76 Negotiation with 361 (1/2)
Chapter 76: Negotiation with 361
Translator: _Min_Editor: Lis_
The car slowly drove into the mansion grounds.
Ayesha stood quietly by the door and watched Jiang Chen’s car come to a stop.
The door opened, accompanied by a flash of the car lights before a woman stepped out. She was beautiful, her aesthetics matching her husband’s.
Was it Sun Jiao or Yao Yao? Her instincts told her that the answer was neither.
There was not the slightest dissatisfaction in Ayesha’s mind. In her country, polygamy was not uncommon. The number of women with Jiang Chen had nothing to do with how she served him.
”Are you still waiting for me? You really don't have to wait at the door.” Jiang Chen also got out of the car with a distressed look.
He did just...
He felt it was unfair to the girl who had been lingering here.
On the drive back, Liu Yao explained her situation to him. Her ex-boyfriend, who had been her agent at the time, forced her to find ”options” in Sanya, and that was how she had met Jiang Chen...
Perhaps because of her honesty, Jiang Chen no longer minded the incident as much as he had before.
Through this, he learned that she did not lack self-respect; rather, she had only met the wrong guy.
After that, they came to a tacit understanding.
So could she now be considered a mistress?
That word had a strange attraction that made Jiang Chen's heart pump.
Ayesha drove the car into the garage while Jiang Chen took Liu Yao into the mansion.
”Just find a bedroom to sleep in.”
”I want to sleep where you sleep,” Liu Yao cutely pleaded as she cheerfully held on to his arm.
”Ahem, I have things to do tomorrow. Sleep well.”
If they ended up sleeping together, he would never be able to get up in the morning.
A thought occurred to him, and he asked, ”Oh, do you still contact your ex-boyfriend… agent?”
”No, no, I already deleted that waste of air’s number,” she said carefully with her eyes on his. She was afraid he would have other thoughts.
”Oh.” He felt as if a large burden had been lifted from his chest.
But if she did have a conflict with her agent, her income would be a problem.
”Before the year ends, once I finish everything on hand, I’ll take care of your problems.”
A living expense of one hundred thousand should be more than enough. The cost of breaching the contract was most likely around one million. To Liu Yao, it was an astronomical number, but to him, it was pocket change.
As for the movie, production costs would be anywhere in the ten million. With Liu Yao’s acting skills and looks, as long as there was enough money invested, popularity wasn’t an issue. In this case, making a return would not be difficult at all.
”Mhmm!” Liu Yao cheerfully shook Jiang Chen's arm.
”Also, I am a very possessive person. If you….”
”What are you thinking? I’m already yours.” Liu Yao mock-angrily pinched him on the waist.
Jiang Chen saw the raised corners of her lips and laughed aloud.
The her now, he didn't mind.
－
The next morning, Jiang Chen drove Liu Yao back to her home despite her wishes to stay in the mansion. He still had many secrets, and it would be inconvenient if Liu Yao were to see something.
Thankfully, Liu Yao didn’t insist on it since she knew her boundaries.
Afterward, Jiang Chen drove to Future Technology. There was an important meeting waiting for him.
”Hello, Mr. Jiang.”
”Hello, Mr. Zhang.” Jiang Chen shook Zhang Jianfeng's hand before inviting him to take a seat.
A clean haircut, a well-tailored suit—he had the sharpness of a company executive. An austere assistant who was responsible for the meeting minutes stood behind him.
Jiang Chen had already read into his background; he was the 361 Phone Helper Project Manager who was responsible for negotiating the use of Future 1.0 on the 361 software platform. This man was most likely the best person for this conversation since 361 held Jiang Chen in high esteem.
Of course, this was only to the current Future Technology.
”Mr. Jiang, I’m sure you know that I’m the project manager for the 361 Phone Helper. Our team members have come to a consensus that if Future 1.0 were to be released on our platform, it would possess many high-quality, creative traits and increased functionality compared to the majority of the apps available today.”
Zhang Jianfeng’s tone then took a turn in the opposite direction.
”However, despite the excellent design of the artificial intelligence, I don't know if Mr. Jiang has already considered the security of the software. What if hackers infiltrated Little White's programming and accessed personal user information such as bank passwords? Have you considered the consequences of this?”
Jiang Chen calmly waited for Zhang Jianfeng to finish before he responded with a collected smile, ”As to security, our company has already released a statement. For any financial losses related to Little White's security, our response is to fully compensate the users. Fortunately, the current amount is zero.”
Impressed by Jiang Chen's performance, Xia Shiyu, who sat beside Jiang Chen, nodded. She’d been worried about Jiang Chen's professionalism at the negotiation table, but now she realized she had clearly worried too much.
[In critical moments, this guy is surprisingly reliable.]
”You’re right. At this time, Future 1.0 has yet to be a target for hackers. But it’s impossible for Mr. Jiang to be completely confident in your program, correct? I understand that in information security, your company’s talent is still zero,” Zhang Jianfeng also responded with a smile.
”Oh? Looks like you’ve done your research. But I would also imagine that you would’ve taken a close look at our software as well. Did your experts have anything to say?” He hinted at other meanings of his words, but Jiang Chen maintained his smile, even making it more cheerful than Zhang Jianfeng’s.
Zhang Jianfeng’s pupils slightly contracted, and he responded with an awkward smile.
”Taking a look” and copying was not uncommon in this industry, but it was never mentioned outright. You say I’m copying? I think you’re mistaken. You’re called Counterstrike, I’m Crossfire. The names are different; how could this be considered copying?
However, it certainly did feel awkward to have their failed attempts to crack the software pointed out directly by Jiang Chen.
”Ahem, I hope there’s no confusion or misunderstanding about this. My company did try and gain an understanding of Future 1.0, but it was all within the legal boundaries. We have an obligation to ensure security for our 361 Phone Helper users. If the users downloaded a software with a backdoor in the programming, it would damage our own reputation.”
Shameless, how shameless!
Jiang Chen wanted to jump up, whip out his phone and shove it into this man’s face, asking how this list of garbage software in their 361 software market was evidence of their consideration for the users. Zhang Jianfeng had the audacity to say that they worried about user security when Little White’s software was safer than their own antivirus program. Therefore, out of concern for their user security, they were going to crack Little White?
At the same time, Zhang Jianfeng was mentally cursing Gu Chen for his uselessness.
[He had a full staff of ”masters of computers” and even created a separate project for this. After working day in and day out and being pounded with work, when asked if he had made any progress, he got annoyed and told daddy that he didn’t know? How the fu*ck do I negotiate when I don’t even know the chips on our table?]
Even as he raged inside his mind, he couldn’t show any of it at the negotiation. He slowly took a sip of tea.
Seeing Jiang Chen remain silent, he began to test the waters.
”Of course, while screening the security of Future 1.0, we did make some progress. At this early stage, we can conclude that the software is safe.”
Although he phrased it as a screening, everyone knew the truth—it was cracking.
Zhang Jianfeng carefully observed Jiang Chen’s reaction to his blatant lie, hoping to see a flash of uncertainty on his face.