Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

Pei Qian did not know how to react.

My fan? Why am I famous even among people in the investment industry?

He Desheng was obviously excited. "Boss Pei, I used to be Boss Li's investment assistant. From time to time, I would hear about you from him.

"Be it Fish-Catching Internet Cafe or Ming Yun Villas' nameless restaurant, your investments proved to be textbook-worthy successes! It's worth spending a few years fully digesting and learning these lessons!

"Whenever Boss Li talks about you, he seems to have a telepathic connection with you. That's why I did not hesitate to apply when I heard that you were looking for an investment consultant.

"I did not come here for money but purely to learn your profound investment knowledge!"

Pei Qian finally understood.

This fellow had been infected by Boss Li!

However, on further thought, this was not bad for Pei Qian.

Since He Desheng came with the intention to learn, he would not ask too many questions or offer too many opinions.

Pei Qian subtly cleared his throat. "Let's not talk about the past. That was all pure luck.

"Your job would mainly involve helping out with various procedures whenever Boss Ma requires it in the future. Also, you should not interfere with Boss Ma's thought processes and investment decisions."

He Desheng quickly nodded. "I understand! It's more than enough for me to learn the ways of investment from the two big bosses. I only have basic and superficial investment knowledge. I wouldn't dare to show off in front of both of you."

Pei Qian was extremely pleased with He Desheng's attitude.

Very good—this young man knew his limits very well.

You just have to steadfastly act as a tool, and I will pay you as much as I can. It's a win-win situation! How great!

Pei Qian thought that this applicant was not bad, and he was just about to seal the deal.

However, Ma Yang had been flipping through He Desheng's resume. At that moment, he softly said, "Brother Qian, how can he be my investment assistant? He isn't even an investment manager. He has too little experience. Can we find someone else?"

Pei Qian was speechless. "…"

This Old Ma!

You got distracted, yawned, and remained silent while the guy had been introducing himself. Now that we've almost settled everything, you're picking on his resume?!

Yet, Pei Qian had no other choice. He wanted Old Ma to fully display his intelligence and talents. He could not force things on him.

If Old Ma did not like He Desheng and ended up not trusting him, Old Ma might end up looking for his own investment consultant in secret. Then, Pei Qian would have a bigger problem on his hands.

After all, this man would be Old Ma's investment assistant. Pei Qian had to spare a thought for how the latter felt.

However, Pei Qian had no idea how to persuade Ma Yang. He could only turn to He Desheng and ask, "Well, do you have any other merits? Please explain your strengths to us."

He Desheng had thought that he had already secured the job after seeing Pei Qian's expression. He did not expect to be put in a spot again.

He quickly listed in detail the decisions he had been a part of in Fu Hui Investments and the results he had achieved.

Pei Qian did not understand him the entire time. He stole a glance at Ma Yang and realized that the latter still looked unsatisfied.

Of course, Ma Yang definitely did not understand He Desheng either. He was only upset because he thought an investment assistant was too lowly-ranked.

Pei Qian began to regret it. If he had known this would happen, he would have replaced the words 'investment assistant' on He Desheng's resume to a higher position like 'investment manager'.

Seeing that Ma Yang remained unconvinced, Pei Qian quickly dropped He Desheng a hint. "You can talk about your other interests and strengths as well. Do you sing, dance, or write? What kind of games do you normally play?"

He Desheng scratched his head, puzzled.

After a moment of silence, He Desheng tried asking, "Does it count if I have a total of 1900 points on Gods Rising's PvP platform?"

Ma Yang immediately made up his mind. "Good! Brother Qian, he's the one!"

Pei Qian was speechless. "…"

He had never thought that this would be the thing that changed Ma Yang's mind. The points a player had on Gods Rising's PvP platform were indicative of the player's standard. Ordinarily, people with 2000 points and above could be considered professional gamers.

If He Desheng really had 1900 points on the platform, it meant that he could easily defeat ordinary players even with his eyes closed.

A formidable player with 1900 points could definitely buy Ma Yang over… right?

It was no wonder that Ma Yang had made up his mind at once. He had been won over by these 1900 points.

Although this was preposterous, Pei Qian decided that this was the ending he wanted.

As long as Old Ma was happy with the investment assistant Pei Qian wanted, the latter could not be bothered about the process.

All Pei Qian cared about was that Old Ma could call the shots and lose all the investment firm's money. Then, everything would be alright.

Pei Qian was very pleased. "Alright, I will leave Dream Realization Ventures to both of you, then. If you need anything, call me. Don't be shy to tell me whenever you're in need of money.

"Also, Old Ma, remember the investment secrets I imparted to you before."

Ma Yang nodded profusely. "Don't worry, Brother Qian! Leave it to me! I'll get it done!"

Pei Qian turned to face He Desheng. "How much did Fu Hui Investments pay you?"

He Desheng hesitated and said, "Boss Pei, I already said that I'm here to learn your profound investment knowledge. As for salary… I wouldn't mind even if you just give me a token sum."

Pei Qian waved his hand. "Just tell me the truth. How much did they pay you?"

He Desheng answered, "About eight thousand yuan. Of course, that was how much I was paid as an investment assistant. As an investment manager…"

Pei Qian interrupted him. "I'll give you sixteen thousand yuan, with an additional four thousand yuan as a special allowance. Your monthly salary would be twenty thousand yuan."

He Desheng looked puzzled. "Boss Pei, that's too much! What's more, there's no reason I should receive special allowance."

Pei Qian patted his shoulder and said, "This is to compensate you for the psychological suffering you will endure while playing games with Boss Ma."

…

…

That weekend, Pei Qian had nothing much to do. He browsed houses online. His plan was to find a good real estate, pay the full price upfront, and then ask his parents to move in.

As for Boss Pei's own accommodation…

He could probably start thinking about moving as well.

However, Pei Qian did feel quite comfortable where he was. Since he was too lazy to move houses for now, he figured that there was no rush.

November 8th, Monday…

Assistant Xin had already contacted Chang You and bought return tickets for him to make a trip to Jingzhou.

This meeting was quite important to Boss Pei. If he could hire a good right-hand man, all of Boss Pei's concerns about the future would dissipate!

Speaking of which, the thing that frustrated Pei Qian the most was that not one of his countless employees could share his burdens. Some of them had looked reliable at first but started doing crazy things a few months later.

The only one who could really share his burdens was Ma Yang, but Ma Yang was only considered half a man.

Boss Pei was miserable.

He could not wait to find someone who could share his burdens. Boss Pei would immediately give him heavy responsibilities and put him in charge of all the businesses!

Pei Qian was very hopeful. He hoped that this Chang You would turn out to be the man he had been searching high and low for.

…

At 2 pm, Pei Qian met Chang You in Tengda's guest room. Before this, Pei Qian had learned about Vice President Chang's current situation from Assistant Xin.

Chang You was the former Vice-President of Hongcheng Technologies. He had been a high-ranking employee, but he had not been the boss. Thus, after Hongcheng Technologies' collapse, the boss became a judgment debtor, but Chang You's life and subsequent jobs remained unaffected.

Of course, Chang You had not been happy either. After all, he had lost his job.

According to Assistant Xin, Vice President Chang was also a highly ambitious person. After Hongcheng Technologies went bust, Vice-President Chang received offers from various companies. However, he turned them all down.

That was because none of them were to his liking.

Some had been small-scale cell phone manufacturers while others had practically been producing counterfeit cell phones.

Chang You turned them all down because he had only been after serious, reliable cell phone companies. Yet, all the serious, reliable cell phone companies despised him.

Thus, Chang You remained jobless.

Pei Qian thought that that was quite good.

Wouldn't it be a waste for a talent like that to be in the business of producing counterfeit cell phones?!

You can only reach your full potential by manufacturing cell phones with me.

As Pei Qian had been thinking about this, the guest room's door had opened.

Pei Qian stood up and saw Chang You in person for the first time. He was not tall; he looked shorter than 1.7 meters. While he looked thin and weak, he also seemed to exude energy.

"Boss Pei, how are you?"

Chang You shook Pei Qian's hand. It was quite a solid handshake.

On the whole, Pei Qian's first impression of Chang You was that he was a man of action. Pei Qian guessed that he was quite stubborn and opinionated.

It was good that he was a man of action!

Boss Pei did indeed have a preference for bums, but a man of action was the best bet for key management positions like that.

A bum would probably fail to produce anything even after a few months. Boss Pei's settlement would end up getting delayed. On the other hand, a man of action would work blindly and burn more money.

Boss Pei loved employees who burned money fast.

What's more, if Chang You turned out to be stubborn, he would likely cling to his own course. At worst, he would likely make mistakes in huge decisions. At best, he would sow dissension and discord in the management team.

All in all, this Vice President had caused a huge company like Hongcheng Technologies to collapse. He must have had the real skill to achieve a glorious task like that.

Pei Qian had high hopes for him.

Both of them took their seats in the guest room, and someone served tea. Since they were meeting for the first time, they exchanged a couple of pleasantries. After that, Pei Qian brought up the main topic.

"Vice President Chang, to tell you the truth, I appreciate your talents. Tengda has plans to start a tech company, and we're going to start with cell phones.

"I think your precious experience is very important. Please join my team!"

Chang You was stunned. He did not think Boss Pei would be so straightforward.

Chang You was the job seeker, and Boss Pei was the paying employer. Logically, Chang You should have been expected to take the initiative.

However, Boss Pei clearly did not mind these things and immediately displayed his eagerness to hire talents. Chang You could sense his sincerity.

He was very moved.

However, he did not agree right away. Instead, he hesitated and said, "Boss Pei, let's talk about whether we have the same mindset or not first.

"I have my own judgment of the way the industry will develop. I don't want to only find out about conflict in our views later on; it might be hard to turn back then."

Pei Qian nodded. "That's right, those are my thoughts exactly. Let's talk about it in detail, then.

"What do you think our end goal should be if we start a company?"

Chang You pondered for a moment and replied, "To knock Shenhua out of the market!"