Rebirth of the Godly Prodigal

Liu Mingxin thought to himself. I’d be a fool to believe you! I still remember how Mingcheng’s Turkey Bookstore closed down. This thought ran through his mind, but he couldn’t say it out loud. All Liu Mingxin could do was remind himself to be very, very careful. But no matter how careful he was, there was no way for him to guess what Hong Dali had planned. He could only try his best to go along. “I will post messages in the game to advertise. What does Young Master Dali intend to do?”

Hong Dali said, “It’s simple. All you have to do is mention that we have a dedicated training center and to make sure that you set up a dedicated game server. Hmm… the kind that allows many people to gather and watch. You’re the genius, surely you can figure it out yourself?”

Liu Mingxin was indeed smart, he quickly expanded on the idea. “En, that’s not a bad idea. We will get a high-end professional game server and sell tickets for people to observe the game. That will earn us some profit. We can also hype it up and raise the popularity of the event. I will announce monetary rewards for the battles, that should draw quite a bit of attention.”

Hong Dali gave him a thumbs-up. “It’s such a breeze speaking to intelligent people! We will have team battles and solo battles. The strongest player in the solo battles in each server will get 50,000. The second and third will get 30,000. The fourth to sixth will get 20,000. Seventh to tenth 10,000. 1,000 for the first fifty, and 500 for the first hundredth. Team battles will be formed with five players, and the prize money will double. I will sponsor the event.”

Liu Mingxin sucked in a breath of cold air, his feeling of uneasiness growing. “Well… Young Master Dali, that’s not good? I get all the advantage, yet you sponsor the event. I will feel bad.”

Hong Dali decisively hit the table. “Fifty-fifty then. These are small things, no problem. The battles shall be held at West Fourth Loop Sports Stadium. I will arrange for the installation of a few big screens, and the ticketing proceeds will go to me. Deal?”

Hearing that Hong Dali was willing to lay claim to some earnings, Liu Mingxin felt much better. “Ok.” He did some calculations. If the tickets cost ten yuan each, the West Fourth Loop Sports Stadium could easily accommodate fifty thousand people—that will be five hundred thousand in ticket sales. It seemed that Hong Dali would not be able to collect much. In any case, with his current appeal, it would not be a problem to fill the stadium. Advertising should be very effective. Hence, this deal could be considered a win-win situation.

Although he was still unsure of Hong Dali’s real motive, it finally made a little sense. If they charged a little more for the tickets, they could make more profit. After all, Hong Dali didn’t have to come up with much capital.

This was as far as he got before he heard Hong Dali mumble to himself. “This location seems a little small. I should make some commercials and advertise them on Tianjing Satellite TV. Otherwise, we will not be able to live up to the slogan ‘Dali’s productions must be the best.’ Xinxin,” Hong Dali called out to Tang Muxin. “Do you have any more ideas? The battles seem rather bland on their own.”

Tang Muxin: “You’re the talented squanderer. I don’t have any good ideas.”

“En, let me think. It’s no good if the event is too small-scaled.” Hong Dali looked around and suddenly saw the cover of the game disc. His eyes lit up. “Wahahahahahaha! I got it! I’m indeed good at squandering!”

If Hong Dali said he had a good idea, it was definitely a good idea. “What is it, what is it?” Tang Muxin was curious. “Tell us about it quickly!”

Hong Dali teased, “Xinxin, do you want to experience something magical? It’s amazing!”

Tang Muxin pondered for a while, and then suddenly saw the cover of the game disc. “Magical? What do you mean? Dali, do you mean you want me to dress up as one of the characters in the game?”

“Cosplay?!” Liu Mingxin instantly understood. He thought about it and agreed that Hong Dali had indeed come up with a great idea. “Young Master Dali, I’m impressed. You certainly have a lot of ideas, even thinking of this.”

Hong Dali proudly said, “That goes without saying. Let us have a spectacular cosplay event!”

That was how the first online battle was settled in a joking manner.

Liu Mingxin was practically floating as he left.

In cold sweat.

The truth was, from the moment Hong Dali brought up the matter of working with him, he had wondered what Hong Dali’s true intentions were. He had thought about it for almost half a day but couldn’t come up with any possibilities. He was almost going crazy. As he got into the driver’s seat of the car, he was still mulling over Hong Dali’s motives.

But he couldn’t think of anything.

Humans were like that sometimes. The more one was unable to figure something out, the more worried one would be. The more worried one was, the more unsettled one would be.

So, for this, Liu Mingxin’s hair almost turned white from thinking. No matter how hard he thought, things were to his advantage. Hong Dali came up with the idea and the money, all he had to do was to make use of a little popularity and there would be a little increase in turnover. At their level, an increase of a few percentages would mean millions to tens of millions of income.

Hong Dali had no reason to do him such a big favor.

Hence, Liu Mingxin pondered in his office, at home, while he was eating, and even dreamed about it while sleeping…

It took him three days. His hair almost turned white from all the pondering. He finally came to a conclusion that shocked him. Was Hong Dali doing this solely to squander?

The truth was, after Liu Mingxin left that day, Tang Muxin asked Hong Dali the same question. Hong Dali looked at her as if she were a fool. “We have been playing together for such a long time, do you still not understand? I just want to squander.”

As a result, Hong Dali got his face violently pinched again.

…

Sangle Building, level 16, CEO’s office.

Hong Weiguo held his pipe while looking down at the people milling around. “How is the construction of the school building coming along? Have we got all the approval documents? Also, have you found the first batch of lecturers?”

His secretary respectfully responded while clutching her files, “CEO Hong, the submitted documentation have all been approved, and the first batch of lecturers for knowledge on foundation has been found. But Young Master Dali didn’t specify what kind of school he wants this to be. Hence, I didn’t look for too many people.”

Hong Weiguo thoughtfully said, “Right. That would be my slip-up. Dali said it’s to be called New Lanxiang Vocational School. I think he is leaning towards technological research, emphasizing on web developing. You can put the focus there. By the way, please follow-up on all other aspects of the project as you deem necessary. We will leave the rest for Dali to decide.”

“Okay, CEO Hong.” The secretary asked again, “The address is at the outer loop of Tianjing Mountain?

Hong Weiguo chuckled. “Of course. That seems to be the most suitable location so far. This little rascal seems like such a wastrel most of the time. It’s true some of the things he buys are completely useless. However, the piece of land at the outer circle of Tianjing Mountain is scenic, and the surrounding land is big enough to build a school. When the time comes, we will have Lin Chuyin’s research laboratory working with us. It’s really not a bad idea at all to get into scientific-technological research.”

His secretary sighed, expressing his shock. “That’s right. Young Master Dali sure has some spectacular and unexpected ways to squander. Once the construction of Marshes of Mount Liang is complete at Fengyuan Lake, it will be a perfect place for a relaxing vacation. I think we should build smaller houses rather than mansions.”

Hong Weiguo was a man with a sharp nose for business. “Haha, that’s right. If we take a closer look at the little rascal’s ideas, some of them are actually not bad.” Hong Dali had jokingly made a comment about Marshes of Mount Liang, and he had instinctively sensed that it was an interesting idea. “Not only should we build more houses, once Dali’s age ceremony is over, let’s excavate the area around the hill near Fengyuan Lake and let the lake flood the bottom of the hill. Clear up the rubbish from the lake and find some historical-looking wooden boats. Doesn’t that sound good?”

His secretary could not deny that it was a rather good idea. “Yes. At that time, we could sell it as a nature resort. Visitors can experience gathering on Marshes of Mount Liang. They can get there by boat, wear period costumes, and have a hearty meal of wine and meat with friends. We could raise a huge flag and let visitors go around the lake with some leisure boats. It would definitely be popular among tourists.”

Hong Weiguo laughed heartily. “Hahaha. That sounds rather ideal. Yes, go acquire the land within and surrounding Tianjing Mountain. I have a feeling that our Dali will be able to think of other purposes for it. Although I have no idea what that might be, I’m sure it will be something spectacular.”

His secretary hurriedly replied, “Yes.”

Hong Weiguo suddenly asked, “Oh yes, how has Geezer Wang, the hairdresser, been lately?”

His secretary didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when he mentioned the eccentric Geezer Wang. “Geezer Wang… Geezer Wang is doing well at the production team. He is a very professional martial arts coach. There have been numerous offers from other production teams offering one thousand a day to entice him to direct their action scenes. But he rejected all of them giving the reason that Young Master Dali has not given his approval. He has real skills. I’m sure that when he was young, he was probably one of those tough men who didn’t even bat an eyelid when surrounded by tens of attackers.”

Hong Weiguo didn’t know whether to cry or laugh. “Hehe. We have a man who is paid five thousand a month but refuses to leave for a thousand yuan a day. Even I’m not sure what this wastrel son of mine is up to these days.”

The secretary then said, “Right, CEO Hong. This technology school that Dali wants to open, what do we do with the intake? Do we look for students or…”

Hong Weiguo slowly said, “Regarding the student intake, I have thought about it. Dali had no intention of profiting from this school from the start. I don’t pin much hope on profiting from it, either. We’ll contribute to society and recruit students from poor rural areas. This can wait till the school is built. Oh, do we have the cost estimates for the construction?”