Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

Pei Qian coughed silently. "The level of housing agencies was uneven. Cooperating with them would be huge damage to our reputation. What was more, we would be having a rental model. It is not appropriate for us to go on any old website.

"Anyway, let's not jump the gun to publicity. Our product is not good enough yet.

"A house is for people to live in. The environmentally-friendly standards had to be strictly adhered to! This house has just been renovated. There must be formaldehyde in it so the best thing is to let it air for a month or two."

Liang Qingfan hesitated for a while and said. "Uh… Boss Pei, this house has been renovated based on all your requirements, using the most environmentally-friendly materials. Formaldehyde level in the house has reached national safety standards within which you can move in."

"Uh? Is that right?" Pei Qian could not tell if he was losing or earning.

Renovating with environmentally-friendly materials could cost a little more, but they could move in faster while general materials were cheaper, but it would take a long time to ventilate after the renovation. The later someone rented out, the more rent they would lose.

However, Pei Qian thought about it and chose the former. The health of his clients was the most important.

Customers might have lined up to give Boss Pei money and make it unbearable for him, but Boss Pei was always a magnanimous person. He would not bear any grudges.

Pei Qian coughed lightly. "It has to be aired even if it has reached the standards! We have to be strict with ourselves. It is not enough to meet national standards.

"Anyway, let it air for at least a month.

"You don't need to worry about publicity. You've worked hard, have a good rest."

Liang Qingfan nodded. "Okay, Boss Pei."

…

…

August 5th, Friday…

At Shang Yang Games…

Lin Wan was in the office, seriously thinking about related promotional activities for the GOG world server.

Boss Pei gave them 500 million in one shot. It was indeed lavish, but it also brought a lot of pressure to everyone in the Shang Yang Games. This money was not difficult to spend. The key was how to spend it meaningfully.

It would be an international joke if this 500 million were to be used without making any ripples. Shang Yang Games would be the laughingstock of the world.

Therefore, shortly after they were done with the domestic server of IOI, Shang Yang Games entered a tense working state again.

Knock, knock.

A knock came from outside the office. Ye Zhizhou pushed it open. "Director Lin, the person-in-charge of domestic affairs from Finger Games wants to meet with you."

Lin Wan was taken aback. "With me?"

Ye Zhizhou nodded. "Yes, he originally wanted to meet with Boss Pei but was denied mercilessly…"

Lin Wan found it funny.

Who are you to meet Boss Pei? I don't even have to meet you either.

"What is this in-charge's background?" Lin Wan asked.

Ye Zhizhou answered truthfully, "I did a bit of investigation. This person seems to be rather big. He wasn't the original person-in-charge of China from Finger Games but was airdropped in recently. His name is Eric and was a high-level executive in the media department of Dayak Corporation."

Lin Wan was stunned. No wonder this Eric thought he could meet Boss Pei. From a logical standpoint, he was indeed qualified to meet Boss Pei.

A pity that Boss Pei would never fall for this trick.

Finger Games had now become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dayak Corporation. Dayak Corporation loved to interfere with everything. Airdropping a high-level executive to be in charge of the IOI domestic server was something they were capable of.

"Finger Games made this move very rapidly. They were probably preparing for it since a long time ago," Lin Wan said with emotion.

Ye Zhizhou nodded. "That's right. Taking back the operating rights of the IOI domestic server should be something that the executives of Finger Games and Dayak Corporation both wanted.

"Finger Games had always had a very strong desire to expand. They sold themselves to Dayak Corporation so that they could obtain more funds for expansion and to promote IOI faster to the world.

"They obviously also attach great importance to the domestic market. They feel IOI is struggling in the domestic market because we are not promoting hard enough and had been slammed by GOG. They even suspected that Tengda bought their shares to play tricks and to support GOG.

"Therefore, Finger Games had been planning to take over their IOI domestic server. Dayak's privatization offer was just a smooth move that promoted their common interest. Dayak sent a high-level executive to set it going after it was settled.

"As to why this Eric wants to meet Boss Pei and you… I have no idea."

Lin Wan was silent for a short while. "Alright, I'll go and meet him.

"Boss Pei will definitely not meet him; it would be undermining his position. However, I can meet him. Knowing ourselves and the enemy is the only way to survive. We might be able to obtain some useful information since we are going up against them."

…

Lin Wan came to a cafe in Jingzhou City to meet this Eric.

He had a standard westerner face and looked like he was in his forties. His figure was well-maintained, but his hairline was worrying. The length of his beard exceeded the hair on the top of his head. Fortunately, the shape of his beard had been carefully taken care of.

Both of them exchanged pleasantries with both knowing that they were enemies.

What surprised Lin Wan was that Eric's Mandarin was rather fluent. He only had a little accent.

Eric sipped on his coffee and looked at his watch casually. "My plane will be leaving at five in the afternoon so we have plenty of time."

Lin Wan smiled slightly. She could see that Eric was using the watch that cost hundreds of thousands, some specific movements and his expression in hopes to overwhelm her with his aura. However, she was completely unmoved.

I don't even bother about Shenhua Corporation; you are just an executive in the media department of Dayak Corporation. How dare you act up with me.

Lin Wan grinned. "It doesn't matter if you miss the plane. I can consider lending you my family's private plane."

Eric's hand holding the coffee cup obviously stiffened. He was obviously confused; shouldn't there be a basis for showing off?

Tengda was just a small company in Jingzhou, and you are just a person-in-charge of one of the business departments. Where would your private jet come from?

Are people so dishonest nowadays?

He might be speechless, but Eric knew he had to keep his posture. There was no need to go up against a little girl in her twenties. He, therefore, decided to skip over that topic to talk business.

"Alright, Miss Lin, it seems like we both know very well what we are here for. I deliberately came to Jingzhou from Shanghai to know my opponent. I'm sure Miss Lin has the same thinking as me.

"Obviously, Boss Pei does not want to meet me in person probably because he wants to hide his own intentions as much as possible. He sent you here to obtain information about me.

"Interesting street-smart guy but meaningless."

Lin Wan's face sank. "You know nothing about Boss Pei, and it would be very stupid to make such baseless guesses."

Eric was not angry. He took a sip of the coffee casually and said, "How do you know that it is an unfounded guess? This is the first time I set foot in Jingzhou, but I've gained enough knowledge in a few short hours."

"Then, what did you gain on this trip to Jingzhou, Mr. Eric?" Lin Wan replied noncommittally.

Eric replied slowly and confidently, "I confirmed some of my thoughts, such as the truth about the competition between GOG and IOI.

"I was very surprised when I learned that IOI's original operations were in Jingzhou. That did not make any sense. The operation should be in Shanghai no matter what.

"Later, I learned some insider information which confirmed my suspicions.

"I have to say that Tengda has great luck. It seized the opportunity when IOI was still unknown, bought the shares of Finger Games at a very low price, and obtained the operating rights for the domestic server.

"However, you are too greedy. You are doing this only to better promote GOG domestically.

"Why is it that IOI is enjoying huge success internationally except in China? Obviously, it was not a fair fight from the start. It is all a show between you sister companies!

"Why are the main promotional activities and competitions all in Jingzhou? That is obviously because Tengda has a stronger influence in Jingzhou. You can change the results of the game and choose the winner by default.

"Therefore, we are very aware that IOI will never be promoted in this country if we continue to leave the domestic operation rights to Tengda. That is intolerable to use because there are a huge number of players in China; we cannot give it up.

"You saw this opportunity and profited from it ruthlessly. However, it is nothing to Dayak. The potential profit that IOI can make in China is far more than tens of millions of US dollars; it would be on the scale of billions of US dollars!"

"Mr. Eric, can you be so sure that IOI can defeat GOG to get a piece of the domestic market?" Lin Wan asked after listening in silence.