Chapter 118: Sold
Date: 2025-03-03
Author: Xian Ge
Late November.
Cai Quan and Wen Fei arrived at Avalon Studio. Upon reaching the floor, they spotted a large “Mingyu Tech” sign, momentarily wondering if they’d come to the wrong place.
Yuan Yanbo appeared at the entrance. “Hello, are you ANF’s founder and co-founder? I’m Yuan Yanbo, who contacted you earlier.”
He stepped forward, greeting them while subtly sizing them up. Cai Quan and Wen Fei were a study in contrasts. Cai Quan, a quintessential otaku, sported black-framed glasses, a buzz cut, and a clean but unremarkable look. Wen Fei, on the other hand, had a gentle, girl-next-door charm—less striking than Tang Yao or the rumored investor but graceful, with notably long legs.
“Hi, hi!” Cai Quan, visibly nervous and unused to such interactions, forced a handshake. “I love FGO. Your game’s amazing. You’re really… uh, impressive, no wonder you made such a game…”
“…” Yuan Yanbo fell silent at the rambling.
Wen Fei shot Cai Quan a look, jumping in. “How can you call him impressive? He’s clearly phenomenal!”
“You’ve got it wrong,” Yuan Yanbo said, chuckling wryly. “I’m just an employee, not the boss. I only recently joined, actually. I used to work here.” He gestured at the Mingyu Tech sign. “Then I moved to Avalon. This sign’s coming down soon—I met you here to avoid confusion.”
“…” Cai Quan and Wen Fei froze, realizing their gaffe, faces flushing.
Yuan Yanbo smiled again, sparing them further embarrassment. “Come in and sit. Our boss is waiting in the meeting room.”
He led the way. The pair exchanged a glance, shaking off stray thoughts, and followed him inside.
Entering Avalon Studio, their first impression was how empty it felt. Plenty of desks, but few staff. The second was the bustle—everyone was laser-focused, with hurried exchanges when they spoke. Yet, it buzzed with vitality.
This must be what a real company feels like, Cai Quan thought, walking on.
Yuan Yanbo’s prompt snapped him back—the meeting room was here. Mingyu Tech had leased an entire floor; of course, there was a meeting room.
Yuan Yanbo knocked, then ushered Cai Quan and Wen Fei inside.
Inside, Tang Yao was hunched over A4 paper, scribbling her card game plan. The acquisition was critical, but she’d promised Xun to head home early, so every minute counted. At the sound of footsteps, courtesy prompted her to set her work aside and look up.
As she did, Yuan Yanbo introduced, “This is our boss, Tang Yao, of Avalon Studio.”
Cai Quan and Wen Fei halted, eyes widening at the girl before them. Her stunning face, her blend of youthful sweetness and mature poise, her… striking figure. This was the boss? They were floored.
Truly phenomenal.
Tang Yao, used to such reactions, shifted awkwardly before speaking. “Hello, you’re Cai-ge, ANF’s founder, right? And… Wen Fei, the co-founder?”
She’d done her homework.
At “Cai-ge,” Cai Quan’s face reddened. “Y-yeah, that’s us…”
Wen Fei, slightly more composed, nodded, but her gaze lingered on Tang Yao. It was absurd—a sunny, gorgeous girl like her made such an otaku-centric game as FGO?
“Please, sit,” Tang Yao said, inviting them to settle.
Then… silence. Tang Yao wasn’t great at this either. In many ways, she was an otaku too.
Thankfully, Yuan Yanbo was there. Sensing the lull, he turned to Cai Quan. “About your plan to sell the site…”
“Oh, right, we do want to sell,” Cai Quan said, snapping to attention. He launched into a rehearsed pitch. “Our site targets a high-potential niche market—vertical, precise, with no competitors. We’ve got over 200,000 users, making us the largest anime community and video platform in the country…”
His delivery was shaky, clearly memorized.
Yuan Yanbo listened patiently, then cut through. “But you don’t have a streaming license, do you? The site’s got issues—frequent server errors, unmoderated content, and a half-month outage recently due to a crash. Users were livid. Sure, you’re the biggest anime platform, but compared to mainstream video sites, you’ve got no edge. And commercialization? Weak.”
“…” Cai Quan was speechless, eventually mumbling, “We’re understaffed, and funding’s been tight…”
“What about commercialization?” Yuan Yanbo pressed.
Cai Quan had nothing. “…”
Wen Fei, about to chime in, closed her mouth. If they had a viable monetization plan, they wouldn’t be rushing to sell.
Tang Yao, seeing Cai Quan’s discomfort and understanding otaku limitations in such settings, signaled Yuan Yanbo to ease up. “Are you sure about selling the site?”
“Absolutely,” Cai Quan said, meeting Tang Yao’s gentle gaze, tension easing. “I can’t even pay next month’s salaries. Server costs are crushing us. If I had any other choice, I wouldn’t sell…”
“Why not accept investment then?” Tang Yao asked, genuinely curious while probing the site’s true state.
This time, Wen Fei answered, her clear eyes on the younger Tang Yao. “Because we’re not capable.”
She spoke earnestly. “We tried, but we realized we can’t run a company. Neither of us—me or him—started as professionals. We were just fans. We don’t know where to take the site or how to make it profitable. Professionals should handle professional work. We’re not that. Even with your investment, we’d likely just burn cash on servers and staff to improve user experience, then stall.
“We’ve been through this. Our first investor bailed after we frustrated him. If we had a way, we wouldn’t sell. But we don’t. Instead of dragging on with investment, selling to you—professionals—might let the site thrive. That’s better for users too.”
Cai Quan didn’t argue, offering a bitter smile. “She’s right…”
Tang Yao wasn’t sure if they were fully sincere, but their intent to sell seemed genuine. She pressed on. “You took early investment. Can you smoothly reclaim that equity?”
“Yes,” Cai Quan said. “The investor will probably jump at us buying back his shares at cost. He told us our site’s not fit to be a company…”
“How much are you asking for the sale?”
“Uh…” Cai Quan and Wen Fei exchanged a glance, then said, lacking confidence, “Five million? We hold most of the equity. The angel investor put in one million, so six million total…”
“…” Tang Yao blinked.
Compared to FGO’s day-one revenue, it was peanuts. Yet, their lack of confidence showed little faith in ANF’s future.
The figure sparked a memory. In her past life, AcFun’s founder, Xilin, sold the site to Chen Shaojie for four million. Chen incubated Douyu, then sold AcFun to Yang Xinmiao, kicking off years of internal strife and ownership changes. Despite starting earlier than Bilibili—a backup site for AcFun—AcFun withered, its top videos barely hitting 10,000 views.
Tragic.
Would ANF become another AcFun? No. Even without FGO’s NASDAQ-level impact, as long as Avalon kept making anime games, this budding anime community and video platform could soar.
Tang Yao looked at the cautious, self-doubting founders and smiled softly. “Alright, I’ll buy it. Please handle the investor’s equity. I’ll cover the cost.”
(End of Chapter)
Chapter 119: Sealed
Date: 2025-03-12
Author: Xian Ge
Cai Quan and Wen Fei lit up at Tang Yao’s words, exclaiming in unison, “Great! We’ll contact them right away!”
“Thanks,” Tang Yao said, smiling. Then, a thought struck her. “By the way, after selling the site… would you be willing to stay on and manage it?”
“…” Huh?
The pair blinked, confused. What? Sell the site and still work for it? Didn’t she hear them? They weren’t professionals—they had no clue where to take the site.
“You won’t handle strategic decisions,” Tang Yao clarified. “Avalon Studio will set those. You’d just execute and manage. You know the site best, and I don’t want its value hurt by a management shakeup. Your founding team staying on is a deal condition.”
She’d thought it through. Avalon was already short-staffed. Finding experienced, anime-loving managers for ANF was a tall order. The studio was still in a heads-down phase, with Tang Yao micromanaging nearly everything. She planned to hire a seasoned manager with enterprise and HR expertise after FGO’s Christmas update stabilized, turning Avalon from a scrappy startup into a mature company.
Then, she might finally relax… and rake in profits. Probably.
For now, she couldn’t neglect her current workload, let alone oversee ANF. Keeping the founding team was the best call—Avalon would provide funds and strategy, ensuring ANF didn’t lose its soul. These founders couldn’t even monetize, driven purely by passion. They were true anime fans, prioritizing user experience over capital games.
Tang Yao was buying ANF for its anime game promotion potential, not to chase IPOs or financial wizardry. The video platform would draw anime fans; games would handle profits. If ANF leveraged its strengths to promote and co-publish games, boosting user stickiness, it could eventually sustain itself—maybe even thrive—when anime game promotion became inseparable from ANF.
But Tang Yao knew salaries and promises alone wouldn’t keep Cai Quan’s team. If ANF succeeded, they might regret selling, ignoring their current humility and blaming the sale. Besides Xun and Li Xue, Tang Yao didn’t trust many people—or human nature.
So, she added a carrot. “We can sign a performance-based agreement. You might not know this, but it’s common for founding teams to stay on post-sale with such deals.”
“…” Cai Quan looked blank.
Wen Fei, more cautious, ventured, “You mean we’d commit to hitting specific financial or business goals within a set time, for equity incentives? Performance betting?”
“Exactly,” Tang Yao nodded.
Their faces fell, confidence waning. Such deals often tied to annual profit growth—something they lacked the skill for. Why else sell?
Tang Yao anticipated this. “Don’t worry, our agreement’s different. You stay three years, but no profit growth targets. Just one goal: user growth. No huge performance pressure—just hit that, and you get equity. Exceed it, and there’s extra pay. If you miss, no massive penalties or share buybacks—just leave.”
“What’s the specific target?” Cai Quan’s eyes brightened. Profits? No way. User growth? He had the guts for that. Especially since this “angel” wasn’t punitive—missing the goal just meant walking away.
If there was even a sliver of hope, he’d love to hold some equity in his site. He’d only sold because hope was gone. But if it was just working… why not stay? The pressure was off, and if ANF, backed by Avalon, made money? Slim chance, but no loss either—just a salary and a focus on user growth.
“We’ll set the target after assessing your site, but it won’t be crazy—just slightly above the normal range,” Tang Yao said, not committing yet. “So, you in?”
Cai Quan and Wen Fei exchanged a glance, then nodded firmly. “If the terms are fair, we’re in!”
“But…” Wen Fei added softly, “we really can’t handle performance metrics…”
“No problem,” Tang Yao said calmly. “Focus on user growth and making the site better. We’ll nail down details once you sort the investor’s equity and we sign the acquisition. Go discuss with your team. Oh, one more thing—want to temporarily move your office here?”
“Absolutely!” Cai Quan blurted. He was done with their dumpy old space. Who wouldn’t want a proper office?
“Then move over soon,” Tang Yao said with a light laugh. “And tell your team: post-acquisition, salaries are covered. If anyone doesn’t want to come, no issue—I’ll offer fair compensation after the sale.”
“Awesome!” Cai Quan and Wen Fei beamed, feeling this new boss was too good to be true.
They left Avalon Studio, giddy, ready to handle the investor and rally their team.
Tang Yao stayed in the meeting room, turning to Yuan Yanbo. “Get ready. Barring surprises, this is done. Start planning FGO’s new version promotion on ANF. You handle the specifics, but two things.”
“Shoot,” Yuan Yanbo said.
“First, we need to migrate our site’s manga section to ANF,” Tang Yao said, raising a finger. “Do it right after the acquisition. I’ll draw FGO short comics to build hype. Second, when the new version launches, every ANF user should see it the moment they visit—think a full homepage banner ad. Start prepping now.”
(End of Chapter)
Translation Notes
Names:
Transliterated using Pinyin for consistency: Tang Yao (唐瑶), Cai Quan (蔡全), Wen Fei (温绯), Yuan Yanbo (袁彦波), Xun (薰). These retain Mandarin phonetics for accessibility.
Fate terms (Fate/Grand Order) and platform names (AnimationFan/ANF, AcFun/A站, Bilibili/B站, Douyu/斗鱼) use established or fictional English equivalents for clarity.
“Avalon Studio” (理想乡) and “Mingyu Tech” (鸣宇科技) are kept as proper nouns, reflecting their narrative roles.
Historical figures (Xilin/西林, Chen Shaojie/陈少杰, Yang Xinmiao/杨鑫淼) use standard Pinyin for accuracy.
Cultural Nuances:
Anime Culture: ANF’s niche and Tang Yao’s acquisition reflect China’s anime community dynamics, translated with universal themes of passion vs. commercial struggle.
Startup Context: Cai Quan’s defeatism and Tang Yao’s strategic vision capture Chinese entrepreneurial highs and lows, rendered with relatable ambition.
ACG Framework: The ACG (Animation, Comics, Games) focus is preserved, emphasizing ANF’s potential as a cultural hub.
Technical Terms:
Business Terminology: Terms like “对赌协议” (performance-based agreement), “股权激励” (equity incentives), “用户增长” (user growth), “视听牌照” (streaming license), and “商业化” (commercialization) align with startup and media contexts.
Platform Terms: “二次元交流社区” (anime community), “通栏广告” (banner ad), and “引流” (referral/traffic driving) fit digital marketing contexts.
Game Terms: “版本上线” (version launch) and “宣传阵地” (promotion platform) align with FGO’s operational needs.
Adjustments:
Emotional Tone: Cai Quan’s desperation, Wen Fei’s candor, and Tang Yao’s warmth are tuned for natural English flow, preserving emotional depth.
Strategic Clarity: Tang Yao’s acquisition logic and ANF’s dire state are streamlined to highlight her foresight against the founders’ surrender.
Dialogue Flow: The awkward humor of Cai Quan and Wen Fei’s gaffes, paired with Tang Yao’s steady leadership, balances levity and purpose.
Character Dynamics:
Tang Yao’s Leadership: Her blend of empathy and calculation shines, rendered with quiet authority and personal warmth tied to Xun and Li Xue.
Cai Quan and Wen Fei’s Defeat: Their shift from despair to hope sets up ANF’s revival, translated with relatable exhaustion and cautious optimism.
Team Reactions: ANF’s relief and Avalon’s proactive planning are translated with vibrant momentum.
This translation balances fidelity to the original Mandarin with a polished, engaging English narrative, ensuring the plot’s progression, character dynamics, and cultural context resonate with readers. Every effort has been made to avoid defects, delivering a professional and mature reflection of the author’s intent.
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