Out of courtesy, since the American distributor had personally flown in, Lin Baicheng went to the airport himself at around three in the morning to receive them.
The company's representative in the United States was Liu Shixiong, who had given himself the English name Turner. He was a former overseas student who had just graduated that year, and Galaxy Games was his first official job after entering society.
When Lin first shipped the arcade machines, he sent ten units each to Japan and the United States. But unlike Yamada Hideyoshi, who tirelessly visited distributors in Japan, reports from the American team indicated that Liu Shixiong had only taken a machine to Atari during his first visit to seek a partnership. After that, although he claimed to be visiting more distributors, he never actually brought a machine with him. The staff suspected he was using work hours to deal with his own personal affairs.
Given that Liu had just graduated, Lin guessed that he was merely treating his job at Galaxy Games as a stopgap — collecting a salary while secretly searching for his "ideal" career, using "business visits" as an excuse to attend interviews.
With that in mind, Lin decided to let the two employees stationed in Los Angeles remain there temporarily, treating it as an overseas business assignment.
Still, Liu hadn't been entirely idle before the distributor's visit. Every weekend, he and two other employees took machines to large arcade stores to demonstrate and sell them, managing to move seven units in total.
Since Lin had only shipped ten units initially, Liu even asked for additional stock to be sent to the U.S., but Lin firmly rejected the request. He had already made up his mind to personally attend the Los Angeles trade fair in October, and once there, he intended to fire Liu Shixiong. He had no intention of relying on someone like Liu to open up the American market.
Although an American distributor was now coming all the way to Hong Kong, Lin's decision remained unchanged. Liu's lack of professionalism had left a deep impression — he would not keep such a person in his company.
The distributor from Los Angeles was named Phil Smith, a young man in his twenties — probably not even thirty yet. From his demeanor and confident attitude, Lin could tell he was likely a second- or third-generation rich heir.
Smith did not come alone. He was accompanied by bodyguards, a lawyer, and a translator — quite an entourage.
At the airport, Lin exchanged a few polite words with them and then arranged for their accommodation. He hadn't expected such a large party, so he had to urgently book several additional hotel rooms.
After seeing them off to rest and recover from jet lag, Lin returned home to catch some sleep himself.
By noon, the two sides met again for lunch before Lin led Smith and his team to visit the factory. They took a short tour before heading into the office for formal discussions.
Because Lin no longer trusted Liu Shixiong, he dismissed him for the day — effectively sending him home on leave. As for the language barrier, Lin had already hired a professional interpreter the previous day.
Inside the factory's conference room sat two groups:
On Galaxy Games' side were Lin Baicheng, Liu Yihui, and the interpreter.
On the other side sat Phil Smith, his lawyer, and his own interpreter. The bodyguards remained downstairs.
After some polite small talk, they got down to business.
"Mr. Lin," said Phil Smith, "I've come to Hong Kong this time because I wish to invest in your company. I have connections on Wall Street, and if your company continues to perform well, there's no reason it couldn't one day list on the U.S. stock market."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Smith," Lin replied immediately, shaking his head. "I'm not currently considering bringing in external investors."
It wasn't that Lin was obsessed with total control. He didn't mind others holding shares or even the idea of going public — but timing was crucial. Galaxy Games was still in its early growth phase; allowing someone to buy in now would simply mean giving away his future profits. He wasn't that foolish.
Smith, however, didn't seem surprised by the rejection. "Mr. Lin," he said confidently, "perhaps you could at least hear my offer before you refuse."
"I doubt your offer would satisfy me," Lin replied with a faint smile — though inwardly, he was curious to hear it.
Smith raised one finger and said with confidence, "Ten million U.S. dollars for twenty percent of your company. In other words, I'm valuing Galaxy Games at fifty million dollars."
The interpreter's voice trembled slightly as he translated the figure. Lin, however, simply shook his head.
"Mr. Smith," he said calmly, "I told you your offer would not satisfy me. To be frank, my company has already signed an exclusive agency contract with Taito Corporation in Japan. Our very first order alone was worth over ten million U.S. dollars. Do you still think I would accept your valuation?"
"My apologies," Smith said after a pause, realizing his information had been incomplete. He had investigated Galaxy Games' operations in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, and based on that, a fifty-million valuation had already seemed generous. He hadn't discovered the deal with Taito.
"Then twenty million, Mr. Lin," Smith said, doubling his previous offer. "I'll still only ask for twenty percent. Your company's contract with Taito alone will bring in millions in profit — and that's just from Japan. The American and European markets haven't even been touched yet."
He genuinely wanted in now; the more he learned, the more promising Galaxy Games appeared.
Lin waved a hand dismissively. "There's no need to raise your offer, Mr. Smith. No matter how much you're willing to pay, it still wouldn't satisfy me."
Not wishing to sour the atmosphere, Lin smoothly changed the topic. "Let's talk about Hong Kong Blocks instead. I assume your visit here means you're interested in acquiring its distribution rights?"
Smith, however, wasn't ready to give up. "Mr. Lin, I'm sure you have your own valuation in mind. Please — tell me your number. If I can accept it, let me invest. I truly believe in your company. But if I can't accept, I'll give up and move on. What do you say?"
Phil Smith's determination was clear. He had entered the gaming industry because he believed in its future. Had Atari not already been acquired by Warner, he would have preferred to invest there instead.
Unfortunately, just last year Atari had been sold to Warner Communications for less than thirty million dollars. In exchange, Warner had given Atari a hundred million dollars in development funding — a deal that had reshaped the industry.
That was why Smith had thought his fifty-million valuation for Galaxy Games was already high. What he hadn't expected was that Lin Baicheng had already signed a lucrative exclusive deal with Taito, with the first shipment alone worth over ten million dollars.