Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

Pei Qian could not accept this conclusion.

No way, no way! This doesn't make sense! I have to make some changes!

If he allowed Ma Yang to continue playing, He Desheng and the rest would continue to make suggestions to improve GOG. Then, the situation would develop out of Pei Qian's control.

He had to give Old Ma some work to do.

After some consideration, Pei Qian said in a serious voice, "Old Ma, don't play games anymore."

He turned to address He Desheng and the others. "You as well. You're not allowed to play games with Boss Ma anymore."

He Desheng's face drained of all color.

What's happening? Have my efforts to curry favor backfired? Were our suggestions bad? Did they go against the design concept that Boss Pei had in mind?

Or is Boss Pei unhappy with us because he thinks that we're not taking our jobs seriously?

The atmosphere in the office immediately became tense.

There was no big deal about the rule that they could not play games anymore. However, everyone was more worried about leaving a bad impression on Boss Pei's mind!

Pei Qian continued, "I'll transfer another sum of money to Dream Realization Ventures soon. Think about new investment projects that we can contribute to."

Everyone in the office visibly relaxed.

He Desheng could not help but feel ashamed for his attitude earlier.

What was I thinking about?! Is Boss Pei that petty?

Look, Boss Pei's not even angry. In fact, he's rewarding us!

The best outcome that He Desheng had thought of earlier was an increase in salary.

However, Boss Pei was now offering Dream Realization Ventures another sum of money. That was even better than getting a pay raise!

Pei Qian had no idea what He Desheng was thinking. However, he knew that whatever the latter was thinking was probably a far cry from whatever he was thinking.

After what happened the previous time, Pei Qian had intended to leave Dream Realization Ventures with no work to do for a period.

However, he had discovered that the group of employees had started working on GOG while they had nothing else to do. That was extremely dangerous!

He had to give them something.

Although Boss Pei did not have much spare cash left, Tengda's businesses were now quite big. He could afford to fork out another three or four million yuan without much issue.

However, the outcome of Ma Yang's investment in IOI had not been revealed yet. For now, Pei Qian found it difficult to trust Ma Yang again.

Pei Qian had to take charge of the investment this time!

Ma Yang nodded profusely. "Alright, Brother Qian, no problem! I'll spend the money as quickly as possible!"

Pei Qian's expression darkened. "No, no, no. Don't be so rash this time.

"Look around for a while. Find more dream realization projects. I'll come over after some time, and we can discuss things before you make a decision."

Ma Yang looked confused. "Brother Qian, weren't you the one who taught me to be daring and invest when I should, without hesitating? Didn't you tell me to invest in whatever I liked and trust in my own instincts?"

Pei Qian cleared his throat twice. "Hehe, I did say that before. You're right.

"However, that was when you were new to investing. You had just joined the industry. I kept emphasizing to you not to hesitate in order to nurture your decisiveness in making investments!

"Now, the situation is different. You already have experience investing twenty million yuan. It's time to advance to the next stage."

A realization dawned on Ma Yang. "Alright, Brother Qian. What's the next stage? Go ahead!"

Pei Qian pondered for a moment and said, "I have to show this to you using an actual project and analysis. Without a project in front of us, we'll just be talking in abstract. We might end up becoming dogmatic.

"How about this? Choose a proposal based on my requirements. Collect any proposal that reflects big dreams.

"I'll make another trip down after some time in order to discuss with you which project to invest in!"

Ma Yang nodded. "Alright, Brother Qian. No problem!"

Then, he turned to the supporting players behind him. "Did you hear that? I'm going to be your role model before we make the next investment. Stop playing games, everyone!"

Everyone nodded and replied, "Alright, Boss Ma!"

A smile surfaced on He Desheng's face.

He liked playing games, but he had not forgotten that he was an investor. He had come to Dream Realization Ventures to learn the elite ways of investment from Boss Pei!

Boss Ma had spent the twenty million too quickly earlier. As a mere executor, He Desheng could not understand what was happening. During this period, He Desheng had been constantly hoping to witness Boss Pei make another move.

Now, the opportunity was here!

He wondered what kind of project Boss Pei—the master of investments—would pour his money into.

He couldn't wait to see it!

…

…

December 30th, Thursday…

The New Year's Day holiday was right around the corner. Exams week was looming.

Pei Qian had spent all of last night trying to memorize Ma Yang's notes. When he woke up in the morning, his head felt heavy.

After ordering Fish-Catching Take-Out, Pei Qian's left eyelid started to twitch.

"If the left eyelid twitches, it's good luck; if the right eyelid twitches, it's bad luck.

"Oh, no! Something is up!"

Pei Qian immediately became cautious.

He sat down beside his study table and retrieved his little notebook. Then, he scanned the businesses that could have run into trouble.

Although Pei Qian knew that he was being superstitious, there was a classic Chinese saying that constant self-reflection was desirable. There was nothing wrong with Pei Qian diligently self-reflecting.

He quickly considered all the businesses that he had on hand.

The leaders of Tengda Games and Shang Yang Games were on holiday in the United States. The problem probably was not with those projects.

Work on the haunted house had not even begun. They did not even have a plan to work on yet. Seeing how inefficient the two leaders of this project were, Pei Qian guessed that the problem did not lie with this project as well.

Fish-Catching Take-Out and Upwind Logistics had been making losses steadily.

Fei Huang Workspace was still filming. Nothing dangerous could have happened yet.

Pei Qian shortlisted the possible problematic projects and ended up with ROF and Fish-Catching Internet Cafe.

ROF had just dealt Pei Qian a huge blow not long ago. It was a serious suspect!

However, Pei Qian did not want to wrong the innocent. Thus, he called Zhang Yuan to check in on him first.

"Hello? Boss Pei?" Zhang Yuan sounded quite tired.

Pei Qian became alert at once. He asked, "You sound exhausted."

Zhang Yuan answered, "That's right, Boss Pei. We've been busy making orders recently. It's not easy to buy so many parts in bulk, but don't worry, Boss Pei. I'm almost done!"

Pei Qian asked again, "How are ROF's sales?"

Smiling, Zhang Yuan replied, "Oh, rest assured, Boss Pei! Everything's going well!

"I was worried that our sales volume would suffer after we reverted to the original prices. However, that didn't happen!

"Although the sales volume decreased, raising the selling price meant that we earned more per system unit sold. Thus, we're still generating the same amount of profits!

"It looks like ROF's brand already has considerable influence on the market. We have more or less made a name for ourselves. There's still a steady stream of people buying our system units.

"I was worried for no reason. Boss Pei, you have everything planned out!

"I've already spent all of ROF's funds on filling its warehouses, just like you instructed. Now, even the distribution points near the Fish-Catching Internet Cafes have been filled. The warehouse is more or less filled as well. There's still another batch of stocks on the way.

"We have to thank our brothers at Upwind Logistics for their hard work! This time, we won't have to worry about supply at all!

"Even if we receive many orders during the New Year's Day holiday, our warehouses are full enough for us to deliver customers' orders on the day itself!"

The corners of Pei Qian's mouth twitched.

Something was indeed up!

People are still buying the system units even though they've reverted to their original prices?

Isn't that awful? I'm earning even more for each computer sold!

The computers had reverted to their original prices and were now three to four hundred yuan more expensive than before. Pei Qian had not expected people to still be interested in purchasing them!

However, on further thought, that made sense.

Who was ROF's target audience? They were people who desired convenience.

People who could assemble their own computers would not think about purchasing ROF's system units—unless the entire system unit cost less than all the parts combined. However, such a situation would only arise if Boss Pei ran promotional events to incur losses on purpose.

However, the current problem was that, after several promotional events; ROF was now quite well-known online, especially in Jingzhou.

Those who had purchased ROF's computers were already seeing the value of its products.

All the parts were of good quality. The configuration was clear, and there were no gaps. Delivery was speedy, and any problems could be repaired at their doorstep.

ROF offered much more convenience than many other brands in Jingzhou. Naturally, some would recommend ROF to their friends.

Thus, ROF was becoming reputable.

Those who did not know how to assemble their own computers and craved convenience would buy ROF's system units even if they cost three to four hundred yuan more.

After all, nobody knew when the next promotional event would be run. What's more, spending more money on convenience for something as important as a computer would not be considered overboard.

That was the downside of being well-known: customers wouldn't care about a slight increase in price!

Had this brand developed its own brand premium?

Pei Qian was a little flustered.

If things continued down this path, it would mean bad news! Pei Qian had to think of something fast!

He remained quiet for a moment and then asked, "Do you have time this afternoon? I want to take a look at the warehouse."

Zhang Yuan immediately answered, "I do! Boss Pei, what time will you be coming over?"

Pei Qian glanced at his watch. "I'll reach the warehouse at about 3 PM."

Zhang Yuan answered, "Alright, Boss Pei! No problem! I'll be at the warehouse on time to receive you!"

After hanging up, Pei Qian sighed inwardly.

He had no other choice. Things were beginning to spin out of control. He had to activate his killer weapon!

Although Pei Qian was still three months from settlement, Zhang Yuan's ROF computer-installation business had been silently generating profit. It looked like the business would only continue to improve.

If Pei Qian did not do something, the situation would probably blow up in his face in three months!

He had to orchestrate a few setbacks.

Pei Qian said in his heart, "Zhang Yuan, don't blame me for being ruthless. I'll give you a greater bonus in the future as compensation…"

After that, Pei Qian called Little Sun.

"Send me to the warehouse in the afternoon. Go back to the office and fetch Tang Yishu as well."