During Zhang Tianxing's conversation with Brother Ma, Brother Ma pointed to the three people and said.
"Come, come, let me introduce our benefactor. The four of us are the main force of this team. Another person is at work. It's the five of us messing around together."
Good heavens, these are the five founding members of the startup. It seems these people are all experts.
Pointing to the tall, thin man, he said, "This is Dongzi, my good friend, a programming expert."
"That's Han Qing, this is Yi Dan, and Yezi is at work."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Tianxing was surprised. "Brother Ma, are you guys starting a business part-time?"
Hearing this question, Brother Ma smiled sheepishly.
"We started part-time, but recently, as the number of registered users increased, we got too busy. I resigned to focus on making this software bigger and stronger. Now, we're doing pretty well on instant messaging."
Zhang Tianxing gave a thumbs up, greatly admiring Brother Ma. "Brother Ma, just tell me the truth. Do you still have money in your account? Didn't you say you had sufficient funds earlier?"
Upon hearing Zhang Tianxing's question, Brother Ma's face turned red, and the three of them burst into laughter. Han Qing couldn't even stand up straight from laughing.
"Young President Zhang, you wouldn't know, but before you arrived, Brother Ma was planning to sell his second-hand car to upgrade the server. We've been operating under overload."
Brother Ma gave his friend an annoyed look. "Young President Zhang, we're in the same boat now. I'll tell you the truth. We have no money left in our account, and we can only last for three days."
Zhang Tianxing chuckled upon hearing this. "I believe the money in your account can only last three days, but I'm confident Brother Ma will find financing."
Hearing this, Brother Ma straightened up. "Naturally. There was an intention before, but they weren't very keen on investing."
"Alright, Brother Ma, Young President Zhang is one of us now. We don't lie to our own people. Just tell him the truth," Dongzi teased.
Brother Ma's face immediately flushed. "That's a family friend. They offered to invest two point two million US dollars for twenty percent of the shares. When Young President Zhang expressed interest in investing earlier, I directly quoted three million US dollars for twenty percent. I didn't expect that Boss Zhang would agree without blinking an eye. Truly straightforward. No wonder Brother Ma's crayfish are so popular; there's a reason behind it. Like father, like son; Young President Zhang is a straightforward person."
Upon hearing this, the others gasped. Good heavens, Brother Ma was truly a hidden master. Even if Zhang Tianxing hadn't come to invest today, they wouldn't have gone under. This clearly meant they had found a buyer, so it seemed there was no success without reason in this world.
"Alas, although Young President Zhang invested, I still have to explain things there, as they were the ones who introduced me," Brother Ma scratched his head somewhat. After all, they were the ones who were in trouble and willing to lend two point two million US dollars in emergency. Who would have thought he would meet Zhang Tianxing, who showed an interest in investing? He had merely stated a price casually, and Zhang Tianxing had agreed without haggling.
Immediately, Brother Ma's face broke into a smile. "Now that we have money, let's quickly upgrade the server. I've been putting up with this server for a long time; it's like a small horse pulling a broken cart."
Everyone burst into laughter. Having money made them willful.
Zhang Tianxing looked at everyone and said directly, "It's almost time to get off work. How about this: my treat. Let's all get together and exchange ideas."
Brother Ma and Dongzi exchanged glances. "Okay, wait a moment. I'll write a small program for automatic restart to prevent our server from overloading again."
The most important thing is to eat. Plus, the small trick Zhang Tianxing suggested earlier, delaying by one second, put Brother Ma and the others at ease. Zhang Tianxing's reputation had been around for a long time, but recently, the rise of Legend had attracted their attention. Brother Ma had shown Zhang Tianxing and Guo Jiajia what true strength was. The small program Brother Ma casually mentioned was indeed completed within three minutes.
They saw Brother Ma typing furiously on the computer, then standing up. "Done, pack up, let's go eat. I still have some things to ask Young President Zhang for advice later."
Birds of a feather flock together. Seeing Brother Ma's capability, Zhang Tianxing sighed inwardly. The technical skills of these five founding members were truly hardcore.
During the meal, Zhang Tianxing and Brother Ma talked happily.
"Young President Zhang, you are truly too young. I have never seen anyone as young as you who is so outstanding in the world," Brother Ma said, shaking his head. As a master programmer, Brother Ma had seen countless notable figures. Someone as insightful as Zhang Tianxing was rare. Especially Zhang Tianxing, who had achieved his current success as a student, which was even more astonishing. Whether it was opening up the crayfish market or acting as an agent for Legend, bringing online gaming into a new era, Zhang Tianxing was undoubtedly a trendsetter of this era.
"Heroes are always born young. Young President Zhang is so young and promising, and his achievements are so brilliant. You have achieved success that makes us envious," Dongzi said, sighing at Zhang Tianxing.
At this moment, the last of the five founding members, Yezi, arrived, entering with a loud shout.
"Brother Ma, I heard the benefactor is here. Who is this poor sucker of a benefactor?" Saying that, he slapped himself. "Young President Zhang is here. Look at my mouth; it has no filter. Young President Zhang, you look so handsome!"
Everyone burst into laughter; Yezi was too funny. With these three million US dollars, Brother Ma was immediately ready to make big moves. "With these three million from Young President Zhang, we can start burning money again. Brothers, our equipment can finally be upgraded."
"I said earlier that I would only invest and not be involved in your specific operations, but I can offer some suggestions," Zhang Tianxing said with a smile.
"You are a shareholder, so you naturally have the right to express your opinions. Of course, we will also ensure your interests; we won't let your money go to waste," Brother Ma was confident that Q Instant Messenger would become the strongest in China. Their software was initially named QiCQ, but later, they felt it might cause unnecessary lawsuits due to a name conflict with an overseas software, so they changed it to Q Instant Messenger.
"I'd like to ask, has QiCQ sued your company?" Zhang Tianxing suddenly asked out of the blue.
Guo Jiajia was stunned. What was Boss Zhang saying? Would QiCQ sue such a small company? It's impossible, right? The five of them, including Brother Ma, were stunned. After a long moment, Brother Ma finally managed to stammer out a few words: "We just received a subpoena. How did you know?"