds.
Ma Huateng said with a smile, "Yeah, with a mature team developing together, you'd definitely be much more relaxed."
"How about considering our Tencent, brother Yi? Our Tencent has an existing mature technical team, currently with more than fifty tech members!"
"We could develop the 361 Computer Security Manager together, as for the cooperation method, it's all negotiable!"
Ma Huateng couldn't wait to reveal his intention.
Hearing this, Yi Feng, however, smiled and declined, "Ah, Boss Ma, let me finish speaking. I do want to find someone to work on the 361 project, and through my efforts, I've now built up a technical team. Though we only have a dozen or so members, it's enough for now."
"Speaking of which, we've been chatting and haven't exchanged business cards yet."
Yi Feng took out his new business card and gave it to them.
Ma Huateng accepted the business card with a look of astonishment.
"Xifeng Electronics… Chairman?!"
"My goodness, Yi Bro, I thought you were an independent developer, I didn't expect you to already be a company CEO!"
Ma Huateng was quite surprised, but more than that, he felt a sense of loss.
He could see that Yi Feng establishing a company meant commercializing 361!
This trip… might have been for naught.
Zhang Zhibei also expressed regret, "I thought I could work with you in the future, but now that you're a CEO, it seems unlikely!"
Yi Feng looked from one to the other, guessing what they were thinking from their expressions.
"What CEO or not, I'm just an ordinary entrepreneur."
"Boss Ma, Brother Zhibei, I understand your intentions, but I really do want to build my own team for the 361 project, without collaborating with other companies."
"However… I'm quite interested in your Tencent QQ, there's still room for future cooperation."
Hearing this, Ma Huateng's interest was piqued, sensing an underlying message in Yi Feng's words, so he asked, "Oh? Then I still need to consult brother Yi on how we might cooperate."
Yi Feng squinted at him, asking, "I heard… that Tencent has been having some trouble raising funds recently."
Ma Huateng's face changed dramatically, his heart shocked!
How could he know?!
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