Gaming

Good Group responded swiftly the day after.

Group Vice President Liu Zhang, along with a legal department supervisor who had specifically traveled from Shanghai, provided Lin Yuan with an addendum to his contract.

The contract stipulated that Lin Yuan's monthly salary would reach 42K after three months of employment, equating to an annual salary of around 500,000 RMB. However, he would need to sign a new three-year contract and simultaneously a five-year non-compete agreement.

As compensation, after one year, Lin Yuan would annually receive 200,000 RMB worth of Good Group stock. He could then receive dividend income from these shares.

Upon leaving, Lin Yuan's shares would be repurchased by Hao Tuan Company at the market price at that time. These incentive shares given to employees could not be circulated on the market.

Additionally, he would have the right to renegotiate his job level once a year.

Lin Yuan quickly calculated.

After three months, his pre-tax annual salary would be 500,000 RMB.

After one year, he would also receive 200,000 RMB in stock for free each year, which meant a pre-tax annual salary of 700,000 RMB.

Furthermore, he would have an annual opportunity to renegotiate terms with the company.

Liu Zhang was quite direct, explaining that the revenue generated by the algorithm could only be estimated at present, and no one had a clear idea of its full potential. That's why Good Group offered Lin Yuan a salary comparable to a senior engineer, along with the opportunity to renegotiate terms annually.

In other words, Good Group was adopting a 'testing the waters' approach.

Otherwise, for internet companies of this type, truly exceptional talents easily earn millions annually.

Liu Zhang even joked, "If you reveal the algorithm details, and it passes evaluation by the company's internal research institute, perhaps we could directly sign you to a multi-year contract with a million-RMB annual salary."

But Lin Yuan naturally did not want to be tied down to Good Group; for him, Good Group was merely a stepping stone.

"Mr. Liu, if that's the case, then why insist on a three-year contract with me? And this non-compete agreement is simply too harsh. You've even included those New Energy vehicle companies."

The non-compete agreement even included the subsidiary of Coarse Grain Factory that had just entered the New Energy vehicle industry, effectively encompassing all sizable internet, IT, energy, and semiconductor-related companies in China.

If Lin Yuan signed it, he would effectively be tied to Good Group for five years.

"I also consulted a professor from our university's law school. Let's make it simpler," Lin Yuan naturally wouldn't fight a battle he wasn't confident in, "The annual salary remains unchanged for now, and the contract is still signed annually. However, I can sign an exclusive technology authorization agreement."

"I will not provide any software or hardware technology related to food delivery to any company other than Good Group. This authorization can be independent of my employment contract. Does that work for you?"

His mentor found Lin Yuan a professor from the law school, and this was the advice the professor gave Lin Yuan.

This ensured Lin Yuan's personal rights and freedom, as the contract was only for one year. It also gave Good Group peace of mind, as the authorization agreement strictly limited Lin Yuan from working for other food delivery platforms. For Lin Yuan, such a restriction was almost no restriction at all, as he never intended to work in the food delivery industry his whole life.

After Liu Zhang held a video conference with the headquarters to discuss the matter, they largely approved the proposal for the technology authorization agreement.

"Headquarters' intention is to sign a three-year, limited non-compete agreement with you."

"Still a non-compete agreement?"

"Don't worry. It only includes a few companies related to 'You Hungry Me??'."

"You Hungry Me??" is Good Group's biggest competitor, one of the two surviving food delivery platforms in the fierce competition of the entire Chinese food delivery market.

Lin Yuan carefully reviewed the new non-compete agreement.

The scope of restricted companies within it had significantly narrowed. However, due to the complex investment relationships of internet companies like "You Hungry Me??", if Lin Yuan signed it, he would be cut off from Tao-affiliated companies for three years, as Tao-affiliated companies were the financial backers behind "You Hungry Me??".

'Alright,' Lin Yuan once again felt the cold, terrifying calmness of a commercial company.

The other party was concerned that the technology authorization agreement might not fully bind Lin Yuan, whereas with a non-compete agreement, Lin Yuan would be unable to have any business dealings or employment relationships with any Tao-affiliated company.

Lin Yuan chuckled self-deprecatingly, 'Well, Tao-affiliated companies are in decline anyway.'

With the rise of various e-commerce platforms, the Tao-affiliated companies, once dominant in China's e-commerce sector, were now mired in shrinking business. On the contrary, various domestic and international fines in recent years had accumulated to nearly 30 billion RMB.

If Lin Yuan truly wanted to enter the e-commerce field in the future, his first choice would certainly not be an old e-commerce company like Tao-affiliated companies. Moreover, he had no interest in e-commerce. What was so fun about selling goods?

"The company can pay you 200,000 RMB in non-compete compensation annually, and your proposed technology authorization is still valid. However, it will only be realized in the second year, and the specific amount will be discussed then."

So, the final contract became:

Lin Yuan would enjoy a 500,000 RMB annual salary after three months.

The contract would still be for one year. However, he had to sign a limited non-compete agreement blocking Tao-affiliated companies, valid for three years.

After the one-year contract expired, whether to renew with Lin Yuan would be discussed by both parties at that time. The technology authorization fee after one year would also be discussed then.

In other words, besides this year's 500,000 RMB annual salary contract, the annual 200,000 RMB non-compete compensation was set in stone. Everything else was uncertain.

Lin Yuan could guess the other party's intentions.

Since he was unwilling to be tied down to Good Group, Good Group naturally wouldn't provide him with too many guarantees. This could be considered fair.

"These terms are the company's bottom line. Actually, speaking frankly," Liu Zhang now had the air of an elder in the tech field speaking from the heart, "This contract is not as good as the original one. Although the company needs to assess your abilities before determining your subsequent job level, for a large company like Good Group, as long as you can produce results, they won't make things too difficult for you."

That was true. Lin Yuan also believed that Good Group wouldn't be overly harsh on its core technical team members.

For large companies, while routines are routines, they still need to maintain their reputation (of course, this is limited to their core employees).

For an ordinary technical professional, choosing to cling to Good Group's leg would naturally be the best outcome. Good Group's core business was very stable, and what was there to be unhappy about enjoying a million-RMB annual salary there?

However, Lin Yuan now clearly had higher aspirations. He only wanted to earn his first pot of gold from Good Group to solve his immediate financial difficulties.

Lin Yuan was also well aware of why Good Group would introduce a three-year non-compete agreement.

It was simply because they were relying on the three-year period to thoroughly understand his algorithm no matter what. In fact, based on current internet industry experience, three years was already a very, very safe amount of time.

Internet companies iterate too quickly; when new technologies emerge, competitors will quickly imitate them. Just like Mi Talk and WeChat back then. There are too many such past events.

Lin Yuan believed that someone at Good Group must have thought: this algorithm could be imitated in three months (otherwise, they wouldn't have offered Lin Yuan only a 500,000 RMB annual salary).

Therefore, after having the final contract reviewed and confirmed by the law school professor, Lin Yuan confidently signed it.

—

The game of chess surrounding the algorithm came to an end. Good Group's concerns were also eliminated.

Thus, Lin Yuan's algorithm was treated as a beta test version to explore and test. Good Group's internal research institute also began to specifically replicate their own algorithm.

In Good Group's view, Lin Yuan was a stubborn, inexperienced young man.

However, time would eventually prove everything!