Ding Sanshi cut straight to the chase, explaining his purpose, "President Zhang, seeing the great success of your Legend game's release, which has driven the development of China's online gaming industry, I have come specifically to learn from you."
However, Ding Sanshi was unsure whether Legend's popularity was an isolated incident or a common occurrence, much like the initial explosive popularity of the game "Millennium" during its public beta.
Even with such a situation, it had significantly improved Shanda's financial standing.
Therefore, Ding Sanshi wanted to know if this was the dawn of a new era for games, or if Legend's success was merely an anomaly.
Upon hearing Ding Sanshi's question, Zhang Tianxing smiled, "It all depends on your own judgment. I cannot reveal my conclusion. The most significant issue is that while you may be in the same industry, your interests are different."
Gao Ningning giggled beside him, finding President Zhang's analogy very vivid. "Colleagues in different industries have different prospects for development."
Ding Sanshi chuckled, "President Zhang is truly humorous."
Ding Dang interjected directly, "President Zhang, we heard you acquired a game engine from 'Thousand Year Old Spear'. May we ask how much you would be willing to sell it for? We wish to purchase this game engine."
Zhang Tianxing was taken aback. He had never expected this to be Ding Sanshi's purpose for visiting. He had spent considerable effort acquiring this game engine with the intention of developing games himself. The agency fees he had paid now felt somewhat unjustified.
After all, developing one's own games was more satisfying than merely acting as an agent. Furthermore, as the saying goes, "Chinese products should strive for self-strengthening." In the past, they lacked the capability, but now, with money, they had to pursue their own endeavors.
"I need to consider this. To be honest, the game engine I purchased was for my own game development. If I sell it to you, my game development plans would be ruined," Zhang Tianxing said slowly, looking at Ding Dang.
Ding Sanshi burst into laughter, "President Zhang, if I may be frank, game development is not something achieved overnight. It requires sustained effort. The games currently on the market are crude and mass-produced. As benchmarks in the industry, we must create our own high-quality online games. What do you think, President Zhang?"
Zhang Tianxing looked intently at Ding Sanshi. At this moment, Ding Sanshi was full of spirit and brimming with fighting spirit.
Seeing the look in Zhang Tianxing's eyes, Ding Dang smiled, "How about this, President Zhang? Let me tell you about President Ding's rise to prominence."
"Past experiences serve as a lesson for future endeavors. It is what I desire, but dare not ask!" Zhang Tianxing replied somewhat formally, wanting to know what Ding Dang was planning.
Ding Dang stood up and walked to the window, overlooking the entire Bund from the tall building. "This location is truly excellent. President Zhang, President Ding was formerly an engineer at the telecommunications bureau, a coder. However, one day, President Ding encountered BBS and realized his future direction."
As Ding Dang spoke of Ding Sanshi's past, everyone listened intently to the tale of a magnate. "That was a stable job, a telecommunications engineer. That was the kind of worker I dreamed of being," someone said with longing.
"During that time, President Ding self-taught himself Unix technology, and then he resigned himself. He came to Ecity alone."
"He first worked for others, and with President Ding's exceptional technical skills, he served as chief technician's assistant. However, President Ding soon realized a problem: why should he work for others when he possessed the skills to 'slay dragons'?"
"With the fifty thousand yuan he had saved from his previous work, President Ding embarked on his entrepreneurial journey."
"During President Ding's entrepreneurial process, our NetEase achieved countless 'firsts.' We launched personal homepages, our servers were top-notch, and we provided every user with 20MB of free space."
Zhang Tianxing and the others listened as Ding Dang recounted Ding Sanshi's past.
It had to be admitted that Ding Sanshi possessed remarkable vision and solid technical skills; NetEase's success was not accidental.
"Life is full of opportunities. I remember it was the first time I resigned myself, but we all have to pay a price. When courageous people take this step, it is often an opportunity to change their destiny," Ding Sanshi said with a smile.
Ding Dang clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention back to him. "Next, I will tell you a story. This is the story of President Ding creating a free email service."
"In the beginning, our President Ding believed that Hotmail's features were complete and powerful. We wanted to acquire Hotmail, or obtain its usage rights. We offered them a bid of $100,000."
"Unexpectedly, greed knows no bounds. They proposed a high price of $2.8 million and, furthermore, demanded $2,000 per hour for its use. This was a figure we could not afford."
"So, we decided to go all in and directly developed the entire email system ourselves. On a beautiful night, we selected the 163 domain name. The stars favored the traveler, and we succeeded."
"At that time, we believed this email system would be incredibly successful, have immense potential, and would surely become famous! It would surely go public; we all held this belief!"
"Finally, our free email system was launched, and within a year, our users reached an astonishing 5.6 million. We had succeeded."
"The purpose of my telling you this is to inform you that NetEase today is strong and capable, no longer the fledgling company it was when President Ding started."
"We have now secured venture capital, and NetEase's valuation is not cheap."
"Moreover, President Ding's personal wealth ranks in the top 20 in China."
"NetEase will soon be listed on Nasdaq, and our wealth will grow exponentially."
"After hearing what I've said, President Zhang, what do you think? Can that game engine be sold?" Ding Dang asked Zhang Tianxing with a smile after passionately recounting Ding Sanshi's success story.
Zhang Tianxing smiled. Times had changed. At that time, Ding Sanshi could develop the architecture for an email system himself, but a game engine was different from an email system.
"President Ding, you are a senior in the industry, and you've said it well: 'A single flower does not make spring; a hundred flowers blooming bring spring.' If only one game sells well, it's certainly not the spring for the game industry."
Hearing Zhang Tianxing's words, Ding Sanshi laughed heartily, "President Zhang, I finally understand why you are successful. Well said! A hundred flowers blooming brings spring. I understand your meaning. However, I believe everything has its value. If you were to sell the game engine, what would be your asking price?"