Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

April 12th, Thursday…

Fei Huang Workspace's office.

A portion of the employees were editing the documentary for 'The Stalls'. The employees who were previously in charge of 'Mission and Choice' had already entered a sheep-herding state. They were browsing the internet, waiting for the official release of 'Mission and Choice' apart from playing games and watching movies every day.

The employees who were in charge of editing 'The Stalls' looked very motivated. That was because the series had been very successful so far. The popularity of every episode on Aili Island's website was constantly increasing. Netizens' reviews were also very high.

The Cold-Faced Lady had tried to release a few new dishes. The Cold-Faced Lady's reputation had not completely changed after the promotion of "The Stalls". However, it was much better than before when it had hit rock bottom.

The only problem was that editing this film made them very hungry. Once they were hungry, they would want to eat. The company's snacks were unlimited. Several editors had gained several kilograms.

After Huang Sibo discovered this problem, he requested for them to increase their exercise volume in the Deposit Fitness. The trainers were all his own people. Additional training was something that Huang Sibo could do with a single word. He wanted to train the editors until they were suffering.

On the other hand, the staff in charge of Mission and Choice were not in such good spirits. They were all very dispirited.

They did not even enjoy playing games or watching movies.

As for why this happened…

That was because these people were searching for news about 'Mission and Choice' on the internet every day. However, they could not wait for it to be released. It was about to be released this weekend, but there was not much news about it on the internet until now. It did not even become a hot topic for discussion. That was too ridiculous!

Everyone had been very excited when filming Mission and Choice.

This movie was a huge investment and a huge production. Boss Pei had personally decided on the script. The original production team of Tomorrow is Beautiful, Lu Zhiyao had even contributed the most perfect acting skills in history…

What's more, this movie had been in development with Tengda's new game for more than half a year.

It should not be too much to say that Mission and Choice was the most important project in the entire Tengda Corporation from 2011 to 2012.

All the employees felt honored to be able to participate in this project.

Everyone suddenly realized that something was amiss as the movie was about to be released.

First, it was the release date. They did not want the May 1st prime-time slot and had to choose a weekend that was not particular.

Of course, this could still be explained. After all, the game 'Mission and Choice' was going to clash with the 'Fantasy Battle Remake' game. It might still be a loss to change the movie's schedule but it was still acceptable.

However, the biggest problem now was that there was no publicity!

Not a single poster or display board of Mission and Choice could be seen in the cinema. The screening rate was not that high either. What's more, this was the result of the cinema chain taking into account Tomorrow is Beautiful's success.

In other words, Mission and Choice's publicity was basically zero. They did not do anything!

The publicity budget and filming budget were basically the same for other films. For example, three hundred million yuan for a movie and three hundred million yuan for global publicity was very normal.

What's more, celebrities' remuneration made up most of the expenses of these blockbusters.

It did not matter whether the capital ratio was healthy or not, but this was indeed the norm in the industry.

In the end, Mission and Choice had spent more than three hundred million yuan on the movie. Lu Zhiyao was the only lead actor. The remuneration was not high. All the money had been spent on props and special effects. There was not a single cent for publicity!

This was too strange!

Of course, spending money to employ limited resources where they are needed most could better ensure the quality of the movie. However, wasn't it too much to not spend a single cent on publicity?

Couldn't they just post something on their official Weibo account even if he did not have to spend money? Tengda had so much running water; any piece of news could generate popularity.

In the end, there was really nothing!

It was said that Boss Pei gave Meng Chang publicity funds. However, no one knew where the publicity funds went…

Many people even suspected that this movie was not brought forward, but postponed!

Otherwise, why was there no news at all?

Everyone had spent a lot of effort to produce this difficult script, and the content of the movie was extremely exciting. In the end, the publicity was so far apart. How could they not be discouraged?

Director Zhu Xiaoce could not sit still either. He sneaked into Huang Sibo's office and prepared for another secret meeting.

This matter could not be discussed openly because they were the department heads. If the employees knew that even they were panicking, this panic would quickly spread and affect the state of Fei Huang Workspace.

Many employees had secretly asked Zhu Xiaoce about the publicity of the movie in private. Zhu Xiaoce had comforted them all, saying that a professional department was in charge so that they did not have to worry.

However, Zhu Xiaoce himself did not believe this.

The movie was going to be released in two days. He did not even know what the people in the advertising and marketing department were doing. Why did Boss Pei not care?

Zhu Xiaoce slipped into Huang Sibo's office and saw Huang Sibo drinking tea while browsing the web.

"I can't take it anymore. Four people asked me about the movie just yesterday."

"What did Boss Pei say?"

"Boss Pei said that he had already made arrangements at the beginning of the month;"

"We went to ask last week. Boss Pei said that he had already handed it over to the Advertising and marketing department. There was a professional in charge of it. He told us not to worry."

"It's about to be released soon. Where's the publicity for our movie?"

"Other movies have to be advertised a few months in advance. We had originally set a May 1st time slot and left one or two months for publicity. It might be relatively short, but with Tomorrow is Beautiful as the foundation, the effect should not be too bad."

"In the end, it was advanced and the publicity time was reduced. Great, it's going to be released. There's not even a splash on the internet!"

"What should we do?!"

Zhu Xiaoce was almost speechless.

He had already promised his colleagues that he had consulted Boss Pei about the publicity. There was definitely no problem. However, how was there no problem in this situation? There were clearly problems everywhere!

The most awkward thing was that no one would think that this was Boss Pei's problem. They would only think that Zhu Xiaoce was faking the sacred decree and deceiving everyone.

That was very annoying!

Boss Pei did not ask too much about Tomorrow is Beautiful's publicity previously. Huang Sibo and Zhu Xiaoce were the ones in charge. They basically did the publicity in the usual way. The initial publicity effect was not bad.

Of course, the key to Tomorrow is Beautiful becoming popular was that the film itself was too strong. Its box office was also increasing step by step.

However, Boss Pei had specifically instructed Huang Sibo and Zhu Xiaoce not to bother with the publicity for Mission and Choice.

The two of them were quite happy at first. They felt that Boss Pei was taking this very seriously. If he personally took action, it meant that this matter would definitely be settled. It would be a good opportunity for them to be the handler.

Yet, this was the result after waiting for so long.

Huang Sibo was also a little worried. "Who knows what Boss Pei is up to?"

"Meng Chang should be in charge of the publicity this time according to what I know. Logically speaking, this person is a marketing genius. The proposal he gave should be very sensational."

"Why is there not even a splash now?"

Zhu Xiaoce was very dissatisfied. "Him? He can't do it. He was left behind by Boss Pei by a hundred streets! His marketing skills with the Cold-Faced Lady are not even a ten-thousandth of Boss Pei's."

"Meng Chang is burning money to buy fake popularity. Boss Pei can attract real popularity without spending money. Is that the same thing?"

"What's more, I think Meng Chang has a bad character. He probably didn't put much effort into the publicity plan."

"It's not that I'm wronging him. Based on the current situation, it's impossible for us to not create any ripple even if we use our legs to advertise, right?"

"There's only one possibility: He did it on purpose!"

Huang Sibo sipped his tea and gestured for Zhu Xiaoce to calm down. "There's no need to speculate about our colleagues like that."

"Whether Meng Chang is reliable or not, Boss Pei must have his reasons since he arranged for him to be in this position. Moreover, even if Meng Chang wants to play some tricks, do you think Boss Pei doesn't know?"

"Don't rush, wait a little longer."

Zhu Xiaoce had always been a very calm person, but this time, he could not remain calm. "Are we still waiting? The movie is going to be released on Saturday…"

"Even if the publicity plan is effective now, what can two days do?"

"Other movies would be promoted more than two months in advance, but we are doing publicity two days in advance…"

Huang Sibo scrolled through the webpage and said, "Two days might seem impossible, but we can only choose to trust Boss Pei."

They fell into a short period of silence.

Suddenly, Huang Sibo's eyes lit up.

"Look, things have changed! Since last night!"

Zhu Xiaoce was stunned. "There's a turnaround?"

Huang Sibo immediately turned the laptop around so that Zhu Xiaoce could see the contents on the screen.

What greeted his eyes were the heated discussions of the netizens on Weibo!

"Tengda's new movie is here! 'Mission and Choice' will be released on Saturday!"

"Greyhound's Weibo post had high praises for 'the domestically-produced movie pushing their schedule forward because they are scared', which is pointing at 'Mission and Choice'!"

"The information about this movie is out. Lu Zhiyao is the main actor. There's no mistake!"

"Why is it so far back! I thought that the number of screenings would at least reach 40%. Is there something wrong with such a small number of screenings?"

"Could it be that Fei Huang Workspace's name iis too lousy in the film industry?"

"Impossible. With Zhu Xiaoce as the director and Lu Zhiyao as the main actors. They are basically the original team of Tomorrow is Beautiful!"

Overnight, discussions about Mission and Choice exploded on Weibo and various forums!

On top of that, many people began to make reasonable guesses about Mission and Choice.

"'Mission and Choice' is known as a disgrace to the domestic games industry. Since Tengda has made a movie, they must make a game, right?"

"Why are you remaking this? Is this a mission given by the official platform?"

"April 14th, why is this date so familiar… I remember now, this is the release date of 'Fantasy Battle'! Is this purely a coincidence, or…?"

"That can't be. Other games would be popular a few months or a year or two in advance. They would have to skip the ticket before they were released. Tengda is going to release them without a word? Without even informing them?"

"What are you guys discussing? A void discussion? Tengda did not even say that it wanted to create a game called Mission and Choice… Can you stop imagining things?"

"It's not that we want to imagine. The key is that the clues are too suspicious. Old gamers know that Boss Pei likes riddles. You have to believe the revelations about Tengda. It might be true no matter how ridiculous it is…"

"By the way, did you notice something else? 'Domestic Classic Games Collection' also has' Mission and Choice '. This compilation has been promoted for so long, and it's been advertised online and offline. How much does it cost?"

"The official platform has confirmed that Tengda spent money to arrange this advertisement. Think about it carefully. Why would Tengda advertise a compilation that has nothing to do with itself? It must be related to their own new game!"

"The official interview arrangements are also quite strange. First, they interviewed the incubation base of the 'Destitution Plan', and then they interviewed Meng Chang, who was in charge of promoting the 'domestic classic games compilation'. These two manuscripts were released after more than a day. They were most likely done at the same time. Is this hinting at something?"

"That's right. I remember when Qiu Hong was interviewed, he said that there was a sponsor for the 'Destitution Plan'. He was just an executor. What's more, this sponsor had a deep influence on him. Considering the working environment of the incubation base and the treatment of independent game designers… this sponsor should be Boss Pei, right?"

"Now that I think about it, that's true. The official platform has made it clear!"

"A new game is definitely coming! Holy sh*t, this is too exciting! I knew that Tengda would not disappoint me!"