Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

All of a sudden, Pei Qian felt like something was wrong.

Why did it feel like very few people at his table had won prizes?

Almost all the heads and core members of Tengda Corporation were seated at that table. That included Huang Sibo, Lu Mingliang, Lin Wan, Bao Xu, Li Yada, Ma Yang, Zhang Yuan, and the like.

Since there was one empty seat at the table, Pei Qian arranged for Tang Yishu to join them as well.

They began distributing prizes the moment the annual meeting started. A new winner was announced almost every two seconds, and each draw lasted several minutes. The intervals were never too long.

Close to an hour had passed since the annual meeting started. Pei Qian guessed that more than a thousand prizes had already been distributed.

The cheers and applause kept rising and falling the entire time. Furthermore, they were coming from various locations in the event hall. Since Pei Qian had not taken part in the lucky draw, he had thought it natural that others were winning prizes.

Yet, on second thought, it seemed like his entire table was in low spirits the whole time.

Were they acting more serious because they're at the same table as me? That can't be, right?

It seemed like nobody at the table had won!

Unsure, Pei Qian leaned towards Huang Sibo and asked in a low voice, "Have you won any prizes?"

Huang Sibo shook his head and said, "No."

Pei Qian turned to Lu Mingliang who was seated on his other side. "Have you won any prizes?"

Lu Mingliang shook his head as well and said, "No."

Pei Qian looked across from him and saw Tang Yishu, whose head was lowered as she ate and avoided his gaze. All of a sudden, Pei Qian understood.

Had her halo effect strengthened so much that she could even affect false probability now?

Logically, more than a thousand prizes should have been distributed. Yet, none of these people had won a single one. Their chances of winning should have already increased significantly by now.

Yet, they were still not winning anything. It was strange!

Pei Qian felt bad for them all of a sudden. He thought about moving Tang Yishu somewhere else so that they could recover the luck at the table.

As for the unlucky child, Tang Yishu… he would find some way to make it up to her in the future.

However, before Pei Qian could think of a valid reason to move her elsewhere, Huang Sibo exclaimed in surprise. "Eh? I've won! A Pineapple cell phone!"

Everyone was just about to congratulate him when Lu Mingliang exclaimed. "Ah, I won a cell phone, too!"

Li Yada, "I won a television!"

The chances of someone at the table being picked seemed to have increased significantly!

None of them had won any of the small prizes at the beginning, but the prizes had only gotten better as time went by. From now on, every prize they won could be compared to two or three from before combined.

In the blink of an eye, the prizes on the table were gone.

Everyone at the table was wealthy enough to afford the prizes they got, but buying them and winning them would feel completely different!

Pei Qian finally relaxed.

So that was why!

It looked like Tang Yishu's halo effect had backfired.

The halo effect had caused everyone around her to have bad luck. However, the probability of the lucky draw had also been tampered with. As a result, the unluckier one had been the beginning, the higher their chances of winning later on became. In the end, everyone at the table won the last few huge prizes!

Pei Qian could not help but heave a sigh of relief. That was good. He did not have to think of a reason to send Tang Yishu away. Otherwise, people might have noticed that none of the heads had won, and they might have thought that Pei Qian had played tricks behind the scenes.

Eh? Hold on.

Pei Qian suddenly realized one problem.

Could Tang Yishu's halo effect backfire under certain circumstances?

Take this time for example. Everyone had had extremely bad luck in the beginning. However, since their chances had kept increasing as more prizes were distributed, they ended up winning bigger prizes!

If the same thing happened at work, wouldn't he…?

All of a sudden, Pei Qian panicked.

However, on further thought, he realized that the problem probably was not that big.

That was because he had adjusted the probability behind the scenes for this lucky draw. Those who had not won anything in the beginning only had better chances of winning later on.

However, such a thing did not exist for work!

Thus… the problem was probably not that big.

Pei Qian sighed in relief and continued eating his food. The name list on the huge screen started moving once again.

Until now, most people were already more or less full. Many employees at various tables had already set down their chopsticks and were now focusing wholeheartedly on the huge screen, waiting for the announcement of the final winner.

The cash gifts of 18,888 yuan had already been distributed. Li Yada and Zhang Yuan won one each. These chances were already evidently much better than the other tables.

After all ten cash gifts had been distributed, the final prize appeared on the huge screen.

Three pairs of tickets to visit any city in the world and stay there for five days!

The moment the prize appeared on the screen, everyone began chatting and getting excited.

Awesome!

Three pairs of tickets to any city in the world! That meant they were free to pick whatever city they wanted!

Furthermore, they included the cost of return air tickets, the cost of accommodation in a five-star hotel, and additional spending allowance that they could use unconditionally. That meant they could even spend it on local specialties like LV bags. Wouldn't that be perfect?

Everyone set their chopsticks down and focused on the huge screen, wanting to find out which three lucky people would win this special prize.

Pei Qian noticed that Bao Xu, who was seated at the same table as him, was trembling as he held his chopsticks. What's more, he did not seem to dare to look at the huge screen.

Pei Qian could not help but laugh inwardly. Indeed, Bao Xu had not won a single prize!

Do you see this? It's Heaven's will!

Don't accuse me of setting you up. I'm innocent this time. You can only blame your luck!

The pictures on the screen started moving past again. Then, three people were chosen.

Bao Xu!

Bao Xu!

And Bao Xu!

"Pfft!"

Bao Xu nearly coughed out all the red wine in his mouth when he saw the screen.

What the h*ll?!

If all of these were added together, would he have to go overseas for fifteen days?!

Pei Qian felt light-headed.

What was happening?!

Wasn't everyone only supposed to have two chances to win prizes? What's more, each person could only win the same prize once, right?

Everyone paused and immediately burst into laughter.

"Hahaha, is Brother Bao a professional tourist now?"

"His name was picked all three times?!"

"My heart hurts—he'll be gone for another half a month!"

Pei Qian turned to Assistant Xin, who said in a low voice, "Boss Pei, it looks like a bug appeared in the program…"

Once again, Pei Qian was at a loss for words.

Bao Xu, who was seated across from him, was dumbfounded. He nearly dropped their chopsticks onto the table as he quickly said, "Boss Pei! I have already gone overseas many times. I'll pass this prize onto someone else!"

Pei Qian turned to Assistant Xin and said, "Ask the technical staff to repair the system and pick new winners."

The program was created by the technical staff of Zhongdian Chinese Network, who quickly whipped out their laptops to repair the program.

Assistant Xin took the microphone and explained briefly that a bug had appeared in the system. She invited everyone to try the capsule machines and other games first. When they were about done, the winners for the last prize would be picked once again.

Since the program had not been affected by bugs before that, the other prizes that had already been distributed naturally would not be taken back. Instead, they remained effective.

Everyone cheered, grabbed their game tokens, and started to go their respective ways

The original plan was for everyone to try the capsule machines and claw machines after all the lucky draw prizes had been distributed. Once they were more or less done, they could then make their own ways home.

Now, a minor problem had arisen in the original plan. Still, it did not pose a huge problem. The winners of the final prize would just be selected at the end of the program.

Very quickly, crowds formed at the surrounding claw machines and capsule machines.

With game tokens in hand, Wu Bin hovered behind the crowds, not knowing which game he should start with.

The plush toys in the claw machines and the little figurines in the capsule machines all looked equally good!

Obviously, these gifts had been carefully selected so that nobody would feel like they were at a disadvantage.

Ladies were hogging the various machines with many game tokens in hand. It looked like they were going to keep trying their luck at the claw machines, and every last toy had been won.

There were fewer people at the ring toss and toy gun stands since ladies did not fancy such games.

Adamant on trying his luck, Wu Bin walked towards the ring toss stand.

A waiter dressed in the hotel's uniform was already waiting there. He greeted Wu Bin as the latter handed him a game token. Then, he passed Wu Bin one ring.

"Whoa."

The ring was many times bigger than the ones Wu Bin was used to seeing!

Other rings were very small—more or less the size of a bracelet. Yet, this ring looked about as big as a plate.

Wu Bin could be prepared to kill himself if he missed this time.

He picked a better-looking figurine, took his aim, and then tossed the ring as well as he could!

He misaimed and missed!

Wu Bin felt light-headed. The ring was so big, and yet he still missed! How could he face his own elders?!

No way, I can't walk away like that!

Wu Bin retrieved many more game tokens, prepared to buy more rings.

However, at that same moment, the waiter picked up the figurine and placed it inside the ring at lightning speed.

"Congratulations, Sir! You've got it!"

"Pfft!"

Wu Bin nearly choked on his saliva. How could he do that?

Was he really moving the target based on where Wu Bin's ring landed?

This was obviously rigged!

However, looking at the waiter's knowing smile, Wu Bin suddenly understood what was happening. Boss Pei had set this up on purpose!

Wu Bin quickly took a handful of game tokens and bought ten rings at once. Then, he tried his best to aim for any figurine he wanted.

He won something every single throw!

There was no way he could not. Even when he missed, the waiter would quietly move the figurine or chibi doll into the ring.

Soon, Wu Bin walked away with his arms filled with eleven figurines and chibi dolls.

The waiter very considerately placed all the figurines and dolls into a bag for Wu Bin, so that he could carry them around easily.

Other people began to realize that their chances of winning were extremely high as well. It was almost as if they were being showered with gifts for nothing!

As long as one aimed well at the claw machine, they would win something.

Every figurine that came out of the capsule machine looked good.

Other games were based on chance, but the probability of players winning prizes was ridiculously high as well!

They were receiving so many prizes like chibi dolls, capsules, stuffed toys, pillows, and the like at absolutely no charge!

Everyone became more excited as they played. Each person carried bags of gifts, and some carried so many bags that they hardly could carry any more.

Wu Bin could not help but feel emotional. It was so invigorating!

Why hadn't these mini-games felt so good before?

Soon—with everyone's 'hard work', nearly all the prizes were swept clean, and nearly all the game tokens were spent.

At that moment, the names on the screen began to roll past once again. Three lucky winners were chosen.

Everyone's hopeful gazes were fixated on the huge screen.

Chen Kangtuo.

Ye Zhizhou.

Bao Xu!

Bao Xu's expression darkened.

What's happening?! Why is this lucky draw system picking on me?! Even after redoing the lucky draw, I'm selected?!

Bao Xu quickly turned to Boss Pei. "Boss Pei, I really don't need to go on another holiday. Give this opportunity to someone else!

"Who wants to swap prizes with me? I'll take any prize!"

Pei Qian sniggered and shook his head. "You can't give it up since you've already been selected.

"There's still some time. Think about which city you haven't visited yet…"

Bao Xu was speechless. "…"

Not all three winners had been sitting at Pei Qian's table. Pei Qian guessed that this was because Tang Yishu's halo effect had been spread out after everyone went off to play the capsule machines and claw machines—it was no longer concentrated on his table alone.

Bao Xu had not won a prize yet. Therefore, the high probability of him being selected aided him after he left the range of Tang Yishu's halo effect. That was probably why he was selected again.

The other two had been chosen based on pure luck.

Once again, Pei Qian confirmed that Tang Yishu's halo effect was strong and reliable.

However… it seemed like Tang Yishu herself had not won anything.

Was she destined to be unlucky no matter how the luck of the people around her changed?

That was weird. It was not what Pei Qian had expected.

However, Pei Qian did not think too much of it.

Poor child… I should give her a pay raise when we get back…