In the United States, the special maps of Warcraft III ignited an even more insane wave.
Although many American server players had already become familiar with them by playing on Chinese servers before, most American players looked down on such behavior.
In their opinion, this act of being lured to another country's server by a few flashy skins and playing with extremely high latency was no different from being brain-dead.
Therefore, these Chinese server players were quite discriminated against within the entire Warcraft III player community.
However, after the launch of these special maps, everything changed completely.
Previously, ordinary players could ignore various skins, calling them flashy things. After all, the game could be played the same way without them, with no difference in gameplay.
But with the release of these 15 special maps, everything became utterly different. These 15 special maps were genuinely unavailable in the United States; they simply could not be played there. They could only watch Americans with Chinese server accounts happily playing.
At the same time, because most of these maps supported single-player mode, and the AI had different difficulties for solo and multiplayer, the gaming experience of playing alone versus playing with a group was not significantly different for players without social needs.
And in single-player games, the latency issue would not exist. American players could enjoy normal latency on Chinese servers. This was truly a cause for universal celebration.
Thus, before the release of these 15 special maps, there were only about 100,000 American server players on the Chinese servers.
After the release, the number had risen to 300,000. Even more terrifying was that once they experienced the special maps, they could never leave. When the free special maps were closed, they could only eagerly await the Jiangnan blind boxes, which was the reason for the consumer frenzy Huang He had witnessed earlier.
And the reason why the price of a regular version had risen so crazily was simply that there were very few goods in the entire United States, far from meeting the demand.
In fact, at this very moment, a large number of players were still gathered in front of the shop, waving their money and wanting to buy redemption codes for rare versions. However, this shop seemed to be truly out of stock, leaving many to leave in disappointment.
"Sigh, I don't know what Blizzard is thinking. Such a great business and such great maps, yet they are only available on Chinese servers and not on our own servers. Are they out of their minds?" one player said with great resentment.
"Exactly. I really doubt if Blizzard is still an American game company. Why can foreigners play such fun maps, but we can't? Are we adopted?" another player expressed even more resentment.
"Do you know? I heard that in China, such a rare version can actually be drawn for about 40 US dollars, but in America, they actually sell it to us for 150 US dollars, a four-fold price difference! These crazy profiteers!"
From the words of these players, one could tell that the entire world was tired of Blizzard!
So Huang He said indifferently, "Actually, you misunderstand Blizzard. These maps were not developed by Blizzard, but by the Chinese operators themselves!"
"Really?"
"Such fun maps were developed by Chinese people?"
"That's not right. How come my friends and teachers told me that China is a cultural desert, still in the ignorant era of 100 years ago? How could they possibly develop such interesting maps?" the surrounding players expressed their disbelief.
"I am Chinese, and I naturally know what's going on in China. It's precisely because these maps were developed by Chinese people that Blizzard, unable to profit from them, naturally wouldn't allow Chinese people to sell these maps and blind boxes here!" Huang He said with a smile.
Upon suddenly learning the truth, these people became indignant, cursing Blizzard vehemently, saying they only cared about making money and not the players' interests. In any case, they were satisfied after venting all their accumulated dissatisfaction onto Blizzard and left.
"The people's hearts can be utilized!" Seeing these extremely eager players, Huang He felt that certain plans could perhaps be expedited. He then asked Leng Zhiruo beside him, "Zhiruo, I remember the situation in Europe is still being discussed, right?"
"Mm!" Leng Zhiruo nodded. "We have basically reached an agreement in principle for the acquisition, but there's still a gap in price. Our offer has reached your bottom line of 300 million US dollars, but the other party is adamant about 350 million US dollars."
"Brother-in-law, if you think it's necessary, we can still squeeze out 300 million US dollars with some effort," Leng Zhiruo said.
"No!" Huang He waved his hand. "300 million US dollars is my limit, not a cent more. However, I think now is a good opportunity."
"What good opportunity?" Leng Zhiruo did not understand, but then she heard Huang He laugh, "Boss, do our two conversations sound good?"
"Ah, what did you say? I didn't hear you!" The boss was startled for a moment, then took off his headphones and pointed at the computer, saying, "I'm playing a game, I didn't hear anything you said."
"Boss, what is your esteemed name?" Huang He suddenly asked.
"My surname is Gao. My name is Gao Xiangyang!" the boss replied.
"Oh, how old are you this year?"
"Not too old, not too young, just one year shy of 40."
"Boss, you don't seem like an ABC. You must be an immigrant, right? From Fujian?" Huang He asked with a smile.
"No, I'm from Jiangxi."
"Oh, like me, I'm also from Jiangxi. We're both Jiangxi fellows!"
"Don't joke. Wenzhou is not under Jiangxi's jurisdiction!"
"Oh, really? You know I'm from Wenzhou..." Huang He's face held a faint smile, while the boss showed a wry smile. Well, he had been tested.
"Boss, when did you recognize my identity?" Huang He asked curiously.
"The moment you walked into my shop, I recognized you!" the boss replied honestly. "If I intended to do business with blind boxes, it would be impossible for me not to understand the Jiangnan Group behind the blind boxes. And you have quite a few photos online, so I naturally recognized you at the first glance!"
So the boss had known Huang He's identity from the very beginning. No wonder he had been so enthusiastic towards Huang He, which was not something a normal shop owner would do.
However, speaking of which, the boss's acting was quite good, pretending to discuss blind box business with Huang He and offering to buy a full-skin account for 5,000 US dollars.
"Boss, let's not beat around the bush. You've overheard my conversation just now, so I have a plan. I wonder if you'd be willing to cooperate with me!" Huang He said with a smile.
"Of course. As long as this plan can make money, I'll cooperate in any way you want!" the boss immediately replied.
"Of course, it can make money. Do you think becoming the general agent for our Jiangnan blind boxes in the United States can help you make money?" Huang He retorted. The boss immediately felt a choking sensation, almost unable to breathe.
Becoming the general agent for Jiangnan blind boxes in the United States, not to mention anything else, just by selling these game blind boxes, he could probably earn millions of dollars in financial profits. How could this boss not feel suffocated?
"However, becoming the general agent is not an easy task. I need you to complete a test!" Huang He said.
"What test?" The boss did not hesitate. There's no such thing as a free lunch. Huang He wouldn't just give him a general agency for nothing, so Huang He would give him a test.
If he could complete it, it would be a windfall. If he couldn't, the general agency would be gone. This was a very reasonable transaction.
Gao Xiangyang was one year shy of 40, but he didn't even own a house in America and still lived by renting. Therefore, Gao Xiangyang felt it was necessary to go for it.
"Boss Gao, do you have many friends in the industry?" Huang He asked again.
"How should I put it? In the entire Los Angeles, of people in my line of work... I don't know 20% of them!" the boss said proudly.
"Alright, I need you to do something for me. As long as you succeed, the general agency will be yours..."
***
When Huang He emerged from Gao Xiangyang's shop, it was already close to 5 PM. Zou Yuchen was waiting early at the entrance of the shopping center.
"Boss, Yang Zhiyuan called me. He said he hopes to invite you to dinner tonight at a private club in Los Angeles!" Zou Yuchen whispered.
"Oh, it seems I, Huang He, still have some standing. President Yang is willing to meet me!" Huang He smiled slightly, then said with a laugh, "Lead the way, I'll go meet this helmsman of Yahoo!"
Huang He, with his two younger sisters-in-law, got into the car and headed directly to the wealthy district of Los Angeles, finally stopping in front of a villa nestled by a mountain and water. However, this was not a residence, but a private club.
In the United States, there are many private clubs. These clubs are often established under the guise of various sports, such as private tennis clubs, private baseball clubs, basketball clubs, and so on.
The founders of these private clubs are basically local celebrities.
Initially, these clubs were purely established for sports. However, soon, many people discovered that these clubs were excellent places to build relationships with various business celebrities and political dignitaries.
When a businessman or politician attends a banquet at a hotel, it appears particularly conspicuous, easily drawing criticism and raising the possibility of collusion between officials and businessmen.
But if they participate together in a sport organized by a private club, it becomes very normal. Can you really stop people from exercising?
Thus, these private clubs became the best meeting places. The private clubs also discovered business opportunities. In addition to sports, they began to add kitchens, chefs, restaurants, meeting rooms, and other eccentric functions unrelated to sports. Finally, these private clubs transformed into gathering places for various celebrities.
Even if it wasn't a large gathering, most people would choose to hold occasional dinners with friends at private clubs.
This is because private clubs are generally located in secluded areas and occupy large tracts of land, allowing them to do many things that are inconvenient to do in the city, while also avoiding those damned paparazzi.
After all, once the area is open and spacious, paparazzi trying to take clandestine photos will have nowhere to hide and will be expelled by the private club's security.
Therefore, from both security and enjoyment perspectives, private clubs are the best venues for gatherings.