Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

Nothing much happened over the New Year. All they did was visit relatives or have relatives visit them. On the third day of the Lunar New Year, Pei Qian finally got to settle down. He sat on his couch and watched the television.

“Son, have your short videos been released?” Pei Qian’s mother handed a peeled apple to him.

Pei Qian reached out, received the apple, took a bite, and replied, “Aiya, it’s not like you can watch these short videos immediately after filming. They still need to edit it and do some late-stage finalization. You’ve asked me this eight times just today.”

“Go and ask the director,” Pei Qian’s mother said, not giving up now that she had already fed the family.

Pei Qian was frustrated. He had no choice but to send Huang Sibo a message.

Before long, Huang Sibo replied: “Boss Pei, it was uploaded yesterday! You will see it the moment you enter Potato Web. It’s under ‘Comedies’, Boss Pei’s Daily Life.”

It was really out.

How efficient!

Pei Qian took his own laptop, logged onto Potato Web, and went to the ‘Comedies’ section.

It was really under the recommendations! It was not the most eye-catching show, but it was not bad.

Before this, Zhu Xiaoce said that he had a senior who worked at Potato Web and that he could get the show under the list of recommendations. He really did what he said he would!

Of course, this probably did not come for free. He most likely paid an advertising fee.

Pei Qian clicked on it, and his heart immediately fell.

The video was only uploaded the day before, but it had already reached two hundred thousand views!

This was a new account at that!

Pei Qian glanced at the comments below.

How lively!

After a cursory scan, he found that the entertaining netizens were particularly lively. There were already tens of pages of comments alone!

Finished. What he feared had come true!

Pei Qian tried to stabilize his own emotions so that his parents would not notice that something was wrong with him. Then, he acted nonchalant as he handed the laptop over. “This is it.”

His parents placed the laptop on the coffee table and leaned over it at once.

“Boss Pei’s Daily Life?” Old Pei looked at Pei Qian suspiciously.

“Hehe, that’s the name of the series of short videos. I act as the company boss in these shows,” Pei Qian explained.

The video then started.

“I looked at my Rolex, not to look at the time, but to subconsciously let you know that I’m a whale.

“Today, I am going out on a whim. I want to make a new game; a game that would make all the players pay as much as they can.”

The uninteresting BGM¹ coupled with the monotonous narration made this video particularly outstanding!

In the video, Pei Qian was dressed in a suit and had on a Rolex. He was lying down on the sofa in the office’s guest room. On the coffee table beside him, there was a high-class tea set and tea. Everything looked so natural.

Even Pei Qian’s expressionless face looked realistic!

Boss Pei’s Daily Life’s style was very similar to Zhu Yidan’s Boring Life’s.

The first impression that the audience got from watching this video was that the life of a whale could indeed be extremely boring, meaningless, uninteresting, and even uncomfortable!

However, the more they watched, the more they got used to this feeling!

Two advantages stood out about the style of the video.

First, it was distinctive; second, it was metaphorical.

The longer one watched, the more easily they could decipher the deeper meaning behind what was happening on screen. From the portrait shooting angle to the unchanging background music and the intentionally boring narration, everything seemed particularly memorable!

As for the metaphors…

Without ruling out the possibility of people reading too much into it, the director seemed to have added many subtle messages in the videos. This type of dark humor made this video seem a cut above the vulgar, hillbilly-type comedies!

Pei Qian stood behind his parents, watching himself on the screen. He could not help but smile.

Why do I look so handsome on camera?! 

I’m also really good at acting! 

Look at that expression; how natural! Look at that face; how photogenic! 

It’s no wonder that Director Zhu Xiaoce did not have to yell ‘cut’! It was not because I am his boss and his investor, but because my acting was so good!

Pei Qian began to feel extremely proud of himself.

In a one-minute-long video, there were several twists and turns in the plot and multiple humorous puns in the script. When it finally ended, it left a sense of thirst for more!

“That’s it? I’ve not watched enough!”

“Son, your short video is a bit too short, isn’t it?”

Old Pei thought that a short video would last at least ten minutes per episode. However, this one was much better; it lasted a minute per episode!

Pei Qian explained, “Videos this short are trendier these days!”

His mother played the video again and again. “I feel like my son has a talent for acting! Look at how well he plays the boss. He looks like a natural. It’s almost as if he started this company!”

Old Pei nodded subtly as well. “It’s not bad indeed, but our son is still so young. It doesn’t seem very convincing for him to act as a boss at such a young age, right? Why didn’t the director put on a mustache for you or something? And that voice…”

Pei Qian quickly interrupted, “It’s someone else’s voice.”

Old Pei nodded. “I know, but it just doesn’t sound like ordinary big bosses.”

Pei Qian’s mother shot Old Pei a look of disapproval. “You’re talking as if you’ve met a lot of big bosses before in your life.”

Old Pei immediately fell silent. He remained that way for five seconds before he said, “Eh, you haven’t seen any either, have you?”

“I haven’t, but I’ve seen more movies than you have! This is the way all the big bosses in those movies act. I just think our son is particularly good at acting; what’s wrong with that?” Mom was starting to become unreasonable.

“Alright, alright, alright… in any case, this brat is earning money filming now. He’s grown up, and he’s become capable. That’s a good thing,” Old Pei said, looking comforted.

Seeing that Old Pei was in a pretty good mood, Pei Qian quickly struck the iron while it was hot. “Dad, we made these short videos to make fun of the game industry!”

“Look, the boss set aside two hundred thousand yuan for research and development, but at every level down the line, people took a cut out of the money. By the time the money reached the hands of the person who was supposed to do the job, there was only fifty thousand yuan left. This is a stab at the internal chaos taking place in the management of many games companies!

“They created a meaningless game with this fifty thousand yuan, and yet players kept buying the game. This is a stab at the mess of the games market!

“This is a type of dark humor, meant to achieve the effects of a satire and an exposé. It was how the director planned it from the beginning.”

Old Pei’s expression turned from strict, to curious… to realization.

“Oh… I see.”

Pei Qian felt like he had finally gained Old Pei’s interest. He quickly tried to break Old Pei’s stereotypes. “What’s more, this plot is quite deep. Director Zhu wanted to create the image of a good-hearted boss, in charge of a games company. This creates a distinction between this company and the traditional games companies!”

“Oh? How does he create that?” Old Pei was curious now.

Old Pei was a typical man of the older generation. The stereotype he had of games was not entirely his fault; it was mainly caused by advertising. Games were considered an emerging trend. How could people like Old Pei keep up with them? What he knew about games, he heard either from the television or from other parents.

Every day, he watched the news and heard of yet another student skipping classes to go to an internet cafe. As a result, the student’s grades suffer and the parents’ hard-earned money would be poured down the drain or into topping up game currencies.

Of course, he did not have a good impression of games overall.

For this, unscrupulous merchants and the media—who liked to fan the flames—had to take responsibility!

Now, Pei Qian had to work hard to break the stereotypes Old Pei had of the game industry.

“This was how Director Zhu planned it.

“He wanted to show the other side to this boss of the games company: a designer who brings positive energy to everyone and who cheers people up and moves them with his games.

“For instance, there was a student who was maliciously attacked by a gangster while he was trying to catch a car thief. Unfortunately, he died in the end. This designer took it upon himself to create a statue of the student in his game so that the players of the game could remember him.

“Not only that, but this boss is also very different from the bosses of other games companies. He purposely created his games good-heartedly, without tempting people to recharge the game currencies and without inducing hatred. Instead, his only goal was to give players the purest, happiest experience.

“Guess what happened in the end? His games became wildly popular!”

Old Pei had never heard of these things. Obviously, his interest was piqued now. “This is the character you are playing?”

Pei Qian nodded and said, “That’s right!”

“That’s not bad,” Old Pei said, nodding as well.

Pei Qian continued, “Honestly, the game industry in this country is really in a state of chaos. However, gaming is a type of entertainment. The most important thing is what the person who creates the games is like.

“If the game creator is hell-bent on making a profit, he would surely induce children to steal money from their parents in order to recharge game currencies. On the flip side, what would happen if the game creator’s goal is to bring pure joy to the players?

“The working class can play games after a day of being stressed out at work. It would be just the same as going out to the movies or reading a book. It would be a way for them to de-stress and relax. Wouldn’t that be great?”

“That’s why we cannot deal with this problem in a cookie-cutter way. We have to try our best to guide everyone, so that they can have fun and relax when playing games without getting addicted. I think that’s the right direction.

“That’s the message that Director Zhu is trying to convey through these short videos. That’s also the aim of my character in the videos.”

Old Pei nodded subtly as he listened.

These words sounded much more convincing when Director Zhu said them! Pei Qian could tell that Old Pei’s attitude towards games had relaxed considerably!

“This director really isn’t bad, then. He has a clear direction! What is his name?”

Pei Qian answered, “Zhu Xiaoce.”

“How old is Director Zhu?”

“He’s in his final year of university.”

“He’s young and promising!” Old Pei gave a look of admiration. “He’s so young, and yet he speaks so much sense. If he really becomes the boss of a games company, that would be great.”

Pei Qian nodded profusely. “Who says he isn’t?!”

Mom was still holding onto the laptop, watching the videos. “Son, you act very well. I want to watch it a few more times. Son, copy this into our home computer.”

There was an old desktop at home which Pei Qian bought when he was in high school. It was already terribly slow.

Pei Qian transferred the video into