Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

Ma Yiqun quickly scanned the comments below Repent and be Saved's official novel. He found that many of them had visited the website after playing Repent and be Saved.

Of course, Ma Yiqun knew that the game had been released. After all, he had written the game's plot together with the other editors. He had contributed to the game as well.

However, what Ma Yiqun did not know was that so many readers would be interested in the official novel!

Plot planning was Ma Yiqun's forte; that was why he knew the state of the local game industry very well. Plot planning was akin to 'changing the skin' of the game. At the moment, the local game industry viewed games' plots as one of the least important parts of the game.

This was especially true for mobile games and web-based games. Many project teams did not even have plot planners. Instead, they tended to make their administrative planners responsible for writing the plot if they were good in language.

Most project teams would not even spend huge sums of money hiring plot planners for client-side games, which required slightly richer plots. The most they would do was hire a fresh graduate, who majored in literature, and pay him or her minimum wages to produce a plot.

All in all, most local game merchants did not care about their games' plots. Most gamers were also not concerned about them.

Practically speaking, did game merchants avoid focusing on plots because gamers did not pay that much attention to it, or did gamers stop paying that much attention to plots because game merchants didn't focus on it?

This was a chicken-and-egg problem that would never be resolved.

Pei Qian could only say that games' plots were currently being neglected by local game merchants.

The local situation aside, very few players of foreign AAA games with the best plots would purposely look for the games' original novels to read, too.

Ma Yiqun thought that Repent and be Saved's official novel was quite well-written, but it probably was not so good as to achieve such outstanding results.

Thus, Ma Yiqun had not expected such a development. He was completely shocked. He quickly tried to investigate what caused this to happen.

Teacher Qiao's fans had a prominent presence in the comments section. This was how Ma Yiqun traced his way to Teacher Qiao's video.

Once he finished watching it, a realization dawned on him. So this was what happened! It was not just the plot!

Foreign AAA games' plots were very good, but their official novels mostly overlapped with the games themselves.

In fact, the original novels' plots were sometimes incomplete; the games would expand a great deal on the plot in their original novels.

In terms of content—if novels scored seven marks, their corresponding games would score ten marks.

On top of all these, games were naturally more interactive, graphic, and artistic. Compared to novels—which communicated using words alone—games could express much more. That explained the huge gap between novels and games.

Most gamers would not even think about reading the original novels of games because the former would not be as elaborate as the latter.

Yet, the situation was different for Repent and be Saved!

A lot of the game's plot was hidden. If the original novel scored ten marks, the game would only score about five.

What's more, the game only revealed the tip of the plot's iceberg. The props and descriptions that appeared in the game only foreshadowed the material in the novel.

Yet, the game was well-done. It had a deep meaning to it, which allowed players to resonate strongly with the protagonist throughout the gameplay. Naturally, players would become extremely interested and invested in the game's plot!

In the face of a story that hung in the balance, players understandably rushed to read the game's official novel in order to have their questions answered.

Ma Yiqun could not help but feel moved. Amazing!

Why didn't I think about this when we were writing the official plot?

Ma Yiqun had not worked seriously on the plot and official novel. Zhu Xingan had been the more passionate one. If not for the latter, the official novel would probably not have been updated so constantly.

"How could I have neglected such a serious task? I nearly messed up Boss Pei's plans. I really should not have…

"It looks like Zhu Xingan is a talent worth nurturing.

"Wait a minute. Now's not the time to think about these things. I have to grab the opportunity to retain as many readers as we can!"

Ma Yiqun suddenly realized a more urgent problem: as the CEO of Zhongdian Chinese Network, he had to do his job!

Boss Pei had worked hard to direct so many new readers and users to Zhongdian Chinese Network. Ma Yiqun had to retain them as much as possible!

Ma Yiqun was certain that Repent and be Saved would continue to direct traffic to Zhongdian Chinese Network for some time to come. Over the next few days or even over the next few weeks, Zhongdian Chinese Network's traffic would probably increase.

However, these would just be superficial numbers. Most people would only visit the website to read Repent and be Saved's official novel. It was difficult to tell how many of them would remain.

Thus, Ma Yiqun had to think of a way to keep all of them!

Ma Yiqun wasted no time and called Zhu Xingan into his office at once.

"Quick, ask one of our operations staff to come up with some kind of event that would help us keep all our new readers!

"Didn't we come up with an event allowing new users to read books freely? Use that as a foundation and work harder on it!

"Come up with something based on games' seven-day login events."

Ma Yiqun was worried that Zhu Xingan would not be familiar with games' seven-day login events, and so he took some time to explain it to the latter in detail.

If a game managed to influence a new player to log in every day for seven days, a habit would be developed. The game would have successfully retained this player.

Developers of web-based games and mobile games had wrecked their brains for a long time, thinking about how to retain their players. After extensive research, they came up with the seven-day login event system. Simply put, they planned something every day for the first seven days after a new player registered. They enticed players to develop this gaming habit using attractive rewards.

While this method was tacky, one had to admit that it was extremely effective.

Otherwise, it would not have become the hallmark of mobile games and web-based games.

"Come up with a reward to give readers every day. For example, give them a few novels if they spent a set amount of time reading on our website.

"The required activity should not be that difficult. You can ask them to move their fingers around a bit or something in order to get the reward.

"The rewards for the second and seventh days are the most important. The reward for the seventh day has to be the best, and the one for the second day has to be just slightly worse. However, they both have to be extremely attractive.

"Do you have any good ideas?"

Ma Yiqun looked at Zhu Xingan.

Zhu Xingan pondered for a moment. "We can reward them with unimpeded reading for a week on the second day, and unimpeded reading for a month on the seventh day."

"Er… that's quite repetitive." Ma Yiqun shook his head. "What's more, most readers wouldn't see a difference between a week and a month of unimpeded reading.

"If they like our novels, we can successfully retain them by just giving them a week. If they don't like our novels, even giving them a month wouldn't work.

"We need something more exciting."

Zhu Xingan fell into deep thought. Finally, he said, "Let's give them something related to the game. The people being directed to our site are gamers; they would likely be interested in rewards like that."

Ma Yiqun clapped his hands. "Good! That's a good idea!

"If we hold a combined event with the game, more gamers would be attracted! What's more, we won't need additional funds for this. That means we won't have to report this to Boss Pei. I'll just have to mention it to Li Yada in private.

"It's settled then. We will give them three full days of unimpeded reading on their first day. On the second day, we will give them seven full days of unimpeded reading. On the seventh day, we will give them a prop for the game.

"We'll give them rewards on the other days as well, such as Zhongdian coins, discounts, and the like."

Zhu Xingan nodded. "Alright, I'll go and talk to the operations staff. We'll come up with a plan as soon as possible."

Everyone in Zhongdian Chinese Network came alive at once.

Armies were trained for months just for a single day of battle. Boss Pei had already directed so much traffic to the website. If they failed to retain new readers, everyone would have let Boss Pei down. They could pack their bags and go home!

Ma Yiqun sent a message to Li Yada, and the two began discussing a combined event for the game and website in detail.

…

…

At Upwind Logistics's headquarters…

At the moment, Pei Qian had already opened more than a hundred Upwind Courier stations. This number was going to increase to over two hundred soon.

These Upwind Courier stations were located in various districts around Jingzhou City. However, a special office was still required for daily operations and administrative work.

Upwind Logistics's headquarters was located in a two-story shop. The first level was an Upwind Courier station which made deliveries as per normal. The second level was an office for Upwind Logistics.

Once Upwind Logistics expanded, Pei Qian would have to find a more suitable location for the office.

Now, Pei Qian walked up to the second level to look for Lu Mingliang.

Lu Mingliang was adjusting quite well to his new role. The table was filled with documents, and his computer had been changed to a light and thin business laptop. He really looked like something.

"Boss Pei, this is such a small matter. Why did you have to come down?" Lu Mingliang stood up to receive Pei Qian and poured him a cup of tea.

Pei Qian sipped his tea and sat on the sofa, trying to calm himself down. It was obvious that Lu Mingliang had no clue about Boss Pei's current predicament.

What do you mean by 'a small matter'?! This is no small matter! My entire family's lives are dependent on Fish-Catching Internet Cafe and the Upwind Courier stations!

If not for these two money-burning machines—Fish-Catching Internet Cafe and the Upwind Courier stations—Boss Pei might have died a long time ago.

Of course, Boss Pei had a knack for remaining expressionless even as his world collapsed around him. At that moment, he maintained a calm look and sipped his tea in silence.

"How are the Upwind Courier stations coming along?"

Lu Mingliang was well-prepared. "Don't worry, Boss Pei. Everything has been arranged; the preparations for the Upwind Courier stations are underway. I'm thinking that we can hire people and look for locations at the same time. This would ensure that the Upwind Courier stations would be ready for business as soon as possible!"

As Lu Mingliang spoke, he presented a set of documents to Pei Qian. He began to explain in detail the locations and plans for each courier station, as well as the status of recruitment.

Pei Qian was a little surprised.

Pei Qian came to personally supervise the process because he had been afraid that Lu Mingliang would not understand his urgency.

Yet, after listening to Lu Mingliang's detailed report, Pei Qian realized he had been overthinking.

Lu Mingliang was very reliable!

It looked like it was the right decision to put Lu Mingliang in charge of Upwind Logistics.

Lu Mingliang was the best at listening to instructions. He would loyally and obediently execute whatever Boss Pei instructed him to. He would not take matters into his own hands.

Putting a life-saving business like Upwind Logistics in Lu Mingliang's hands made Pei Qian feel much more relieved.

Once Lu Mingliang finished speaking, he smiled and asked, "Boss Pei, what is the hidden meaning behind your plan for Upwind Logistics?"

Pei Qian was confused.

Hidden meaning? What hidden meaning? The hidden meaning is that I would completely fail if I don't spend all this money!

Pei Qian remained silent for a moment and asked, "Why are you asking this?"

Lu Mingliang gave him a knowing look. "If you did not have a plan for the future of the Upwind Courier stations, why would you be so eager to set up so many stations within such a short time?"

Pei Qian thought about it. Oh, you're right.

To Lu Mingliang, the Upwind Courier stations could not achieve so much so quickly. Whether they opened the stations now or a month later, it would make no difference.

Yet, why was Boss Pei so hardworking in this aspect? It was obvious that his actions were motivated by his future plans!

Pei Qian sipped his tea and nodded subtly, expressing his agreement.

Think whatever you want. As long as you open the Upwind Courier stations for me as soon as possible and help me spend all this money in my hands, I would thank the heavens.

Pei Qian finished his tea and heaved a sigh of relief. He left a few more instructions for Lu Mingliang, emphasizing the need to move as fast as possible, and then turned to leave.