Chapter 121

Chapter 121: Planning and Strategy (Extra Update for Comrade Tian Shang Du Yan, the Alliance Leader)

In the early days of the app store’s application market, when the App Store was still in its chaotic and rapidly growing phase, a well-crafted game could easily secure recommendations.

Before this, Mei Fang’s “Early Bird Flies First” had been featured on the App Store’s selection list twice. Before its third appearance, it already had over ten thousand downloads.

When “Early Bird Flies First” appeared on the App Store’s selection list for the third time, two major events happened simultaneously.

The first event was the official release of the iPhone 4. Although it wasn’t as successful as its upgraded version, the iPhone 4S, and faced criticism due to the antenna issue, it boosted Apple’s sales close to 40 million units, truly opening up the Chinese market and ushering in an era where people were obsessed with “trading kidneys for the three-piece set.”

The second event was that the famous social platform website, which people called “Fei Si Bu Ke,” surpassed Twitter in traffic, becoming the second largest website in the United States, just behind Google.

The rise of “Fei Si Bu Ke” indicated the huge potential and development prospects of social platforms. People’s use of the internet had evolved from being merely a tool to a necessity of life.

Although these two events seemed unrelated, they triggered a series of chain reactions, ultimately leading to one result:

“Flappy Bird,” or “Early Bird Flies First,” exploded in popularity after being recommended on the App Store for the third time, topping the free download charts in North America.

The success of “Early Bird Flies First” did not lie in its gameplay, but rather in its social networking miracle. Initially, some early players downloaded the game out of boredom.

At first, the spread was fueled by these players’ frustration and excitement. They shared their experiences and records on Fei Si Bu Ke, Twitter, or other emerging social platforms.

Later, as more players joined through social circles, the game gained even more traction.

Compared to the previous version, Mei Fang paid more attention to social engagement in the 1.0 version, allowing players to bind their Fei Si Bu Ke accounts, clone their platform friends, and have weekly rankings.

Young users loved sharing, recording, competing, and looking back. When they saw their friends surpass them, they would play harder, bringing continuous ad revenue to Mei Fang.

Some saw their non-gaming social media friends appearing in their game rankings, simply out of curiosity, turning them into gamers.

Many began writing reviews, articles, and analyzing the game’s success theories, while others criticized it, saying it didn’t deserve to be called a real game and was a desecration of the ninth art.

Regardless of the game’s reputation, it became a super hit on the App Store before it even became popular in China. Downloads soared from 10,000 to 2 million, eventually topping the free charts outside North America.

Popularity doesn’t necessarily mean the creator gains good fame. Mei Fang had heard about the rumors and criticisms faced by the creator in his past life, so he refused all interviews and private messages, not wanting to read them one by one due to the long English texts.

The game itself wasn’t Mei Fang’s favorite type; he used it to quickly earn money and get his first pot of gold, then planned to make more ethical games.

How much profit did “Early Bird Flies First” bring to Mei Fang?

Though he had become a designated billionaire through Bitcoin, Mei Fang didn’t feel much of it.

But when he opened his App Store backend account and saw his wallet growing rapidly, he truly felt the joy of making games.

Damn, my boss must have been equally happy counting my hard-earned money!

Mei Fang’s account earned up to $10,000 per day from ads, but this was only one-fifth of the creator’s highest income in his past life, due to the three-year gap in development cycles. At the time, the number of iPhone users wasn’t explosive yet.

After accumulating, by the end of June, Mei Fang’s overseas account had nearly $300,000. He had become a genuine millionaire.

The champion of the 2010 World Cup was Spain. Mei Fang had watched this match in his past life. He remembered Casillas’ miraculous saves, the two missed opportunities of the “Little Flying Man,” and Xabi Alonso’s decisive shot in the final minute of extra time.

Knowing the outcome and the final score, this generation of the World Cup allowed Mei Fang to bet on higher odds.

However, Mei Fang was cautious and only risked one-third of his capital through online betting, eventually winning a 1:12 payout, equivalent to a post-tax prize of 8 million yuan.

After receiving the money, Mei Fang quickly realized that making games wasn’t as appealing anymore.

So, the风口 (trend) is indeed a terrifying existence.

You put in so much effort and sweat, yet it’s no match for buying one Bitcoin.

This is indeed quite hurtful.

Of course, some often say that money you don’t deserve will be lost anyway. With assets at this level, expansion isn’t needed in the short term. Mei Fang should focus on improving himself.

Now, despite being a young boy who had just finished junior high school and possessed millions in assets, he couldn’t decide his own life.

Therefore, he couldn’t reveal his wealth to his parents or anyone else, as it was a big taboo.

Lin You Xi had inevitably learned some details, but Mei Fang hadn’t revealed too much information.

You Xi was introverted and didn’t ask many questions. Mei Fang trusted her completely.

Thus, during this summer vacation at the end of eighth grade, while preparing seriously for the Jiangcheng Normal School, Mei Fang secretly became a millionaire, hiding it from everyone.

After expanding the C-site bandwidth, Mei Fang started looking for companions to maintain the site.

Although young, Mei Fang and Lin You Xi were no amateurs in Go language and C#. However, relying solely on these students wasn’t enough for daily operations.

During the summer break, Mei Fang discovered some wild programmers and artists among the C-site premium members and hoped they could help part-time.

The C-site was a passion-driven platform. The programmers understood this clearly, and these anime enthusiasts even offered to work for “Shan You Lin Xi” (Mei Fang) for free. Mei Fang firmly rejected this and offered them a monthly salary of a thousand or two.

Since then, rumors about “Shan You Lin Xi” being a rich lady spread widely. Mei Fang even received some private messages like “[Rich Lady, Hungry, Eat],” leading him to suspect that these people might also be from another world.

Without formal contracts, these passionate contributors worked harder than some regular employees Mei Fang had encountered. People in the QQ group discussed modification plans daily, and their changes perfectly aligned with Mei Fang and Lin You Xi’s expectations.

Thus, the C-site gradually grew under the efforts of these early enthusiasts.

As the summer of 2010 passed and winter scenes faded, spring arrived in 2011. All three were striving towards their goals while maintaining strong relationships.

Xia Yuan, who had been tormented by physics for days, had returned to his usual cheerful demeanor, perhaps even overly active.

Active to the point of not being ashamed of engaging in overly unrestrained physical contact.

Fortunately, Mei Fang was a chosen one. His adult rationality and skillful manipulation helped him escape unscathed.

Now, many visions were being meticulously planned, and the day to see the results was approaching.

In early March, Mei Fang, Xia Yuan, and Lin You Xi made thorough preparations. Tomorrow, they would embark on the special county exam journey to Jiangcheng—alongside their respective parents.

Recently, many authors have caught a cold. Everyone should take care of their health!

Actually, I have a slight cold too. If I really catch it, I wouldn’t need to write and could take a leave.

(End of Chapter)