Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

Recently, Yu Pingan had been feeling frustrated, confused, and directionless.

Everyone else in the 'Top Student, Come Quick' project largely felt the same way. Every day, they went to work to slack and do whatever they wanted. There was no clear aim.

Some suggested making adjustments to the 'Top Student, Come Quick' project, but progress was slow because Yu Pingan knew full well that trying to fix something that wasn't spoiled was useless.

He could not say it would be ineffective, but it would not be fixing the root of the problem. Even if they could gain a few more active users in the short-term, the application's popularity would only continue to decline in the long-term. It was unsalvageable.

Yu Pingan had already noticed this problem earlier on and had even reported it to Boss Pei.

However, Boss Pei's reply had been a bolt from the blue.

He had said: " 'Top Student, Come Quick' has already completed its historical mission. It can now come to a graceful end."

Yet, he continued to pour funds into the project without changing the employees' pay or benefits. There were no signs that he intended to terminate the project or retrench anyone.

Those who didn't understand the truth might have found the situation very comfortable. They could slack every day without working; how perfect was that?

However, employees of 'Top Student, Come Quick' begged to differ.

Their income was stable, and their life was without stress. Under such circumstances, anyone with slight ambition would want to look for something to do to achieve success in their career.

The other departments in Tengda Corporation were progressing at rapid speed and achieving outstanding results. Yet, they were slacking all day and doing nothing of substance.

It was a fate more torturous than death!

Thus, all of 'Top Student, Come Quick' had been feeling frustrated.

Even after pondering about it for a long while, Yu Pingan still felt helpless. He felt like he had walked right into a dead end.

Ding.

The cell phone that he had placed on the table lit up with a message. Yu Pingan picked it up to take a look, feeling slightly astonished.

"Eh? Thriller Hostel wants us to create a software?"

Yu Pingan was shocked because 'Top Student, Come Quick', which he had been in charge of, had never been that close to the other departments.

'Top Student, Come Quick' was more like a tool that was meant to direct traffic to and run advertisements for all the other projects. Other departments very rarely took the initiative to contact them to work together.

Yu Pingan studied the requirements closely; they were not that complicated.

The main function was for visitors to get a number just like the shared phone booths. That way, they would not need to stand in line the entire time. Instead, they could walk around in the surrounding shops.

However, they could not take the application meant for the shared phone booths wholesale, because Thriller Hostel had other special requirements.

For example, the queues for all three projects had to be kept separate, a map had to show the live update for each project's line, and a brief introduction and comments section for each project were to be included.

The application was meant to be a smart directory which could lead and guide everyone interested in visiting or already visiting Thriller Hostel, so that everyone could enjoy a better experience.

"In short, we have to create an entirely new application. Indeed, this is the mobile Internet era. Every project now requires its very own application. However, 'Top Student, Come Quick' is about to be given up on…"

Yu Pingan could not help but feel sorrowful and regretful at the same time.

"Eh, wait a moment…"

"Logically speaking, shouldn't the mobile Internet era be our time to shine? Why did Boss Pei say that the project could come to a graceful end?

"Is Boss Pei unaware of the opportunities available in the mobile Internet era?

"That's impossible. Every game department has been developing mobile versions of their games at an insane rate. Boss Pei has even invested in Otto cell phones, which shows his awareness of the opportunities available in the mobile Internet era!

"Well… why does Boss Pei seem to be contradicting himself, then?"

All of a sudden, Yu Pingan noticed a conflict. All the other departments of Tengda Corporation had been focusing on developing applications. Tengda Corporation's own business emphasis seemed to be in this area as well.

Yet, why was 'Top Student, Come Quick' the only one that was said to be coming to 'a graceful end'?

"Boss Pei could not possibly be contradicting himself. There must be a common principle hidden inside. Could it be… that Boss Pei means something else when he says 'a graceful end'?"

Yu Pingan tried hard to recall Boss Pei's original words. All of a sudden, a light bulb went on in his head.

"I understand now!

"Boss Pei was absolutely right to say that 'Top Student, Come Quick' is coming to a graceful end and has already completed its mission! That's because 'Top Student, Come Quick' is satisfying a pseudo-demand. It could only become so popular because of Boss Pei's god-like management skills. However, even that is limited. That's why this project is unsalvageable.

"In other words, the initial concept behind 'Top Student, Come Quick' is indeed coming to a graceful end.

"However, 'Top Student, Come Quick's graceful end would probably signify the birth of another new project!

"If Boss Pei really wanted to give up on this project, he would terminate it completely. However, he continued to pour funds into it. Obviously, he had other plans for us! Thriller Hostel is a good opportunity!

"Similarly, Boss Pei definitely asked us to rest well so that we could recuperate and physically prepare ourselves for a new challenge! Until now, Tengda Corporation already has so many applications.

"The shared phone booths, Deposit Fitness, 'Top Student, Come Quick', Fish-Catching Take-Out, Zhongdian Chinese Network, Thriller Hostel, TPDb…

"Most of those businesses are either connected to 'Top Student, Come Quick' in some way or had their advertisements on the latter.

"What's more, a few applications have functions that are too simple. Take the application for the shared phone booths, for example. Many people only use it to get a number in the line or scan QR codes. Each application works on its own, and they do not come together to form a system.

"If Tengda's users want to use all of those functions, they would have to download several applications. That's not good for publicity.

"What if we could bring the different applications together and integrate them into 'Top Student, Come Quick'? Not only would the businesses come together to form a whole, but 'Top Student, Come Quick' would also be given a new lease of life!

"No, we shouldn't call it 'Top Student, Come Quick' anymore, then.

"The 'Top Student, Come Quick' application has completed its mission and is coming to a graceful end, but the Tengda Life application will resurrect it!"

The more Yu Pingan spoke, the more agitated he became. Obviously, Boss Pei had it all planned out for 'Top Student, Come Quick'!

Why else would Thriller Hostel's staff come looking for them after the latter rested for a while?

It all made sense now!

Boss Pei hasn't given up on us. Instead, he entrusted us with a more important task; we just had to discover it on our own!

Our project has hope!

Yu Pingan immediately contacted the people in charge of the shared phone booths, Deposit Fitness, Fish-Catching Take-Out, and other businesses. He shared his own hypothesis with them and then volunteered to integrate and update all the applications.

He believed that none of the department heads would turn him down.

That was because the various teams likely did not have additional manpower to update the applications. If they left their applications to 'Top Student, Come Quick', they would be able to focus fully on their own tasks.

All in all, maximizing the use of resources in this way was perfect!

…

…

July 17th, Sunday…

In his own house, Pei Qian took a bottle of champagne from the refrigerator, opened it, and then basked in the afternoon sunlight while revising his work.

Handong University had slowly entered its exam week in the middle of July. Although most examinations were scheduled to take place on weekdays, Pei Qian still postponed the Management Trainee Meeting so that the Management Trainees could focus on their own studies.

Thus, yesterday's Management Trainee Meeting was canceled. The next one was to be held on August 13th.

Pei Qian had always believed that work was important for the Management Trainees, but academics were more important. If Pei Qian caused their grades to slip because of his own matters, he would feel incredibly guilty.

However, for some reason, he kept receiving good news after canceling the Management Trainee Meeting!

The first piece of good news was that, while visitor traffic at Thriller Hostel was increasing, the increase was not significant. It was almost as if Teacher Qiao's video had not been that effective.

Of course, Pei Qian could not say that it was completely useless. After all, Teacher Qiao was a UP Master with over a million fans, and his video had even been uploaded onto Be Quiet's official website. It had definitely managed to direct people to Thriller Hostel.

However, things did not blow up like they did after each video in the Products of the Gods series. There was no sudden and significant increase in sales.

The second piece of good news was that, to thank Teacher Qiao for his video, Chen Kangtuo had granted him the special privilege of being able to experience Thriller Hostel for free for a lifetime.

Pei Qian had heard that Qiao Liang's management of his facial expressions collapsed the moment he heard the news. He had laughed, but he also looked like he was crying.

When Pei Qian heard this, he nearly burst into laughter.

Old Qiao, Old Qiao… look what has happened to you! What is this called? It's called digging your own grave!

Pei Qian even thought about giving Chen Kangtuo a little red flower.

However, Pei Qian recalled that Chen Kangtuo had brought Thriller Hostel to life, even though it was meant to be dead, and thus increased the former's exposure to risks. That had been a huge mistake in itself. Thus, his merits and demerits canceled out, and he deserved no reward or punishment.

The third piece of good news was that 'Food Harmony' remained cold and deserted even after publicity. Its reputation was good; however, sales were low, and the situation looked sad.

In fact, it was incurring even more losses than Fish-Catching Take-Out.

In a week, Rui Yuchen would probably report this to Boss Pei.

As the saying went, people felt refreshed in the face of happy occasions. After receiving so much good news, Pei Qian felt it fitting to open a bottle of champagne to celebrate. He glanced at the date. Coincidentally, he could go to the biggest private room in Ming Yun Private Kitchen for a meal.

All of a sudden, Pei Qian felt like he should treat Teacher Qiao to a meal.

If for nothing else, it would be to see his defeated expression!

Qiao Liang had stabbed at Pei Qian's back confidently, and Pei Qian had no time to dodge. Instead, he had been squarely pierced, but after touching the wound on his back, he discovered that he was not bleeding!

Instead, Teacher Qiao's house had been burgled, and Chen Kangtuo had stabbed him until his back was covered with holes.

Pei Qian was overjoyed!

The more he thought about it, the happier he became. At once, he arranged to meet Qiao Liang for a meal at Ming Yun Private Kitchen.

It's impolite to always receive without giving. In the past, you always set me up. Today, it's my turn. I'll hit you while you're down and rub salt into your wounds!