Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

June 9th, Thursday…

After planning for the manufacturing of the Fully-Automated Bickering Machine on Monday, Pei Qian had more free time over the next two days.

Every now and then, he checked in on Tengda Games, Deposit Fitness, and Fish-Catching Take-Out. Everything looked peaceful and calm.

At noon, Pei Qian ate lunch at Fish-Catching Internet Cafe as usual. As he sipped his coffee, he organized his mind map of inter-departmental relationships.

Ding.

His cell phone rang. Pei Qian picked it up and frowned at once. It was a message from the Management Trainee at Ming Yun Private Kitchen.

"Boss Pei, there has been an obvious increase in the number of foreigners making reservations at Ming Yun Private Kitchen over the past two days."

An obvious increase in the number of foreigners? Something seemed fishy!

Pei Qian immediately became cautious.

Before this, during their meeting, he had repeatedly instructed all Management Trainees to report any 'abnormalities' to him immediately and not to wait until the next Management Trainee meeting. That way, Pei Qian could greatly minimize the chances of any 'delayed back-stabbing'.

After all, for many types of threats, a day's delay in realizing could make a world of difference.

The Management Trainee at Ming Yun Private Kitchen was obviously doing a good job.

"Do you know the reason?" Pei Qian replied at once.

The Management Trainee answered, "I'm not sure. I'm guessing that a particularly influential foreigner came and had a meal here and then shared this restaurant with his or her friends.

"Branch Manager Lin has been focusing a lot on service during this period. The foreigners are having a better dining experience in this restaurant. Explaining the dishes and our country's traditional food culture in English has been especially effective."

Pei Qian remained silent for a moment and then answered, "Well done. Thank you."

Pei Qian was very satisfied with this Management Trainee's report.

See, this is what I call a professional underling!

I have to single this Management Trainee out and praise him at the next meeting, so that the other Management Trainees will learn from him!

After getting hold of this important message, Pei Qian began to analyze the situation very seriously. He had not expected that Lin Canrong's decision to make all waiters learn English would be this effective.

However, from the looks of the current situation, things didn't look that serious.

Lin Canrong was spending more money training his waiters and making them learn foreign languages. However, Ming Yun Private Kitchen's prices remained the same, and it was still fully booked every day.

So what if there were more foreigners reserving tables? They would not generate more profit for the restaurant, would they?

"Hmm… on the surface, it's not that dangerous. Still, I can't afford to be careless. What if there's a hidden and unexpected threat?"

Pei Qian glanced at his watch.

"It's almost 1 PM. I should stick to my original plan and drop by Shang Yang Games. After that, I'll figure out exactly what's happening at Ming Yun Private Kitchen."

Pei Qian considered it for a long time but could not figure out how an improvement in Ming Yun Private Kitchen's reputation would pose any real danger to himself. Thus, he cast it aside for now.

…

In the afternoon, Pei Qian arrived at Shang Yang Games. On the way here, Pei Qian took time to surf the web on his phone and study what netizens thought about the 'arms race' between GOG and IOI.

He could only say that the situation did not look good!

If the competition between the two games could be split into two stages, GOG would have already won both stages and put an end to the competition.

In the first stage, GOG had won over the majority of gamers who had been sitting back to observe the industry by turning the game into a dual-terminal game, maintaining a smooth network, enabling quick matching, giving out cash at the end of each competition season, and the like.

On the other hand, IOI had only opened its local server after GOG finished distributing cash, and it did not even have a mobile version.

In the second stage, IOI kick-started the arms race by updating the game at top speed and releasing two new heroes each month, in the hopes of stealing some of GOG's players away.

However, GOG began crowdsourcing heroes, and subsequently released two incredibly popular heroes, Traveller Bao Xu and the Literary Genius of the Winds, Ruan. It also distributed generous rewards as part of its crowdsourcing efforts, thus keeping its players focused on GOG's new heroes.

All in all, IOI was updating its game very quickly, but it still could not poach many gamers over.

Although the 'arms race' between both games would continue for the next few months or even a year—from the looks of the current situation, there was already a clear winner.

As long as Min Jingchao did not mess up, GOG could continue crowdsourcing heroes to maintain the quality of their heroes and hold the gamers' attention.

In summary, the entire Internet did not think things would go well for IOI.

Pei Qian was troubled. No matter whether it was GOG or IOI that became popular, he would still generate profits. However, Pei Qian was still rooting for IOI a bit more for now.

After all, he had to send Lin Wan away first.

No matter how much his own game earned, things would still be within his control. He could still distribute cash and share profits with gamers to diffuse the situation.

However, the betrayal by Lin Wan and her siblings was unpredictable. They posed the greatest threat!

Just speaking about it made Pei Qian furious. Thanks to Lin Chang, Tomorrow is Beautiful had participated in a film festival, won an award, had its overseas screening extended, and made millions of US dollars. What's more, it was still a long way from being taken down.

It was clear where the biggest threat lay!

Pei Qian knew full well that everyone in Shang Yang Games was feeling discouraged. It was the perfect time for Boss Pei to offer some encouragement.

Once he arrived at Shang Yang Games, Pei Qian walked straight into the conference room.

He already informed them of his visit in advance, and all the core members of Shang Yang Games were already waiting in the conference room.

"Boss Pei."

Everyone stood up as a form of respect, but they had disappointed expressions. Lin Wan was no exception.

Pei Qian's heart thudded.

What's up with all of your faces? Don't you dare give up!

He cleared his throat and said, "It seems like publicity for IOI's local server hasn't been going well recently. Don't worry, everyone. Don't look so dejected. Say whatever's on your mind."

Everyone exchanged knowing looks. At last, Lin Wan spoke first.

"Now, we understand what it's like being competitors of Tengda. There's nothing we can do about it. Our own family members are often the hardest people to deal with. What's more, we have a useless teammate."

Pei Qian's heart sank. "A useless teammate?"

Are they referring to me? Do they know that I was the one who came up with the Literary Genius of the Winds?

Pei Qian began to panic inside

Wang Xiaobin explained, "We're referring to Finger Games, Boss Pei. We already knew that we would not be able to compete with GOG if things carried on this way, and so we wrote a couple of emails to Finger Games to give them our suggestions.

"Yet, from their replies, it was clear that they were rejecting them.

"What's more, they seemed to be blaming us. Their emails seemed to imply that IOI has been doing well and receiving good feedback in every other region around the world except for ours. Obviously, they think that there's a problem with our management strategy."

Pei Qian heaved a long sigh. Oh, it's not me. That's fine, then. You gave me a scare. I thought I was exposed.

Lin Wan shrugged. "They can't blame us. After all, people who have not experienced being Tengda's opponents would never understand how terrifying Tengda really is.

"Now, I can say that I understand what it's like."

She sighed softly. "On top of that… Boss Pei, just a line or two from you can turn the entire situation around.

"Er…" Pei Qian cleared his throat. "What are you talking about? I'm fair and just."

Ye Zhizhou spoke with heavy insinuations. "Min Jingchao originally thought about recruiting more people to speed up GOG's production of new heroes, but you rejected him, didn't you, Boss Pei? How would he have thought of crowdsourcing heroes if you had not given him hints?"

Pei Qian: "…this is a misunderstanding."

A knowing look appeared on everyone's face. Pei Qian was speechless. This is really a misunderstanding! My heart has always been on your side!

What's more, even if I did secretly help them, it was not by providing the crowdsourcing idea…

It's too late; there was no way for Pei Qian to clarify the situation. He decided not to get caught up in this problem. Anyway, he had already become used to this attitude.

Now, Finger Games was not allowing IOI to be modified. Shang Yang Games could only think of other resolutions.

"So, what are your thoughts about the future operating strategy?" Pei Qian asked.

Everyone exchanged confused looks, but no one said anything.

Lin Wan sighed. "Boss Pei, we're still trying hard to come up with something."

That sounded bad to Pei Qian.

It was obvious that they had all lost their fighting spirit. They probably thought that GOG was leading by far too much, and even Finger Games was unwilling to modify the game. How could they win based on publicity alone?

Boss Pei had been the one who had given them this task. Of course, no one would say anything as discouraging as 'we can't win'. Still, they could not come up with a better solution.

At any moment, Pei Qian expected Lin Wan to say something like 'I don't think I'm capable enough. I want to remain in Tengda to learn more.'

Quickly! I have to rack my brains to come up with a plan for Shang Yang Games.

Pei Qian thought as hard as he could. All of a sudden, a light bulb switched on. He had an idea. If all else failed, distributing cash would solve the problem!

GOG only became popular at the start because it distributed cash, right? Then, IOI should do the same!

Since they could not modify the game, they could resort to overwhelming marketing strategies to oppress GOG.

Pei Qian cleared his throat. "As we said before, 50% of each department's profit can be freely used for the department's various expenses. Set that sum aside, and I will allocate another special fund for you.

"The fund will be used for two things: marketing by live streamers and internet cafes!

"Look for some live streamers and UP Masters and then sponsor them to produce content relating to IOI. They can do things like introduce new heroes and create tutorials, as long as they focus on creating the impression that the game is extremely popular overseas.

"After that, enter partnerships with various internet cafes. Let those who play IOI use the majority of skins for free and enjoy a stipulated discount on their per-hour charges.

"Snatch the spotlight back by force!"

Based on Pei Qian's memory, that was how LOL had marketed their game as well, and it had indeed been effective. He could not go wrong by copying others' homework, right?

At his first meeting with the Management Trainees, they had reported an important piece of news: all departments had a large-scale plan to spend money, which included supplementing salaries, purchasing office supplies, and the like.

Pei Qian guessed that the various department heads had finally understood the meaning behind the Tengda Cornerstone Award. As they envied Upwind Logistics, they each came up with a plan to spend money on a larger scale.

Since that was the case, Pei Qian had to lend them a helping hand!

Thus, he decided to let all departments freely use 50% of their profit on its various expenses, to help them spend money quicker.

Of course, Pei Qian also provided additional funds for loss-incurring businesses like Upwind Logistics and Fish-Catching Take-Out to increase their losses.

Until now, Shang Yang Games was still generating profits from games like Bloody Battle Song and Be Quiet. It was also earning income from IOI's local server.

In addition to 50% of those profits, Boss Pei's special fund would pave the way for them to spend more money, conduct aggressive marketing, and fight their way through!

Ye Zhizhou pondered for a long while. Suddenly, a realization dawned on him. "So that's it! I've learned another trick from Boss Pei. When there's no special way out, don't hesitate to resort to brute force!

"Is this what martial artists mean when they say 'not moving trumps any trick'?

Pei Qian: "…more or less."

He had not intended for it to be so complex, but Ye Zhizhou's bootlicking was not far off.

Lin Wan's brow furrowed as she asked, "Well… Boss Pei, if GOG mindlessly follows suit and burns money together with us, what should we do?"