Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

“Boss Pei, do you remember Chen Sha? He wants a Barrett,” Lin Wan said briefly.

Pei Qian’s immediate reaction was to reject him.

You must be kidding. I’ve limited it to five hundred guns so I’ll only sell five hundred guns. How can I break that rule so easily? 

If I give out one gun today and another tomorrow, it’ll become as cheap as vegetables tomorrow. I cannot do something like that. 

Boss Pei himself did not enjoy any special privileges. How could he make exceptions for others so easily?!

Of course, Boss Pei did not give himself these special privileges because he was very bad at these FPS games. Even if he had a Barrett Doom, he would be tortured in the game.

Having guessed what Pei Qian was going to say, Lin Wan quickly butted in. “Boss Pei, I know that his request is unreasonable. However, I feel that we should at least take care of our core players, right? Even if we can’t give them away, can we at least strike a compromise?

“We’re limiting sales to five hundred every month. It all boils down to how quickly one’s hand moves. We’re letting scalpers take the advantage. Players who genuinely love playing the game would not get to buy the weapons. It would be quite hurtful for them.”

Pei Qian pondered about it and realized that was true.

It did not matter whether Tengda made money or not, but he could not allow the players to get hurt. He also could not allow scalpers to take advantage of this situation easily.

After all, the players were innocent. Scalpers, on the other hand, were assholes.

Pei Qian thought about it and said, “That’s easy to settle. We can quickly create an account reputation system. According to various factors, accounts can get various ratings. Take core players like Chen Sha for example. Since they made great contributions to the game, they should get special contribution privileges.

“Other accounts can be judged based on whether they curse in the game or not, whether they are civilized in the game or not, how active they are, and the like. It would be just like a credit rating.

“Those with high credit ratings can pre-order epic weapons. Once their pre-order is successful, their purchase will be deducted from the limit of five hundred. The higher one’s credit rating is, the higher their priority for pre-ordering.

“Of course, those who have the same credit rating must still fight one another.

“Scalpers are not elite gamers; they will naturally be the last in line. Then, no matter how fast they work, it will be of no use. They would stand no chance in snatching the epic weapons.”

Lin Wan’s eyes lit up. “Good idea! Boss Pei, you’re amazing indeed. You could think of such a perfect solution! I’m going to tell Chen Sha about this and ask him to wait for it patiently.”

You don’t have to look so surprised, do you? 

Pei Qian was stunned. This was a natural solution.

However, on second thought, Lin Wan’s reaction was logical. Most people’s thinking about games was still a bit backward at the time. Pei Qian had an additional few years’ worth of experience. That was why he naturally had the upper-hand.

Of course, under most circumstances, this upper-hand was only effective when thinking about little things such as this. Could he create a huge business empire like Shenhua Corporation based on what little additional experience he had?

Pei Qian felt that would be a distant dream; it was unrealistic.

He would do better to take care of the things in front of him for now.

What’s more, he could limit the amount of income from games, generate losses, freeload off the System Funds, and convert money to his Personal Wealth; all without compromising on his long-term dream.

Just as he thought about these things, he heard cheering from far away.

“Brother Huang is back!”

“Brother Huang, you’re late! Drink three glasses as punishment!”

Pei Qian was shocked.

He’s here. Huang Sibo is here!

According to Pei Qian’s instructions, Huang Sibo should have finished filming before June 18th. If he produced the video after the 24th, the System would delay settlement. To Pei Qian, this was unacceptable.

Pei Qian guessed that Huang Sibo must have finished filming and editing. They should be planning to publish the documentary within these two days.

How much Huang Sibo’s video earned would directly affect Pei Qian’s future plan.

Pei Qian watched from afar as Huang Sibo smiled and greeted everybody. However, he spotted a hint of loneliness in Huang Sibo’s eyes.

Huh?

Pei Qian rejoiced in his heart. Does Huang Sibo have a surprise for me this time?

He looked behind Huang Sibo but did not see Chen Lei.

After Chen Lei went to Shanghai, he became an employee of Fei Huang Workspace. However, in reality, he was not given any tasks. He was just an employee in name.

After Fei Huang Workspace finished filming, they returned to Jingzhou for editing. While they were here, it was convenient for them to join the cohesion. Since Chen Lei was not here, Pei Qian guessed that he had his own plans.

Huang Sibo and Zhu Xiaoce greeted the rest of the employees before coming to Pei Qian’s table.

“Come, sit.”

Pei Qian greeted the two of them passionately and invited them to sit opposite him. Both of them were pleasantly surprised that they were given the chance to sit at the same table as Boss Pei. After all, this was not a common occurrence.

However, Huang Sibo felt a weight on his chest.

What a time for this!

Why did Boss Pei act so cold when Fei Huang Workspace signed the agreement with Aili Island and earned huge sums of money? Why was he only acting so warm now?

Did Boss Pei guess that our job did not go well this time? Is that why he wants to counsel us? 

Huang Sibo and Zhu Xiaoce exchanged a meaningful glance as if they guessed the same thing at the same time.

Boss Pei was really a good boss who took care of his employees!

Pei Qian did not know that both of them had so many thoughts in their minds. From their expressions alone, he guessed that Fei Huang Workspace’s filming of the documentary did not go well this time.

That was great news!

They were proving to be friends to him in a time of crisis!

While Pei Qian’s pressure to incur losses for the company was increasing, Lin Wan suddenly gave him such a big discount off his rent. He felt like he was sinking deeper into trouble.

Yet, now, if he found out that Fei Huang Workspace had lost all their hard-earned money, Pei Qian would finally be able to relax!

Huang Sibo and Huang Sibo did not have much of an appetite. They took two bites of their food and looked at each other. Neither knew where to begin.

“What’s the matter? Filming didn’t go well?” Pei Qian asked, concerned.

Huang Sibo whipped out his cell phone. “Boss Pei, look at the video we edited.”

“Alright.”

Pei Qian did not ask more questions. He took the cell phone and watched the video.

Huang Sibo had briefly explained to Pei Qian before that this documentary was going to be about eSports players. He said they were going to interview the famous, local Counter Strike player Li Zhengwei, but he did not give Pei Qian many details.

He clicked the video and saw a black screen with words.

“Now, I’m training for at least fourteen hours every day.

“I rarely see my family or friends. I hardly have holidays.

“To many people, this would be unbearable.

“However, if you want to become a strong eSports player, you must make sacrifices.

“I remember the day I decided to enter this career path. My father was on the way out to work. He locked the door and said if I continued to chase after this career, I could forget about returning home.

“After he left, I kicked open the door and ran away. I went to Shanghai alone to start my career proper.”

What followed was a series of aerial shots.

First, he saw what looked like a rundown country seat. Then, the scene changed. He saw prosperous Shanghai. The title of the documentary appeared on the screen: Coming Out of the Cocoon as a Butterfly.

The documentary was not long; it lasted about ten minutes from beginning to end. However, this took Huang Sibo and the others more than a month to film.

Pei Qian watched it seriously and found that it was much better than he thought it would be.

The storyline was complete. It followed Li Zhengwei as he skipped classes to surf the net, left home to start his career, made a name for himself, became recognized as the best Counter Strike player in China, and then fell into the low point he was at now. These scenes were peppered with interviews with his parents, the people around him, his coach, and his fans. Coupled with the beautiful background music and seamless transitions, the entire documentary could resonate with its viewers.

Even Pei Qian was shocked by this documentary.