At the filming location for Tomorrow is Beautiful…
"Cut!
"Alright, this scene is done. Good job, everyone! Take a break. We'll start filming the advertisements in a while."
Just after Director Zhu Xiaoce finished speaking, everyone present started clapping and cheering. Many people looked extremely relieved.
At this point, most scenes for the movie had been filmed.
Although they had met with problems at the beginning of filming, Boss Pei's guidance and all the employees' hard work had led them to overcome the problems quickly.
Lu Zhiyao and the other actors had especially developed more chemistry. Their scenes became much more interesting. In the beginning, they had to retake multiple scenes again and again, but toward the end, they only needed two or three takes.
What's more, all of those takes would have been so exciting that Zhu Xiaoce had had difficulty picking his favorite take.
He had postponed many of those decisions to be made during editing.
Thus, filming was officially completed today.
Many employees could finally heave a huge sigh of relief. After all, they would only have to film the advertisements now.
Those advertisements would only form the backdrop of the entire film. Most of the actors even felt that there was no need to put in as much effort as they had put into filming the actual movie scenes. They intended to only shoot a few casual scenes.
However, Zhu Xiaoce obviously thought differently.
He had a thick plan for the advertisements in his hands and was currently explaining his plan to the actors who were supposed to be involved.
The group of people who were to star in the advertisements had been freshly selected.
At first, Zhu Xiaoce was not sure about the plan for the advertisements. He had even thought about allowing the huge brands' placement advertisements and getting them to produce their own videos.
However, Boss Pei had turned that suggestion down and given him a whole other direction: they were to shoot the advertisements on their own and not include any real companies, logos, or products.
Once that had been decided, Zhu Xiaoce sent people all around the city, looking for new actors.
Thus, the advertisements were meant to serve as a backdrop as they were played in the cinema. That meant that the main actors in the film could not star in the advertisements.
Many actors in the film had played poor people in the background. They, too, had been disqualified from starring in the advertisements.
Only the judge played by Zhang Zuting and the male lead—that had become popularplayed by Li Zhiyao could star in a few commercials.
The young girl who appeared right at the end, and whom the judge had pushed up to replace the male lead, could also star in a few commercials.
Apart from them, a whole new cast had been selected to star in the commercials. They had to be new faces that did not star in the film at all.
Director Zhu Xiaoce had put in a lot of effort into planning for the advertisements. That explained the thick playbook.
"First, I have to emphasize to everyone that although we are only filming advertisements that would form the backdrop for our film, you cannot afford to relax. The advertisements would be just as important as the film itself. In fact, on some level, they would be more important!
"The advertisements would act as a related hint to the audience.
"The cinema would play the advertisements in a certain order to form a portion of the background story.
"For example, before the male and female leads take part in the talent show, the male lead would often see advertisements that the judge stars in on the television. The advertisements would also give the audience a peek at the judge's character. That would hint to them how wealthy, influential, and successful he is.
"Once the male lead becomes popular, we will also feature one of the advertisements filmed by the male lead. They could be for various different products as well. That would show how popular he became overnight. "After the male lead falls from glory-as he's lying in bed, the television would show an advertisement filmed by the lady who replaced him. That would hint at how the judge immediately replaced him after scheming against him. The vicious cycle continues with that new replacement.
"Apart from that, the advertisements can be used to reflect problems that concern modern society such as big data and privacy.
"We will film advertisements for many products, but all of these products would be directly related to the male lead's experience.
"For example, after the male lead drinks a can of beer, the television would feature advertisements for fried chicken or red wine.
"After the male lead loses a huge sum of money from watching television programs, the advertisements would be about money-lending services.
"After the male lead strikes it rich, the advertisements would be about financial instruments, insurance, luxury goods, and the like.
"We'll spread these advertisements out throughout the film. As the male lead's life changes, the advertisements that he sees would change as well.
"On one hand, that would add to the mood of the various scenes. On the other hand, it would be a metaphor and a satire of big data and privacy problems.
"Lastly, the advertisements can make use of strong, sci-fi elements. They would form our guess of what the world, culture, and life would look like in the future.
"Just as Boss Pei said before, we must make the advertisements form a stream of consciousness and look impressive at the same time. We must include futuristic elements to confuse the audience. Only then can we continuously show the audience that the film is set in the future.
"These advertisements would have the unique effect of making the audience feel like they're in the future. That would help them to become immersed in the film."
Zhu Xiaoce looked around at everyone and then faced one actor in particular.
"Alright, it looks like everyone has understood. The advertisement we'll be filming first is for take-out. The advertisement will be very simple: A drone carries take-out and flies across the city.
"However, the drone is on fire. Just like a fireball, it flies across the night sky. You open the door, reach out, and receive the delivery. When you open the beautiful lunchbox, you find a delicious steak that looks like it has just been barbecued. It's even emitting smoke…
"The next advertisement would be for a cell phone and take-out combined.
"The drone collects the take-out, but its screen shows that the distance is too great and that it has insufficient charge to make the delivery. At that moment, we will do a quick zoom in on a map to show that the drone is to travel across the desert and sea to arrive at another city.
"Then, the boss of the take-out business whips out his phone and connects it to the drone with a wire, in order to charge the drone. After that, the drone takes off.
"The drone then flies across the desert and sea. Along the way, it goes through a sandstorm, a tempest, and various other extreme weathers.
"Finally, you open the door again. Now, the drone begins its return trip. When it returns, the boss of the take-out business takes back his cell phone and realizes there is still thirty percent of its battery left…"
Zhu Xiaoce explained the contents of the advertisements to the various actors.
He had racked his brains and killed several brain cells thinking about those advertisements.
A portion of the advertisements, that were supposed to form streams of consciousness, had been easy to come up with. After all, he only needed the actors to dress up in futuristic clothing and strike a few poses. Then, he could throw in a couple of strange scenes and add special effects. By then, he would be done.
However, it would not be sufficient to just have advertisements that formed streams of consciousness.
No matter how much things developed in the future, advertisements would still have to contain a certain level of variety.
Thus, Zhu Xiaoce had to think of different types of advertisements for balance. Zhu Xiaoce had also had a hard time thinking about what kind of products to advertise. That was because he minimally needed logos and lines for the advertisements.
If he was not careful enough with the logos, the audience could easily diss his efforts. Then, it would defeat the purpose of him coming up with those advertisements, right?
Thus, the logos had to be done well. They had to look like real companies.
Yet, there were so many advertisements to come up with… and only one Zhu Xiaoce. He would have died trying to think of everything on his own!
If he started from ground zero for all the logos, it would have been too difficult.
Thus, after discussing this with Huang Sibo, Zhu Xiaoce had decided to ask the other related companies for help! Fish-Catching Take-Out had been tasked to create a logo for the take-out company by modifying its own logo. Otto Technologies had been tasked with providing a logo that was not being used for the cell phone company. That would work as long as the audience did not think the logos looked familiar.
All in all, with the help of the other departments, the logos looked legitimate.
Although the brand names had all been modified, Zhu Xiaoce had also warned the various departments to claim their modified brand names and register them in advance.
He was not hoping that the film would generate any publicity for those brands, but he was afraid that someone would register the brand names after watching the film and try to demand compensation for copyright.
If they registered the names in advance, they could avoid such problems altogether.
Although there were many advertisements, most of them were very short. Thus, Zhu Xiaoce expected filming to only take about two weeks.
Only then could he say that he had truly poured his soul in creating this movie.
At Tengda Games…
Ruan Guangjian heaved a long sigh. "Alright, the concept art and animations for the first batch of heroes are done."
Li Yada clapped her hands and said, "Thank you, Boss!"
During this period, Ruan Guangjian had been working on various concept arts and animations for GOG's heroes. He had made several trips between Jingzhou and Shanghai.
However, research and development of the game could be conducted in parallel with concept art design. Neither one process would hinder the other.
Ruan Guangjian's job was to modify the character IPs that Tengda Games had bought over or create unique, original characters on his own. The Guardian of Justice, Modest, was one example of the latter.
All in all, this was not an overwhelming task. After all, he did not have to create all the heroes from scratch. Most of the work only involved modification based on an existing drawing.
As long as he understood the character's special characteristics, he could make the necessary modifications to the original images. That was much easier than starting from scratch.
Thus, designing concept art and animations was much faster than researching and developing the game itself. The game was still a long way from official release or public testing. However, the concept art and animations were more or less done.
Li Yada asked, "Boss, what do you plan to do after this? Do you want to inform Boss Pei that you're done with the animations so that you can celebrate?"
Ruan Guangjian quickly shook his head. "No, no, no! There's no need. Boss Pei is extremely busy. Let's not bother him with such a small matter.
"Moreover, I've already been to Jingzhou's amusement park once. There's no other exciting activity here.
"I'm planning to rest over the next few days and tour around Jingzhou. Perhaps I would be able to find something else to do."
Li Yada pondered for a moment and said, "That's right, Tengda has another games company called Shang Yang Games. It's the creator of Bloody Battle Song. Have you heard of them?"
Ruan Guangjian nodded. "I have, but I'm not particularly interested in Bloody Battle Song's style of art." Li Yada answered, "That's why we need you to upgrade that company's art standard, Boss! Don't worry, we all work under Boss Pei. You will be adequately remunerated."
Ruan Guangjian hesitated for a moment. "I might be distracted if I take on two projects at once…"
Li Yada waved her hand. "Don't worry. They have a lot of art resources already. Boss, you just need to go and take a look and give some suggestions. Your primary job would be to offer guidance; you won't have to do anything yourself."
After some consideration, Ruan Guangjian nodded. "Alright, I'll take a look and offer some suggestions, then."
Chapter 381 I Am Timid, Ruan Guangjian
January 7th, Friday…
At Shang Yang Games…
"Big Boss, we welcome your guidance!"
Ruan Guangjian saw the staff of Shang Yang Games greeting him with warm applause once he entered the office. Lin Wan, Ye Zhizhou, and Wang Xiaobin stood at the very front with 'thirsty after talents' written all over their faces.
Ruan Guangjian was flattered and hurriedly replied, "No, no, please don't need to stand at the ceremony. I'm dropping by since I just finished my work nearby. You don't have to worry about me; don't delay your work." Lin Wan smiled. "No, no, no, Big Boss Ruan, you're too humble.
"Your art has given Tengda Games its soul as the original artist that Boss Pei relies the most on. A large part of the high sales volume of Tengda Games is your credit!
"Boss Pei and you are the best partners. It would definitely be very beneficial for us even if you were just to give Shang Yang Games some pointers!
"Come, please have a seat. This is a workstation reserved just for you. You're always welcome at Shang Yang Games!"
The crowd led Ruan Guangjian to a separate workstation which was just vacated right next to Ye Zhizhou and diagonally opposite Wang Xiaobin.
Ruan Guangjian sat at the workstation and took out the drawing tablet he carried around with him. "Your workstation… is the same standard as Tengda?"
Coming to Shang Yang Games felt as though he had returned to Tengda. The office environment was too similar! Whether it was a spacious office space, wide desk, comfortable ergonomic chair, or a high-end computer coupled with dual monitors; the standard was exactly the same as in Tengda.
Lin Wan nodded. "Yes, Shang Yang Games might be a subsidiary of Tengda Games, but we do not distinguish between each other. Boss Pei always treats all employees equally.
"The office was rearranged according to Tengda Games' standard just a few months after we moved. Such a setting seemed to be able to ignite the staff's passion for work more easily."
Ignite the staff's passion for work?
Um, working in such a comfortable place did indeed feel very different from working in those cramped workstations.
Ruan Guangjian turned on his office computer while listening to Lin Wan introduce Shang Yang Games. It seemed pretty good. There was a seamless transition between Tengda Games and Shang Yang Games. The office environment was very familiar so he did not need any extra time to adapt at all.
"This is the game we are developing, 'Be Quiet'. It has a horror theme. Big Boss, you can play it casually and give us some comments." Lin Wan pointed to the game icon on the desktop.
The second version of Be Quiet had been developed. Its progress was more than half. There was just a certain distance away from the actual launch.
The development of simple functions was fast, but for a game to be officially released, various gameplay and details had to be repeatedly fine-tuned. A large number of bugs had to be fixed. Such follow-up work on these subtleties could not be ignored.
Ruan Guangjian's expression changed upon hearing the horror theme. "Horror games? No, no, I'm most afraid of horror! I won't have come here if I knew that the project you are developing on is a horror game!"
"I was nearly scared to death watching 'Midnight Call', 'Zerg', 'Chain Saw Madman', 'Ghost Shadow', 'Resurrection Night', 'Bright Flash', 'Ghost Record'… 'The Curse!!"
Lin Wan was stunned. A question mark floated over her head.
What? You are most afraid of horror, and yet you watched all the classics of horror movies?
Lin Wan did not know how to continue the conversation suddenly. She gave it some thought before replying. "No problem, our game is still in the development stage. It is not scary at all."
"Not scary at all?" Ruan Guangjian reluctantly clicked opened the Be Quiet icon. "I'll try to play for a bit then."
Lin Wan nodded. "Alright, take your time experiencing it. Let me or Ye Zhizhou know if you have any comments."
Ruan Guangjian out on his headphones and quickly entered the game.
Lin Wan secretly pulled Ye Zhizhou and whispered, "Observe Big Boss. He said he is timid; don't scare him too much. Pay attention to him, understand?"
Ye Zhizhou nodded. "Don't worry, leave it to me."
The two of them heard a not-so-silent 'Ahh' before the two of them finished their conversation.
There was a dynamic scene when entering the game.
Night shrouded the lunatic village. A weird blue flame was burning, reflecting a lunatic villager with bloodshot teeth and eyes. He was slashing something with his machete by the blue weird flame.
The light was very dim. One could vaguely see the dark red blood spattering from the thing he was chopping up. The entire scene would suddenly become darker when the loading was complete. The lunatic villager, who had been chopping something by the light blue flame, would suddenly get up and walk out of the screen.
The lunatic villager's face would suddenly stick out from the right side of the screen before the player could react. He would appear at an ultra-close distance in the player's field of vision and emit a sickly mad grin. He would then slash at the camera with his machete.
The screen would be covered with blood in no time, accompanied by the screams. The title of the game would then appear before entering the game officially.
Ruan Guangjian was shocked by that scene just now. He almost jumped up from his seat.
Ye Zhizhou asked hurriedly. "Are you alright?"
Ruan Guangjian nodded. "Fine, fine… Ah!"
He was shocked by a small mouse that suddenly rushed past the scene not long after entering the game proper. Ye Zhizhou was speechless.
He suddenly doubted that Big Boss Ruan could successfully experience the entire game and put forward opinions for corresponding art modification.
He thought for a while before suggesting. 'Big Boss, maybe you can just look at the art resources including the original concept art, models, and the like. The level of horror should not be too bad."
Ruan Guangjian shook his head. "That definitely will not do!"
"From the concept to the original art, then to modeling and the setting; every step would experience changes. For example, the original artist's thoughts would be distorted when it went from the original concept art to the model since the model master would add some of his own ideas.
"Such a situation is almost unavoidable no matter how hard you try.
"Therefore, I can only feel the disharmony in the entire setting and make targeted changes if I see the actual settings in the game.
"Don't worry, I'm alright. I can do it." Ye Zhizhou could not help but feel a little moved seeing how the big boss was persisting even though he was scared twice in succession.
Look, this is professionalism!
Big Boss was obviously very sensitive to horror games, but he was trying to overcome his inner fear to make the game better. That spirit was really touching!
It did not take long for Ruan Guangjian's shrieks to fill the Shang Yang Games office. Even Lin Wan could vaguely hear it from the director's office.
No one had any thoughts of snickering. They now admired Ruan Guangjian even more.
He insisted even though he was so afraid; that was true love!
They could only say that Big boss's success was not accidental but inevitable. This perseverance was not something ordinary people could have!
Moreover, Ye Zhizhou, who was sitting next to Ruan Guangjian, felt pride.
The horror effects of our game are so good!
Ye Zhizhou actually had no idea how good the horror effect was previously.
It was the first horror game made by Shang Yang Games. The design team had been playing horror games for quite some time now. Lin Wan and the rest also went to haunted houses for research, but they were still lacking in experience.
Moreover, the main gameplay of this game was within a network where it relied on people frightening other people instead of scaring people with set procedures and mechanisms.
However, the game had not reached the testing phase at all. There were no players yet; all of them were AI so the scariness must be discounted.
Coupled with the art resources that had yet to be fully put in place. The gameplay was not perfect so there were small bugs. Ye Zhizhou felt that the game was far from complete.
However, it managed to scare Ruan Guangjian to this level. Did that mean that this game had a good horror effect on ordinary people?
Ruan Guangjian quit the game and took off his earphones.
Ye Zhizhou was about to comfort him only to realize that Ruan Guangjian's face was ruddy; he even seemed a little excited.
Ye Zhizhou, "?"
He did not expect this situation. Was this still the same person who was screaming when a little mouse passed by just now? Ruan Guangjian said sincerely, "Director Lin didn't lie to me. This game isn't scary at all." Ye Zhizhou, "?"
What's this? Wasn't the person screaming like mad just now you, Big Boss? Ye Zhizhou vaguely felt something wrong. Big Boss Ruan's definition and his performance did not seem to be the same.
Before playing: No, I'm very afraid of horror themes.
During gameplay: Screamed in fright
After playing: Hm, it isn't that scary.
Moreover, it gave people the feeling that he was speaking from the bottom of his heart.
Ye Zhizhou took out his little notebook hurriedly. "Big Boss, please tell me your thoughts."
Ruan Guangjian was in a good state. He did not look like he had just been frightened. Instead, he even seemed a little excited.
"I think the gameplay is roughly there, but it lacks the detail and atmosphere."
"It is through these minor details that increase the atmosphere of horror to make it easier for players to gain a sense of substitution. How to make a successful horror team? The key is in the details!
"For example, I really liked the scene at the beginning of the game! "I usually used the decibel and frequency of my screams to judge whether a horror theme is good or not. Obviously, the scene at the beginning was really good.
"However, there is still too little content. These minor aspects are not taken care of.
"For example, you can add a setting. The player will be able to hear the sound of his own heartbeat when something scary approaches. The closer that was, the faster the heart would beat!
"This seemingly simple sound effect would be very useful for the enhancement of the atmosphere!
"Another example is that it isn't true that the darker the art, the better it is. Low visibility could definitely add to the tension of the players, but if this was done for an extended period, it would make the player very depressed and would want to quit before long.
"So, limit the player's field of vision to a certain degree. Neither too bright nor too dark… I may not explain it well. Let me find a picture for you to see its effect."
"Another example would be the minor details. There might be some scary mechanisms in the game now, but they are all relatively large. What is a small mechanism? They are things like the sound of weird wind and grass, the slow movement of objects on the table… a bloody handprint that suddenly appeared on a piece of glass…" "Such small mechanisms might not be seen by some people, but when under high tension, the effect might be even scarier than monsters that suddenly pop out…
"They are not difficult to make. The key is to have patience…"
Ruan Guangjian did not stop. Ye Zhizhou quickly recorded them in his little notebook.
There was only one thought in Ye Zhizhou's mind while he recorded the points
This is 'more afraid of horror theme'?
Is there something wrong with Big Boss Ruan's perception of himself? He just screamed more often during the horror game, but in fact, his tolerance for horror games seems to be much higher than ordinary people…
Chapter 382 You Call This a Phone Booth?
After more than an hour, Ye Zhizhou looked at the little notebook which he wrote several pages of opinion in and the different artworks that Ruan Guangjian sent. He became speechless.
Ye Zhizhou looked at Ruan Guangjian who was in full spirits. "Big Boss, are you sure you are afraid of horror themes?"
Ruan Guangjian nodded. "Yes, I'm very afraid."
Ye Zhizhou was speechless. "Then, why did you collect these horror-related artworks?"
Ruan Guangjian, "It's needed in work." "Why do you know so much about the details of scaring people and grasp horror psychology so well?" Ye Zhizhou asked again.
Ruan Guangjian, "You'll remember them, too, if you watch a lot of horror movies and get scared often."
Ye Zhizhou was even more confused now. "No, isn't it contradictory if you're timid, and yet you watched so many horror movies?"
Ruan Guangjian shook his head. "Not at all. I'm really timid, but it doesn't prevent me from watching horror movies. It would be just like a person with no sense of humor watching comedy often. Is that contradictory?"
Ye Zhizhou was speechless.
There was no problem; it was reasonable!
Ye Zhizhou sighed inwardly. It seemed like every true big boss had some unknown strange quirks…
Ye Zhizhou did not bother too much about this. It was a good thing if Big Boss Ruan claimed to be very timid but was actually very keen on horror themes!
There was no point dwelling over it.
The urgent task was to quickly summarize these opinions put forward by Ruan Guangjian, form a document, and then add it to the next version of the development plan.
Ye Zhizhou turned on his computer and hurriedly put together a document of amendments proposed by Ruan Guangjian, to be added to the development plan of the upcoming version.
There were only two months left until the game's scheduled release date. There were also seven days of Chinese New Year holiday in between. The development timeline was rather tight.
Boss Pei ordered that they should not be working overtime. It was an extravagant wish to even work one hour of overtime during Chinese New Year. They could only quickly work on them now.
Ruan Guangjian, on the other hand, found the art resource of Be Quiet and was proposing amendments according to his own ideas.
The biggest advantage of his proposed amendment was this:
Ruan Guangjian could draw out his proposed amendment if the other party could not accurately understand his proposal. Ruan Guangjian would really do it himself if the other party found it too difficult and expressed the attitude of 'you do it if you're so good'.
Ye Zhizhou could not help but look at Ruan Guangjian who was working hard.
Big Boss was Big Boss.
A few simple comments brought the quality of the game to a higher level. Such a method — turning stone into gold—had only been seen in Boss Pei!
Of course, Boss Pei was on a higher level.
That was because Ruan Guangjian still needed to make changes to achieve the results. Boss Pei only needed one sentence or even a simple word.
"Big Boss Ruan and Boss Pei are the best partners. Leaders are often kindred souls."
Ye Zhizhou was sincerely convinced as he began to organize the document of the new version to be developed.
Afternoon, Dream Realization Ventures…
He Desheng looked at the rendering in his hand and then at Zhang Wang who was sitting opposite him.
"You… call this a phone booth?"
Zhang Wang smiled with embarrassment. "The budget given by Boss Pei was too high. I revised it until I realized that it was a little off subject.
"However, not to worry. Boss Pei did not specify how the shared phone booth should look like. It's just a little bigger and with a little more stuff. The nature of the shared phone booth remained the same." He Desheng looked carefully at the disassembly diagram at the back. "The entire phone booth was designed by you? Your efficiency is a bit too high…"
"I used the stuff I didn't use before to change it. It did not take too much effort," Zhang Wang said humbly.
"I have a workshop in my hometown in the nearby county. This is just a rudimentary form that was done in a few hours."
He Desheng remained silent for quite some time before he managed to squeeze out a word. "Impressive."
He held the real photo and the disassembly diagram of the 'shared phone booth' in his hand.
It was not the same as what was mentioned before. Boss Pei increased the budget after all. The design of the phone booth should be adjusted accordingly.
It would stand at 2.2 meters high and cover an area of about two square meters. It was significantly larger than the phone booths he had in mind and was spacious enough to sit two.
This shared phone booth seemed indeed easy to install and disassemble, judging from the disassembly diagram. The frames were not welded. Just remove a few pieces of tempered glass, and one could tow the frames away easily.
The key parts of the assembly and disassembly could be locked.
Of course, that was just a sample that Zhang Wang made in his 'workshop'. They would need to consider all aspects of the material, strength, cost, and other detail if they were to start manufacturing it.
At least there were samples; they were just not shipped here.
There were some other aspects in the physical photo of the phone booth with some detailed explanations.
For example, there was a counter with a small coffee machine, jukebox, three-port charger, Wi-Fi, bookshelf, capsule machine, and two folding seats next to it. There was a small screen in the phone booth of which the contents could be clearly seen by the people outside through the glass.
Of course, a phone should not be missing from a shared phone booth.
There was a beautiful retro phone with a dial in gold and black at the upper right side of the phone booth. It looked very smart. Obviously, the emotional significance of this phone was greater than its practical use.
What was more outrageous was that there was something under the table.
He Desheng was confused. "AED? What is that?"
"Automatic External Defibrillator, a medical device," Zhang Wang replied.
He Desheng was a little puzzled. "That should be rather expensive, right? Isn't it a little awkward to put it in the phone booth?"
Zhang Wang smiled. "It's alright. It cost less than 20,000 yuan. It's not awkward because there are other medical devices as well like a weight scale that can measure body fats and a blood pressure monitor." He Desheng "…is there enough money?" Zhang Wang nodded. "Of course! "I was planning to build a traditional phone booth originally which cost about 5,000 yuan but it had to be upgraded since the price gave me a new budget!
"The current size and material cost almost 10,000 yuan per unit. After adding other equipment and installation costs, it cost about 18,000 yuan without the AED.
"The monthly rental for the venue is about 500 to 1,000 yuan. The initial investment amount is about 40,000 yuan after calculation. It's enough!
"Boss Pei gave 500,000 yuan. I did some calculations. We'll invest in 10 shared phone booths. The remaining 100,000 yuan and income would be used for follow-up maintenance costs."
He Desheng was suddenly aware of a problem. "Wait, the monthly rental is 500 to 1,000 yuan? So expensive?"
Zhang Wang nodded. "Of course. I asked several big shopping malls in Jingzhou. They have similar reserved spaces. The cheaper ones are 500 yuan. Those like Huanyu Tianjie are more expensive but can be rented for about 1,000 yuan. It will only occupy about two square meters anyway."
He Desheng blinked, obviously a little lost. "Aren't we setting them up by the side of the
road?"
Zhang Wang laughed. "On the side of the road? There are so many cars on the road; who would use them?"
"There will only be a total of 10 to 20 sets. We have to put them in shopping malls with large traffic."
He Desheng was speechless. Why did he feel as though he was being looked down upon? This did not sound right at all!
He Desheng flipped through it again. "Why is the 'cultural connotation' left blank?"
Zhang Wang said. "I didn't think too much about that mainly because I have no more budget."
"My original plan was to leave a separate screen by this phone booth, find an artist to paint a futurist painting, and decorate it a little. Each phone booth would have a unique theme everyone was allowed to photograph.
"Then, we'll design a different stamp for each phone booth. Those who visit it can stamp it as a memento."
"However, I accidentally went out of budget and have no money left to pay for an artist…" He Desheng gave it some thought. "Won't you have 200,000 yuan if you remove those AEDs from 10 booths?"
Zhang Wang shook his head violently. "That won't do! The AED has to be there. They are the heart and soul of the shared phone booth!"
He Desheng could not find an answer to that.
He did not quite understand Zhang Wang's thinking, but this was Zhang Wang's project so it had to be executed based on Zhang Wang's thinking. After careful consideration, he suddenly felt that this project was not that ridiculous after all.
At the very beginning, He Desheng thought that it would be placed on the side of the road since it was a phone booth. He Desheng had no doubts that Zhang Wang would do that given his intellect.
It turned out that Zhang Wang had no intention of putting it at the side of the road!
Thinking back, the phone booths of the old were placed by the road because everyone had such a need. It was more convenient to call on the roadside. However, everyone had cell phones now. Such a need had long since disappeared.
Now that this shared phone booth was going to be a cultural symbol with some other functions, it must be placed in a place with high human traffic.
Strange, it suddenly looks like a normal project. He Desheng could not help but wonder.
He is obviously someone with brains. Why did he write that kind of proposal…?
Could Boss Pei decide to invest because he saw the potential for this project to succeed? En… that's very likely!
He Desheng nodded. "Okay, I'll arrange for someone to contact the manufacturer to produce it as soon as they can. Let me know if you need any help."
Zhang Wang might be the initiator of this project, but he was just one man. He was not familiar with such matters.
It was a project that Dream Realization Ventures was investing in. He Desheng and the team did not have other projects on hand anyway so it was only natural to lend a hand.
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Chapter 383 Artist's Impression of the Phone Booth
January 9th, Sunday…
A strange-looking phone booth had been erected at the topmost floor of Huanyu Tianjie Shopping Center. This level also had a cinema, a few claw machines, and a bubble tea shop.
The strange-looking phone booth had been set up in front of a wall that visitors would have to walk past on the way to the cinema. It would be easy to spot the phone booth from the escalator.
The phone booth was made out of see-through glass on all four sides. The sound-proofing was not bad, and there was a ventilator on top to ensure that one would not feel suffocated even if they stayed inside for an hour or two.
On the exterior of the side of the phone booth closest to the path, the metal frame on either side looked wider than the others. It looked like the creator had left empty spaces on purpose. That was the space that Zhang Wang wanted to leave for the artist to express himself. As for the other two sides… the left side had more sci-fi vibes. Through the glass, one could see an electronic screen with a poster on top. The poster said, 'Shared Phone Booth Advertisement Space Available'.
The right side had purposely been decorated to look more like traditional phone booths. Through the glass, one could see the ancient-looking phone inside the booth.
Apart from that, one could also see some things on the table through the glass. Those things included a water dispenser, the Wi-Fi router, a power outlet, a bookshelf, and the line.
They had not been well-prepared so the karaoke machine, the drinks dispenser, and the remaining items were not moved in yet.
Soon, many people began to gather around the booth.
"What's this?" "I don't think this was here before."
"Doesn't the advertising poster make it clear? 'Shared Phone Booth Advertisement Space Available'."
"Pfft, what's that? A shared phone booth?"
"Hahaha, I'm dying laughing. What a lame project. Quick, take a picture to remember it!"
Soon, many shoppers in Huanyu Tianjie started taking photos outside the phone booth to mock it in their respective chat groups.
Many people also tried to find out what exactly the phone booth did.
This was the first and only shared phone booth in Jingzhou. Zhang Wang had rushed this 'prototype' out in his own working space at home over the last few days.
The first batch of products he had ordered from the manufacturers had not arrived yet. To see the effects of the shared phone booth as soon as possible, Zhang Wang had decided to move his own 'prototype' into the shopping malls to test the waters. He had engaged a moving company to move his phone booth into the mall. The installation was quick; it only took them about an hour or so.
Huanyu Tianjie was one of the core shopping malls in Jingzhou City. Thus, there was a steady flow of traffic. This was the first chance that Zhang Wang had to see how everyone would react to something as novel as this and whether they would accept it or not.
Soon after, a couple retrieved their phones from their pockets and scanned the QR code on the phone booth.
"Holy sh*t, that expensive?!" The man was quite shocked.
After they scanned the QR code, they were brought to a simple-looking webpage. Obviously, this had been rushed out at the last minute. The webpage explained the pricing standards of the shared phone booth. Everything in the phone booth could be used to a limited extent. They would be charged ten yuan every fifteen minutes. That was the price one had to pay for playing for an hour in Fish-Catching Internet Cafe.
One could log in using their social media accounts or cell phone numbers. However, if they wanted to use the facilities in the phone booth, they would have to pay money first. That was because the creator of the shared phone booth had not thought about getting a deposit from users instead.
After payment was made, the phone booth's door would open. Users could enter the phone booth and close the door. Then, the power outlet, Wi-Fi router, and the like would be activated. That was when the countdown would begin.
When time was up-if one did not pay for more time, the phone booth's facilities would automatically switch off. Customers would not be allowed to continue using them.
Once customers left and closed the door, the booth would detect that there was no one left inside and automatically lock its door.
One could say that its functions were quite simple at this stage. It barely provided the basic functions expected of shared phone booths. Usage was also not that convenient.
Furthermore, there were many gaps to be filled. For example, if people refused to leave and if their skin was thick enough, they could stay inside and keep enjoying warm water. On top of that, most of the facilities were lacking. For now, there was no drinks machine, karaoke machine, AED, or weighing scales.
The drinks machine was not there because they could not resolve the problems related to its usage. If customers could top up their cups indefinitely, the phone booth would lose a lot of money for sure. However, if they wanted to limit each customer to two cups of drinks each, they would have to purchase a special drinks machine. Thus, they were replacing it with a water dispenser for now. As for the karaoke machine, they were in the midst of negotiations with a singing application, and they still needed time to purchase the necessary equipment.
They were still purchasing the AED as well and could not arrange for delivery at such short notice.
To Zhang Wang, this project was still in the midst of research and development. There was still time to perfect it and improve it in the future.
For now, he only wanted to reserve the space and get everyone accustomed to seeing a shared phone booth in the shopping center. More functions would be added in as time went by.
The first couple who tried scanning the QR code hesitated for a while outside the booth before they decided not to pay and leave instead.
The main reasons were that they did not think it was necessary to enter at that moment, and it would be expensive to enter.
Compared to the narrow, suppressive glass box; they would have much rather found a cafe or dessert shop to rest in and spend the money on drinks or food instead.
Many people were surrounding the phone booth and taking photos, but not one of them actually scanned the QR code.
After taking a few photographs, a significant number of people walked away to carry on with their day. Some went to the nearby bubble tea shop to get drinks while others walked into the cinema.
At that moment, another couple walked towards the shared phone booth.
The lady looked at the phone, and her eyes lit up at once. "Eh? That phone looks really good! Quick, let's scan the XXX and enter. Take a photo for me!"
The lady quickly scanned the QR code to enter the phone booth. Then, she picked up the ancient-looking phone in the both and struck a few poses. The man hesitantly but helplessly raised up his own cell phone and snapped a few photographs from outside the phone booth.
"Alright, I'm done."
The man entered the phone booth and showed the pictures to the lady.
"Er… your photography skills are lacking. Forget it, let's leave it at that."
The lady forced herself to accept the photographs and then turned her attention to the interior of the shared phone booth.
It looked simple, but it also looked quite solid.
"There are so many best-selling novels and comics on the shelf. The paper cups and warm water are free too…"
After looking around at the various facilities in the booth, the lady fell silent for a moment. Then, she said, "I just spent ten yuan to take a few photos, sit here for some rest, and drink two cups of water… what a loss."
The man quietly picked up a comic book from the shelf and said, "Take it as an IQ tax."
The lady, "…are you saying I have a low IQ?"
Opposite the shared phone booth, in a dessert shop…
Zhang Wang and He Desheng sipped at their drinks while they looked in the direction of the shared phone booth.
"Three hours have passed since the shopping center opened in the morning.
"Many people came to look at the shared phone booth, but the only one who paid to enter was that lady who wanted to take photographs." He Desheng sighed. "That's why I told you before not to rush things. You should have waited until the various facilities for the phone booth were ready and the design was complete before you moved the booth into the shopping center.
"It's no wonder that customers are not paying for your half-completed product. "Currently, the quality-price ratio of the phone booth is horrible. People have to pay ten yuan to go in and read some comics, have some warm water, and sit in there for fifteen minutes. That amounts to forty yuan per hour. They can play at Fish-Catching Internet Cafe for four hours with that same amount of money." "We don't have the most important facilities —the drinks machine and the karaoke machine."
Zhang Wang looked determined. "It doesn't matter. Once the shared phone booth's facilities have been installed, the price will make sense to everyone.
"So… how are things going with the artist? That's what I'm more concerned about."
He Desheng shook his head. "I have asked around, but I still can't find a suitable one. After all, Jingzhou is not like Beijing or Shanghai, where there are many more impressive artists…
"Still, I think Boss Pei might have an idea. Tengda's main business is developing games. I'm sure we can contact some famous artists.
"However… we have already used up our budget. I wonder if Boss Pei would be upset if we ask him to fork out more money for us to hire an artist…"
Resolute, Zhang Wang said, "Let me talk to Boss Pei, then! I believe he will understand.
After a moment of silence, He Desheng said, "Yes, that's true. As long as you explain to Boss Pei what the shared phone booth is supposed to look like according to your plan, I'm sure Boss Pei would understand."
Zhang Wang shook his head. "That wouldn't do. I'm an honest person. I have to truthfully tell him how the shared phone booth is doing now.
"Boss Pei trusts me so much; how can I lie to him?! I believe Boss Pei will appreciate my honesty!"
"Appreciate your honesty… what a naive thought," said He Desheng as he rested his head in his hands. "Alright, if this were Fu Hui Investments, you would never get more funding by acting this way.
"However, Boss Pei has unique wisdom. Maybe he'll give you a chance…"
He Desheng had wanted to offer Zhang Wang a warning, but on further thought, he realized that he had no right to do so.
He had not even learned a tiny fraction of Boss Pei's investment wisdom, and yet Zhang Wang had produced a project that Boss Pei was willing to buy into.
Whatever, I can't help with this… He Desheng changed the topic. "The manufacturer of the phone booths, the karaoke application, and the manufacturer of the drinks machine have all gotten back to me. It won't be difficult to pay them. The first batch of AEDs is also on their way."
Zhang Wang nodded. "Apart from that, we have to improve the application.
"At the end of the day-once we've found a suitable artist and all the items we ordered arrive, we can announce the official opening of the shared phone booths!
"Let me call Boss Pei."
Zhang Wang retrieved his phone and dialed Boss Pei's number.
After that, he calmly explained the shared phone booth's situation to Boss Pei in detail.
On the other end of the line, beads of cold sweat formed on Pei Qian's forehead when he heard that Zhang Wang had set up a shared phone booth in the shopping mall.
However, he relaxed almost immediately. According to Zhang Wang, he had changed the structure of the phone booth and increased its scale. He had also set it up in the shopping mall. However, from the morning until now, only one girl had scanned the QR code to take some pictures inside the booth. They had only earned fifteen yuan. The initial investment into the shared phone booths was about forty thousand yuan. Rent alone cost close to a thousand yuan per month.
Of course, Zhang Wang simply said that he was 'working hard to improve the customer experience', and he believed that they would 'see the effects soon'.
At last, Zhang Wang dove into the purpose of his call. He requested for Boss Pei to help him find an artist who would do an artwork on the front of the shared phone booth, so that it would look more artistic.
At that point, Pei Qian realized that the shared phone booths had far more potential than he had imagined!
Pei Qian had originally thought that he would invest less than ten thousand yuan into each phone booth, set them up by the roadside, and leave them there for half a year. At most, he had expected to lose about ten thousand yuan per phone booth.
When they finally sold the scrap metal and glass, Pei Qian expected to recover some capital as well.
However, from the way things were going, they could lose about fifty thousand yuan in just half a year!
If one phone booth could lose that much money, how about a hundred phone booths?
At that thought, Pei Qian immediately perked up. He almost decided to give Zhang Wang five million yuan immediately so that he could create a hundred phone booths at once!
However, logic prevailed over his emotions in the end.
Zhang Wang's promise to work on improving customer experience and to show results soon sounded unreliable, like pleasantries that one would use to placate a leader and obtain more money. However, Pei Qian could not be sure.
Many of his employees had said similar things in the past, and nearly all of their words had come true.
At that point, Pei Qian decisively subdued his mental demons and decided not to trust his employees' words so easily. "Take a picture of the shared phone booth and let me see."
A moment later, he received the picture. Pei Qian glanced at it and saw that although the phone booth was big, it was very simple.
Furthermore, there was a table with two folding chairs, which could be folded and left against the wall. The bookshelf contained very few books, and there looked to be a rather simple water dispenser.
Various people stood by the side, observing the phone booth. However, it was obvious that none of them were interested in entering
He didn't lie to me. It's really deserted. I picked the right person indeed. Such honest employees are rare!
Pei Qian was elated. Since Zhang Wang had requested for an artist, Pei Qian had to do his best to find one for him!
It was just that… Ruan Guangjian was in Jingzhou.
Pei Qian pondered for a moment. "Should I ask Ruan Guangjian to do a huge oil painting that measures about two meters in length? According to his current pricing standards, it probably won't be excessive to give him fifty thousand yuan, right?
"What's more, no matter how good his painting looks, people would only appreciate and take pictures of it from the outside at the most. That wouldn't affect the phone booth's revenue.
"Eh? If I can pay fifty thousand yuan for one phone booth, I would be able to spend five hundred thousand yuan for ten.
"That's a great idea!"
Pei Qian had thought the idea was quite ridiculous at first. However, after some analysis, he had realized to his surprise that the shared phone booths were a good avenue for him to spend money!
If he could get Ruan Guangjian to paint twenty phone booths, he would be able to spend a million yuan immediately. Even if Ruan Guangjian gave him a huge discount, Pei Qian would at least get to spend five hundred thousand yuan, right?
The only question was whether the big boss would be physically up to the task or not. In any case, Boss Pei had no problem paying the money.
At that thought, Pei Qian immediately said, "Alright, leave me to settle the artist.
"I'll give you another five hundred thousand yuan. All twenty phone booths that we planned for must be produced!"
Chapter 384 What Should I Draw?
After hanging up, Pei Qian located Ruan Guangjian's cell phone number.
However, before he dialed it, Pei Qian searched for the phrase 'shared phone booth' on Qiandu, just because he felt like it.
Soon, several results came up. Most of them were stickies, forums, and Weibo posts created by locals of Jingzhou. "Today, I came across a brilliant, creative idea that a genius came up with-a shared phone booth! Once you scan the QR code, you can enter right away to make your call!"
"Are you crazy? The QR code scanner is located on a cell phone… can't you just make the call using your cell phone?"
"I nearly died laughing. I took a picture with it because it feels like performance art. [Image]"
"This rotten phone booth looks quite big, but why does it look handmade? Was it really manufactured by a proper factory? They were really negligent with the details."
"This is… a pay-to-enter jail cell. People can even see through the glass walls?"
Pei Qian scanned the comments and visibly relaxed.
Look, the audience's eyes are so sharp!
Since everyone thinks that the shared phone booth is a bad idea and that it won't generate revenue, I should ask Ruan Guangjian to do more paintings. That'll turn the shared phone booth into a big, cultural symbol that serves as a pure public good. Yes, that's a great idea!
At that thought, Pei Qian dialed Ruan Guangjian's number.
January 10th, Monday…
Ruan Guangjian had just finished his work at Shang Yang Games. He had given the art and art outsourcing teams at Shang Yang Games the necessary suggestions for improvement; gone to the nearby art and tools shop to buy some brushes, paint, and other necessary materials; and then rushed towards Huanyu Tianjie.
Since it was a Monday, traffic in the shopping mall was low.
Still, even then, a good number of people were taking photos around the shared phone booth. Perhaps many people were visiting today because news of the lame project had spread yesterday.
Just as Ruan Guangjian stepped off the escalator, he saw a burly, well-sculpted, muscle man with long hair walking towards him.
"Master! Hello, hello! Master, you're so young! You look very different from how I imagined."
Zhang Wang had arrived early to receive Ruan Guangjian. When he saw the latter carrying bags of tools and art materials, he immediately confirmed that that was the artist whom Boss Pei had hired. However, on the outside, Ruan Guangjian looked nothing like the artist whom Zhang Wang had in mind. He did not have long hair or a beard, and he did not have earrings, piercings, or tattoos. Instead, he looked prim and proper, no different from ordinary students.
On the other hand, Zhang Wang had long, flowy hair. Passers-by might think that he looked more like an artist than Ruan Guangjian.
Ruan Guangjian studied the shared phone booth. It looked no different from the pictures, except that it looked slightly bigger now that he was standing before it.
Once Ruan Guangjian was finished with surveying the shared phone booth, Zhang Wang expectantly asked, "Master, how long would it take you to do a painting like that?" After some thought, Ruan Guangjian replied, "There's no hard and fast rule. "Painting involves creativity. The time that it takes to paint could differ greatly from painting to painting. For a simple oil painting with sketches and concepts prepared could take about ten or so hours if the artist is experienced and adept enough.
"However, an oil painting of high standards done by a highly-skilled artist could take one, three, five, or even more years.
"That includes the time needed to find materials, come up with the design, and make edits. There's no limit to the time required."
Zhang Wang quickly asked, "Three to five years? There's no need for that. Just paint anything. Master, if you paint too well, people might end up stealing your work. "After all, this phone booth can be torn down and taken away.
"Still, the likelihood of that happening is low because the shopping mall's security guards would keep an eye on it for us, hahaha."
Ruan Guangjian did not find Zhang Wang's lame joke amusing. However, at least one thing was clear: he did not need to create such an exquisite painting for the shared phone booth. Thus, he did not need to look at it as a premium work of art.
However, he could not just randomly put something together either. After all, Boss Pei was paying a huge sum. Moreover, they were good friends. Of course, Ruan Guangjian could not take advantage of him.
After some thought, Ruan Guangjian said, "I heard that this is only the first of a total of twenty phone booths that I'll be painting?"
Zhang Wang nodded. "That's right, and this is only the initial stage."
Ruan Guangjian took the measurements of the area on the phone booth that he was allowed to work on. Then, he asked, "Do you have any thoughts on what I should paint?"
Zhang Wang shook his head profusely, expressing his lack of opinion. "No! It all depends on what you want to paint, Master!"
Ruan Guangjian thought about it carefully and said, "Hmm… I have to paint twenty of these, and each one is going to be a huge project.
"After all, the painting is going to be two meters tall. That's three or four times more work than an ordinary oil painting.
"Even if I can use my own style and I can pay less attention to the details, it would take three to four days for me to finish the painting
"Moreover, this is on the assumption that I'll be extremely, extremely familiar with the work I'll be doing.
"The phone booth is a project that Boss Pei is investing in. Whatever I paint has to be somewhat related to Boss Pei's companies, right?
"Since that's the case… there aren't many things I could possibly paint…
"Aha!"
Ruan Guangjian's eyes suddenly lit up. He had thought of a great idea. He could paint the heroes of GOG!
That'll be just right. GOG had twenty-odd heroes in this first batch, and the concept art and animations for them were already done.
Ruan Guangjian was the one who had completed the concept art's appearance and design. The sketches went through multiple modifications, and he drew them all over again in the end. He was extremely familiar with the heroes.
Moreover, the art belonged to Tengda's new game. The phone booth was also a project that Boss Pei was investing in. Both of those projects were closely related.
The concept art for the heroes would feel closer and more interesting to the young customers in the shopping mall compared to traditional oil paintings.
The idea started sounding better and better to Ruan Guangjian.
The only thing that had to be modified was the actual expression of the concept art.
GOG's original animation and concept art were extremely detailed and tangible. That was because the game's models would be built based on these concept art drawings. If any part of the drawings was blurry, the model master would have to fill it in with his own imagination.
However, the paintings that Ruan Guangjian would do on the shared phone booths could be concept art or illustrations for advertisements. They could look more artistic.
Ruan Guangjian thought about using his own style-thick-stroke painting. On one hand, he could blur out the details and save time On the other hand, the paintings would look more artistic and eye-catching.
At that thought, Ruan Guangjian prepared to get to work.
As for which hero he should paint first…
Was there any need to think about it?
In the office, Pei Qian yawned.
There were less than three months left to settlement.
He was working on many projects at the same time. However, by next week, the movie would probably be done; the rough cut could probably be released by the end of the month. Given GOG's current progress, Pei Qian guessed that a closed beta could also be released at the end of the month to test waters.
It was almost impossible to finish the haunted house. The two largest projects probably would not be done before the end of this cycle. However, the second project was a small one, and one or two containers could probably be released by the end of the month.
Then, Ruan Guangjian could go and give it a try, and Pei Qian could dampen the former's
spirits!
As Pei Qian looked at his planner, he realized that this week would probably be the most relaxed he would have for some time in the future. He had to quickly do some revision and study while he could.
How could Boss Pei face the world if Old Ma managed to pass based on his own capabilities, and yet Boss Pei had to pay to pass?
He glanced at his junior, Little Tang. Every day, when she came to work, apart from feeding the cat and clearing its litter; she would sit quietly at her desk to read. Pei Qian guessed that it would only be a matter of time before she won a scholarship. He could not help but feel sorrowful. "Ai, if only I could spend money to make someone else study on my behalf. I can only say that knowledge is priceless!" While Pei Qian was wallowing in self-pity, he realized that half an hour had already passed. Thus, he quickly flipped through his notes and started revising.
However, less than an hour later, someone knocked at his door.
Pei Qian looked up to see Ma Yiqun.
"What's the matter?" Boss Pei was irritated that his studying had been interrupted. However, Ma Yiqun hardly visited. Guessing that something important had cropped up, Pei Qian said nothing. Ma Yiqun said, "Boss Pei, Zhongdian Chinese Network has earned another sum of money recently…"
Pei Qian's mind was filled with question marks.
Can all of you stop generating revenue in secret? Can't you give me some time to brace myself?
Pei Qian had thought that he could relax this week, but his plans were ruined.
Zhongdian Chinese Network had gone through several stages of development ever since it had been established. Now, its losses had turned into profits.
In the beginning, they increased the full-time remuneration standards for their authors to secure their basic privileges. Subsequently, they topped up their mid-tier authors' remuneration so that they could earn a comparable income to elite writers in Infinite Chinese Network.
Lastly, they collaborated with Repent and be Saved to integrate all Tengda accounts and directed a huge group of Tengda's gamers to the website.
During this period, traffic on the website increased significantly. Although the scale of the website and the top writers' incomes still could not compare to Infinite Chinese Network, the lower-tier authors were still being comfortably remunerated. Thus, spending the revenue that the website generated became a problem. "Do not submit the money. Just spend it all."
Again, Pei Qian was keeping to the principle that 'whoever caused the problem should solve it, whoever earned money should spend it'. Thus, the directions that he gave in response to Ma Yiqun's report did not stray far.
"Ah, alright, Boss Pei." Ma Yiqun had guessed that Boss Pei would react that way. However, it was one thing for Boss Pei to give the directions and another for Ma Yiqun to do it on his own accord.
Even if he knew Boss Pei would redirect the revenue back into expanding the website, Ma Yiqun could not skip the step of asking for his permission.
After all, this was different from running a combined event with Repent and be Savedthis concerned finances.
If it had been a combined event like the one with Repent and be Saved, Ma Yiqun-as the person-in-charge of the website—could have called the shots because it would not have cost that much money.
"Wait a minute."
Ma Yiqun was just about to turn around and leave when Boss Pei stopped him.
Pei Qian casually asked, "How do you plan to spend that money?"
He had not planned to get involved at first, but Pei Qian suddenly realized that he could not stand by the side and not ask questions.
Who could guarantee that Ma Yiqun would squander the money away if Boss Pei left him to his own devices?!
Thus, Pei Qian decided to ask a few questions.
Ma Yiqun smiled. "Boss Pei, I've thought about it.
"Our website's mid- and low-tier authors are becoming quite attractive. What's more, they've caused many loyal players of Tengda's games to stay. Our games channel is doing well, and the readers there are starting to form an exclusive circle that can entertain themselves.
"I think the main problem now is that we're lacking top-tier writers!
"That's why I'm thinking about using this sum of money to buy over a group of top-tier writers from Infinite Chinese Network, who might not be satisfied with their current situation.
"I'm looking especially at authors of unpopular genres and authors who have the skills but do not get a lot of attention.
"I don't think I'll be able to buy novel gods over, but as long as I'm willing to pay, I'll at least be able to buy over a few authors who draw thirty to fifty thousand yuan a month but finding it difficult to become novel gods."
Pei Qian remained silent.
That sounds like a reliable idea!
Indeed, Zhongdian Chinese Network's biggest problem now was that it had a low ceiling. It had not produced any explosive books that had the potential to become hot topics throughout the entire Internet.
The low- and mid-tier authors were very comfortable now, but the website practically had no ability to create novel gods.
If they could focus on buying a few authors with potential over, find a book with the best figures, and pour all their effort into recommending it to the rest of the Internet…
They could probably take Zhongdian Chinese Network further!
At that thought, Pei Qian cleared his throat and said, "That's not good.
"The real novel goods depend on their own skills and hard work. They produce good books and gather their own readers; they do not rely on the website's resources to make them famous.
"We will definitely have to pay a high price to buy authors over from other websites. However, those authors would feel out-of-place for sure. They would be writing for a different audience, and they might not be able to sustain their own popularity.
"At the same time, the website would be paying for authors with a low price-quality ratio. We can't guarantee profits.
"Buying them out and imposing requirements for them to hit certain figures would make us no different from gangsters. We won't be able to earn their loyalty, and authors might not even find this arrangement attractive.
"All in all, I can't say this strategy is wrong, but it doesn't match Zhongdian Chinese Network's direction.
"I think we should continue to invest in the low- and mid-tier authors instead. If we want to create novel gods, we can start from the community of authors that we already have. Why should we try and steal from others?"