Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

Pei Qian was the one who came up with the idea of the Fully-Automated Smart Bickering Machine.

The reason was that Otto Technologies wanted to create a smart speaker for the artificial intelligence system on the cell phone. It could be considered to have made use of this artificial intelligence assistant to become popular.

At the moment, there were already several artificial intelligence sound systems in the market. They were basically priced between two hundred to three hundred yuan. The most expensive was not more than five hundred yuan.

Pei Qian thought that Otto Technologies' request to create an artificial intelligence sound system was reasonable. He could not find a good reason to reject it, so he agreed.

He only thought of a way to steer it in the wrong direction. He wanted it to be one with the Fully-Automated Bickering Machine. What's more, he wanted it to be priced at 2,588 yuan. There was a huge gap between it and the other smart speakers.

No one would buy it then, right?

In fact, Pei Qian already found it very magical and difficult to understand after selling so many Fully-Automated Bickering Machines.

This time, the price had doubled again. It had even been integrated into AEEIS, which was used to bicker with others. Furthermore, people who had already bought the bickering machine would definitely not buy another bickering machine…

This would definitely not be able to sell now, right?

Pei Qian might feel very confident, but he still checked the details of the goods carefully.

Pei Qian could not help but relax when he saw the pitiful number of sales and the empty comments section.

It seemed to be doing well, this world was finally normal!

Didn't he say that no one would buy it!

However… Chang You did not seem to have deliberately advertised the bickering machine. He had only created an open-screen advertisement in Otto Technologies?

Considering that Otto Technologies' cell phone sales were not high, the effect of this advertisement was negligible.

Pei Qian was afraid that there was a trap, so he quickly called Chang You.

"Hello? Boss Pei, you saw the stable system update, right? Do you have any instructions?" Chang You asked.

Pei Qian nodded and said, "Yes, I saw it. The content of the system update is very good. It completely met my requirements. However, don't be arrogant and complacent. Our pursuit of user experience is endless."

Chang You quickly said, "I understand, Boss Pei. Don't worry!"

Pei Qian's original intention was for Chang You to continue working on these minor details so that he would not have too much energy to create new functions and stab him in the back.

"I saw that the Fully-Automated Smart Bickering Machine has also been launched. However, not much money was spent on publicity, right?" Pei Qian pretended to ask casually.

Chang You quickly answered, "Ah, yes, Boss Pei. We didn't specially advertise the bickering machine previously, so we didn't do it this time. We're still waiting for your instructions. If you think we need to publicize it…"

"No need!" Pei Qian quickly interrupted. "You did very well. The Fully-Automated Smart Bickering Machine doesn't need any publicity."

"However, publicity is one thing, but stocking piling is another matter. There might not be any need to advertise but we still have to hurry to prepare the goods."

Chang You did not ask further. "Alright, Boss Pei."

Pei Qian gave a few simple instructions. For example, everyone had worked hard to develop the game for such a long time. It was about time for the employees to take a break. They would start new work next month. Then, he hung up.

Pei Qian felt much more at ease after the call.

Chang You is not bad at all! You understood my intentions well!

This time, he did not publicize the Fully-Automated Intelligent Bickering Machine. Instead, he lowered the chances of it being sold.

He had to make the best use of his time to stockpile and store everything in the warehouse. That way, he could spend a huge sum of money.

This machine was priced at 2,588 yuan. A few hundred of them would cost millions of yuan. It would burn money at a much faster rate than the first version of the Bickering Machine.

Let's not talk about what would happen next. It shouldn't be a problem to spend a sum of money before settlement this month, right?

Pei Qian could not think too far ahead for now. He had to deal with the settlement first.

Pei Qian had already finished his lunch. He ordered a cup of coffee and enjoyed the sun by Fish-Catching Internet Cafe's floor-to-ceiling windows.

"Eh? That's not right."

"I still have to check the users' comments!"

As the saying went, once bitten, twice shy. Countless backstabbing had created Pei Qian's cautious character. Pei Qian still felt unsafe even though he was certain that the Fully-Automated Intelligent Bickering Machine would not be able to sell and he had seen the pitiful sales volume in the Shopping Mall.

He began to check on the comments of users on the forum regarding the update of the OTTO cell phone.

"OTTO's cell phone system has been updated! They did not even hold a news conference and just quietly sent out updates!"

"There's so much content for this update. Didn't the other cell phone manufacturers usually hold news conferences to boast about it? I was still waiting for Chang You's crosstalk, but he didn't even hold a news conference?"

"This system animation is so smooth. I'm impressed! The domestic cell phone is finally as smooth as the POUIO cell phone. It's so smooth that I can't stop!"

"It's not just domestically-produced cell phones. Other foreign Android cell phones won't be able to do that. Otto Technologies is very thoughtful."

"This spirit of constantly polishing the details is really worth the other cell phone manufacturers learning from them. Actually, linear animation is not that difficult to make. It depends on whether they value it or are willing to invest enough time and manpower into it."

"The camera system is updated quite well. After taking a few photos, the algorithm has obviously improved greatly."

"They have a voice assistant now with a rather western name, but why do I feel like it doesn't treat me as a human? Is there something wrong with its attitude?"

Most of the comments were focused on the system's basic functions and linear animation. That was because this was the most direct change for most users: the smoothness had increased, and it was more comfortable to use cell phones.

Few people were commenting on the new camera system and criticizing AEEIS, the artificial intelligence voice assistant. Almost no one was discussing the Fully-Automated Smart Bickering Machine.

"Everyone has such a high evaluation of the system update?"

"Fortunately, the parts that everyone likes are not profitable. No one is paying attention to the parts that are profitable."

Pei Qian was relieved to see that no one cared about AEEIS Fully-Automated Smart Bickering Machine.

Obviously, most people were no longer passionate about the bickering machine. Those who liked it had already bought the first-generation products, and those who did not would not buy new smart bickering machines.

Pei Qian heaved a sigh of relief. It seemed like his worries were unnecessary.

The Fully-Automated Intelligent Bickering Machine would definitely not be able to sell much this month. He could now mass-produce it without any worries.

…

…

January 10th, Tuesday…

Pei Qian walked out of the examination hall and went to Fish-Catching Internet Cafe to have lunch. He then picked up his notes and headed straight to the study room.

He had an open-book exam this morning and would have the closed-book exam tomorrow morning. He would be free this semester once he was finished with all of them.

As for the test results this morning…

It was hard to say. Anyway, he had probably written enough words.

They should at least give him some marks for effort since he tried so hard, right?

There was no point in thinking too much since he had already finished the exam. The most important thing was to sharpen his guns this afternoon and do well for tomorrow's closed-book exam.

Pei Qian put his cell phone in a position that he could not reach as usual when he arrived at the study room.

However, he saw a news notification pop up on his screen just as he was about to put his phone further away.

"Another internet celebrity restaurant has failed! The Cold-Faced Lady myth has come to an end. Meng Chang has been ruled to be a Judgment Debtor!"

Pei Qian would have ignored ordinary news. However, he was stunned when he saw the news.

The Cold-Faced Lady was bankrupt?!

He quickly clicked on it.

"Recently, the founder of the Cold-Faced Lady, Meng Chang, has been placed on the list of people who broke their promises in court as a Judgment Debtor. The reason is owing his suppliers more than one million yuan, and this should only be the tip of the iceberg of the Cold-Faced Lady's debt. According to the analysis of industry insiders, the Cold-Faced Lady's debt might have reached millions that could not be repaid."

"As an up-and-coming internet food and beverage brand, Cold-Faced Lady attracted the attention of countless consumers from the moment it was established. Time and time again, marketing events tied the concept of Cold-Faced Lady to the concept of roasted cold noodles, making people eat roasted cold noodles as a fashion. It also attracted investors to invest in it, causing the internet food and beverage brand to surge. In just a few months, they received multiple investments, and the highest valuation was estimated to be 300 million yuan."

"However, this internet popular food and beverage brand seemed to have collapsed overnight. According to the reporters, the Cold-Faced Lady's shop in Beijing has already closed down. The words 'business is closed' were written on it, but there was no sign of it opening for several days in a row. The founder, Meng Chang, who was at the forefront of the storm, had yet to respond to the public after the storm."

Pei Qian read the news twice or thrice in disbelief.

It was indeed reliable news, not gossip!

The news that the Cold-Faced Lady and Meng Chang had gone back on their word had to be true. The fact that the Cold-Faced Lady's shop was closed and Meng Chang did not make any public responses further proved this point.

Pei Qian's impression of the cold-faced lady was still the same as last week.

At that time, there were rumors of the Cold-Faced Lady failing online. Meng Chang even reprimanded the reporters for creating rumors.

In the end, only a week had passed, and the so-called 'rumors' had become true. It was almost instant.

In fact, if Pei Qian had paid attention earlier and asked He Desheng or Boss Li for information, he would definitely have known about these things earlier. However, he had been focusing on the IOI Finals in Los Angeles for the past week apart from revising. Thus, his information was lagging.

Pei Qian walked to the study room and called He Desheng.

"Has the Cold-Faced Lady closed down?" Pei Qian asked directly after the call connected.

He Desheng said, "Yes, Boss Pei. I was just about to report this to you. The Cold-Faced Lady should have finished burning their money, but could not obtain more financing that's why the capital chain is broken. There are still a few suppliers who did not get paid."

"Boss Li came to me this morning to ask about your attitude. I haven't given him an answer. Boss Li means that if you are still interested in the cold-faced lady, he would arrange for all the investors to meet. The sooner the better…"

Pei Qian pondered for a moment. "Alright, tomorrow afternoon then."

"Go and inform Boss Li and the other investors. Ask those investors who are not in Jingzhou to come to Jingzhou to discuss the matter with the cold-faced lady."

He Desheng did not know why Boss Pei chose tomorrow afternoon, nor did he know what his plan was. However, he did not ask much and just agreed.

Pei Qian returned to the study room after he hung up.

In fact, there was no special reason for choosing tomorrow afternoon. It was purely because there was a closed exam tomorrow morning.

He could not delay the exam even if there was a huge problem. Otherwise, wouldn't he have wasted his time revising?