Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

December 19th, Monday…

Pei Qian went to his office as usual. He browsed the recent news and discussions online as he checked the reports from the various departments.

The visas of the relevant personnel had been rushed after it was decided that FV Club would go to Los Angeles last week. All sorts of work was being prepared.

The thought of Ye Zhizhou and Min Jingchao packing up and leaving for Los Angeles to stay for more than a month made Pei Qian indescribably happy.

While Pei Qian would be able to follow them to Los Angeles for fun, he decided against it after some consideration.

On one hand, it was almost exam week. His goal to surpass Old Ma for this semester would basically GG if he were to go out to play for a month. On the other hand, Pei Qian was not very interested in going overseas. He preferred to stay in China.

Jingzhou was good enough. Why would he travel around?

He could do whatever he wanted in Jingzhou. In any case, he had a lot of System Funds now. Instead of spending money to go out and play, he might as well spend money to transform Jingzhou into something he liked.

What's more, if he wanted to go out and play in the future, he could always find a reason to do so. For example, he could collect materials for games, inspection and study, and so on.

What's more, Pei Qian did not want to repeat the tragedy of the qualifiers. If he went to the venue to watch the competition, all his team members would be on steroids. It would be too awkward if he created another 'world famous painting'.

Pei Qian casually browsed the webpage and suddenly saw a post.

"Is the cold-faced lady about to turn cold?"

"Some time ago, the popularity on the internet had been very high. Cold-Faced Lady's marketing could be seen everywhere, and the hot searches had not stopped. However, it seems like the popularity has dropped quite a bit recently? Is it about to die?"

This post was quite popular. Many people were discussing it.

"I don't think so. Didn't Meng Chang just give a speech a while ago? There was a sea of people at the venue. It was quite lively. Meng Chang was full of confidence the entire time. There was no sign of panic."

"Don't worry. He would be able to sustain for a long time just by just casually funding it. Do you think that someone as good as Meng Chang can't even make a cold noodles shop?"

"To be honest, I went to eat it once, and felt that it wasn't as good as they made it out to be? Of course, I admit that their restaurant environment and various details are not bad, but in the end it is just roasted cold noodles. It's really not that delicious."

"Didn't they say that they have accepted Boss Pei's investment? It seems like the companies that Boss Pei invested in have all succeeded so far, right? Jingzhou's investment myth is not something to be trifled with."

"I heard that it seems like Boss Pei is no longer in charge of Tengda's investments. Some of the projects have been incurring losses, but they are still generating profits overall. The word 'investment myth' can only be used to describe Boss Pei, not Dream Realization Ventures."

"I heard that Boss Pei had already divested some time ago. I don't know if that's true. If Boss Pei doesn't think highly of the Cold-Faced Lady, does that mean that it has some fatal hidden danger and is about to die?"

The netizens were discussing fervently. No one knew the truth or what was going on, but it did not affect their heated discussions. They began to furiously analyze the situation on their keyboards.

Pei Qian looked at everyone's discussion and was confused.

Can this Cold-Faced Lady make it or not?

In the eyes of some people, the Cold-Faced Lady had unlimited prospects which could easily earn a few hundred million yuan with just a few rounds of financing. Wouldn't it be easy for Meng Chang, a pioneer godfather of entrepreneurship, to make roasted cold noodles?

However, there were also some people who belittled the cold-faced lady, saying that it was all a bluff, as if they would go bankrupt tomorrow.

That confused Pei Qian.

One moment, he felt that he had done the right thing by withdrawing in time. The next moment, he felt that he had missed a good opportunity to incur losses. He felt conflicted.

After much consideration, Pei Qian called He Desheng.

"How's the Cold-Faced Lady doing recently?"

He Desheng was stunned and slightly surprised.

He was a little puzzled. Hadn't Boss Pei resolutely sold all of Cold-Faced Lady's shares? Why was he asking about Cold-Faced Lady today?

Logically speaking, someone like Boss Pei, who was decisive and determined to not change his mind, should have no reason to turn back, right?

However, He Desheng did not dare to ask too much. He answered honestly, "Boss Pei, we have nothing to do with the Cold-Faced Lady at the moment. The money we earned has not been moved yet. Even the finance manager we sent to the Cold-Faced Lady, Jing Haibing, has returned to Jingzhou. We are waiting to invest in the next company."

"Therefore, I'm not sure about the exact situation on the Cold-Faced Lady's side now. Why don't I ask Meng Chang? However, we have nothing to do with each other after all. He might not tell me."

"Or I can ask Jing Haibing. She was in charge of the Cold-Faced Lady's financial affairs previously. She might know some inside information when she handed over the work."

After some thought, Pei Qian decided not to ask Meng Chang since he had already withdrawn his investment.

He should ask Jing Haibing.

If he could not get any useful information, then so be it. The matter with the Cold-Faced Lady was over. If there was a turnaround, then so be it.

At that thought, Pei Qian said, "Alright, set up a video conference."

He Desheng hung up and quickly held a video conference.

Jing Haibing adjusted her spectacles, her expression still as serious as the last video conference. "Boss Pei, you're looking for me?"

Pei Qian nodded. "What do you think about the Cold-Faced Lady? Based on the work situation there, do you think this company will succeed?"

Jing Haibing shook her head. "This is beyond my capabilities. I'm just a finance manager. I still don't dare to show off in front of Boss Pei when it comes to judgment."

Pei Qian had expected this answer.

That was because Jing Haibing was a very calm and low-profile person. She would never judge anything she did not understand. Instead, she would meticulously complete her work.

Before this, Jing Haibing had not participated in the Cold-Faced Lady's decision, nor did she 'complained' to Pei Qian or He Desheng.

Pei Qian thought for a moment and changed his way of asking. "Then, tell me from a financial perspective, how is Cold-Faced Lady's company?"

After some consideration, Jing Haibing said, "Meng Chang's model should be the standard internet marketing model. While he didn't fake any financial accounts, he used some methods to make the financial statements look especially good."

"However, strictly speaking, the cash flow of the Cold-Faced Lady has always been very tight. Meng Chang is used to spending lavishly on marketing, so he has always been lacking in funds."

"Before I left, the last investment that Cold-Faced Lady received was eight million yuan from you, Boss Pei. It was spent very quickly."

"However, whether the Cold-Faced Lady will have any problems or not depends on whether Meng Chang can get money from others. If he can, Cold-Faced Lady's valuation will continue to increase. If not, there might be problems with the capital flow this week."

"If I'm not wrong, Meng Chang should be looking for money anxiously now even though he looks very calm now."

"However, if Meng Chang's marketing expenses are reduced, he should be able to last for a long time. After all, the expenses of the stores are not big. The bulk of the money is spent on marketing."

He Desheng thought for a moment and said, "I think he most likely won't do that. The reason why Cold-Faced Lady has such a high valuation is because investors pay a lot of attention to it. If Meng Chang doesn't continue to spend money to maintain its popularity, the investors' interest would weaken and they would fall into a vicious cycle."

"That's the real danger for Meng Chang."

Pei Qian listened quietly, still confused.

He Desheng and Jing Haibing could not come up with an explanation either. They could only say that the cold-faced lady was currently in a very critical period.

If a large sum of money was injected to push up the valuation and restore the confidence of the investors, the Cold-Faced Lady might be praised to the skies. However, on the other hand, if the investors were to watch, the Cold-Faced Lady's capital chain might very quickly have problems and could only go bankrupt.

Earning huge profits and incurring crazy losses were all in the blink of an eye.

That made Pei Qian feel like he could not make a decision. He was afraid that the Cold-Faced Lady would really take off if he invested more money in the game; however, if he were to walk away from this investment, he was afraid that he would incur a once-in-a-lifetime-opportunity to incur losses.

Suddenly, Pei Qian had an idea. He asked, "How much does Cold-Faced Lady spend on marketing every week?"

Jing Haibing thought for a while. "On average… less than a million yuan per week. However, some marketing activities are done monthly, such as finding endorsements and shooting advertisements. The expenses are huge. However, there are many other daily expenses of the shop."

Pei Qian pressed on. "If we give him one million yuan a week, would that be enough to extend the Cold-Faced Lady's life without making it explode in popularity?"

Jing Haibing was a little confused. After some thought, she replied, "In theory, yes. However, I don't know how to run a business, so I can't guarantee it."

Pei Qian felt that he could give it a try and said, "Alright, He Desheng, pay attention to the Cold-Faced Lady. If you find out that he really has no more money, invest one million yuan per month to help him extend his life. However, if you find any signs of others wanting to invest, stop immediately."

He Desheng felt a little dizzy. He did not know what Boss Pei was up to.

Was he teasing Meng Cheng?

He had already sold all his shares previously. Why was he giving money to Cold-Faced Lady now in drips and drapes?

Sell it, buy it, sell it, investing and divesting repeatedly into the Cold-Faced Lady?

However, since it was Boss Pei, the God of Investments', operation, He Desheng felt that there must be a deeper meaning. Thus, he nodded. "Alright, I still have the money left from the sale of the Cold-Faced Lady shares. I'll use this money."

Pei Qian was very satisfied with his own operations.

Since the Cold-Faced Lady was jumping between takeoff and sudden death, wouldn't it be fine as long as it was kept in this area?

Quantitative blood transfusions would not allow it to die or take off. Wouldn't it be perfect for Meng Cheng to keep up his marketing and help him spend money at the same time?