Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

Chapter 227 Invite Zhang Zuting to Jingzhou

Hearing these words from Li Shi, a realization dawned on Pei Qian. Indeed, the person who had tried to bribe Fish-Catching Internet Cafe’s employees was Boss Li.

Pei Qian had hoodwinked Li Shi with the fake information that he released earlier on.

This time, Li Shi was not here to pressure Fish-Catching Internet Cafe and try to invest in it. Instead, Li Shi was betting on Pei Qian’s investments becoming popular. He was just trying to profit from it as well.

After Fish-Catching Internet Cafe’s flagship store became popular, more customers visited that street. Although the surrounding shops were not as popular as Fish-Catching Internet Cafe, they still profited from the entire episode.

After that, even Boss Li made some profit. However, he had not earned much.

Considering the fact that Boss Li could earn much more money by investing in other regions, that episode was a loss for him.

Although Boss Li had made some investments in the surrounding shops by helping them with their promotional events, he had not invested much to begin with. The promotions had not cost much. Since Boss Li had high expectations, he had obviously not been satisfied.

This situation was not much different.

There were too few customers near Ming Yun Villas. That was why nobody wanted to rent shops in the area. That meant Boss Li didn’t have to invest too much for capital.

If Ming Yun Villas really became popular as Boss Pei had said, these few shops would become like money trees. No matter whose hands they were in, they would be profitable. Even if Boss Li sold them immediately, he would be able to profit.

When that time came, would the profit Boss Li made still be called ‘small’?

However, all of this depended on whether the Ming Yun Villas region became popular or not.

Pei Qian could not help but feel emotional.

Boss Li, Boss Li… your logic is perfect, and your execution is flawless. However… you missed out on an important fact. Of course, I cannot blame you, Boss Li. Who would have thought that a system existed in this world, which allowed you to profit by incurring losses?

At that moment, Pei Qian felt a hint of compassion. If this were someone else, Boss Pei would not have shown mercy. However, this passionate Boss Li had already been cheated by Pei Qian once before.

He could not possibly seize a sheep and rough shear it. What if it went bald?

Thus, Pei Qian decided to drop a hint to Boss Li so he would not invest too much in the area.

Until now, Boss Li had already invested in a chain internet cafe, a bar, a cafe, and a board games cafe. He had already been a considerable help to Pei Qian.

What if Boss Li had more ideas and continued to invest more money?

In fact, Pei Qian was already getting worried. If he sheared Boss Li bald now, their relationship would not be able to develop anymore in the future.

If he could reduce the losses that Boss Li incurred, he would already be considered extremely benevolent.

At that thought, Pei Qian decided to give Boss Li a slight hint.

He took a sip of his cocktail and said as sincerely as he could, “Boss Li, I will tell you the truth.

“Luck was part of the reason why Fish-Catching Internet Cafe’s flagship store became famous earlier on. It would be almost impossible for this branch in Ming Yun Villas to emulate the flagship store’s success.

“The chances of this region becoming popular are not high. I’m just trying things out…”

Pei Qian was already hinting as much as he could.

Li Shi smiled, his expression seeming to say, ‘I understand’. “Boss Pei, you’re too humble.

“You always say that luck played a part in your success. This is normal. Yet, mediocre people would only wait for luck while true talents will create their own good fortune. To me, Boss Pei is undoubtedly a man who can create his own good fortune.

“Based on what I know, Boss Pei has invested significantly in this area.

“Apart from this internet cafe, Boss Pei has also opened an Upwind Courier station. What’s more-some time ago, Boss Ma seemed to have surveyed the surrounding business environment as well.

“If you really think this place has no potential, you would not persist until now.

“Boss Pei, I understand your good intentions. However, you might have underestimated me. There are risks to any investment. I’ve been in the investment industry for a long time; I still have a sense of awareness.”

Fine, I wasted my breath.

Pei Qian could not help but feel sorrowful. Alright, Boss Li, since you understand what you are doing, I will not waste my breath. I wish you good luck.

It was a good thing that Boss Li did not know Pei Qian bought a villa nearby to open a private kitchen. Otherwise, he might hold onto his beliefs more firmly.

Pei Qian raised his hand to get the attention of a nearby waiter. “When Boss Li visits in the future, serve him for free.”

Boss Li, Boss Li. You’ve helped me so much, and yet I cannot do anything in return. All I can do is treat you to a few more drinks.

Li Shi’s heart felt warm. Of course, Li Shi did not mind paying a bit more money for alcohol. However, the fact that Pei Qian was writing off Li Shi’s future bills proved his sincerity!

This friendship was priceless.

Li Shi secretly praised Pei Qian in his heart. Boss Pei was young, but he was bright in his work.

Li Shi raised his glass and said, “Thank you, Boss Pei. I hope that we will both stand to gain in the future and earn a lot of money!”

Pei Qian touched Li Shi’s glass with his own, smiling as he received Li Shi’s curse, and keeping a ton of vulgarities buried in his heart.

August 11th…

At Shang Yang Games…

“Director Lin, so… we’re going to choose him?” Ye Zhizhou sounded very uncertain.

“Yes, let’s choose him.” Lin Wan answered hesitantly as well, but she had no other choice.

After receiving the advertising plan from Boss Pei a while ago, Shang Yang Games worked according to the latter’s suggestions. They contacted a few Hong Kong celebrities. Whether they were popular or outdated, Shang Yang Games contacted them all.

However, they found it hard to decide on a final price.

The more popular Hong Kong celebrities requested at least five million yuan a year. Even the cheaper ones insisted on two to three million yuan.

One had to understand that the cost of producing Bloody Battle Song: The Powerful Version was only about five million yuan.

Boss Pei’s budget for marketing was about three million yuan. At first, Ye Zhizhou and Wang Xiaobin had thought that they would never be able to spend all that money even if they were unrestricted. Ultimately, after asking a couple of Hong Kong celebrities to be their spokesperson, they realized they had been far too young and inexperienced.

They had marketed Bloody Battle Song before, too. However, they did not hire this type of celebrities. They spent a maximum of hundreds of thousands of yuan on advertising fees.

Putting these two amounts side by side, Ye Zhizhou felt like they were spending too much this time!

Lin Wan was also unhappy with the celebrities’ asking price.

Primarily, she felt that the quality-price ratio was low. Advertising a game correctly could do wonders for sales. However, during Lin Wan’s time at Tengda Games, she saw games become popular even without a single cent spent on marketing

Spending millions of yuan on hiring a Hong Kong celebrity to be a game’s spokesperson? What use would that be?

That was why Lin Wan felt the quality-price ratio was low.

However, Boss Pei’s publicity plan was right in front of them. They had to hire a celebrity, no matter what. The three of them narrowed down their options and finally picked out one celebrity whose quality-price ratio was passable.

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Zhang Zuting was 41 years old this year. Although he was quite outdated and he did quite badly in most of his recent films, he had been popular when he was younger. He had starred in a significant number of television series, and he was quite influential among middle-aged people.

He agreed to be the game’s spokesperson for about two million yuan. Lin Wan still thought this was quite expensive, but the price was much lower than what other celebrities were asking for.

This way, they could spend the remaining money on buying advertising spaces on various websites.

Everyone in Shang Yang Games thought about every aspect of this time and again before finally deciding unanimously to hire him!

The next thing to do would be to invite Zhang Zuting to Jingzhou to sign the contract and film the advertisement.

Of course, they did not have to film the advertisement in Jingzhou. However, everyone thought that since they had already paid him a large sum as remuneration, they should take the opportunity to observe him doing the job.

Even if he was an outdated star, they could take a picture with him and ask for his autograph. It would still be worth showing off to their friends.

“It’s decided, then. We’ll invite Zhang Zuting to Jingzhou!”