Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

October 26th…

Zhongdian Chinese Network…

Ma Yiqun had just finished watching the interview that Tengda did with the official platform. There was a satisfied smile on his face.

Since Boss Pei had many outstanding employees, Ma Yiqun was not given a chance to be interviewed. He was not featured in the video either.

However, many people in the interview were Ma Yiqun's friends and close colleagues. Thus, watching the interview made him feel comforted and pleased.

How good! Everyone's dreams have come true.

Ma Yiqun closed the official platform and opened another web browser to access Zhongdian Chinese Network's backend platform.

The figures showed that Ma Yiqun's new novel had achieved over two thousand subscriptions!

This was not much compared to Infinite Chinese Network's standards; after all, one's novel would only be considered top-tier if it reached more than three thousand subscriptions.

However, for Ma Yiqun and Zhongdian Chinese Network's standards, this was not bad!

Ma Yiqun knew very well that Zhongdian Chinese Network still had far fewer readers compared to Infinite Chinese Network at the moment.

A book might easily reach over three thousand subscriptions in Infinite Chinese Network, but would probably only get over one thousand at Zhongdian Chinese Network.

Zhongdian Chinese Network had already gained many new readers after Repent and be Saved was released, and Tengda linked all the accounts on various platforms together. However, one could not expect a website for online literature to become popular overnight. Instead, they had to slowly allow the number of readers to build up.

Ma Yiqun had received a sum of money from Boss Pei mainly to top-up the remuneration for authors of books like that. Since top-quality books could only reach a thousand-odd subscriptions at Zhongdian Chinese Network, Ma Yiqun could use this sum of money to increase the authors' remuneration.

Based on these calculations, the fact that Ma Yiqun's novel got over two thousand subscriptions on Zhongdian Chinese Network meant that it would probably get over six thousand subscriptions on Infinite Chinese Network. That was quite a good figure!

Ma Yiqun did not top-up his own remuneration because he did not really mind the remuneration.

Comparatively, getting readers' recognition was much more important to him!

After failing multiple times when he wrote for Infinite Chinese Network, Ma Yiqun began to doubt his own skills. He had only begun writing again as a hobby and did not even give his own book recommendation spots.

Yet, it came as a pleasant surprise that so many people had subscribed to his novel!

Boss Pei had called in the morning, requesting for Ma Yiqun to bring all the staff of Zhongdian Chinese Network and TPDb out for a meal in order to reward them for their hard work.

Boss Pei sounded very determined. It did not seem like there was room for Ma Yiqun to turn him down.

Thus, Ma Yiqun made a reservation at Swan Lake Restaurant. He was prepared to bring his subordinates out for a feast.

Of course, it would have been best if they could go to the nameless restaurant, but it was fully-booked.

Buzz… buzz…

At that moment, Ma Yiqun's cell phone began to vibrate. There was no caller ID, but a long string of numbers was displayed on the screen.

Ma Yiqun glanced at it and saw that it was a familiar number. His first instinct was to reject the call, but after hesitating for a moment, he accepted it.

"Dubiao, you're finally picking up the call?" The caller sounded several years older than Ma Yiqun.

Ma Yiqun smiled helplessly. "Older Brother, what's the matter?"

"Are you still working at the game company?" The man asked.

Ma Yiqun remained silent for a moment and said, "Older Brother, just tell me why you called. There's no need for small talk between us."

The man sighed. "Dubiao, I know that you only entered the game industry in the heat of the moment. Recently, I realized that the local game industry does not care much for storylines. I imagine Jingzhou would be much worse. Aren't you wasting your time working there?

"Be it online literature or games, none of these are considered real work. No matter which industry you choose, you'd be wasting your talents.

"I met our grandfather a few days ago. Our uncle and I think the same. You've already worked in that game company for so long. It's about time you thought about leaving, right? You can take one year to prepare for the entrance exam and continue on your path towards academia. It's not too late to look for a teaching job in a school.

"If you're serious about writing, I think you're more suited for the traditional path. We can share some of our connections with you.

"You were stubborn back then, and you insisted on writing online literature. Still, you never succeeded. It's about time you admitted that you're not cut out for the work."

The corners of Ma Yiqun's mouth curled upwards into a smile.

The man on the phone was Ma Yiqun's cousin; he was eighteen years older than Ma Yiqun.

This cousin of his was part of the writers' association. He had published physical novels that sold quite well. One could say he had left Ma Yiqun far behind.

If Ma Yiqun had received this call a few months ago, perhaps he would have been persuaded.

After all, this cousin of his had walked the same road before. What's more, after entering Shang Yang Games, Ma Yiqun had witnessed the unsteadiness of the game industry.

During his time at Shang Yang Games, Ma Yiqun had been in charge of repackaging the games. He was basically doing manual labor; his skills were not required and untouched.

He had often asked himself if he was wasting his life away.

He had been born into a family of scholars and had decently graduated from a key university with a major in literature. He also had such a successful cousin. Of course, Ma Yiqun had felt ashamed about where he was in life.

However, everything was different now.

Still smiling, Ma Yiqun replied, "Older Brother, I think you're mistaken.

"The official platform has recommended our latest game. The West also has high praises for our overseas versions. The storyline is particularly exceptional.

"My new novel is also getting quite popular. I think it would reach the top tier soon. Readers have been leaving positive feedback as well."

Ma Yiqun's cousin was stunned. "Your new novel? Since when did you write a new novel?"

Ma Yiqun became shocked as well. Suddenly, he frowned.

Huh?

He quickly picked up a very serious problem with his cousin's reaction.

Still frowning, Ma Yiqun said, "Older Brother, I have never revealed my pen name on Infinite Chinese Network to anyone in the family."

Both parties were speechless.

Ma Yiqun was extremely intelligent. At once, he understood what had happened.

Something was wrong!

When he first decided to venture into online literature, he faced a lot of resistance from his family. That was why he decided to start writing novels while he was in university—so that he could prove himself to them.

Although every novel that he wrote failed, he had never revealed his pen name to his family.

Yet, his cousin seemed shocked to find out that he had written a new novel.

Ma Yiqun guessed from his cousin's tone that the latter thought the former had stopped writing novels after he started working in the game industry. What's more, he must have been quite certain about this. Otherwise, he would not have sounded so shocked.

Why was he so certain?

It was probably because his cousin had found out about Ma Yiqun's pen name on Infinite Chinese Network and had been keeping an eye on his account!

His cousin remained silent for a long time before he finally spoke again.

"Ai, Dubiao, I'm sorry. You're so intelligent. I shouldn't hide things from you at this point. I'll just tell you the truth.

"Actually, I'm good friends with one of the senior editors-in-chief at Infinite Chinese Network. Those novels of yours did well in the beginning, but I told my friend to edit their figures. I wanted you to quit and forget about writing online literature.

"I was afraid that you would continue writing online literature for a long time after tasting a bit of success.

"This road leads to a dead-end!"

Ma Yiqun: "…"

He had no idea how to react. He was furious but also elated.

He was furious because he had finally found the culprit!

Ma Yiqun had always found it weird that his books had been so popular when they were available to the public but had failed once they were made pay-to-read.

It would have been understandable if the figures had fallen slightly. However, his novels had deteriorated from being top-tier to only getting thirty subscriptions. That was too suspicious!

However, Ma Yiqun did not suspect that his family members were behind this. Who would have thought that a huge website like Infinite Chinese Network would alter backend figures and pick on a minor author?

Now, he finally understood. Somebody had been plotting against him!

Ma Yiqun laughed, feeling slightly relieved. "Older Brother, don't worry about me. I chose this path, and I know how to walk it. I don't agree that the path of online literature leads to a dead end.

"One day, I will prove it to you."

After hanging up, Ma Yiqun felt particularly happy.

The dark cloud that had been hanging above his head all this time had finally dissipated!

One could say that Ma Yiqun had started writing online literature for Infinite Chinese Network and working as the plot planner for Shang Yang Games, partly because he wanted to prove himself. However, Ma Yiqun now took his job as the editor-in-chief and the one in charge of Zhongdian Chinese Network as his life's mission.

At that moment, Ma Yiqun felt immensely grateful for Boss Pei. If Boss Pei had not recognized his talent and arranged for him to work as the editor-in-chief of Zhongdian Chinese Network, how would his story have developed to this point?

Perhaps Ma Yiqun would have lived his entire life thinking that nobody wanted to read his novels. He would have left the online literature industry forever and slowly lost interest in the game industry. Finally, he would go back to his old path like his cousin wanted.

Thus, he had to do his job well. He had to repay Boss Pei for his trust and guidance; he could not let Boss Pei down.

He had to make Zhongdian Chinese Network popular!

At that thought, Ma Yiqun accessed Zhongdian Chinese Network's backend platform again and began working seriously.

…

…

October 31st…

The system screen automatically appeared in front of Pei Qian.

<Wealth Conversion System>

<Owner: Pei Qian>

<Profit Conversion Ratio 100:1. Loss Conversion Ratio 1:1>

<Settlement starting…>

<System Funds: 5,940,000+840,000 (↓1,220,000)>

<Fixed Assets: A semi-commercial villa at Ming Yun Villas (8,460,000)>

<Personal Wealth: 485,831.5>

<This Week's Special Task: Making profits and incurring losses are all part and parcel of business. The owner seems to be caught up with the profit he is making. This is not the attitude a talented businessman should have. The System advises the owner to achieve a loss before the next settlement date. [Complete]>

<Special Task Completion Reward: A mysterious surprise within the System's regulations. [Redeemable]>

<Settlement in progress…>

<Conversion in progress…>

<System Funds: 5,940,000+840,000 (↓1,220,000)>

<Fixed Assets: A semi-commercial villa at Ming Yun Villas (8,460,000)>

<Personal Wealth: 1,830,000 (↑1,220,000x110%)>

After seeing this line of numbers, Pei Qian felt so overjoyed that his eyes began to well up.

That was too easy!

He was finally seeing more than a million yuan in his Personal Wealth!