December 23rd, Thursday… Feeling slightly apprehensive, Chang You arrived outside Boss Pei's office once again. The last time he came had been two weeks ago. At that time, Chang You had brought the Otto OS—which he had been very confident about – here. In the end, a bunch of bugs appeared out of nowhere, and the entire project failed.
Boss Pei had raised some criticisms about the stability of the system and asked Chang You to prioritize stability over all the gaudy, unnecessary details.
This time, Chang You mainly wanted to show Boss Pei two things.
First, he wanted to show Boss Pei the improved Otto OS. Nothing had changed since the previous time; it contained all the same things. In fact, to improve stability, Chang You had gotten rid of some less useful functions.
His aim was to ensure that the system would be as stable as possible, with minimal bugs appearing, while he was reporting their progress to Boss Pei.
Apart from that, he wanted to present the prototype for Otto Technologies' first cell phone.
Otto Technologies had been established close to two months ago. Chang You had to admit that it was a first-tier local manufacturer indeed; it had been extremely efficient in producing the first prototype. However, Chang You was feeling apprehensive as he held the first prototype in his hands.
He was not confident at all.
Although he could not bear to present this to Boss Pei, it had already been produced. He had to let Boss Pei take a look.
If he was not satisfied, Chang You could still make edits to it.
Before entering, Chang You closed his eyes and said a short prayer that the Heavens would watch over him and that minimal bugs would appear. Then, he knocked on the door.
When he heard 'come in', Chang You pushed open the door to enter the office and then explained the purpose of his visit to Boss Pei.
Pei Qian nodded happily. "Alright, let me take a look."
Pei Qian was quite interested in this cell phone. After all, this was the first tangible product that Tengda was developing.
Before this, Tengda had produced many games, but they were intangible at the end of the day. One could only operate them on computers or game machines; they could not hold the games in their hands and play with them.
ROF was a computer-installation business, but its products were not that different from other DIY computers.
This cell phone would be different. It would be produced using ODM, but cell phones were digital products with a high level of integration after all. The cell phones they created would be unique.
Pei Qian watched as Chang You placed a 'brick' in his hands.
…it was very heavy!
Pei Qian could feel an obvious weight on his hands. "How much does this cell phone weigh?"
Ashamed, Chang You answered, "247 grams."
Pei Qian was silent.
He did not know what else to say other than that it was awesome!
What did this weight mean?
At the moment, the cell phones that were in trend were small. Take Pineapple's flagship models throughout the generations as an example for instance. Until now, they all weighed about 140 grams. Even the bigger models only weighed about 190 grams.
In fact, a phone weighing more than 200 grams would already be considered quite heavy for relatively weaker girls. One could say that only athletes and martial artists would be able to carry a cell phone weighing 250 grams.
Pei Qian considered the weight of the cell phone in his hand.
Hmm, it would probably feel really good to hit someone with this!
Chang You obviously knew that the cell phone was way too heavy as well. Looking embarrassed, he said, "Boss Pei, we had no other choice. There are too many things in this cell phone.
"A monitor with high refresh rate, a 5800 mAh battery, the latest microchip, a custom-made cooling system, a horizontal linear motor…
"All of these add up to a lot of weight."
Pei Qian nodded.
Indeed, they had no other choice but to do this because they wanted to make the phone worth the full eight thousand yuan.
If they failed to add enough material and the cell phone's worth ended up being far less than eight thousand yuan, the System would not allow Pei Qian to sell the phone at such a high price.
However, that also meant that the cell phone would be relatively heavier.
After all, while other cell phones had 2000 to 3000 mAh batteries, this one had close to 6000 mAh. It would be a surprise if this cell phone model didn't turn out heavy.
To Pei Qian, the additional weight was a good thing. In fact, it would be best if everyone coined the cell phone as a 250-gram machine that charged an IQ tax. Then, Otto Technologies would fail to sell the cell phones and end up accumulating stocks in their warehouses!
Of course, Pei Qian remembered there being cell phone manufacturers who did that. One example was manufacturers of gaming phones.
However, the current market was still significantly different from the market in which gaming phones were introduced.
First, gaming phones only appealed to a small market.
Cell phones were different from computers. They were digital products with high levels of integration.
Computers could be adjusted based on requirements. A gaming laptop and a light notebook were extremely different in terms of appearance and use, so that one could not replace the other.
Yet, the same could not be said for gaming phones and ordinary cell phones.
At the same time, cell phones had too many functions. People used them to take photos, record videos, and the like. Most users of cell phones would prioritize everyday functions such as video playback, chatting software, and taking photos and videos. Gaming was only one additional function a cell phone had.
Thus, most people would find it a waste to spend the same amount of money on a cell phone that had worse camera functions, portability, and interface… even if it offered a better gaming experience.
Of course, a gaming phone might still be a good option for hardcore mobile gamers.
However, there were two more problems.
The mobile game market was not yet thriving in this world.
At the moment, the more popular mobile games in the market were card war games. Mobile war games like Bloody Battle Song were now considered too hardcore and had become very rare.
Less hardcore mobile games did not require screens with a high refresh rate; neither did they require a lot of battery.
Thus, from the perspective of consumers, Otto Technologies' cell phone would be quite… useless.
It was manufactured by a random brand that no one had heard of, and it was quite heavy. These two points alone were enough to form a horrible first impression in consumers' eyes.
Seeing Boss Pei in deep thought made Chang You think that he was unhappy with the prototype. Thus, he quickly said, "Boss Pei, this is only a prototype. We haven't started producing it in bulk.
"If you think it is too heavy, we can think of other things. For example, we could cut down the battery's capacity to about 4000 mAh. That would probably cut 200 grams from the cell phone's weight…"
Pei Qian quickly raised his hand. "No, it's quite good this way! "No matter how good the cell phone's functions are-if it runs out of battery, it would be as good as a brick. It would not be able to do anything. We have to make sure that the cell phone would have enough battery, so that nobody would have to worry about battery life!
"The battery capacity is good now. It would make our cell phones stand out. You have to keep it this way, understand?!
"All in all, I'm very happy with this prototype. This was the ideal cell phone I had in mind!
"That's about all I have to say for the hardware. I'll try the system out now." Pei Qian tried out the Otto OS for the second time.
Chang You had been worried at first, but Boss Pei seemed unexpectedly satisfied. He quickly said, "Alright, Boss Pei. If you have any more suggestions, you can raise them at any time.
"There's another thing. We're in the process of custom-making the cell phone's appearance. We're matching colors for the back cover, working on the logo, and the like. We want to make the cell phone as beautiful as possible so as to attract more customers…"
As Pei Qian scanned the cell phone, he shook his head and asked, "The color of its back cover?
"Don't distract yourselves with so many unnecessary decorations. Just make it a pure, simple color.
"If you think it looks ugly, just place a logo on it. That's what Pineapple does, right?"
Chang You felt light-headed. "Then… what if it still looks ugly?"
Pei Qian looked up at him. "Make the logo bigger to cover it."
Chang You was speechless.
What the h*ll did he mean by 'make the logo bigger'?! Did he mean that bigger logos would distract customers from the color of the back cover?
At the moment, many flagship cell phone models had back covers of varying colors. What's more, all of those colors were given special, meaningful names. That was one of the emerging trends in the local cell phone industry.
Yet, Boss Pei had an altogether different taste. Not only was he forbidding them from creating the cell phone in various colors, but he was also asking them to use a simple color. On top of that, he wanted to make the logo bigger.
At the moment, only Pineapple cell phones had huge logos on the back cover and were still selling well.
That was because creating huge logos reflected one's immense confidence in the brand. If an unknown brand enlarged their logo on their cell phones, customers might be asked an extremely awkward question whenever they picked their cell phones up: "Ai, what brand is that?"
Thus, most domestic cell phone brands placed their logos in low-key positions and made their back covers look more dazzling. That made cell phones of other brands significantly different from Pineapple's.
Otherwise, those brands would be cursed horribly.
If Chang You had been allowed to decide, he would probably have chosen to go with the bulk of other domestic cell phone manufacturers and created a dazzling back cover with a low-key logo.
However, now that Boss Pei had given him clear instructions, Chang You had no other choice but to rack his brains to fulfill his requests.
Pei Qian continued toying with the 250-gram machine, feeling surprised inside.
There were no more bugs this time!
It looked like Chang You had been working hard during this period. He had repaired all the bugs that had appeared before, and the system was now much more stable.
After playing for about ten minutes, only three or four bugs appeared. What's more, none of them had affected the cell phones' usability.
Chang You visibly sat more upright.
It had not been easy! So many bugs had appeared before. He had been crushed.
After that, Chang You had led his team of brothers to work even harder than before. Finally, they had repaired most of the bugs.
What's more, in order to prepare for this reporting session, everyone had spent several days testing the system out. Their confidence had recovered only after they had confirmed that no more bugs could be found.
Even then, Boss Pei still managed to find three minor bugs. Chang You was shocked.
Did Boss Pei have the innate ability to draw bugs out of programs and products?
Still, the session had been a success.
Chang You deliberated for a moment and said, "Boss Pei, the system is now much more stable than before. Can we start working on those new functions?"
Pei Qian was silent.
He's not giving up!
Pei Qian's expression darkened as he answered strictly, "It's not good to try and bite off more than you can chew!
"Where are you now? There are so many things to improve within the original Android System. Are you already satisfied now that you've only managed to repair a few bugs?
"Go back and continue improving it. The details are still not as good as they can be!"
Chang You took back the cell phone, visibly confused.
The details were still not as good as they could be? They had more or less caught up with most other domestic cell phone manufacturers; how was that still not good enough?
However, Chang You did not dare to question Boss Pei any further and had no choice but to take the cell phone quietly. He planned to go back to self-reflect.
He still had not managed to push the system's research and development work to the next stage this time.
Although the final version of the cell phone was becoming clearer, Chang You felt that he was drifting further from his own expectations.
Chapter 366 1024 Digital Day's Side-Effects!
In the afternoon…
As usual, Pei Qian took an afternoon nap, caught up on some shows, and looked up to discover that it was already past 3 PM.
Although it was still early, there was nothing much left to do in the office.
All the projects were underway. Now that Chang You had presented the prototype and software to Boss Pei this morning, Boss Pei guessed that nobody would come to demonstrate anything else to him for now. Thus, there was nothing much left for him to do.
"Should I… go back to school to study? The exam week is right around the corner. Revision aside, I haven't even borrowed others' notes yet.
"Hmm, I should find some time to ask Ma Yang to photocopy his notes for me."
Pei Qian switched his computer off. It was time to get off work!
He would go back to school to find a room where he could self-study. Perhaps he would be able to fill up the gap that he had been filling in his life recently.
As he walked out of the office, Pei Qian saw everyone staring at their screens intently as if they had been hard at work.
As for whether they had really been hard at work or not… Pei Qian could not tell.
He could only say that he was not good at being a boss; he had never been able to see his employees for who they truly were.
Tang Yishu had just finished tending to Glabella. At that moment, she was reading and studying quietly at her desk.
Pei Qian could not help but feel guilty.
Look at how hardworking and passionate about learning his own junior was!
I want to learn from her! Determined to do some self-revision, Pei Qian walked out of the office.
All of a sudden, he recalled something. He turned around and addressed everyone in the office, "Thank you for working hard, everyone. If you have nothing else to do, take the rest of the day off!"
Nobody bothered about him. Instead, they continued working hard on their screens.
Pei Qian sighed inwardly. Ai, how I wish a brave warrior would stand up at this moment and leave the office with me!
Feeling slightly regretful, Pei Qian took the elevator to the first floor and walked out of Shenhua View and then towards Handong University.
On the way, he made a detour to Fish-Catching Internet Cafe's Handong University branch.
He found an empty seat and switched the system on instinctively.
"Eh? What's going on? How did I end up here? Wasn't I planning to do some self-revision?!
"Forget it. Since I'm already here, I should check out what new games there are. After all, I'm a games designer. I need to gather materials for work. That's just as important as my academics."
There were many games' icons on the desktop. All of them were games that were popular at that moment.
GOG's trial version and 'freeplay version' (which was the special offering to Boss Ma that incorporated Dream Realization Ventures' modifications) were both among the bunch of popular games.
Pei Qian scanned the icons on the desktop. Before he could process all the available games, he suddenly realized that something was amiss.
This strange feeling was not coming from the computer's desktop, but… from the exhibition board at the internet cafe's entrance!
A strong sense of danger surfaced in Pei Qian's mind. He quickly stood up and looked at the contents of the exhibition board.
There was a beautifully-printed poster on it with the topic:
'Come and play computer games with us on Christmas Eve! ROF Computer-Installation is holding a sale!"
The poster mainly depicted an installed computer and system unit. The set looked extremely cool, especially with the flashing ROF logo on top. It was all very tempting indeed.
There were different prices for the system units listed at the bottom: 8,599 yuan, 12,599 yuan, and 16,599 yuan!
There were still three different prices but the actual prices themselves…
Pei Qian rubbed his eyes, realizing that these prices were different from the ones that he had set before!
They were cheaper!
Pei Qian looked closer at the hardware listed below and realized that the list was largely the same. The only difference was that a few pieces of hardware had been upgraded slightly.
Apart from that, ROF Computer-Installation was giving out small gifts. The most valuable among the options was a thumb drive. There were also other gadgets like cable ties, mousepads, keyboard-cleaning gels, and the like.
All of these things were nicely packaged under a beautiful name: 'Christmas Eve's Upgraded Package'.
Pei Qian was speechless.
It was so strong!
Look at the language used in the advertisement. 'Come and play computer games with us on Christmas Eve'?
Single men and women would flock to the event!
Pei Qian was not interested in such Western festivals, but… he guessed that only single men and women would be interested to come and play computer games on Christmas Eve.
Obviously, this promotion was being run in order to take advantage of the festival.
However… it sounded quite effective!
There was a particularly eye-catching line of words written in a beautiful font on the poster: 'Stocks are limited at this branch,
1500′. Pei Qian guessed that this meant there were only five hundred system units for sale at this branch.
Now, the number on the black was 428!
That meant that more than four hundred system units had already been sold at the Handong University branch.
Fish-Catching Internet Cafe had more branches, which were probably running the same promotion as well.
Before this, the three prices that Pei Qian had set were either equal to or slightly higher than the sum of the various parts' market prices. Those prices could only be reduced if they purchased in bulk. That meant ROF Computer-Installation's profit margin had not been huge.
In addition, they provided free upgrades to a few lucky people. The entire promotional event guaranteed that losses would be incurred.
After 1024 Digital Day, the prices had been increased back to 8,999 yuan, 12,999 yuan, and 16,999 yuan respectively.
Those prices looked way less reasonable to customers.
The prices were worth it, considering that they included doorstep delivery and after-sale repair service. However, the promotional event that they had run had already exhausted customers' enthusiasm in advance. Thus, for a short period after that, sales remained lukewarm. Nothing huge happened to attract Pei Qian's attention.
Yet, now, Zhang Yuan had miraculously upgraded some of the hardware, added some small gifts, and reduced the prices slightly.
That created the illusion that the package was now extremely worth its price!
Customers would think that the price-quality ratio was much better than before. In fact, they would think that the system units would be well worth their price. That was because all the gifts would be useful, and each system unit would be even cheaper if they bought in groups compared to if they bought one on their own.
At the same time, this would generate considerable profits for ROF's computer-installation business.
The full effects of the reputation that they had built up over the last two months would probably kick in with this Christmas Eve event!
Pei Qian began to panic. We're not going to sell that many units, right?
He was just about to go back into the internet cafe to question one of the waiters when he heard a surprised voice behind him. "Boss Pei?"
Boss Pei turned around. Indeed, it was Zhang Yuan!
Zhang Yuan looked very busy, but there was genuine joy on his face amidst the busyness. "Boss Pei, I wanted to give you a surprise, but you found out about it before I could tell you.
"What do you think about this Christmas Eve promotional event? We've been secretly preparing for it for a long time!"
Pei Qian's heart suddenly felt weary.
Why are all of these people so interested in giving me surprises?
They're worrying me to death!
Thankfully, I found out about this soon enough. Christmas Eve is tomorrow. I should still have time to think of a way to salvage the situation…
Pei Qian acted nonchalant as he asked, "So… how is this event helping sales? How much stock do we have in our inventory?"
Zhang Yuan grinned. "Stock? We've run out! We've sold them all!"
As Zhang Yuan spoke he retrieved a 'sold out' sign from out of nowhere. Then, he pasted it on top of the poster, covering the number '428'.
Pei Qian felt his vision blur.
They had sold all of their stocks?
Didn't they have many warehouses and a huge storage space in the outskirts of Jingzhou City? If they earned three to four hundred yuan per system unit sold and they sold thousands of system units…
It was not a lot of money, but it was still a huge blow to Boss Pei!
Pei Qian's expression was one of disbelief. "How… did they sell out so fast?"
They had a lot of stocks in their warehouses; how could they all be gone so quickly?
Zhang Yuan smiled. "Boss Pei, of course, we didn't sell them all over the past few days. Have you forgotten that Singles Day just passed?
"Thanks to 1024 Digital Day which you organized, ROF became more well-known in the city. If not for that promotional event, ROF would have had a hard time establishing itself in the market.
"After 1024 Digital Day, I started thinking about making ROF an online business. Other cities do not have Upwind Logistics to deliver the computers to their doorsteps and provide a warranty for the entire unit. However, compared to the unscrupulous merchants selling 'lemon' products, customers think much better of us because we use solid materials and are honest businessmen.
"Of course, our sales cannot compare to those unscrupulous merchants. A few computer-installation businesses sold more than ten million units in forty minutes on Singles Day. On the other hand, we sold less than ten times that number.
"Don't worry, Boss Pei. I do not admire them at all. I'll remember your teachings well and ensure that ROF maintains its reputation-to be absolutely honest.
"All in all, our reputation has been improving during this period, and so have our sales. This Christmas Eve promotional event provided the perfect opportunity for us to clear our warehouses.
"We sold a batch of our stocks on Singles Day, another batch on December 12th, and another batch during this event.
"Now all of our warehouses have reported emergencies. I'm trying to get more stocks in as quickly as I can!
"Speaking of which, I was too conservative back then and prepared too few stocks. If only I had prepared more…"
Pei Qian's expression darkened, and he immediately felt unwell. So that was what happened. The side effects of 1024 Digital Day were kicking in!
The repercussions were huge!
Pei Qian had been more cautious after that promotional event, but he had not noticed anything significant happening with ROF. After that, he became so busy with work that he had forgotten about it altogether.
He had only turned his back for a while; he had not expected such a huge mess!
Pei Qian asked, "Well… what plans do you have for now…?"
After some consideration, Zhang Yuan answered, "I'll set aside some funds to order more stocks and use the remaining funds to ramp up publicity! I'm planning to buy good reviews and credibility ratings for our online shop and try my best to steal customers of unscrupulous merchants! "Of course, I'm also prepared to submit a portion of the profits to Tengda. After all, ROF has been getting funding from headquarters ever since it started. Now that losses have turned into profits, we have to submit a portion of those profits to headquarters to show our gratitude…"
Pei Qian quickly raised his hand. "You must not!"
Zhang Yuan, "?"
Pei Qian cleared his throat and said, "Tengda does not lack money. Don't worry about that. You also shouldn't buy good reviews and credibility ratings!
"Although these are unspoken rules for online businesses, it is nothing but a sham. We mustn't do this sort of thing!
"Instead, we should spend all our money on getting new stocks. We didn't fill our huge warehouses up back then, right?
"Use whatever funds we earned to buy more stocks. Spend every last cent; don't be stingy!
"Also, promotional events like these are akin to making an overdraft on our potential to generate sales. Don't run them so often, understand?
"You should only run such events on 1024 Digital Day from now on. Don't adjust the prices otherwise!"
Pei Qian was at a loss. ROF was beginning to generate profits. What could he do? Pei Qian could not allow them to ramp up publicity efforts or submit a portion of their profits to Tengda.
Thus, he had no choice but to ask Zhang Yuan to spend the money on getting more stocks! He guessed that everyone who wanted to purchase ROF's system unit probably already had done so during the event. Now, they could stop running advertisements or lowering their prices and focus on accumulating stocks by spending all the money they had earned on various hardware. Then, the hardware could be stored in the warehouses, where they would slowly depreciate in value. At the same time, the system units would no longer be sold at such low prices. Fewer customers would be willing to purchase them at their original price.
Every time they sold a unit, they would replenish stocks. As long as they kept their inventories full, Pei Qian could guarantee that he would have no spare cash!
Pei Qian could no longer count on ROF to incur losses. As long as they spent all of the money that they earned, Pei Qian would let them off.
Confused, Zhang Yuan said, "Boss Pei, if we have too much inventory, we might face greater pressure to make sales. Now that we can't run promotional events anymore, what if we fail to sell the system units…?"
Pei Qian raised his hand. "Don't worry about that. That's what we'll do! If there are not enough warehouses, we can always rent more. The secret to expanding your business is to make sure that you have no spare cash on hand at all times, understand?"
Zhang Yuan opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out. After a while, he nodded and said, "I-I understand."
Chapter 367 Boss Li's Collaboration Plan
Pei Qian had no more motivation after Zhang Yuan's actions. He originally just wanted to come here to play a game but then he encountered his employees secretly messing up his plans!
Pissed off!
Pei Qian switched off the computer, sat at the coffee area, and ordered a cup of coffee. He thought about life while drinking.
Life was so tough!
After careful calculations, Pei Qian realized that the only projects that were working hard to lose money were Fish-Catching Take-Out and Upwind Logistics. There was a cold stab in his back suddenly. It was too difficult.
Pei Qian could not take it lightly before the settlement. He had to plan ahead. It was about time to think about the next development of Fish-Catching Take-Out and Upwind Logistics.
Especially Fish-Catching Take-Out. They were currently relying on Fish-Catching Internet Cafe so they could only deliver to the region around Fish-Catching Internet Cafe.
However, Fish-Catching Internet Cafe 1.0 was now profiting steadily. No matter whether it was raking sales of drinks or online business or the internet cafe. The Internet cafe had now turned losses into profits.
Pei Qian was thinking if he should find an opportunity to hive out Fish-Catching Take-Out?
Try to take the form of a fast-food chain so that customers could eat in stores or could order takeaways.
This way, he could get rid of the profitable Fish-Catching Internet Cafe 1.0, expand Fish-Catching Take-Out to cover the entire Jingzhou, and continue to lose more money…
However, he had to give it some more thoughts. Would that cause any undue repercussions?
What if something went wrong again and made the original loss-making Fish-Catching Take-Out profit-making? That would really not be worth it.
Yes, he had to consider the long-term effects.
Pei Qian thought while drinking his coffee.
"Boss Pei had been living rather leisurely recently. It seems like the haunted house project is going well?" Pei Qian looked up. Li Shi was holding a cup of coffee and sat opposite him.
Pei Qian fell silent for a while. "It's still alright, thanks to Boss Li."
Leisurely? It did seem that way on the surface.
Progress on the haunted house? No good news was the greatest good news.
"Why, Boss Li wants to invest in my haunted house?"
Li Shi laughed a little awkwardly. "Hm… I'll give it some consideration."
That was what he said, but he did not feel that way in his heart.
Li Shi looked at Pei Qian and found his expression as calm as always. Moreover, it wasn't just calmness. There seemed to be a sense of boredom.
He couldn't help but lament. Boss Pei was always so collected and unpredictable.
Li Shi came with an objective today. He originally wanted to be polite, but he decided otherwise after some thought. Boss Pei wasn't someone who liked that kind of show.
He would go straight to the point if that was the case!
Li Shi pondered for a moment before he said. "Boss Pei, I have a project which I would like to collaborate with you. I wonder if you would be interested."
Pei Qian gave a polite smile.
A project in which you want to collaborate with me?
The projects that Boss Li liked were definitely not something good!
Boss Li had been in the investment circle for such a long time after all. He might not be able to profit from all, but he had better vision than ordinary investors. The probability of profiteering was pretty high.
Moreover, a fall in the pit, a gain in someone's wit.
Pei Qian was extremely distrustful of such a cooperation model judging from past collaboration experience.
Pei Qian said with emotion. "Boss Li, I'll definitely follow your investment when you have a project that would definitely make me lose my investment."
Li Shi roared with laughter. "Boss Pei can always say such witty jokes with seriousness."
Pei Qian was silent.
Li Shi continued, "I heard that Boss Pei just had an investment firm established and invested heavily in an emerging games company abroad. The prospects are very good!
"Dare I ask Boss Pei if this is a project that will lose your investment?"
Pei Qian was silent.
This question sounded reasonable so he could not refute it.
"Would you believe me if I told you that this project was invested in without my knowledge?" Pei Qian looked at Li Shi with all sincerity. Li Shi laughed. "Boss Pei, you are good at everything except that you like to deceive others! Hey, I understand. Soldiers are not tired of fraud in business."
Pei Qian was silent.
Li Shi obviously did not want to debate about this anymore. "Boss Pei, let's talk business. I do have a project that I truly want to work with you.
"I have two other friends who want to collaborate with you as well to open a chain of nameless restaurants"
'Pei Qian, "?"
Nameless restaurant chain stores?
One nameless restaurant made me profit so much, another one now? You're definitely a spy sent by a hostile company!
Hm? That wasn't right. Boss Li was indeed from a hostile company…
Pei Qian took a sip of coffee. "Not considering."
Li Shi, "…Boss Pei is always so decisive in your rejections."
Boss Pei rejected him before he could say anything
Everyone would earn money happily with another chain. Wouldn't that be great? Moreover, even if he wanted a monopoly and had no interest in collaboration, he would not just refuse without listening, right?
However, he had dealt with Boss Pei for quite a while and knew his temper.
Li Shi recovered. "Boss Pei, we don't have any other meaning. The nameless restaurant is your business; you can eat it whenever you want to. We, on the other hand, are on a one-month waiting list…
"We just want to be able to have a good meal.
"Is this wish too much?"
Pei Qian was silent.
I can eat whenever I want to? Boss Li, it seems like you are mistaken about the operation model of Ming Yun Private Kitchen…
I can only eat five times a month as well!
However, it was indeed the case after thinking about it. It was so difficult for Boss Pei himself to have a meal, let alone someone else.
The appointments for Ming Yun Private Kitchen were full up to two months later. It was simply unbearable for average diners.
Pei Qian sighed slightly. "Boss Li, you misunderstood me. I had never thought of and didn't mean to monopolize the food.
"Forget it, tell me your plan."
Li Shi nodded. "This idea stemmed from the resentment of not being able to eat delicious food. I'm not the only one with this resentment in Jingzhou.
"Xue Zhebin and Wang Peng have similar resentments.
"Boss Pei should know these two people right? One of them is Xue Yuanqing's only son, a professional rich second-generation heir; the other is the co-founder of Quanmin Reviews."
Pei Qian was silent.
Of course, he knew! They were the two idiots who made Ming Yun Private Kitchen popular!
Boss Pei still remembered what happened that day as though it was yesterday.
Xue Zhebin, this rich second-generation heir, was attracted by Zhang Zuting's Weibo. He then brought this Wang Peng over. Wang Peng personally wrote a review for Ming Yun Private Kitchen on Quanmin Reviews, then… there was no more.
Ming Yun Villas later used Ming Yun Private Kitchen as publicity. Boss Li took the opportunity to follow and heated up the nearby low prices which led to the popularity of Fish-Catching Internet Cafe in Ming Yun Villas…
That was all for later.
In short, Boss Pei would be irked when these two were mentioned.
And now you still want to make money with me?
Go to hell!
Li Shi did not notice the abnormality in Boss Pei's expression and continued. "Boss Pei, the three of us are loyal diners of Ming Yun Private Kitchen!
"But it's simply too painful to wait for an opening! It was okay at first when there were few people, but it became more popular as time went by.
"An appointment one week in advance is acceptable, but one month in advance is completely different!
"We originally booked a restaurant according to our schedule. Now, we have to change our schedules according to the availability of the restaurant!
"If you want to book a large scale banquet at Ming Yun Private Kitchen, you would have to book in advance wait until the dates are approaching before you can invite your partners to Jingzhou.
"It's too inconvenient!!!"
Pei Qian sighed secretly.
He could only say that the three of them deserved it…
Sure enough, happiness depended on the comparison.
Boss Pei felt really inconvenient being able to only book the entire place on the 20th of every month and the largest private room once every week.
However, Boss Li and the other two were
worse.
Pei Qian couldn't help but sympathize with them when he heard that.
Li Shi continued. "Therefore, all of us agreed immediately to open a branch of Ming Yun Private Kitchen together with Boss Pei.
"We've agreed that the capital, manpower, and management would be handled by the three of us. Boss Pei, you need only come out with the 'Nameless restaurant' brand name. We'll pay you dividends every month!
"Or, if Boss Pei is worried about its profitability, we can also use the franchise fee + dividend model. We'll first pay a franchise fee for the golden brand of 'Nameless restaurant'.
"We've selected the location, to open it in a big shopping mall nearby so that traffic would be guaranteed.
"In short, the prospects are very good!"
Pei Qian was silent.
The project sounded too reliable! It was so reliable that he did not dare participate in it blindly…
Pei Qian replied in a very sincere tone after thinking about it. "Boss Li, I really cannot participate in this project. Moreover, the brand nameless restaurant is nothing much. You will be able to create a whole new high-end food and beverage brand as long as your dishes are excellent and your services are good. "But don't worry Boss Li, I'll support you spiritually!
"You can ask me anytime if you meet any problems in the process of opening a restaurant. I will tell you all I know!"
Li Shi sighed gently. "Alright, Boss Pei, I understand. I'll definitely not hand over this golden brand if I were you as well.
"The brand value of the nameless restaurant was created by Boss Pei's hard work after all…"
Pei Qian was silent.
Misunderstanding, a complete misunderstanding! But Pei Qian could not explain it so he could only keep smiling politely. Li Shi said with slight regret. "Okay, we can only rely on ourselves then. We hope that Boss Pei will join us on the day our restaurant opens!"
Pei Qian nodded profusely. "Of course, I'll definitely go! I'll also bring all my staff with me! We'll patronize frequently!"
Li Shi smiled. "Boss Pei is the only one who can say such polite things so sincerely."
Pei Qian was speechless.
Being polite? That was my true heartfelt feelings!
I'll be more than grateful to you if you could really open this restaurant and take away some customers of Ming Yun Private Kitchen and allow me to eat anytime without waiting in line!
Li Shi said goodbye to Pei Qian and turned to leave.
Pei Qian sent his sincere blessings silently.
All the best, Boss Li! Bring down Ming Yun Private Kitchen as soon as you can!
Chapter 368 Realization of the Tengda Spirit
December 27th, Monday…
Tengda Network Technology Co., Ltd….
Wu Bin took a deep breath and calmed his mind. A week passed in the blink of an eye. It was time for the second Tengda Spirit compatibility test.
It might not be the last chance, but he really did not dare delay anymore.
Interns were not allowed to do any work. Passing the test one week later meant they could only officially start work one week later.
That was simply too difficult!
It was the first time Wu Bin realized that not working-doing nothing at work—was so torturous.
Fortunately, this time, Hao Yun used her position as the person-in-charge to secretly help Wu Bin ask Li Yada, the person-in-charge of the gaming department, the secret of passing the test.
The secret was simple. There were only two points: overthink and do everything possible to complete the task assigned by Boss Pei.
It might be a little brief, but it was at least a good direction.
Wu Bin deeply reflected on his answers over the past two days. He realized that he must have answered Boss Pei's question about overtime wrongly.
It should be that they couldn't work overtime normally. Rather, Boss Pei would personally request for overtime if there was a need!
The open letter sent by Boss Pei in the internal forum basically proved this point.
Wu Bin walked into the test venue with full confidence with this in mind. A crisp mouse click rang forth in the conference room.
There were more than 30 people, more newcomers participating in the Tengda Spirit compatibility test than the previous time.
n
Three of them passed the test previously, but after the last test, another group of newcomers completed their resignation procedures at their original companies and officially joined Tengda.
Therefore, the number of employees participating in the test had increased.
These new faces had different expressions. Some were puzzled by the questions while some were dismissive of the questions.
Wu Bin knew that these two types of people would probably not be able to pass the Tengda Spirit compatibility test specially prepared by Boss Pei.
Obviously, many departments of the Tengda Corporation had secretly inquired about the secret for passing the test.
However, the key was who could understand it better!
Wu Bin felt that such comprehension ability was one of the qualities that Boss Pei must be focusing on!
He started answering the questions seriously.
Wu Bin was slightly surprised to find that 70% of the questions this time were different from the last test.
Some questions had some simple change in wording, but the meaning had become totally different; some questions were new. He had never seen them before.
The options for similar questions had changed slightly as well.
In short, it was very confusing! In the previous test, Wu Bin answered them based on his feelings so he finished it pretty fast. However, this time, Wu Bin answered it very, very slowly. He read each question repeatedly and guessed the purpose of the question before repeatedly comparing the four options to find one that fit the best for the Tengda spirit.
After the selection, he would put the option into the question and check it repeatedly.
Someone finished answering it in no time. However, there was no doubt they would fail the test. Various sounds came from the conference room.
"Huh?"
"This…"
Tss…!
"Holy f*ck!"
These people left the room one by one with different expressions under the watchful eyes of the invigilator of the administrative department.
Some of them were confused, some were in disbelief and shock… someone had an emotional breakdown on the spot with tears in their eyes. Obviously, it was the second time for some, but they did not manage to pass.
Wu Bin was now answering even more seriously. In the end, only a few people remained in the conference room.
Wu Bin checked the time when he finished all the questions. There were less than ten minutes left.
"Hu… I did not manage time too well. Let's submit it!"
There might be still some time, but the test software did not allow them to go back to check the answers.
However, it was lucky that Boss Pei prepared enough time for them to answer all the questions so that people like Wu Bin who answered slowly had ample time. Wu Bin guessed that it might be a hint from Boss Pei for everyone to have enough time to explore the deep meaning behind the questions.
Wu Bin held the mouse with trembling hands and clicked the 'submit' button.
A line of words appeared on the screen: 'Congratulations, you passed the test!'
"YES!"
Wu Bin almost shouted in excitement.
He passed! He finally obtained Boss Pei's approval and officially became a member of Tengda!
Wu Bin could not describe this wonderful feeling. He felt his spirit sublimate after he finished the entire set of questions! He suddenly realized something at this moment. His work experience in Hengtu Games was all wrong! It was all a big mistake!
Of course, the mistake did not originate from him.
Hengtu Games was a wrong environment which was why he went off track. Tengda Games was far more successful than Hengtu Games so Tengda Games' method must be more correct! Now, the Tengda Spirit compatibility test was using the Tengda Spirit compatibility test to reverse his originally incorrect working model!
Wu Bin returned to his workstation happily. The first thing he did was to open a document to record his realization.
Why does Boss Pei repeatedly mention not to allow employees to work overtime? Even if there is a need to work overtime, why is it strictly controlled and even given ample overtime pay?
Obviously, Boss Pei sees the tremendous damage to his employees' creativity caused by overtime!
Other companies only see the short term benefits and saved costs by squeezing their employees. However, that would lead to a decrease in employee motivation, creativity, and efficiency in the long run.
Some companies force their employees to work twelve hours a day. However, the efficiency of the employees was reduced, and their work enthusiasm suffered. That was why the amount of work completed was about the same.
Tengda, however, forced their employees to complete these tasks within the eight hours a day. That is asking employees to improve their work efficiency and creativity. That was why they could complete the work that other companies could complete by working overtime!
Strictly controlling the amount of overtime and paying enough overtime fees are all about maintaining the enthusiasm of their employees as much as possible!
Therefore, the true meaning of the Tengda Spirit compatibility test is not to encourage employees to be slackers but to screen out those who work really hard! Is someone working twelve hours a day a really hard-working employee?
No! It's the exact opposite in Tengda. Such employees would be those whose efficiency is low. They work overtime to show their leaders, not really because they are hard-working. That's all just superficial work.
In Boss Pei's point of view, completing tasks without working overtime means high work productivity. It means knowing how to combine work and rest, how to have work-life balance!
Only such employees can maintain a healthy body, active thinking, and unconstrained imagination. They would not be overwhelmed by long overtime, killing their morale, and distorting their imaginations. That is a true long-term vision! Therefore, the Tengda spirit is not simply working overtime or simply obeying what Boss Pei wants.
The Tengda spirit is to learn how to have a work-life balance. Not working overtime in order to maintain a healthy body and a good working condition to make one's career path smoother, develop the company better, and achieve a win-win situation!
This test seems to encourage us to obey everything Boss Pei says on the surface, but that is obviously not the ultimate goal of Boss Pei.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have created such a beat-around-the-bush way to come up with a set of test questions for everyone to guess.
You can only pass the test by understanding to this level. This meant that what Boss Pei wants is not a puppet who listens to him, but people who can truly understand his intentions, have good enough comprehension, and have a strong ability to think independently!
Boss Pei must have selected his talents according to this set of criteria which is why Tengda has gathered so many talents!
If they continue this interview process, the future of Tengda… the future would be limitless!
Wu Bin felt that his views of HR had been completely subverted. In the past, he saw HR as nothing more than hiring, negotiating pay, poaching people, and finding ways to kick old employees away.
However, Boss Pei had taught him a lesson.
Many companies regarded their employees as opponents. They did everything possible to squeeze their employees. As a result, employees had no enthusiasm for work. Once this ethos was formed, it would seriously affect the future development of the company.
In Tengda, the interests of the company and the employees were aligned. That was a harmonious, win-win relationship!
Wu Bin felt like he was completely enlightened. He decided to record his realization in whole.
He must apply the Tengda spirit to HR in the future. He mustn't disappoint Boss Pei's good intentions!
Tuesday…
Pei Qian was in the office, checking the results of the second Tengda Spirit compatibility test. A total of 12 people passed the test out of the 35 who took them.
The passing rate had increased significantly!
Pei Qian could not help but nod slightly. It seemed like everyone's understanding of the Tengda spirit was progressing very quickly! However, there were also a dozen new recruits who failed twice in a row. If they still failed the Tengda Spirit compatibility test after their one-month internship, then he would only let them go with regrets. Pei Qian did not feel any pain towards losing these people. They were all diehard fans of overtime. Such people should not become Tengda's employees!
He could only sit back and relax when he eliminated such dangers as soon as possible!
Li Yada updated two stable versions of GOG at her workstation. One was the regular version, the other was the version revised based on the opinions of Dream Realization Ventures.
The two versions finally seemed passable after such a long period of modification.
Balance was still a problem, but at least, it seemed like a test version of this serious game no longer looked like a crude semi-finished product.
The bugs were mostly fixed. These versions were basically stable.
Of course, there would definitely be more bugs if they updated it, but they would not need to worry in the short term.
Li Yada knew that she could rest assured at least for the five days that she wouldn't be here.
She would be able to proceed to the next round of development after collecting the opinions of players during the five days she was gone.
Li Yada was about to shut down her computer when she realized that Hao Yun from the HR department sent him a document.
The title of the document was 'Interpretation of the Tengda spirit (Speculated)'.
"En? What was this?"
Li Yada clicked open the file with some doubts.
Chapter 369 What is the Tengda Spirit?
There were a few lines at the start.
"This document should be regarded with absolute secrecy and only be transmitted privately. It is forbidden to be posted onto the internal forum and on the net.
"Boss Pei hates dogma. The real Tengda spirit lies in Boss Pei's heart. Boss Pei has the final authority to explain.
"This document is just a rough gauge of the Tengda spirit. It does not represent Boss Pei's real views. Everyone, please maintain independent views about the content of the document. Distill your own understanding from it."
The general meaning was as such:
This was not a standard teaching material, only a more superficial understanding. It was only for reference and should not be regarded as the only correct answer. It also did not represent Boss Pei's true thinking.
It was best to comprehend the Tengda spirit by themselves.
Li Yada flipped the page and found that there was quite a bit of content to it.
She continued to read the main body of the document.
Tengda spirit number one: work with high efficiency, focus on innovation.
The first mission is to do your best not to work overtime to realize this first spirit. Not working overtime is one of Boss Pei's most important principles.
However, many people only simply see it as concern for the employees, but they fail to realize the true meaning within.
Boss Pei hopes that everyone will be able to adapt to such high-pace work life through making a no-overtime mandatory. It is to continuously restrain oneself to increase one's efficiency and to generate new ideas.
Find all ways to increase work efficiency through not working overtime and make this a good habit.
Tengda spirit number two: obey the leader and maintain independent thinking.
The next thing one had to do is to complete Boss Pei's request at all costs. Boss Pei often asks for seemingly unreasonable requests. However, it is always proven after that there are deep meanings behind them.
One shall do all they can to complete Boss Pei's requests even if one does not understand the true meaning behind it. That holds immense importance in understanding Boss Pei's meaning.
There is a saying: read a book a hundred times and understand it differently every time. You will be able to understand it one day if you follow Boss Pei's direction with gusto.
However, be careful. Boss Pei does not hope for all the employees to be blind sheep following him.
Boss Pei always puts out requests without explanation because he wants his employees to develop independent thinking.
Therefore, one has to maintain independent thinking to solve problems while carrying out Boss Pei's requests. One shall not pin all hopes on Boss Pei, but to show one's own independent ways so that one can share the burden with Boss Pei.
Tengda spirit number three: work-life balance, long-term goals. To realize this, it is important to enjoy company benefits to its fullest. Many employees are embarrassed to play games in the office, eat their snacks, drink their coffees, or to enjoy too much of the benefits in the company.
That is a totally wrong way of thinking!
The company provides these benefits and such a good working environment so that the employees can understand what work-life balance was.
Good health is a prerequisite for work. Many have experienced occupational damage once they reached mid-life. They will not be able to concentrate, and their bad work state will affect their efficiency.
Tengda views their employees as their fortune. It is a huge loss to the company if their employees fall sick.
Therefore, Boss Pei prepares so many benefits and provides such a good working environment all so that the employees can enjoy work-life balance. They will be able to take care of their bodies so that everyone will be able to continue working with Tengda 10, 20, or even 30 years later.
Everyone shall accept these benefits with a peace of mind and enjoy them.
Bury these feelings in the bottom of your heart and use a higher work enthusiasm and a more active working state to reciprocate to the company!
The Tengda spirit is broad and profound. This is just one aspect of it.
Knowing is easy, doing is difficult. I hope everyone can start with the simplest.
Do all you can to not work overtime.
Find all means to complete Boss Pei's requests.
Enjoy the company benefits to the fullest.
Start with the simplest things, don't let Boss Pei's expectations down, and become a true part of Tengda!
Fully understand the Tengda spirit on these bases:
Work efficiently; focus on innovation…
Obey the leader, maintain independent
thinking…
Work-life balance, long-term goals!
Li Yada fell silent after reading this document. She suddenly felt guilty! It turned out that Boss Pei ordered us not to work overtime with such deep meaning?
Li Yada couldn't help but feel a little ashamed that she had such a lack of understanding of the Tengda spirit even though he was the person-in-charge of the gaming department. She often worked overtime secretly as well. What a failure of a person-in-charge she was!
On the one hand, it reflected on the inefficiency of her work; on the other hand, it reflected her lack of understanding.
She had to work harder!
This document was really useful!
She replied hurriedly. "Thank you, this document is a great help! Is this something you came up with?"
Hao Yun replied immediately, "It wasn't me, but one of the staff from our department who had just passed the Tengda spirit test.
"There's no need to thank me. This is a return gift for the feedback given by that employee previously!
"The employee in our department hopes to guide the new employees in the other departments so that they could better understand the Tengda spirit and truly integrate into the big family of Tengda as soon as possible!
"However, this document should not be circulated. It should be kept as part of the company's secrets. "I think that this document should only be stored on the person-in-charge's computer and needed multiple-layer encryption."
"Only those hardworking staff that we think are qualified to learn about the Tengda spirit should understand these contents!"
Li Yada suddenly understood. "Okay, I understand, thank you very much!"
Three people in the gaming department had passed in the first test, but there would definitely be more newcomers who have to go through the Tengda Spirit compatibility test. Such a document would be very important when the time came!
Hao Yun passed this document to the persons-in-charge of the other departments instead of sending it directly through the intranet. Obviously, she felt that this document was just a one-sided opinion and might not necessarily represent the opinions of Boss Pei.
Boss Pei might be enraged if rumors or misunderstandings were to arise or if someone were to interfere with the Tengda Spirit compatibility test.
Therefore, it should only be circulated within a small circle of people and shouldn't be leaked to everyone.
Li Yada decided that she would show an employee this document to comprehend the Tengda spirit if that employee was about to be eliminated and she liked this person very much.
That was equivalent to having a good guide for those who were temporarily lost and was searching for a path.
In short, only key members could see and learn from this document. If these key members could form good practice in their work, they would naturally be able to guide the normal staff, allowing them to come together spontaneously.
Li Yada hid the document carefully into a hidden folder and encrypted it to prevent leakage.
Li Yada came to Boss Pei' office when everything was ready. She knocked on the door and gave her schedule to Boss Pei, telling him that she would only be back on Monday and for him to contact her at any time if anything was required.
Pei Qian smiled. "Don't worry, I won't contact you. Have fun and a well-deserved rest. Don't worry about anything at work.
"It's getting late; get going!" Li Yada left the office with an illusion of being kicked out of the company inexplicably.
Pei Qian felt a lot more relaxed now that he saw Li Yada off.
He should be safe now since so many core members had gone abroad for play? He could rest well for one week now, right?
What a hard-won leisure time.
Pei Qian casually swiped the web and checked the latest news.
He searched for 'IOI' and 'Finger Games Company' as keywords into the website when he suddenly remembered something. There were only some very minor reports. Its popularity was very low, and there were basically no players discussing it on forums.
Pei Qian changed the keyword search to English and searched again. He relied on his Level Four proficiency in English to search for a long time in the vast search results.
He still could not find what he wanted to find!
There were only a few pieces of information saying that IOI had been tested once, but there was not too much information about the results. They only used some more polite terms to describe it.
That meant to say that it didn't seem like it was very popular.
Pei Qian could not help but feel bothered.
Strange, why isn't there any news of it becoming a hit?
The game should have become rather popular in the United States after the official testing. It would then spread to the country and around the world in a short period of time according to Pei Qian's memory.
In fact, a group of information website and opinion leaders among the players paid close attention to the game before LOL's local service was opened.
Why was there no hustle at all?
It was normal that no one cared about it locally since it was still early.
What about overseas?
Finger Games raised so much money but had done nothing much so far? That efficiency was too low.
However, Pei Qian's thoughts ran again. The timing of finance of the company was much later than Riot Games therefore. That game would take some time before it really caught up.
There would probably be similar news after waiting a bit?
Pei Qian decided to continue observing for a while.
Pei Qian checked the dates after switching off his computer. It was getting closer to the exam week.
It was about time to get notes from Old Ma.
Pei Qian had not gone to Dream Realization Ventures since Old Ma invested in IOI previously.
On the one hand, he did not want to recall sad memories; on the other, it was because Dream Realization Ventures had run out of money which was impossible to backstab him anymore.
However, he left his good brother alone during this period of time.
He had to make a trip to Dream Realization Ventures for the notes and also to see how Old Ma was now.
He heard someone shouting the moment he reached Dream Realization Ventures.
"Boss Ma, ulti now!"
"No problem, Boss Ma, I'll back you up!"
"Boss Ma, leave me behind; withdraw yourself!"
It sounded like the battle was rather fierce and impassioned.
Pei Qian could not help but nod slightly.
Yes, this is exactly my ideal company!
Old Ma is my good brother indeed; he never fails me!
Uh… except the previous incident.
Pei Qian felt that it wasn't entirely Old Ma's fault the other time. It was also a coincidence. Old Ma did not do it intentionally. It was an accident. Moreover, the success of the investment was inconclusive. He should not just banish his good brother.
He should wait until after the exam week before banishing him at least.
Pei Qian crept in quietly and stood behind Ma Yang. He was not playing Gods Rising, but GOG!
Eh???
Three question marks appeared above Pei Qian's head immediately.