April 30th, day of settlement…
The system screen automatically appeared in Pei Qian's vision.
"I did not expect that just based on profits, almost forty thousand had been converted into my money…"
Pei Qian felt as if he couldn't get a grip on this world.
A week before this settlement, that article regarding Tengda had made its games even more popular. With netizens discussing it avidly online, Tengda Games had attracted a huge group of new fans.
As a result, all the games under Tengda had experienced a huge influx in sales; even Boss Pei's Daily Life's viewership had increased rapidly!
The final amount in the System Funds had been more than two million one hundred thousand more than Pei Qian had estimated!
Pei Qian's Personal Wealth had also reached more than eighty thousand yuan; it was at a record high.
The system screen continued to flash.
Pei Qian was still waiting; however, the screen actually stopped here. After a few seconds, it automatically grew dim.
"There isn't a Special Task this time while the cycle has been shortened…"
"Isn't that increasing the pressure on me?!"
Pei Qian had been waiting for the next Special Task. However, the Special Task seemed to be issued at random, and it wasn't ordered this time. The settlement cycle had also been changed from three months to two months now.
The initial System Funds had been increased from one million to five million. As Pei Qian already had profit of four million nine hundred and ten thousand, the actual top-up had only been eighty thousand. This made Pei Qian a little vexed.
If he had successfully managed to incur losses of one million the previous cycle, not only could he have converted one million into his Personal Wealth, the system would also have automatically topped up to five million in System Funds.
Rounding it off, he had actually made a personal loss of one million!
Pei Qian was a little dejected. However, he soon recovered himself. He had already done his best in the previous cycle and had left everything else to fate. By the time he had discovered profits were coming in too quickly, it was already too late.
When it was not even a month left till settlement, Pei Qian could no longer pump in more money for new products. He couldn't have any unreleased products before each settlement. If not, the settlement would be delayed; and Pei Qian would lose even more money.
From the results this time, to actually be able to convert forty thousand into Personal Wealth was actually still acceptable.
The very least, Pei Qian was now around the level of a white-collar worker that had an average income of thirteen thousand a month.
"It's only two months this time; to make all this money become losses gives a lot of pressure. I'll follow my plan and stop developing new games. I'll get Lu Mingliang and the others to work on updating the existing games. As for the internet cafe, I must open a few more chains and branches.
"En, I still have to think of other ways as well. Time is of the essence; this task won't be easy."
It was only five million in the System Funds on the surface-if Pei Qian wanted to successfully make a loss, he had to take into consideration the current profitable projects as well.
Ghost General was earning six hundred thousand, Ocean Stronghold three million and five hundred thousand, and Game Designer was bringing in one million and seven hundred thousand monthly.
These were the numbers post-article.
Although Game Designer was a new game, it was-after all—not as widely accepted as a game like Ocean Stronghold; and players wouldn't play it for long. Furthermore, many people had chosen Cloud Clearance. Although its reputation was good, its profits were still not comparable to Ocean Stronghold.
Pei Qian only had one loss-making project: Fish-Catching Internet Cafe. However, only around three hundred thousand was lost monthly. Including the rental for the company office space, salaries, company benefits, and other expenses, that was at most one million monthly.
Calculating like this, it seemed as if Pei Qian was using a cup of water to put out a fire!
If Pei Qian did nothing, his monthly profits would be around four and a half million. Of course, this was a rough estimate. The sales for all three games would fluctuate monthly while he couldn't precisely calculate company expenses that well. All in all, it was a ballpark figure.
In two months, Pei Qian needed to make a loss of two months' profits plus existing money in System funds; that was fourteen million in total.
"Fourteen million yuan. Opening a new Fish-Catching Internet Cafe would cost three million. I can open another four branches then. When five internet cafes start to make losses together—besides the initial capital injection, I can still make losses of one and a half million. Perfect!
"Hold on.
"I have to make new editions for players this time; no matter how much I charge, I will definitely still make additional profits. It seems opening these new internet cafes might not be sufficient; I have to think of something else."
Pei Qian thought for three minutes but to no avail.
"Forget it. I'll start on the Fish-Catching Internet Cafes first. I'll then slowly think about how to continue making losses."
The office atmosphere was very good. Some people were playing games; some were yawning while others were snacking and watching shows at the same time. Perhaps they were searching for travel destinations online.
Pei Qian never cared that everyone used office hours to do their own things. While he appeared mum about this on the surface, he actually was very supportive of such acts internally. However, it was a pity that everyone gave it their all, and their morale was very high while working. That gave Pei Qian a headache.
Tomorrow was the start of the Labor Day holidays. Tengda always had a policy of giving more holidays than required by law, never less. Furthermore, as this coincided with the just-completed release of a new game, many people had made plans to head out for this holiday. Some were planning to head home while others were going to play a little.
Pei Qian called everyone to the conference room as he made plans for after the holidays. Soon, everyone had gathered.
If it was any other boss, the first order of business would be to motivate all the employees and brag about Game Designer's success, to praise everyone for working hard, and then encourage them to continue doing so for new projects to achieve stellar results once more.
However, Pei Qian didn't even mention any of these. He hadn't completely recovered from his emotional trauma. Everyone also didn't feel it was strange. After all, Boss Pei wasn't a person who rested on his laurels!
Pei Qian thought for a moment and decided to first address the first place elimination system.
"First, I want to briefly mention the next best employee selection process. From now on, the best employee selection would be done twice a year, on February 1st and August 1st. Each best employee would be awarded a one-million Dream Fund while the second-best would be given a month of paid leave."
After the previous round of selection, Pei Qian had not considered when the next round was going to take place. He had actually intended to do it more often to reap the benefits. However, Pei Qian had fixed it at twice a year mainly because Pei Qian realized that this first place elimination system didn't seem to be very manageable.
Furthermore, Lu Mingliang had been doing a rather good job as chief planner, and Pei Qian was rather pleased. He didn't want to let Lu Mingliang go. Now, Pei Qian was extremely careful when it came to similar manpower deployments or movements; he was worried that he would dig out yet another hidden talent!
However, he couldn't completely abolish this system; and so Pei Qian had settled on it being a twice-a-year affair.
Regarding this, everyone didn't have any comments. Everyone felt that even if they had to choose one person this time, they couldn't think of anyone special to nominate. Most of them would just give their votes to Lu Mingliang.
However, strictly speaking, Lu Mingliang wasn't really worthy of this award. After all, from the developing process to the release of the new game, Boss Pei had personally overseen everything.
Even Lu Mingliang himself felt this way Furthermore, as Boss Pei had also not previously dictated the period for each selection, everyone all accepted his decision. There were still three months till August 1st; many people were rubbing their hands together and raring to give it a shot!
Even if they couldn't become the best employee and clinch the one million Dream Fund, even getting second place and having a month of paid leave was a very good thing! Only Bao Xu shivered a little and really wanted to ask Boss Pei if he could automatically be withdrawn from consideration.
Seeing that no one had any dissenting views, Pei Qian continued. "I'll talk about the work plan for the next two months.
"Considering that the players of our existing games have a strong desire for updates and new editions, I have decided to temporarily stop the development of new games. We will spend these two months to update and refresh our current games to fulfill the wishes of our players.
"The rough plan is as such.
"For The Lonely Desert Road, there will be a new Endless Mode, multiplayer function, and a new map. They were to be priced at one yuan as new downloadable content.
"For Ghost General, there is going to be a new set of generals, priced at five yuan.
"For Ocean Stronghold, there is going to be a new epic weapon, priced at 888 yuan. We'll set a limit of five hundred weapons for sale each month.
"For Game Designer, there is going to be a new language package and setting style, priced at five yuan."
Everyone instinctively looked at each other, confused. They haven't heard wrongly, right? So cheap?! Could they recoup their capital?
Just for Ghost General and Game Designer, as their animation had been done personally by Ruan Guangjian, even if he had a very good relationship with the Big Boss; he still had to be paid accordingly!
As for Ocean Stronghold, it was even more ridiculous. The new epic weapon was limited to five hundred pieces monthly?
Ocean Stronghold had around four hundred to five hundred thousand active players. To sell only five hundred pieces a month? Wouldn't they only be able to earn two hundred thousand monthly?
Everyone's expressions changed from shock to confusion and then back to admiration again.
Indeed, only Boss Pei could do something like this!
Pei Qian's expression still looked very ordinary even though he was showered with looks of admiration and respect.
It couldn't be helped. The five-yuan downloadable content for Game Designer and Ghost General had been the lowest price that the system was willing to accept. Also, he couldn't use a downloadable content method to make profits from Ocean Stronghold and could only continue selling epic weapons.
The new epic weapon priced at 888… the system had not allowed a change in price. Pei Qian could only take another path and limit the number of sales a month. This way, only five hundred could be sold a month; wouldn't he be able to suppress the income from it, then?
Chapter 136 Don't Say Anymore; I'll Take Over!
Soon, the plans for each game's new updates were all decided and arranged. As for the specifics of these plans, Pei Qian didn't care about it as he left it all to Lu Mingliang to settle. Pei Qian viewed this matter rather positively.
He knew that these new editions and downloadable contents were definitely going to make money. However, while they might make some money, they would not make that much as well.
Since earning the money from these games was within his expectations, he wasn't going to be too upset about this.
If these games actually turned in a loss? That would be an unexpected joyous event!
Indeed, after his thinking changed, life seemed to become rosier; and he became happier.
After the meeting ended, Pei Qian prepared to make his way to Fish-Catching Internet Cafe. He wanted to swiftly finalize the matter of opening new branches and to decide on venues and start renovations right after the Labor Day holidays were over.
To finish renovations in one month and start incurring losses the next; this would be just in time for the next settlement. The timing was perfect.
Pei Qian had just left the conference room when Ma Yiqun called out and stopped him. "Boss Pei, could I talk to you about something privately?'
Pei Qian was a little stunned as he then nodded and said, "Alright, follow me to my office."
Pei Qian actually really liked someone like Ma Yiqun. It was hard to find such a lucky charm. To date, Ma Yiqun had been very diligent and obedient in the company, learning from Boss Pei's advanced game designs philosophy. He had not done any meaningful work at all.
Regarding this, Pei Qian was rather pleased. If every employee was like Ma Yiqun, Pei Qian could spend less time worrying.
"What's up?" Pei Qian sat down behind his desk as he gestured at the chair across him, asking Ma Yiqun to take a seat as well.
Ma Yiqun looked a little embarrassed. However, after hesitating, he still spoke up. "Boss Pei, it's like this. I have a friend, and he has encountered a situation recently…"
Pei Qian revealed a light smile, "Are you referring to yourself? Don't worry; if you have any difficulties, do tell me directly. I'll give you three days of paid leave so that you can settle your issues and then come back to work."
Ma Yiqun hurriedly shook his head, "No, no, no. Boss Pei, you misunderstood. It really is my friend. Huang Sibo and I used to work at Shang Yang Games; you should know about this. After Huang Sibo left-as they were lacking an administrative planner, they hired someone to replace him.
"Recently, this person had lost his job and had come to ask me if I could recommend him a position…"
Huh?
Pei Qian focused on Ma Yiqun's use of the words 'lost his job'. Normally, this was a phrase used if one had been forced into something and not a voluntary act. That person had not resigned but had been sacked?
Pei Qian counted using his fingers. Huang Sibo had joined Tengda in November last year; that was around half a year ago only. Since this person was Huang Sibo's replacement, he should have entered Shang Yang Games in November to take charge as an administrative planner. Then… he had been sacked in half a year?
This person seemed rather talented! Pei Qian must have such talent here! However, after Pei Qian thought about it again, he figured that he had to ask clearly what happened.
What was the main reason this person was sacked?
If it was because he couldn't perform up to standards, Pei Qian would probe no further and immediately take him on. If it was because this person had leaked company secrets or did other related illegal things, Pei Qian could not accept him then.
If he did something wrong, Pei Qian was going to be implicated. The system did not allow any illegal activities to take place within the company.
"Your friend… why did he get sacked?" Pei Qian asked.
"Sacked? No, no, no." Ma Yiqun hurriedly shook his head. "He lost his job because Shang Yang Games is going bust."
Pei Qian, "…"
What a letdown.
Pei Qian knew about Shang Yang Games; that was Huang Sibo's old company after all. Furthermore, Jingzhou City didn't have that many games companies; and Shang Yang Games was considered a more reputable one.
However, he had heard that this company was doing fairly well; why had it collapsed?
Pei Qian was very envious!
"Shang Yang Games… why did it collapse?" Pei Qian asked, sounding very concerned. He was really concerned. After all, this could be a valuable learning experience for him, right?Read more chapter on
Ma Yiqun was also a little emotional. After all, he had worked at Shang Yang Games for a very long time; he would be lying if he said he didn't have feelings for the place.
"Sigh, this story is rather long.
"Signs of this have actually appeared quite early on. Since October last year, many in Shang Yang Games had already started to look for jobs. Even our chief planner back then, old Liu, had also attempted to jump ship. Things were already rather bad back then."
Pei Qian recalled and realized that indeed had been the case.
November last year, Old Liu had come for the interview almost in tandem with Huang Sibo. As Old Liu had much experience, he had then been rejected by Pei Qian. Come to think of it, that a company's chief planner was secretly thinking of jumping ship, that company's situation must be rather bad.
Ma Yiqun continued, "However, although the company situation was worsening back then, it could still somewhat maintain itself. After all, our main games were still accruing steady flows of revenue. However, cost pressures started to pile up.
"Based on what I know, Old Liu actually was constantly thinking of leaving. However, as he did not find any particularly good opportunities, he had continued working there.
"After that, old Liu saw Ocean Stronghold's success and that its Red Kilin had been so popular even though it cost 888; he decided on a promotional activity to sell one weapon in his game at that price as well.
"I suspect that he felt the company was going to sink and wanted to give it his all one more time.
"In the end, the boss actually assented. After all, the company was facing financial difficulties and if they managed to get an influx in revenues in the short term, at least they could still save themselves for a while.
"However, they were scolded badly by players! Not only did they not make any money, but the game's reputation also tanked. Active players kept on deserting, and that was when revenue started to collapse rapidly!
"They then couldn't even save themselves anymore. Now, they can't even afford to pay salaries. Last week, the boss there gathered everyone and said the company had run out of funds and for everyone to hurry up and find another job.
"Hence, this brother of mine had contacted me."
Pei Qian listened quietly.
I had actually contributed to this?
Without Pei Qian even knowing, Ocean Stronghold had even sent Shang Yang Games on its way, making it tank even faster.
All in all, this was too coincidental.
Furthermore, Jingzhou City's gaming industry was also rather small. At this moment, Pei Qian actually was a little envious of Shang Yang Games' boss. Look at him, he could make as much loss as he wanted! Furthermore, he had done so badly he had immediately gone bankrupt!
En? Hold on.
Pei Qian suddenly had a stroke of inspiration.
I have no need of being envious of him!
I can just take over the business, right?! What was there to be envious about? How good would it be if I directly took over as boss of Shang Yang Games! A company that was already successfully bleeding money; if I took it over directly, wouldn't that mean I was making losses as well?
This was a treasure!
Ma Yiqun saw that Pei Qian did not agree immediately as he hurriedly added, "Boss Pei, I know that Tengda's standards for hiring new employees are very high. I hope that you can give my friend a chance… for him to come for an interview."
Pei Qian nodded, "Don't worry. Your friend will not lose his job."
Ma Yiqun was stunned. He immediately cried out elatedly, "Really? Thank you, Boss Pei! I'm really thankful!"
Ma Yiqun interpreted Boss Pei's words as saying that even if his friend didn't fulfill Tengda's criteria and couldn't join this company, Boss Pei would still recommend him for other jobs, right?
Righteous! This man was too righteous!
Ma Yiqun did not think that Boss Pei would actually agree so readily. It seemed like Boss Pei really treated all his employees as his friends-as his brothers!
Ma Yiqun walked away feeling very grateful and thankful.
Pei Qian was delighted. Whether Ma Yiqun's friend fulfilled Tengda's hiring standards; that was no longer important. As long as he bought the entire Shang Yang Games, wouldn't that solve the problem? If Pei Qian bought it and allowed it to continue operating as per usual, all the losses incurred would then be counted as his.
Where was he going to find such a good deal elsewhere?!
Chapter 137 Selecting New Branch Managers
Pei Qian called Assistant Xin over, saying that he wanted to make a trip to Fish-Catching Internet Cafe. On the way, Pei Qian briefly explained Shang Yang Games' situation.
"After the holiday, make some time to check Shang Yang Games out and then explain your findings to me in detail. You can leak some information to their boss; tell them that I am interested in acquiring them."
Pei Qian was afraid that they would break the company up once he started looking into them. If that happens, he would have to find the employees back one by one. That would be so troublesome.
A broken mirror would still have cracks on it; if he wanted to acquire the business, he should acquire it entirely!
That was why he decided to leak some information to the boss of Shang Yang Games, that he was interested in acquiring the business. That would give him some hope of survival, so that he would not seek to dissolve the company so quickly.
Assistant Xin was driving. She nodded and said, "Alright, Boss Pei. However, according to my understanding, I think it's a company that is doing quite badly."
Assistant Xin was very tactful about it.
"I'm not concerned about its situation now but its future potential," Pei Qian answered confidently.
"En, I believe in your foresight, Boss Pei," Assistant Xin answered. "How long do you want me to look into them? The longer I have, the more I would understand. That would give us more advantage when conducting the negotiations."
Assistant Xin paused for a moment and then added, "What's more, it seems like they are currently incurring losses. We can delay our acquisition for a while. That would make it easier for us to push the price down."
Push the price down?
Why should we push the price down? The more expensive it is, the better!
Pei Qian immediately shook his head. "We should not delay the matter on purpose. Finish it as soon as possible."
"Competition in the games industry is always tight. Instead of delaying the matter just to push the price down, it would be better if we quickly acquire it and focus on investing in its operations. We should not lose sight of the big picture for the sake of these small matters."
"Alright." Assistant Xin asked again, "Then, are we acquiring the entire company this time or…?"
One could acquire companies in many ways. One option was to acquire an empty shell without any original employee, purely for the sake of the IP rights of games belonging to the company. Another option was to acquire the whole company, but make adjustments to its structure by getting rid of a leader, changing the human resource system, or the like.
As for how they were to conduct the acquisition this time depended on why Pei Qian was interested in Shang Yang Games. That would make it easier for Assistant Xin to negotiate the price.
Pei Qian was not interested in the people working in Shang Yang Games; neither was he interested in any particular game under the company. Instead, he was interested in the loss-incurring potential of Shang Yang Games!
Thus, Pei Qian had to acquire all of Shang Yang Games as it was. That was the only way he could maintain its 'original flavor'. Pei Qian immediately answered, "Acquire the entire thing. Don't make a single change to its original structure."
"Alright, Boss Pei. I understand." Once she understood her superior's intentions, Assistant Xin did not ask any further questions.
This was not the most reasonable acquisition. This was because… nothing about Shang Yang Games was worth acquiring. If Pei Qian had been interested in hiring a particular talent, wouldn't it have been much simpler to lure him over to Tengda?
If he had been interested in a particular game, wouldn't it have been much simpler to purchase the rights to that game? Shang Yang Games would have been overjoyed to know that another company would be taking over its games.
Yet, Pei Qian was looking for a complete acquisition?
It seemed unreasonable.
However, Assistant Xin did not ask any questions. This was her job; she just had to do any task that her superior instructed her to do seriously. She should not ask questions if she did not need to know the answers.
What's more, Boss Pei must have had his own reasons for making such arrangements. He must have seen something of value in Shang Yang Games.
Since it was the long Labor Day weekend, Jingzhou City was quite crowded. They took more time than usual to arrive at Fish-Catching Internet Cafe. Pei Qian alighted from the car and walked right into the cafe.
En, it's as cold and empty as it used to be. What a relief!
Up until now, Fish-Catching Internet Cafe had gained some familiar customers. These were whales who were not at all concerned about prices. They were happy to come here, surf the internet, and sip their coffee. Some of them even brought their guests here to entertain them.
Once in a while, a group of friends would come here and play games together as well. After all, the environment and service here were good, and there were very few people. To these whales, it was very worth it to spend more money in exchange for a good environment to play games in.
Even so, Fish-Catching Internet Cafe could not recover its capital. There were too few whales in the vicinity!
The cafe was situated one street down from a quiet commercial district. There were no huge signs directing people to the place; neither were there high-end residential areas. Given the cafe's position and price, only a small group of whales could afford patronizing it. The amount of money they earned could not sustain the business.
Thus, Pei Qian was not afraid at all.
Seeing that Pei Qian was here, Ma Yang and Zhang Yuan immediately hosted him.
"Boss Pei, you are here. What would you like to drink?" Zhang Yuan asked.
Pei Qian scanned the menu and said, "A Margarita."
He looked around the cafe. There were no customers in the internet area or the coffee area. The place looked exceptionally cold today.
"Are there no customers today?" Pei Qian asked casually.
Ma Yang rubbed his hands together, looking ashamed. "Yes, Brother Qian. I don't know what the matter today is, either. I guess it's because the holiday is coming…"
Before today, there would still be a few customers coming in to play games. However, not a single customer turned up today. It was quite ridiculous.
Yet, Pei Qian did not mind a single bit. In fact, he was quite happy.
"Alright, just close the door. We'll just close the cafe early today. Zhang Yuan, make a cup for all our brothers here as well. Put it on the company's account. Don't work for nothing today. Everyone, come and take a seat."
Pei Qian sat down in the coffee area and gestured to everyone to join him. The few waiters immediately got moving. Some people went to pack up, and others went to arrange the tables and chairs. Zhang Yuan began to make cocktails for all of them.
Very quickly, the waiters and three chefs (There was only one at first, but in order to provide meals to Tengda, they hired two more chefs.) all sat down at the coffee area. In front of each of them was a glass of cocktail.
Zhang Yuan and Ma Yang sat right in front, on either side of Pei Qian. They all waited for him to speak. Pei Qian cleared his throat subtly, trying to build up the mood. "From next month onwards, Fish-Catching Internet Cafe will open four more branches. However, we will do this in order. That's because we cannot get enough funds all at one shot.
"Whoever is willing to manage a branch, please raise your hand."
Four waiters in the front immediately raised their hands. A chef, who was seated at the back, hesitated for a couple of seconds before he gingerly raised his hand up.
Zhang Yuan raised his hand as well.
Pei Qian gestured for Zhang Yuan to put his hand down. "You will be promoted to be part of the management in the future. You'll overlook the rest of the branch managers, so don't raise your hand."
Zhang Yuan put his hand down, looking pleased. What was going on? He was being promoted for no reason!
Pei Qian looked at the five people with their hands raised. "Alright, it'll be five of you then. Zhang Yuan, make a note of their names. The five of them will be branch managers of the new internet cafes."
The branch manager of this cafe was Ma Yang. However, after opening several more branches, Ma Yang and Zhang Yuan would naturally be promoted to be part of the management. That would leave the position of branch manager in this branch empty.
That was why Pei Qian chose five new branch managers.
Everyone felt stunned. Wasn't that a little rash?
A few waiters who did not raise their hands were dazed. Holy sh*t, if they had known earlier, they would have raised their hands!
All of them were hesitant, afraid that they would not be good enough to fulfill the roles of a branch manager. If they found that they were incapable only after they were put through the test, that would be very shameful indeed.
In the end, there was no test at all!
The most confused of all was the chef who raised his hand. Logically, selecting branch managers for the new internet cafes had nothing to do with chefs. If there was to be a pool of candidates, they should be formed out of the waiters seated in front.
Yet, he got selected even though he raised his hand subconsciously?! At that moment, he could not accept the almost 180-degree change from being a chef to a branch manager.
Ma Yang tugged at Pei Qian's sleeve and whispered, "Brother Qian, would that do? Why not hold open recruitment?"
Pei Qian shook his head. "These are all people you recruited. I don't believe in anyone else but you."
Ma Yang smiled shyly. "That's true."
Chapter 138 Desire to Incur Losses Intensified
After selecting the new branch managers, Pei Qian turned to face Ma Yang. "Old Ma, Zhang Yuan, once I opened the branches, this branch would become the flagship store. Both of you need not work too hard on the management of the internet cafes, too.
"Zhang Yuan, in the future, you will be the regional manager of the Fish-Catching Internet Cafes in Jingzhou City. You will take charge of all the internet cafes here. As for Ma Yang, you will become the general manager of all the Fish-Catching Internet Cafes. You will still do the same as before; answer and report directly to me.
"Among the new branch managers I selected, choose one that you are most pleased with. He will be the branch manager of this internet cafe. This cafe is our first Fish-Catching Internet Cafe. It has a commemorative meaning. From now on, it will also be our flagship store.
"As for the other brothers who were not selected to be branch managers, do not worry. In the future, if Fish-Catching Internet Cafe opens more branches, we will select the branch managers from the group of employees who have been with us the longest.
"As for the gaps that will be left after you all are promoted, please fill them as soon as possible by hiring more people.
"Ma Yang, Zhang Yuan, after the holiday, I will give both of you a week to do your observations. Choose ten suitable sites and then pick out the best four among them. We will open our new branches at these four sites.
"Site selection, renovation, decorations… do everything as exactly we did for this cafe. Do you understand?"
Ma Yang patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, Brother Qian. Leave everything to me!"
Everyone looked quite excited. Boss Pei was not uttering empty words. Everything that he said before was coming true; it was all coming true at the speed of light, at that!
Some bosses were very good at making empty promises. Everything they said they would do would be delayed indefinitely for some reason. However, Boss Pei was different. He had only said a few days ago that he would open several more new branches. Immediately, the day for that had arrived!
They had just poured about three million yuan into this shop not long ago. Opening four more shops would cost more than ten million yuan. Yet, Boss Pei was not even frowning at the thought of this. Indeed, he was made to achieve great things!
The fact that they could work for a boss like that made a few waiters feel proud at once.
Once he had finished giving instructions, Pei Qian left final words on a few details, and then left feeling relieved.
Labor Day…
The company was closed, and there was nothing to do for school. Pei Qian decided to make a trip back home. However, before he went home, he took his bank card—which had about eighty thousand yuan in Personal Wealth and went to a nearby home appliance store.
Since it was a long weekend, there were many people in the store. In fact, everyone was rubbing shoulders with one another.
At that time, buying home appliances online was not a popular practice. Warehousing and logistics were not that convenient to organize, and after-sales service was a pain. That was why most people preferred to go to physical stores to buy expensive items such as home appliances.
A few years later-as e-commerce became more rampant, these physical stores became few and far between.
Pei Qian walked around aimlessly. "Shopping is such a pain. It would be good if Assistant Xin were here…"
Pei Qian missed Assistant Xin. If she were here, she would be able to give Pei Qian a report on the best shops to go to based on his preference. All Pei Qian would have to do was swipe his card.
However, today was a holiday. Assistant Xin was off-work. What's more strictly speaking, buying electronics for his household was not in her job scope. There would be no good reason to ask Assistant Xin to help him out with such matters. The System might even issue him a warning.
Therefore, Pei Qian had no choice but to endure the exhaustion and walk around on his own.
Television. Washing machine. Fridge. Air-conditioner.
Pei Qian was very sure that all the home appliances in his house had to be changed. However, it was difficult for him to choose these appliances on his own.
This was because everything looked quite bad…
The brands of these household appliances were different from what Pei Qian remembered. Still, he could roughly remember which ones were good and which ones were bad.
However, what made Pei Qian's head hurt the most was that while cell phones and computer software developed very quickly in this world, home appliances were not that much different from what he remembered them to be like.
Pei Qian was looking at appliances in the Year 2010 from the viewpoint of someone from the Year 2019. Of course, he would feel like none of these were suitable. In fact, many of these huge home appliances brands were going to be eliminated from the market. Pei Qian already knew they were bound to fail, and yet these appliances were being marketed as the most up-to-date products.
Take the television, for example.
At that time, forty-inch televisions of foreign brands—which were slightly better—were all priced at around five or six thousand yuan. To Pei Qian, this was daylight robbery. Since he was used to seeing these common forty-inch televisions being sold for a thousand-odd yuan, he had absolutely no desire to buy such televisions priced so ridiculously.Read more chapter on
It was normal for him to feel this way. As the saying went… if one bought something earlier, one got to enjoy it for longer; if one bought something later, one got to enjoy it for a lower price. There was also another saying: people who wait would never become slaves.
Products like that would be developed and upgraded very quickly. Especially through the eyes of someone about ten years from the future, these things were going to be changed sooner or later. However, the earlier he bought them, the longer he would get to enjoy them.
Pei Qian thought that if he bought his parents' new home appliances—at the very least, the washing machine would not shake uncontrollably when drying the clothes, they would be able to store more things in the fridge, and watching the bigger television would be more comfortable to their eyes. All of these were day-to-day experiences. It was best to change these appliances as soon as possible.
Pei Qian made two rounds around the store and quickly decided on the appliances that he wanted to buy. Right away, he swiped his card and completed the purchase.
A 42-inch television, for over six thousand yuan. Double-door refrigerators were still quite new at that time—he paid over ten thousand yuan for that. An air-conditioner for over two thousand yuan. Since Jingzhou got quite hot in the summer, it was just the right time to get an air-conditioner. In a few days, he would be able to make good use of it. A tumbling-box washing machine for over three thousand yuan. At the same time, he bought an electronic rice-cooker, a vacuum cleaner, and other home appliances. Added all together, these all cost him about two thousand yuan.
All the appliances Pei Qian selected were fully-functional and of good-quality brands. There were domestic appliances and foreign appliances. That was why they cost more than ordinary appliances.
Finally, everything added together cost about thirty thousand yuan. With that, he was done for the day.
Once he finished purchasing these appliances, Pei Qian continued walking around the store for a bit more. He discovered a sweeping robot.
People were already using sweeping robots before the year 2010. However, at the time, nobody really purchased such a thing. This was because it was completely not worth the price. What's more, at the time, there were no applications that could control the robot. In one word, these things could be described as silly. They did not save as much time and effort for people as they would later on.
Pei Qian looked at the sweeping robot and found that this model was not bad. Although he could not plan its route, there were many cleaning modes. It cost over three thousand yuan. He decided to buy it.
He discussed with the store about the trade-in value of his old appliances, tied up the final loose ends, and then watched as the truck from the store carried his new appliances to his home.
The store was not far from his house. Pei Qian followed behind the store's truck into his home.
"Come on, move them in." Pei Qian began to instruct the men where to place the new appliances.
His mother ran out of the kitchen, slightly confused. "Ay? What's going on? Son, did you buy all of these things?"
Pei Qian nodded. "That's right. Where's Dad?"
"He went out to entertain clients. He'll be back late tonight." Pei Qian's mother looked at the huge appliances moving around her house and began to panic. "Child, how many things did you buy exactly? How much money did you have to spend?!"
"Don't worry. I only spent over twenty thousand yuan. My remuneration just about covers it. I've discussed with the store about the old appliances. They're running a trade-in system, so I got a discount on the new appliances. Don't worry about it."
Pei Qian knew that all of these things had to be done quickly. He could not give his mother time to react. All the new appliances had to be unpacked in his home, and the old appliances had to be taken out.
"This…"
His mother looked at the new television, opened the new refrigerator, and surveyed the new washing machine. At that moment, she did not know exactly what to say.
"The air-conditioner will come tomorrow morning. We'll have it installed in your bedroom. If you can't sleep during the day because it's too hot, just switch the AC on. Just adjust it accordingly; that's all to it.
"There's this sweeping robot as well. Let me teach you how to use it."
Pei Qian began to explain to his mother how to use the new appliances. At the same time, he took a dirty bedsheet and threw it into the washing machine to be washed. The tumbling-box washing machine made soft buzzing noises. The feet had already been adjusted, and the washing machine did not even swing around.
"You don't say, this washing machine is really so easy to use!" Pei Qian's mother exclaimed.
Pei Qian nodded. "Of course. Not only is it easy to use, but it saves water as well. The refrigerator saves more energy than our previous one as well. Changing the appliances was not cheap, but we will save on our utilities and electricity bills."
Mom nodded and said, "That's true."
Very quickly, the refrigerator was filled with food. The washing machine had a load of laundry being washed. The sweeping robot was spinning around on the ground. A program was being played on the television.
Mom was very satisfied with the new tumbling-box washing machine. She gathered all the clothes that had to be washed, looking like she wanted to make good use of this new washing machine.
Pei Qian lay down on the sofa, looking at the double door refrigerator that looked a bit too big for this house. He began to feel emotional.
"If only this house was bigger…
"I have to work harder to incur losses…"
On the 4th, at the end of the long weekend…
He was back at the office. Pei Qian's Personal Wealth had shrunk to about fifty thousand yuan. His desire to incur losses intensified.
"Have you planned the contents for the new update?" Pei Qian casually asked as he walked by Lu Mingliang's work desk.
Lu Mingliang immediately nodded. "They're all ready, Boss Pei!"
"En?" Pei Qian suddenly realized something was amiss. "Did you work over the Labor Day holiday?"
Lu Mingliang paused. Boss Pei was waiting for me?
There was not much he could do! It did not seem possible not to work overtime.
He was given the task on April 30th. May 1st to 3rd was a holiday. It was May 4th, and it was his first day back at work. Yet, the plan was already done. If he said that he did not work overtime, who would believe him?
Lu Mingliang quickly explained, "No, Boss Pei. I had nothing to do at home over the past few days. I was just thinking about the plan for the new update."
Pei Qian kept a poker face. "You worked at home so you worked overtime! As the rules stipulate, pay yourself three times the salary for working over the holiday."
Lu Mingliang, "…Yes, Boss Pei."
Pei Qian turned around and walked towards the conference room. "Alright, don't let it happen again. Everyone, come in for a meeting. We will touch base on the new update."
Very quickly, everyone from the research and development team arrived. Ma Yiqun sat quietly in the corner as he did before. He held on to his notebook, ready to take notes
Lu Mingliang began to introduce the plan for the few games they had on hand. They were largely similar to the instructions Pei Qian gave to them some time ago.
For The Lonely Desert Road, there was going to be Endless Mode, multiplayer function, and a new map. They were to be priced at one yuan.
For Ghost General, there was going to be a new set of generals, priced at five yuan.
For Ocean Stronghold, there was going to be a new epic weapon, priced at 888 yuan. There was going to be a limit of five hundred weapons for sale each month.
For Game Designer, there was going to be a new language package and setting style, priced at five yuan.
The only difference was that the briefing Lu Mingliang was giving was much more detailed than the one Pei Qian gave. For example, for Ghost General, Lu Mingliang explained who would be in the new set of generals, what abilities they would have, and what their animations would generally look like.
This was a more detailed plan. What's more, through this plan, they could begin estimating the total costs.
Chapter 139 New Branches' Locations!
Pei Qian was rather satisfied with this plan.
After all, Lu Mingliang had a key quality that Huang Sibo didn't have: Lu Mingliang was very obedient and did not try to adapt and change. Whatever Pei Qian asked him to do, he would honestly do it. He didn't desire to gain credit but hoped to not make any mistakes.
However, this had also brought a problem: he wasn't very enterprising. Take this plan for example; the amount to be spent was rather little. Now that the pricing had been confirmed, the more money spent was better of course!
Pei Qian stewed in his thoughts for a while. "The Lonely Desert Road's new map only has three new settings; that's too little. Let's add more. Ghost General was only going to add ten new generals? That's not enough; let's do fifty. Although Game Designer was only going to add one setting style; how could it be on the same level as the previous one?
"If we wanted Ruan Guangjian to do the animation for Ghost General; he might not have the time for this. Let's find another big boss that is around Ruan Guangjian's level and double the work time on this. The work must be done precisely and exquisitely; this new style must be better than the previous!"
"As for Ocean Stronghold… en. Besides this new epic weapon, two more hours should be added to the story mode as well as a new setting. Let's also put in another three new character roles and ten new weapons.
"Let's work according to this. We need to hurry up and start work; we have to finish all the updating before June 18th."
Lu Mingliang was stumped. He had only planned for a minimal amount of new content primarily as he was worried that the downloadable contents might not sell well; they might not be able to recoup costs!
According to Lu Mingliang's plan, there was a ceiling to the amount of new content to be added.
Take The Lonely Desert Road for example. One new setting template would cost forty thousand while the original plan had been to add three such settings. Since the downloadable content for this was set at one yuan, they had to sell one hundred and twenty thousand copies of downloadable content to recoup their capital!
In the end, Pei Qian had immediately changed this figure to ten new settings; they had to sell four hundred thousand downloadable contents to get back their money.
Wasn't this a little preposterous?
Ghost General's animation was to be handled by Ruan Guangjian. Of course, Ruan Guangjian had many friends that could help him with this. However, regardless, they couldn't pay Ruan Guangjian any less than expected.
Previously, Ghost General's animation for its generals had gone at four animations per general, three thousand yuan in total. Now that Ruan Guangjian was much more famous, his rate naturally had gone up. Boss Pei also insisted on not asking for a friendship discount from Ruan Guangjian and to pay according to the market rate. That meant that each set of animations would cost five thousand.
For fifty new generals, that would be two hundred and fifty thousand. As these generals would cost five yuan, they had to sell a hundred thousand copies to recoup their capital.
As for Ocean Stronghold, the new story, new setting, new characters, new weapons… all these basically were being given to players for free. The only chargeable thing was that new epic weapon; however, that weapon was limited in quantities monthly!
"Boss Pei, this… We might not be able to get back our costs…" Lu Mingliang hurriedly did the math in his notebook as he started to feel nervous.
Pei Qian smiled calmly, "That won't be the case. Remember, we must be sincere with people. If you treat players with sincerity, players naturally would repay that with their sincerity as well. Furthermore, so what if we didn't make back our money? Our players have already given us so much money; we should compensate them appropriately."
Lu Mingliang looked stunned as he blinked his eyes. He felt as if Boss Pei's words were rather righteous and awe-inspiring and made him see the light.
However, he still felt that something somewhere was a little amiss.
"Alright, time is of the essence. Hurry up and allocate the tasks; we must finish all these by June 18th."
Pei Qian had made June 18th the deadline as this was the last working day the week before the next settlement. The 19th and 20th were the weekend while Pei Qian wanted to keep 21st to 23rd as a buffer just in case something happened.
Before 24th, all developing work had to be completed while all the downloadable contents had to be renewed. If not, that would affect the settlement.
Pei Qian left the conference room rather elegantly and unrestrained while Lu Mingliang hurriedly scrambled to allocate work.
Although the workload this time was more than before, as most of it had to do with art resources, as long as they rushed a little; they could finish everything within the given deadline.
The only problem was they were spending rather a lot.
May 6th, Thursday…
Ma Yang and Zhang Yuan came to Pei Qian's office as they introduced to him a few locations they had gone to survey. Ma Yang's laptop connected to the projector in the office as some details regarding these locations were shown.
Zhang Yuan had done most of the work this time, choosing some places with better locations, while Ma Yang had also tried to make up the number.
To open four new branches, Pei Qian had requested for ten location options; they had all been found.
This time, Zhang Yuan had much pent-up frustration.
Why was it that all of Boss Pei's other projects had done so well while only Fish-Catching Internet Cafe had kept on making losses?
It was so embarrassing!
Furthermore, Boss Pei looked so highly on us and trusted us; we really have to buck up this time and turn the losses into a profit!
Opening new branches this time was the perfect opportunity. From Zhang Yuan's perspective, the reason why the current internet cafe had been making losses persistently had a huge part to do with its location.
No big-scale commercial district was nearby while there weren't high-rise office buildings as well; it wasn't near a high-end residential area either. Without enough human traffic and consumers in a few-kilometer radius, how was this high-class internet cafe going to carry on?
They couldn't possibly hope that ballers would drive all the way here to drink alcohol, right?
Of course, some rather impressive bars could indeed make that happen. However, Fish-Catching Internet Cafe wasn't a proper bar but an internet cafe, coffee house, restaurant, and book shop all mixed together. Without any particularly strong selling point, it could not attract people to come from far away; this wasn't the way to profitability.
Hence, Zhang Yuan thought about it for long and decided to put much effort into finding suitable locations; they must be within bustling commercial districts!
"Boss Pei, I especially recommend these three locations.
"This one is near Handong University's south gate; it is also very close to a few male hostels while opposite it is a high-end residential area.
"Although a few internet cafes already exist, they are always bursting with people. Since our Fish-Catching Internet Cafe's environment is good and our computers are high-tech, we can definitely attract university students who are more particular about the playing atmosphere, as well as rich second-generation heirs with some purchasing power."
"This place was originally a coffee house; it also rather complements our internet cafe setup. The floor area is not small either. This is my number-one recommended location!"
Pei Qian did not say anything. He knew this location very well. After all, he had studied at Handong University while the apartment Assistant Xin had found for him to rent was just opposite this road.
The internet cafes in this area were constantly packed with people; Zhang Yuan was right about this.
However… Pei Qian would definitely not choose this. If he chose this place and they really started to make money, who could he blame?
Seeing that Pei Qian did not react, Zhang Yuan could only continue to recommend the next location.
"This place is within the biggest shopping mall in Jingzhou City, on the first floor. The only flaw is that the rental is very expensive. However, I did my research; this mall actually doesn't have many places to rest and relax. Many males who accompany their wives or girlfriends to shop do not have places to rest when they are tired; that's rather sad.
"If we open an internet cafe here, those successful males accompanying their wives to shop could come and surf the net or drink coffee when they are tired; their purchasing power should be good.
"Based on this human traffic flow—even if the rental is high, we would definitely be able to make money!"
Pei Qian still had no reaction.
Zhang Yuan grew even more nervous as he continued to introduce the others. As he went down the list, the localities grew worse and worse.
This couldn't be helped. As Pei Qian had limited Fish-Catching Internet Cafe's branches could only be opened in Jingzhou City while he had many requirements, it was already not easy that Zhang Yuan had managed to find so many shops ready to be rented out.
After Zhang Yuan had introduced all of them, Zhang Yuan looked uneasily at Pei Qian. Boss Pei had not spoken even once; what did this mean? Was he not happy?
Pei Qian nodded approvingly, "Not bad; you've worked quite hard."
Zhang Yuan breathed out a sigh of relief.
Boss Pei wasn't unhappy; that's great!
Pei Qian looked at the projector screen as he praised, "I feel that the last four places you had recommended are not bad."
The last four places?
Zhang Yuan turned and looked at the screen and then at Boss Pei again. He couldn't manage to recover in time.
These… had been included only to hit the quota of ten that Boss Pei had wanted!