Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

Pei Qian felt great relief after settling the movie script.

However, it was not time to relax yet.

Boss Pei already had 1.8 million yuan. He had enough money to buy a new house for his parents.

As for where he would say he got the money from…

That was simple. He could say that he was now working in the management of Fei Huang Workspace. Since the company had made quite a large sum of money from their short videos, he was given a huge bonus as well.

Strictly speaking, there was nothing wrong with saying that. Boss Pei was indeed in the management of Fei Huang Workspace, and he had earned a lot of money from it.

Pei Qian decided to make some time to go home and explain these things to his parents.

However, before that, he had to make sure that everything was settled for the company. The settlement cycle was going to last five months this time. It sounded long, but it would pass quickly.

This was because everything that Pei Qian was going to work on during this cycle—producing a movie, starting a cell phone business, and so on—would take some time.

Take the movie, for example. Even though the contents were simple and there would not be many special effects, it would take at least a month to prepare, two months to film, and another month to edit and tidy it up. The movie would be produced barely in time for settlement.

Luckily, Pei Qian had gained some benefits after the System was upgraded to version 2.0. He was now allowed to carry one unannounced product over to the next cycle.

If he could not complete the movie in time for this cycle, settlement would not be affected. He could carry it to the next.

Then, he would definitely have to release it before settlement.

Still, Pei Qian thought it would be best to finish whatever he could within this cycle.

He decided to take this particular benefit as his security net instead. Otherwise, if he made too big a deal out of it and purposely slowed down work on his projects, he could mess everything up in the end.

Pei Qian flipped through his notebook and turned his attention to Ma Yang. Although he did not want to incessantly bother this good friend of his, he had no other choice.

The able were bound to get more work!

Ma Yang had been in charge of Fish-Catching Internet Cafe and had mildly stabbed Pei Qian in the back during the previous cycle. However, Pei Qian knew that it had not been his intention to do so.

Fish-Catching Internet Cafe's success could mainly be credited to Boss Pei's Repent and be Saved. Ma Yang had done nothing to earn any of it.

Also, Zhang Yuan—not Ma Yang—had been the one to start the computer-installation brand, ROF.

Thus, Pei Qian could still trust Old Ma. He was one of Boss Pei's most important employees indeed!

However, at the rate things were going, Pei Qian decided that he had to separate Ma Yang and Zhang Yuan now. Pei Qian was already certain that Zhang Yuan was a traitor. On the surface, he looked like a mere genius from Tieba. However, problems in his thinking were beginning to surface.

If Pei Qian allowed him to continue brainwashing Old Ma, the situation could worsen.

Pei Qian began thinking hard. He could either leave Old Ma in his current position and give Zhang Yuan something else to do or leave Zhang Yuan in his current position and give Old Ma something else to do.

After much consideration, he decided that the latter would be better.

This was because the new business direction that Boss Pei had in mind would best bring out Ma Yang's potential.

Pei Qian did not feel safe handing this business over to anyone except Ma Yang!

He wanted to start an investment firm.

In fact, he had thought about this a long time ago. However, because of some cash flow problems, he never got around to it.

Before this, Tengda's cash had been poured into manufacturing. A lot of money had been spent on producing games and physical shops, so that they did not have much spare cash left in their account.

Taking everything into account, he had a total of three or four million yuan left. Of course, he could have started an investment firm, but it would have been meaningless. He had been better off opening a few more Fish-Catching Internet Cafes and Upwind Courier stations.

Things were different now. The side effects of spending as much money as he could in the previous cycle were going to hit him soon. He could no longer depend on the same methods of spending money.

Thus, Pei Qian thought about opening an investment firm.

Of course, he was not entirely willing to either.

Investing could be very risky, but if he succeeded, he could earn a terrifying windfall.

Pei Qian knew his own luck very well. Every time he had tried to create rubbish games, they succeeded. He guessed that even if he invested in pants, he would probably profit as well.

However, now that things were the way they were, he hardly had any other choice. Pei Qian could barely finish squandering off all the System Funds on his own. He needed help.

Therefore, after much deliberation, Pei Qian reluctantly decided to start an investment firm.

As for why he could not manage it on his own…

On one hand, Boss Pei was already very busy. He had to personally keep an eye on the other businesses. If he put himself in charge of the investment firm as well, the other businesses would probably betray him like crazy.

On the other hand, Boss Pei seriously doubted his own judgment. That was why he decided to put Old Ma responsible. He was not even asking for Old Ma to lose everything. He was only asking for Old Ma to make a few investments and incur some losses. That would be enough.

…

October 3rd…

Fish-Catching Internet Cafe…

"Brother Qian, we're depending on you! Quick, quick, quick…"

Ma Yang stared at Pei Qian's screen, shouting more excitedly than anyone else.

Yet, the words 'GAME OVER' appeared on Pei Qian's screen. The latter became speechless.

In their last team war—as the talented Boss Pei pushed a lane, his team members tried to fight the enemies one by one and ended up dying. Boss Pei was left to fight the four enemies alone.

Ma Yang had not been the first to feed the enemies. In fact, he had been the last.

If Ma Yang had survived, he could have worked together with Boss Pei to fight the four enemies. They would have had hopes of winning.

However, Ma Yang ended up trying to fight the enemies on his own as well. Once left alone, Pei Qian only managed to kill two enemies even after exhausting all his means. Then, he could only stand by and watch helplessly as their base exploded.

"Ai, what a pity, Brother Qian. Let's go again!"

Ma Yang was just about to start another game.

Pei Qian quickly stopped him. "Wait! I have some important matters to discuss with you."

"Oh, alright." Ma Yang reluctantly exited Gods Rising.

Pei Qian had come to Fish-Catching Internet Cafe today to brief Ma Yang about his plans to start an investment firm. However, when he arrived, he felt the urge to play online games with Ma Yang for a while.

In the end, he completely lost the drive!

Although Pei Qian was frustrated about losing, he knew he had to look at things objectively. Negatively put, Pei Qian had lost the game. However, positively put, Pei Qian had confirmed that Old Ma was still as reliable as ever!

Both of them moved to the resting area, and Pei Qian called Zhang Yuan over as well.

Zhang Yuan had been kept busy by ROF's business.

After 1024 Digital Day, ROF's prices reverted to normal. However, since word of the brand had already spread, many locals of Jingzhou continued to place orders.

Thus, Zhang Yuan had been kept busy while Ma Yang remained free.

Pei Qian faced Zhang Yuan first. "You will be the CEO of Fish-Catching Internet Cafe from now on. You will be solely in charge of the internet cafes and ROF."

Zhang Yuan was stunned.

I'm the CEO now?

Isn't that a little rash?

What's going to happen to Boss Ma?

Ma Yang's huge face immediately drained of color.

"Brother Qian, I… I just didn't play well in the previous game. You don't have to fire me, right? I haven't achieved much, but I've worked hard…"

Ma Yang had thought that Pei Qian was upset about being played in the previous game.

Pei Qian did not know to laugh or to cry. "What are you talking about?! I have another task for you, and it's very important!

"Tengda is going to start an investment firm soon. I'm thinking that you're the most suitable person to act as CEO for this investment firm!"

Ma Yang was absolutely stunned. His expression turned from bitterness to confusion, to pure joy and excitement.

"Are you sure, Brother Qian?! I… I have always wanted to be an angel investor! Don't worry, Brother Qian. This job suits me to a tee. I won't let you down for sure!"

Zhang Yuan watched this exchange in a daze. At that moment, he could not understand how Boss Pei decided which person would get the job.

Could he say that Boss Pei decided these things based on employees' merits? Yet, Boss Ma did not look cut out for running an investment firm.

Zhang Yuan had always thought that putting Boss Ma in charge of Fish-Catching Internet Cafe was ridiculous enough. Running an investment firm would be far more difficult than managing internet cafes. Was he up to the task?

Could he say that Boss Pei decided these things based on favoritism? Yet, that did not seem true either.

Zhang Yuan was not related to Boss Pei in any way, but he had been promoted as well. He had taken over Ma Yang's job as the CEO of Fish-Catching Internet Cafe.

Boss Pei did not assign this role to other people who were closer to him. Thus, Zhang Yuan could not say that he decided these things based on favoritism.

Zhang Yuan was left thoroughly confused. All he knew was that Boss Pei's ways were extremely complex.

Perhaps Boss Ma had merits that ordinary people could not appreciate…

Pei Qian turned to Zhang Yuan and said, "Alright, that's all. Go back to work."

Zhang Yuan nodded. "Alright, Boss Pei. I'll work hard to bring Fish-Catching Internet Cafe to greater heights!"

Pei Qian was speechless. "…"

Once Zhang Yuan was gone, Pei Qian cleared his throat and began briefing Ma Yang about the investment firm. Pei Qian had already decided not to find an assistant for Ma Yang this time. This was because Pei Qian had realized that Ma Yang would often agree with whoever spoke to him last.

Every time Boss Pei thought he had successfully influenced Ma Yang's decision, he would turn around and realize that someone else had changed his mind again.

Thus, he had to avoid hiring an assistant for Ma Yang at all costs. At the very least, he had to avoid hiring an assistant who would give Ma Yang random ideas.

He had to find someone who lacked independent thought. That way, Ma Yang would surely have to do things according to Pei Qian's suggestions.

Of course, all of these would be settled later.

For now, the aim was to brainwash Ma Yang anew.

"Our investment firm will be different from other investment firms."

Ma Yang listened very intently. "Hmm, what do you mean?"

Pei Qian said, "You should know how other investment firms operate, right?"

Nodding excitedly, Ma Yang answered, "Of course, I do! Investment firms give money to companies that they think would be profitable. After that, they would get a cut of the profits that those companies earn!"

Pei Qian was speechless. "…"

That was a common understanding, but it was not the answer that Boss Pei wanted to hear.

"Your understanding is too superficial!

"Does Tengda lack money? Doesn't the company earn enough from games and the internet cafes?"

Boss Pei said these things through gritted teeth.

Ma Yang answered, "Er… Brother Qian, you mean…?"

Pei Qian tried to sound genuine as he said, "I'm not saying that our investment firm cannot make money, but making money will only be one of our many goals.

"Investing means putting our spare cash in places where it should be."

"What do you mean by 'places where it should be'?"

"Are companies with the potential to be profitable places where our money should be? Of course not!

"Many companies that truly seek to do good for society close down because of the lack of funds. Partners brought together by their common dream would be forced to go their separate ways. How pitiful is that?!

"That's why our investment firm will be called Dream Realization Ventures. Our aim will not be to generate profit, but to realize the dreams of small companies—whose very dreams are at risk of being dashed!"