Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

After selecting the new branch managers, Pei Qian turned to face Ma Yang. "Old Ma, Zhang Yuan, once I opened the branches, this branch would become the flagship store. Both of you need not work too hard on the management of the internet cafes, too.

"Zhang Yuan, in the future, you will be the regional manager of the Fish-Catching Internet Cafes in Jingzhou City. You will take charge of all the internet cafes here. As for Ma Yang, you will become the general manager of all the Fish-Catching Internet Cafes. You will still do the same as before; answer and report directly to me.

"Among the new branch managers I selected, choose one that you are most pleased with. He will be the branch manager of this internet cafe. This cafe is our first Fish-Catching Internet Cafe. It has a commemorative meaning. From now on, it will also be our flagship store.

"As for the other brothers who were not selected to be branch managers, do not worry. In the future, if Fish-Catching Internet Cafe opens more branches, we will select the branch managers from the group of employees who have been with us the longest.

"As for the gaps that will be left after you all are promoted, please fill them as soon as possible by hiring more people.

"Ma Yang, Zhang Yuan, after the holiday, I will give both of you a week to do your observations. Choose ten suitable sites and then pick out the best four among them. We will open our new branches at these four sites.

"Site selection, renovation, decorations… do everything as exactly we did for this cafe. Do you understand?"

Ma Yang patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, Brother Qian. Leave everything to me!"

Everyone looked quite excited. Boss Pei was not uttering empty words. Everything that he said before was coming true; it was all coming true at the speed of light, at that!

Some bosses were very good at making empty promises. Everything they said they would do would be delayed indefinitely for some reason. However, Boss Pei was different. He had only said a few days ago that he would open several more new branches. Immediately, the day for that had arrived!

They had just poured about three million yuan into this shop not long ago. Opening four more shops would cost more than ten million yuan. Yet, Boss Pei was not even frowning at the thought of this. Indeed, he was made to achieve great things!

The fact that they could work for a boss like that made a few waiters feel proud at once.

Once he had finished giving instructions, Pei Qian left final words on a few details, and then left feeling relieved.

…

…

Labor Day…

The company was closed, and there was nothing to do for school. Pei Qian decided to make a trip back home. However, before he went home, he took his bank card—which had about eighty thousand yuan in Personal Wealth—and went to a nearby home appliance store.

Since it was a long weekend, there were many people in the store. In fact, everyone was rubbing shoulders with one another.

At that time, buying home appliances online was not a popular practice. Warehousing and logistics were not that convenient to organize, and after-sales service was a pain. That was why most people preferred to go to physical stores to buy expensive items such as home appliances.

A few years later—as e-commerce became more rampant, these physical stores became few and far between.

Pei Qian walked around aimlessly. "Shopping is such a pain. It would be good if Assistant Xin were here…"

Pei Qian missed Assistant Xin. If she were here, she would be able to give Pei Qian a report on the best shops to go to based on his preference. All Pei Qian would have to do was swipe his card.

However, today was a holiday. Assistant Xin was off-work. What's more—strictly speaking, buying electronics for his household was not in her job scope. There would be no good reason to ask Assistant Xin to help him out with such matters. The System might even issue him a warning.

Therefore, Pei Qian had no choice but to endure the exhaustion and walk around on his own.

Television. Washing machine. Fridge. Air-conditioner.

Pei Qian was very sure that all the home appliances in his house had to be changed. However, it was difficult for him to choose these appliances on his own.

This was because everything looked quite bad…

The brands of these household appliances were different from what Pei Qian remembered. Still, he could roughly remember which ones were good and which ones were bad.

However, what made Pei Qian's head hurt the most was that while cell phones and computer software developed very quickly in this world, home appliances were not that much different from what he remembered them to be like.

Pei Qian was looking at appliances in the Year 2010 from the viewpoint of someone from the Year 2019. Of course, he would feel like none of these were suitable. In fact, many of these huge home appliances brands were going to be eliminated from the market. Pei Qian already knew they were bound to fail, and yet these appliances were being marketed as the most up-to-date products.

Take the television, for example.

At that time, forty-inch televisions of foreign brands—which were slightly better—were all priced at around five or six thousand yuan. To Pei Qian, this was daylight robbery. Since he was used to seeing these common forty-inch televisions being sold for a thousand-odd yuan, he had absolutely no desire to buy such televisions priced so ridiculously.

It was normal for him to feel this way. As the saying went… if one bought something earlier, one got to enjoy it for longer; if one bought something later, one got to enjoy it for a lower price. There was also another saying: people who wait would never become slaves.

Products like that would be developed and upgraded very quickly. Especially through the eyes of someone about ten years from the future, these things were going to be changed sooner or later. However, the earlier he bought them, the longer he would get to enjoy them.

Pei Qian thought that if he bought his parents' new home appliances—at the very least, the washing machine would not shake uncontrollably when drying the clothes, they would be able to store more things in the fridge, and watching the bigger television would be more comfortable to their eyes. All of these were day-to-day experiences. It was best to change these appliances as soon as possible.

Pei Qian made two rounds around the store and quickly decided on the appliances that he wanted to buy. Right away, he swiped his card and completed the purchase.

A 42-inch television, for over six thousand yuan. Double-door refrigerators were still quite new at that time—he paid over ten thousand yuan for that. An air-conditioner for over two thousand yuan. Since Jingzhou got quite hot in the summer, it was just the right time to get an air-conditioner. In a few days, he would be able to make good use of it. A tumbling-box washing machine for over three thousand yuan. At the same time, he bought an electronic rice-cooker, a vacuum cleaner, and other home appliances. Added all together, these all cost him about two thousand yuan.

All the appliances Pei Qian selected were fully-functional and of good-quality brands. There were domestic appliances and foreign appliances. That was why they cost more than ordinary appliances.

Finally, everything added together cost about thirty thousand yuan. With that, he was done for the day.

Once he finished purchasing these appliances, Pei Qian continued walking around the store for a bit more. He discovered a sweeping robot.

People were already using sweeping robots before the year 2010. However, at the time, nobody really purchased such a thing. This was because it was completely not worth the price. What's more, at the time, there were no applications that could control the robot. In one word, these things could be described as silly. They did not save as much time and effort for people as they would later on.

Pei Qian looked at the sweeping robot and found that this model was not bad. Although he could not plan its route, there were many cleaning modes. It cost over three thousand yuan. He decided to buy it.

He discussed with the store about the trade-in value of his old appliances, tied up the final loose ends, and then watched as the truck from the store carried his new appliances to his home.

The store was not far from his house. Pei Qian followed behind the store's truck into his home.

"Come on, move them in." Pei Qian began to instruct the men where to place the new appliances.

His mother ran out of the kitchen, slightly confused. "Ay? What's going on? Son, did you buy all of these things?"

Pei Qian nodded. "That's right. Where's Dad?"

"He went out to entertain clients. He'll be back late tonight." Pei Qian's mother looked at the huge appliances moving around her house and began to panic. "Child, how many things did you buy exactly? How much money did you have to spend?!"

"Don't worry. I only spent over twenty thousand yuan. My remuneration just about covers it. I've discussed with the store about the old appliances. They're running a trade-in system, so I got a discount on the new appliances. Don't worry about it."

Pei Qian knew that all of these things had to be done quickly. He could not give his mother time to react. All the new appliances had to be unpacked in his home, and the old appliances had to be taken out.

"This…"

His mother looked at the new television, opened the new refrigerator, and surveyed the new washing machine. At that moment, she did not know exactly what to say.

"The air-conditioner will come tomorrow morning. We'll have it installed in your bedroom. If you can't sleep during the day because it's too hot, just switch the AC on. Just adjust it accordingly; that's all to it.

"There's this sweeping robot as well. Let me teach you how to use it."

Pei Qian began to explain to his mother how to use the new appliances. At the same time, he took a dirty bedsheet and threw it into the washing machine to be washed. The tumbling-box washing machine made soft buzzing noises. The feet had already been adjusted, and the washing machine did not even swing around.

"You don't say, this washing machine is really so easy to use!" Pei Qian's mother exclaimed.

Pei Qian nodded. "Of course. Not only is it easy to use, but it saves water as well. The refrigerator saves more energy than our previous one as well. Changing the appliances was not cheap, but we will save on our utilities and electricity bills."

Mom nodded and said, "That's true."

Very quickly, the refrigerator was filled with food. The washing machine had a load of laundry being washed. The sweeping robot was spinning around on the ground. A program was being played on the television.

Mom was very satisfied with the new tumbling-box washing machine. She gathered all the clothes that had to be washed, looking like she wanted to make good use of this new washing machine.

Pei Qian lay down on the sofa, looking at the double door refrigerator that looked a bit too big for this house. He began to feel emotional.

"If only this house was bigger…

"I have to work harder to incur losses…"

…

…

On the 4th, at the end of the long weekend…

He was back at the office. Pei Qian's Personal Wealth had shrunk to about fifty thousand yuan. His desire to incur losses intensified.

"Have you planned the contents for the new update?" Pei Qian casually asked as he walked by Lu Mingliang's work desk.

Lu Mingliang immediately nodded. "They're all ready, Boss Pei!"

"En?" Pei Qian suddenly realized something was amiss. "Did you work over the Labor Day holiday?"

Lu Mingliang paused. Boss Pei was waiting for me?

There was not much he could do! It did not seem possible not to work overtime.

He was given the task on April 30th. May 1st to 3rd was a holiday. It was May 4th, and it was his first day back at work. Yet, the plan was already done. If he said that he did not work overtime, who would believe him?

Lu Mingliang quickly explained, "No, Boss Pei. I had nothing to do at home over the past few days. I was just thinking about the plan for the new update."

Pei Qian kept a poker face. "You worked at home so you worked overtime! As the rules stipulate, pay yourself three times the salary for working over the holiday."

Lu Mingliang, "…Yes, Boss Pei."

Pei Qian turned around and walked towards the conference room. "Alright, don't let it happen again. Everyone, come in for a meeting. We will touch base on the new update."

Very quickly, everyone from the research and development team arrived. Ma Yiqun sat quietly in the corner as he did before. He held on to his notebook, ready to take notes.

Lu Mingliang began to introduce the plan for the few games they had on hand. They were largely similar to the instructions Pei Qian gave to them some time ago.

For The Lonely Desert Road, there was going to be Endless Mode, multiplayer function, and a new map. They were to be priced at one yuan.

For Ghost General, there was going to be a new set of generals, priced at five yuan.

For Ocean Stronghold, there was going to be a new epic weapon, priced at 888 yuan. There was going to be a limit of five hundred weapons for sale each month.

For Game Designer, there was going to be a new language package and setting style, priced at five yuan.

The only difference was that the briefing Lu Mingliang was giving was much more detailed than the one Pei Qian gave. For example, for Ghost General, Lu Mingliang explained who would be in the new set of generals, what abilities they would have, and what their animations would generally look like.

This was a more detailed plan. What's more, through this plan, they could begin estimating the total costs.