Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

So far, three versions of the Fitness Battle had been planned. They were the mobile version, the professional version of the smart fitness drying rack, and the VR version.

The goal of the mobile version was to expand the gamers and increase the game's popularity. At the same time, it would provide the most basic gaming experience for gamers. After trying it out, it would guide gamers to obtain the professional version.

The goal of the professional version was to provide gamers with a fitness experience comparable to private gym training. It was a scientific exercise that allowed gamers to persevere for a long time through the stickiness of the game.

The goal of the VR version was to show players the effects of the new VR technology. It would completely enhance the immersion of the game, giving players more reason to charge in the Fitness Battle or purchase a smart fitness drying rack and VR glasses.

In other words, even if players bought VR glasses, they did not have to wear them to work out. They only had to use their cell phone or tablet to complete their daily fitness routine. They only had to experience it on the VR when they needed to watch the characters change or when they were in a good mood.

Some players cared more about the actual fitness effect and comfortable experience. Some players cared more about the immersion of the game. They wanted to observe the lady up close. Different players would naturally have different choices.

On the other hand, the VR version of "Fitness Battle" was equivalent to providing an additional option for players who did not care about comfort.

The so-called 'opportunity behind risk' was actually referring to the fact that VR games had just started. If they gave up on developing similar games because of the problem of wearing them, similar games would never appear.

Thus, 'Fitness Battle' would be the only VR game on all VR games platforms that had both fitness and nurturing functions.

This gave many players a reason to buy it.

As a designer, he could not wait until the equipment technology developed to meet all his requirements before developing the game. It would be too late then.

After adding the ventilation system, the internal heat dissipation problem could be improved to ensure gamers' gaming experience.

What's more, there were VR games that required strenuous exercise. For example, the "Rhythm Sword" in Pei Qian's memory had the same amount of exercise as some aerobic exercises in high difficulty. It could cause players to sweat profusely in ten minutes, but it did not affect many players who were enjoying it. These people could completely tolerate the heat and inconvenience of the VR's head because the good gaming experience would temporarily make them ignore these flaws.

Everyone quickly decided on more details.

It was not difficult to transplant the 'Fitness Battle' into the VR equipment because if nothing went wrong, this latest VR equipment would use a custom-made operating system by Shenhua. It was essentially no different from a cell phone.

Ye Zhizhou and Wang Xiaobin's goal was to install "Fitness Battle'' directly into their VR glasses. They wanted to achieve a good game effect even if they did not use computers. This was very important. It could greatly reduce the threshold for players to play.

After that, they would continue to create more props to provide gamers with continuous fitness or the motivation to spend money. It would form a virtuous cycle.

…

…

May 25th, Friday…

Pei Qian had just finished his lunch at Fish-Catching Internet Cafe at 11 AM.

Pei Qian felt excited and expectant as he thought about the changes that would happen to Fish-Catching Internet Cafe in the future.

He was prepared to bring Tian Mo to Tengda's experience shop this afternoon to see how the renovations were going. If there were any problems, he could resolve them as soon as possible.

If there were no problems, he would get the sales team to move in quickly and burn money!

At that moment, Pei Qian's cell phone rang.

"Eh? Lu Mingliang?"

Pei Qian was quite surprised.

It had been a long time since she took the initiative to contact him.

How long had it been exactly? Pei Qian could not remember. It had been about a year.

Ever since Lu Mingliang obtained the Best Employee Award and left Tengda Games, he had taken over Upwind Logistics, which Pei Qian valued the most. He had also worked diligently, allowing Upwind Logistics to continue expanding and incurring losses. He had made great contributions.

It could be said that Lu Mingliang would undoubtedly be in first place if there was a credit book.

Originally, Old Ma was a strong competitor for this position. However, after Old Ma repeatedly caused trouble and earned a lot of money, Pei Qian's balance in his heart was already heavily tilted towards Lu Mingliang.

Why was he calling?

Could something have happened at Upwind Logistics?

Pei Qian was very nervous. Nothing must happen to Upwind Logistics!

Pei Qian immediately picked up the phone.

"Boss Pei, I wanted to report my work to you in person, but I realized that you are not in the office. Can we talk face-to-face when you have the time?"

Pei Qian pondered for a moment. "I'm near the office. Please wait for a moment. I'll be there soon."

After hanging up, Pei Qian immediately headed to the office and met Lu Mingliang in the guest room.

It had been a long time since they last met. Thus, Pei Qian chatted with Lu Mingliang for a while and asked if he had encountered any problems in his daily life. He quickly got a negative answer.

That was to be expected. After all, Tengda's benefits were very good. The person-in-charge was also being treated very well. The property prices in Jingzhou had not risen yet. It would not be a problem to buy a house and a car in a year or two with salary, commission, and various benefits.

Lu Mingliang could feel that even though Boss Pei had not asked about Upwind Logistics for a long time, he obviously thought very highly of himself!

It even surpassed core departments like Tengda Games.

He could tell from Boss Pei's eyes and every move.

Thus, Lu Mingliang was very moved. He took out the report that he had prepared beforehand.

"Boss Pei, let me briefly introduce Upwind Logistics' current development."

"Over the past few months, Upwind Logistics has been expanding to first-tier cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and the surrounding areas according to your previous strategy."

"It's probably because Tengda has already gained a good reputation across the country. That's why it's developing much faster in these areas than in Jingzhou. The number of shops we have is increasing very quickly!"

"At the moment, we have the most number of shops in Jingzhou. There are nearly three hundred of them. In the other ten cities in Handong Province, we have around 70 to 100 shops. We have around 120 to 150 shops in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. Upwind Courier stations are also opening continuously in the cities around Huanzhou, Huanmo, and Huanyang City."

"The total number of Upwind Courier stations has reached more than 4,000…"

Pei Qian could not help but feel shocked as he listened to Lu Mingliang's report.

There were more than 4,000 Upwind Courier stations?!

This speed was really amazing.

Of course, in Pei Qian's impression, there were more than 40,000 Cai Niao Couriers in the country. The number of Upwind Courier stations was still far from that.

However, if it was only in Jingzhou, Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, the coverage was already very high.

This was especially so in Jingzhou. Almost all express deliveries' "last mile" would be delivered by Upwind Courier stations.

Then, Lu Mingliang continued to introduce Upwind Logistics' losses.

Upwind Courier stations had to bear the cost of rent and employees' salaries. They also had additional expenses if they operated normally. Originally, every Upwind Courier station would incur a net loss of 7,000 to 8,000 yuan every month. However, there was a huge turnaround now. They were only losing 3,000 to 4,000 yuan.

There were two main reasons for this. First, as the Upwind Courier stations expanded and became more popular, the customer base that they served became larger and larger. Thus, the originally inconspicuous additional income had increased. Second, Lu Mingliang had thought of ways to increase revenue and reduce losses.

For example, the most basic delivery service.

Originally, not many people chose this business. However, as the 1024 Digital Day festival was held and people's recognition of Upwind Logistics gradually increased, more and more customers chose to let Upwind Logistics deliver their packages on their behalf. Every order of Upwind Logistics earned a few cents.

The money was not earned from customers but from other express delivery companies.

That was because Upwind Courier stations had gathered all the delivery companies in the vicinity and handed them over to express delivery companies. This saved the cost of item pick up by the express delivery companies. Naturally, they had to charge a certain amount.

At first, this business looked inconspicuous. However, once the number increased, it would be a considerable income.

Apart from that, Lu Mingliang had also thought of other ways. For example, he could set up a small area in Upwind Logistics' shop to sell some goods or put some advertisements in Upwind Logistics' packaging.

Of course, they could not accept advertisements randomly. They had to focus on Tengda's own products. Some reputable and reputable businesses could also consider collaborating.

Just like that, the net loss of every Upwind Courier station went from 7,000 to 8,000 yuan a month to 3,000 to 4,000 yuan a month.

However, he was still incurring losses.

These 4,000 Upwind Courier stations meant that the monthly net loss would reach more than 10 million yuan.

Most of the money that was incurring losses was supplemented by Tengda's other related businesses, such as Fish-Catching Internet Cafe, ROF Computer-Installation, Otto Technologies, and so on.

ROF Computer-Installation and Otto Technologies' new cell phones and new products were sent by Upwind Logistics. They would pay the corresponding delivery fee.

Pei Qian transferred some of Tengda Corporation's spare excess funds to Upwind Logistics. After all, it could eat money steadily.

Just like that, even though Upwind Courier stations were incurring losses, they were also receiving financial support. Lu Mingliang remembered the task that Boss Pei had given him. Stopping losses was only one aspect. The key was to expand and open shops as soon as possible.

During this period of time, he buried his head in opening shops and expanded the initial 200 Upwind Courier stations to more than 4,000.

Pei Qian nodded slightly after listening to the report.

He might not be very satisfied with Lu Mingliang's efforts to reduce losses but this was human nature after all. The overall losses were increasing even though the losses of every shop were reduced on average. That was not bad!

"Very good, very good. Keep it up." Pei Qian was very satisfied.

Lu Mingliang was completely relieved Seeing Boss Pei's appreciative expression.

Boss Pei might have said from the beginning that Upwind Courier stations were set up and did not care about short-term profits, but they had been incurring losses for almost two years. The amount of money they had incurred was hard to count.

Would Boss Pei lose his patience and change his mind?

Now, it seemed like his worries were unnecessary.

This made Lu Mingliang feel much more at ease. At the same time, he took the opportunity to suggest something.

"Boss Pei, I think the time is ripe. We can start taking over the regular delivery business and start making profits."