Pei Qian was even more excited upon hearing it.
"Teacher He, tell me. I really want to hear about it!"
He An was a little surprised. "Why, is Boss Ma an experienced RTS game enthusiast?"
Pei Qian thought about it. "Hmm... I guess?"
He could probably be considered experienced if he liked that from now, right?
Why do I like RTS games? Maybe because it could help me lose money?
He An thought about it. "It's okay, an RTS game is not a deviation from today's topic. I'll talk about it briefly then.
"An RTS game is a real-time strategy game. It was glorious in the past. We were once the mainstay game type in the esports industry. However, when we talk about RTS, there is no avoiding talk about Fantasy Battle and Starcraft
2.
"Last year, Starcraft 2 was released and was a great success.
"However, that hasn't changed the industry's dislike of RTS games since it is more like a flashback. The success of one game will hardly change the decline of the entire game type.
"It is true as well. Except for a few established, well-known manufacturers; almost no one wants to touch this game type anymore.
"Even the big manufacturers do not seem to plan to invest too much money and energy into this game type. The decline of this type of game is directly related to the rise of new game types.
"RTS games have too high of a requirement for the players. Most players failed to reach the minimum operating threshold and naturally could not enjoy the game.
"At the same time, the single-player mode is also difficult to throw the blame to their teammates. The frustrations after losing are too strong, making RTS a very high-end and highly watchable esports event. However, it is very difficult to continue as a popular mass game because of the threshold.
"The mainstream popular games of the future would be games like GOG, especially the client-side game and mobile games with their unique advantages...
Pei Qian's mouth twitched again. Why was the topic back to GOG? He had to think of ways to change the subject.
"In short, making an RTS game without many IPs at this point in time would mean a dead end?"
He An nodded lightly. "Yes, you can think of it this way."
Pei Qian nearly danced with joy.
I thought so, too! I was finally on the same frequency with Teacher He for once. Pei Qian had indeed considered the RTS game type before, but he decided against it by then because it did not seem dead yet.
It might not have any future, but many old players liked such game types. Moreover, they had a huge purchasing power. He was afraid that it might backfire. However, more than one year had passed, and the situation had changed!
The release of Starcraft 2 revived RTS, sucking away almost all the remaining RTS players.
Moreover, the competition between GOG and IOI was so intense that even Gods Rising could only tremble. What more could be said about a new RTS game?
Yes, let's do this! It seemed to be foolproof!
What a pity though... that it was no longer possible for this cycle. He could only think of using it for the next cycle.
He An sighed. "Sigh, actually part of the reason why I decided to retire is that my vision can no longer keep up with the pace of game development in this era.
"Previously I felt that Gods Rising would only be a beautiful niche and that mobile games would never have a strong impact on client-side games. Now, it seems like my thinking is outdated.
"Boss Ma, that is also the reason why I put this class on the second topic. I hope that you will always have long term vision and find the right type of game to develop. You'll be able to win lying down if you make a game that was on par with the era!"
Pei Qian: "..."
Teacher He, you were speaking so well. Why are you suddenly cursing me?
Ten at night...
DGE E-Sports Club... It was already time for lights out. All the cell phones of the team members had been kept away. That was to ensure that they had enough rest.
Ming Yun Villas was, by default, a villa that was far away from the noisy city. There was very little light pollution. They could only see the faint twinkling of the moonlight and the starlight even if they did not pull the curtains.
That was the team's dormitory. Two people would share a room.
In the darkness, the human sprawled on the bed spoke.
"Old Zhou, can I trouble you to give me a cup of water? I'm thirsty."
Old Zhou on the other bed was obviously not asleep yet. "F*ck, what the hell did you do before bed? Also, why don't you take it yourself?"
The human figure was lying lifelessly. "I can't move."
Old Zhou: "Huang Wang, you speak as though I'm any better."
Huang Wang: "Old Zhou, don't pretend, you can definitely move. Please, if I really die of thirst tomorrow, the mock competition will be over; we'll have to practice more at night!"
Old Zhou: "Call me Daddy."
Huang Wang: "Daddy!"
Old Zhou:"...what the sh*t, you really have no bottom line as the leader of the team. I give
up."
Old Zhou had no other choice. He could only flip over on the bed and walk strangely to the table by the side. He brought Huang Wang's cup to his bedside.
Huang Wang: "Ah..."
Old Zhou's face turned black. "Do you want to die?! Drink yourself, or I'll pour it all onto the floor!"
Huang Wang painstakingly sat up on his bed. "I'll drink... I'll drink alright. Give it to me."
Old Zhou stormed back to his bed.
Huang Wang took two sips of water, pursed his lips, and continued. "Old Zhou, we cannot continue on like this. We have to think of a way. That Jiang from the opposing team is definitely a hard nut to crack!
"We've been practicing for one whole week; we're gonna die if we continue losing like this!"
Old Zhou was speechless. "Isn't that because of your commands as the leader?! Jiang Huan can always think of some dirty old tricks to round us up and kill us. Our team is simply a mess when compared to the other team! Especially you. You play as a mid-lander, but your support is always slower than others. How can we play?!" Huang Wang expressed his dissatisfaction. "F*ck, isn't that because of those Nakano twins? Anyway, that is all the problem with our strategy. We have to think of new strategies as well. Otherwise, who can take it if we continue to do extra training because we lost?!" "Any more, and we can really become personal trainers instead!"
Old Zhou laughed. "No problem, I feel we can find someone from the opposite team to PK in real life before we become personal trainers. I can feel my muscles getting bigger." "What about this? We'll think of some new tactics tomorrow. If the opponents play outside common sense, then we can only play dirty. I finally understand... this game really depends on strategy..." Suddenly, the light outside the door lit up. Light shone into the room through the gap of the door. Both of them shut up hurriedly.
Zhang Yuan stood outside for two whole minutes before leaving.
DGE club's daily training these days were difficult to describe. Zhang Yuan was a little concerned after Boss Pei formulated the training schedule. However, he still strictly followed it.
As expected, these internet-addicted youngsters nearly died on the first day.
The schedule for the morning was a morning jog, but it quickly downgraded to brisk walk before becoming a walk and finally panting on the spot. Strength training was arranged in the evening. They did not feel anything after the exercise that day other than that their bodies were hollowed out. However, they almost could not get out of bed the next day.
Luckily, Coach Yaling was a professional. She paid attention to everyone's physical condition during the training. Everything from nutrition, warm-up, and stretching before and after training were done very professionally so there were no major problems.
However, even so, these people were still taxed. Their performances in the mock competition plummeted since they started their fitness training. The top rankings of ten players were not maintained.
By the second week, things started changing slightly.
Muscle masses began to grow on players who were originally thin as bamboo poles. The plump players were visibly thinner. Everyone started adapting to the fitness routine, their gameplay started recovering slowly.
Then, one of the teams began to get a hang out of it.
Jiang Huan's team began to play all sorts of tricks during the mock competition and won a seven-game winning streak, blasting the head of Huang Wang's team.
As to why they fought so hard...
The reason was simple: lose and they had to train more!
If the other had lost beautifully, it would mean that the captain would practice with the backers in the team; if the team lost horribly, then the entire team would practice together. After the next few days of extra training, Huang Wang—the captain-had almost no energy to get up for even a glass of water.
That was because the players' physical fitness improved and gradually adapted. Coach Yaling was already giving them extra training.
Zhang Yuan originally sympathized with these players but realized after observing for some time that it seemed to really have that effect if it went on!
Previously, he had heard that the clubs practiced with the first and second teams. In the beginning, there was no punishment so everyone used all sorts of tactics. No one took winning or losing to heart. Later, the team leader decided that the losing team would need to pay 100 yuan to the winning team to buy cigarettes and snacks. Both sides immediately became serious.
Moreover, this additional training punishment measure seemed to work even better. Both teams were racking their brains
The custom exercises arranged after the morning jog also had its effect. In the beginning, the players were all at a loss. What was there to train for if it was customized training with no one to be their opponent?However, there was nothing else they could do by then. They could only practice some hero's basic skills and study hero mechanics infinitely and repeatedly in the customization.
After working hard to achieve the ultimate in the operations of the familiar heroes, they could only continue to study the heroes they were not familiar with.
Especially the mid-lanes, wild monsters, and various deeper game mechanics in the game. There was a lot of research, and a lot of data was in their minds.
After two whole hours, it was too boring to just practice muscle memory. They would more or less think about the game mechanics.
Very obviously, Huang Wang and his team had been getting better and better in training games recently. They were also desperately studying various tactics. Maybe they would win a victory soon and find their place.
When the time came, Jiang Huan and the others would practice one more time. A chase would become a perpetual movement.
GOG was a new game after all. Players who had the deepest understanding of the game were those high ranking players. Let them think about tactics that could not necessarily be any worse than the coaches who had transferred from the other projects.
Zhang Yuan could not help but sigh. Could Boss Pei's training plan be really something he thought carefully about? The effects were pretty good after the period of trial!
Chapter 531 Boss Pei's Gym Model had Solved the Pain Points of the Industry!
Ding A notification from the chat software rang from the cell phone.
Pei Qian was fighting fiercely against the big TV. He put down the controller after the battle was over and picked up his phone.
It was Coach Yaling with today's 'Training Results Report'.
Pei Qian felt that he had completely cut off the possibility of DGE club stabbing his back by not being able to participate in any official competition. However, one could never be too careful. He did not relax.
Other than the Manage Loss Trainee who was disguised as a teaching assistant in the club, Pei Qian also arranged for double insurance.
It was to get Coach Yaling to send him the training results of the players every day and supervise the work of the coach!
Of course, the so-called training results were not how many training games had been played today or how many ranks the players had improved, but rather, to send him photos.
Every day after training, these internet-addicted teenagers would wear tight-fitting clothes and take photos. Pei Qian would use these photos to attest to the results by Coach Yaling
The logic was simple:
These internet-addicted teenagers spend a lot of time and energy every day on fitness training. They were all exhausted after training every day and would have no more physical strength to train well, right?
The method to verify if they took training seriously was also very simple. Just look at their body changes.
Bodybuilding was something one couldn't achieve by being lazy after all. They might not be able to be seen in a short time, but all one's efforts would be shown on one's body in the long run.
Of course, there was a difference between each person's physiques. Some people develop muscles after just two days of training and then rebound by just relaxing for two days. Some take a long time before results could be shown.
However, generally speaking, bodybuilding was a matter of putting in effort and obtaining rewards. It was fairer than most things on earth.
Pei Qian was going to use this point to supervise DGE fitness club, oh no, the DGE Esports Club!
Pei Qian nodded his head frequently looking through the photos one by one. Yes, the effects were almost immediate!
He could see that Coach Yaling was very dedicated and did not slack in her efforts. She had coached these internet-addicted teenagers well. Everyone was increasing in size. Their biceps and chest muscles were bulging. Their hunchbacks had greatly improved. What a relief!
Pei Qian placed his cell phone aside, a little proud of his achievements.
He might even be able to arrange for them to work as fitness coaches in the hosting gym after these players retired. That would solve the problem of unemployment of older esports players.
Such an advanced model was far, far ahead of the other clubs in the industry.
Perfect!
May 28th, Saturday...
At the flagship store of Deposit Fitness...
Guo Licheng finished his training and wiped his sweat with a towel while he did stretching exercises after his training.
Another coach came over. "Coach Guo, can I ask you something in secret?"
Guo Licheng nodded. "Old Bian, just be direct."
Coach Bian looked around and whispered, "It seems like there are fewer new students recently?"
Guo Licheng was a practical person. He had never thought of concealing this and replied truthfully. "Yes, our fitness meal increased in price again. It was originally rather pricey and has now become expensive.
"Of course, those customers that are shy in their wallets are even more reluctant to sign up now. Moreover, the departure of Coach Yaling had its impact..."
Coach Bian whispered, "Then, how long do you think our gym can be opened for? The boss will be anxious if it continues to make a loss for another one or two months, right?".
Guo Licheng's expression was very calm. "Who knows? Anyway, from my observation, I don't feel like the boss is going to give up. I feel like he's more motivated. Besides, the other branches are worse than us. They'll close the other stores first before us."
Coach Bian's voice became even lower. "Then, have you considered the situation where all stores are being closed together?"
Their voices became lower and lower. They were talking openly about the loss of their gym and the closing down of their gym, even to the point of which store should close first. That was too morale-damaging and could not be publicized.
Guo Licheng picked up a dumbbell and handed it to Coach Bian. Coach Bian immediately got the drift and pretended to work out but was actually whispering to Guo Licheng.
Guo Licheng said in a small voice, "We're old friends. I'll be transparent with you, but keep it to yourself."
Coach Bian nodded. "Of course."
Guo Licheng's eyes were firm. "I think this gym will definitely make money. It is just a matter of time. Everything is within the boss's expectations."
Coach Bian showed a surprised expression. "Really? Tell me, then, what is the boss' plan? Why do you think this gym can be profitable?"
Guo Licheng sorted out his thoughts and said, "On the surface, the gym's future is really bleak. The gym has been increasing its price for the fitness meal, and new students have been on the decline. Everyone can see that.
'However, have you noticed that students that have persisted with us have completely accepted this model, and the effect of fitness is extremely significant?"
Coach Bian was taken aback. He gave it a thought. "Yes, that seems like the case. However, the students I've personally coached previously improved a lot as well. This is nothing."
Guo Licheng shook his head. "Wrong, the key is in the proportion. How many of your students improved by leaps and bounds when you were a private trainer in other gyms? Very few, right? However, here, all the students who persisted made rapid progress! It is totally different!"
Coach Bian paused for a while before it dawned upon him. "Oh, that's true!"
uer
He thought for a while and said, "It's no wonder. Our fitness plan is compulsory with fitness meals. To put it bluntly, fitness means discipline in your food intake and exercise. Thirty percent is attributable to exercise while the rest of the seventy percent goes to food intake. You will definitely show results if you are a normal person who follows through strictly!
"The price of fitness meals might have increased, but the taste is better and is easier to stick to it."
Guo Licheng nodded. "Yes, I meant that exactly!
"Our gym is really small, and many people who could not stick to it had been dissuaded. However, those who did stick to it all saw an immediate effect without exception! That is to say that as long as we remove those who cannot stick with it, those who stay will definitely see results! "Think about it, it will become a golden sign in the long run!"
"Which training class is the most popular? Guaranteed classes! People are not afraid of spending money nowadays. They are only afraid that they spend the money without it being effective. People will definitely come even if it's more expensive... if you tell them that they will definitely improve if they spend money." Coach Bian frowned. "But it does not seem too popular from the current situation either." "That's because the word-of-mouth has not gotten out yet! Think about it, how long had it been since we opened?" Guo Licheng replied.
"Our reputation will naturally take its effect when, in a few months, some fitness novices who had never completed their fitness goals manage to complete them through our gym!
"Combined with the name of our gym, 'Deposit Fitness', once we establish our reputation; are you afraid that customers would not come to
us?
"The reason why Boss Pei opened branches decisively when the flagship store is still making huge losses is definitely that he saw this phenomenon and felt that the core members' fitness habits had developed and the expected brand effect had begun to appear!
"Why else would someone as smart as Boss Pei open branches even though he knows it will make a loss? It does not make any sense; he must have seen the prospect of profits!"
Coach Bian nodded his head repeatedly. The more he listened, the more sense he felt it made.
"Then, Coach Guo, when do you think this word-of-mouth can be established and our gym can become popular?" Guo Licheng thought for a while. "That's hard to say. Naturally, the name is spreading a little too slowly, but Boss Pei is a master at marketing. Perhaps he will find some opportunity to promote it when he deems that the opportunity is right?
"I went to understand it before. I learned that Tengda's internet cafe and computer-installation business were all originally unknown and then became a great hit in an instance. I think Boss Pei is probably getting ready to do it again."
Coach Guo was sincerely convinced. "I see. If it wasn't for your interpretation, I would not have known that our Boss had considered so much! I can only say that someone with brains of this caliber has to make a lot of money!
"But, Coach Guo, it's not easy to understand so much! No wonder the boss chose you to be the branch manager!"
Guo Licheng shook his head. "This is not my business call. I'm far, far behind Boss Pei. I just made reasonable inferences based on my understanding of the industry, which happened to be similar to Boss Pei's ideas.
"I thought about it... it might not also be a coincidence. If a certain business model wants to be successful, they have to solve the pain points of the industry.
"What is the pain point of the fitness industry? It is the mistrust between the customer and the gym. This mistrust is simply ingrained."
"Customers mistrust the gyms. They feel that the gyms are trying to cheat them of their money by selling cards and classes every day. They do not want to talk to the coach at all. "The coaches do not trust the gym. They had a whole bunch of Key Performance Indicators to meet and did not have the heart to train the members well.
"The gym does not trust their customers. It feels as though they are trying to cheat one after the other. They would not bother with you after you applied for the card.
"Tell me, can it be good if these three parties do not trust each other?"
Coach Bian nodded. "Yes, a lot of people had left this industry!"
Guo Licheng continued. "But Boss Pei's model has eliminated the distrust from all three parties!"
"Customers don't think the gym is cheating them of their money. They clearly indicated the pricing with nothing hidden; moreover, they guarantee the effect of the gym. Personal trainers train their members with peace of mind without worrying about selling classes all day. Customers will not dislike their coaches anymore; the gym does not think of customers as money trees.
"See, everyone benefits in this model!
"As for the current non-satisfactory results, it is because of the establishment of trust that required a certain amount of time. When time has taken its course and trust is established, wouldn't that make making money a matter of time?"
Coach Bian nodded but had a new confusion again. "If that is the case, that is a great thing; shouldn't we publicize that? Why can't we spread it?"We have to tell the rest and make them confident towards the gym!"
Guo Licheng whispered, "What are you thinking about?! The boss has a plan, but that does not mean that this plan has a hundred-percent success rate. If you broadcast it but it does not succeed, won't the boss make things difficult for you?
"Shut up and watch how it unfolds honestly. Isn't it alright to suck up to the boss when it all becomes a reality?"
Coach Bian suddenly realized that that made sense.
Think about the historical person Yang Xiu. He loved to talk about his boss's intention with that big mouth of his. Wasn't his ending bad? Which boss will like his subordinates to be smarter than himself?
Coach Bian gave Coach Guo a look of admiration. "Alright, you are really good, Coach Guo. My EQ increased because of you!"
Guo Licheng waved his hand. "Hey, what EQ? I'm the same as you. I like this place so much. Of course, I don't want it to go out of business."
Coach Bian agreed deeply. "Yes! Then, let's wait quietly for the boss's magic to work!"
Chapter 532 Three Experiences of Failure
May 29th, Sunday...
It was time for the monthly failure lesson.
In fact, Pei Qian's expectation for Qiu Hong's course was stronger than that of He An's course.
The latter could only be used with a turn and reverse operation. No one will know whether the reverse operation will be effective or not while the former's failure experience could just be emulated.
However, during the last course, Pei Qian did not obtain any gains but was cited as a confidant by Qiu Hong. That was very troublesome. Qiu Hong spoke at length about the failures caused by project management. They were all very right, but they were of no use to Pei Qian! He could only look forward to some really useful failure experience today. Qiu Hong reached the cafe on time and shook hands warmly with 'Ma Yang'.
"Boss Ma! How has it been? Has the project management in your company improved over the past month?"
Pei Qian: "..."
Improve some more? Any more improvement, and I'll be dead!
Pei Qian coughed lightly. "The previous lesson had benefited me greatly. However, time is limited; let's get on to the actual topic."
Qiu Hong nodded. "Yes, yes, yes, let's get on with it."
The two of them took their seats, and the waiter served their coffee.
Qiu Hong took a sip and said, "Boss Ma, today I want to talk about a very critical factor of failure. This factor has caused the failure of many entrepreneurial teams of game companies!"
Pei Qian became energetic immediately upon hearing it.
Such a universal failure experience? I have to listen well then!
Qiu Hong deliberately paused and said, "This failure factor is... intervention by the boss or other external forces!"
Pei Qian: "?"
Qiu Hong did not notice 'Ma Yang's' blank expression. He had completely fallen into the heart-wrenching confession state like before. "This one is all tears.
"People in the game industry have a simple dream before entering it: that is just to make something fun for the players. Even if it was just a game with paywalls for these clients to recharge. Our work will not be in vain as long as they are happy.
"However, this society is not that simple because a game is not something that one person can make. You have to go to the office, face all sorts of office politics, choose your sides, and maintain good relationships with others. Otherwise, no matter how good the project prospects are, it is no use if you cannot obtain resources.
"When doing administrative planning, you have to listen to function planning, right? When doing function planning, you have to listen to the chief planner, right? When you finally become the chief planner, you have to listen to the producers, right? Even when you become the producer, you would still have to listen to investors, right?
"When you really become an investor, you have to listen to the market voice, listen to money... because you are not willing to make ducks and drakes of your own money!
"See, you might have your own thinking, but you cannot guarantee that anyone that has command over you has the same thinking as
you!
"This is an external intervention. Think about it, a good idea is changed by the producer, then by your boss, and finally by the investors. When it is about to be publicized, the channel dealer asks you to change it again...
"Changing here and there, and you yourself will not be able to recognize it."
Pei Qian listened silently with a blank expression on his face. It sounded like a very nice scene.
How I wish that someone can help me with messing up the project and make the project prospects bleak...
However, Boss Pei had no one here to mess it up. He had the final say in everything.
Boss Pei even tried to butt in often with his subordinates. However, the problem was that he butted in so often, but the project did not fail! The more he butted in, the more successful it became...
So what the hell are you talking about?! Could it be that my method of butting in is wrong?
Pei Qian coughed lightly. "Erm, I have a question. Boss Qiu, why do you say 'the boss butted in and called the project to fail'?"
Qiu Hong had a look of surprise. "Boss Ma, do I need to explain this? You can imagine it anyhow!
"For example, you obviously know which games are popular now, but the Boss wants to do it the other way around. You know the players' taste, but the boss wants to go against the players. There was no design proposal on the market, but the boss just wanted you to come up with one..."
Once again, Pei Qian fell silent.
Wasn't that all I had been doing? Then, my loss-making ideas seemed to be fine? Why are the results completely different then?
No, that was completely useless. I've tried it and it failed. I have to stop Qiu Hong as soon as possible and not elaborate any further on this.
Pei Qian felt that he could no longer waste precious time on this topic so he said hurriedly, "Well, I understand it completely. This is really easy to lead to failure! However, this experience is not very useful to me. Can we change it to another?"
"Not very useful? Boss Ma, you mean you don't really meet such a problem?" Qiu Hong was taken aback.
"Yes, definitely. Boss Ma, the one above you is Boss Pei. Boss Pei himself is a top game designer; there is no possibility that you will be directed by Boss Pei to failure.
"No problem, Boss Ma. I did think of that so it is just an appetizer. I've also prepared some other content behind it."
Pei Qian was delighted. Great, I almost thought that this lesson was going to be wasted again! Qiu Hong continued. "Then, the next very critical failure factor is that you will not be able to find the talent you want. Boss Ma, you should be able to use this, eh?"
Pei Qian agreed deeply. "Yes, I face this problem!"
Qiu Hong smiled slightly and continued. "A boss definitely cannot do everything. He would be dog-tired if he were to do that, and he wouldn't be able to do a good job. At this point, you should find various people-in-charge for various businesses.
"There is a difference between this point and project management. Project management is how to utilize talents while what we are referring to now is how to find talents! Relatively speaking, it is more difficult to find talents.
"Many projects fail because the leader does not have good vision. He could be deceived by some boastful scammers who entrusted him with important tasks but with no practical ability at all."
Pei Qian nodded his head vigorously. "So, where are these scammers?"
Qiu Hong did not know how to answer for a while. "Uh... they are hidden in the vast crowd."
Pei Qian asked. "Then, in theory, there should be quite a lot of such scammers, right?".
Qiu Hong thought about it. "Who knows? No one has done data analytics in this area. But I think it should be okay. Most people encounter a scammer or two when they start their businesses, right?"
Pei Qian was really speechless. Does that mean I've bad luck then?
Then, it still would not work. This one seems to be useless. After all, I really did not possess any talent for identifying scammers. Zhang Wang was the best example.
Pei Qian coughed slightly. "Em, Boss Qiu, that does not seem to be much help as well..."
Qiu Hong was taken aback. "Em... nevermind, Boss Ma, I'll change one more. I don't have many successful experiences but plenty of failed experiences!"
Pei Qian: "..."
What was going on with this inexplicable feeling of sympathy? Qiu Hong thought for a while. "Then, I'll talk about the concept of 'deviation from common sense' next!"
Pei Qian nodded, feeling that this theory seemed good and should be of help to him!
Qiu Hong explained. "In a game company, we will often hear phrases like this: "The boss is an SB(1). He knows nothing and can do nothing' or 'The newly recruited planner is too stupid. He has been fired by me.'
"Such dialogue happens in many game companies. Their tones are very similar as well. Then, why do people in the game circle always think that they do not understand anything?
"An experienced chief planner and a producer who can attract investors should all be experienced. Both sides maintain that the other party 'did not understand anything', so who would not understand?
"This is the 'deviation from common sense'. That means to say that everyone's common sense is different. We are both thinking about the same thing, but the common sense I think I possess and the common sense you think you possess are totally different. Therefore, both of us will think that the other party does not understand at all.
"For example, the thing with 'Cottage Game'. They are proven successes to both the capital venturist and the boss so why don't they do it? To most businesses, what future is there in doing something that others had already done too much of?
"Of course, this is a very simple example. In actual working conditions, such 'deviation from common sense' will only be serious, and it would have an impact on all aspects of the company's operations in the process of making games and ultimately completely deviate from the original intention of the project." Pei Qian blinked blankly.
Wasn't that exactly what I was going through?!
A real confidante!
Pei Qian grasped Qiu Hong's hand. "Yes, yes, yes! That's exactly how I feel! I'm so conflicted about this! So, how shall we solve this problem of 'deviation from common sense'?"
Qiu Hong smiled. "Well, this is easy to say but difficult to do. It is to establish good communication with each other.
"The root cause of 'deviation from common sense' is not understanding each other. As long as they can communicate well, let the other party understand their true thoughts, and form a joint force in the same direction; then the problem arising from 'deviation from common sense' could be resolved to a certain extent."
Pei Qian: "..."
The enthusiasm was extinguished again.
Why was it yet another solution that I could not use at all?!
Communicate well and let the other party understand what you really think? I want to do that too, but the system did not allow it!
I could not let anyone know that I'm making losses on purpose! What was worse was that my employees seemed to have formed some kind of synergy, but they were all in the opposite direction...
Pei Qian was instantly discouraged. The three experiences for failure that he had learned today could be said to be rather rewarding.
However... none of them could be used!
Qiu Hong looked at his watch. His time today was almost up; he sighed in his heart.
Har, Boss Ma had such high expectations. If it was not because I was prepared with my massive amount of failed experience, then it was really possible that this course could not go on today. What was with this sad feeling...?
Luckily, the class was successfully completed today!
Boss Ma looked down in deep thought. He should be rather inspired, right?
Pei Qian raised his head. "Boss Qiu, I have one last question. What will happen ifhypothetically, I mean, hypothetically-if all the three problems that you mentioned were not problems anymore?" Qiu Hong was taken aback but smiled. "Then, congratulations to Boss Ma, you will be able to make money lying down! "Do whatever you want to do without being directed by anyone blindly; choose all the talents and everyone could be independent; there is no deviation from common sense between all the employees, all had the same goals and worked hard in the same place... "If you cannot succeed, who can?"
Pei Qian: "..."
Those words were too heart wrenching.
He was here to learn about failure, but he was in greater despair now that he had learned it!
[1] This is short for 'ShaBi', internet slang in China for 'stupid'.
Chapter 533 This was All because I Accurately Figured Boss Pei's Character Out!
May 30th, Monday...
Liang Qingfan brought the blueprint for the Golden Maze to Thriller Hostel.
Over the week, he had been working as hard as he could. However, instead of feeling tortured, he felt pure excitement.
Architects could spend very little or a lot of time on blueprints. Some real estate companies even stipulate in their contracts that architects must produce drawings overnight upon receiving the budget and design requirements, to achieve higher turnover.
That was a more extreme example, and it was neither reasonable nor humane. Still, it was enough to show how miserable an architect's life was.
To Liang Qingfan, the Golden Maze was not the project with the tightest timeline and the most torturous schedule that he had ever received. Instead, it was the one that excited him the most.
There were three main reasons for this: he was being paid more than enough, his client was not micro-managing or breathing down his neck to make changes, and there was a lot of room for creativity in the interesting task.
Any architect would be filled with inspiration and passion if he was free to design the mall any way he wanted, and he had the authority to ask for more funds if he wanted.
When he arrived at Thriller Hostel's office, Chen Kangtuo and Shi Zherui were already waiting there.
"Sorry for making you wait so long. Let me explain the plan for the Golden Maze. I didn't have time to perfect some details so I will need you to work on it later, Teacher Shi."
Shi Zherui nodded quickly. "Yes, of course."
Liang Qingfan started explaining his own design using the blueprint. "After conducting field surveys, I realized that this old factory is relatively empty, and it has strong plasticity. However, if we want to turn it into a maze as Boss Pei requested, the surface area seems lacking.
"After all, the shops have to be big enough to store their products. What's more, to ensure that the shops are hidden, the surface area of the maze has to be big enough as well.
"So, at once, I thought about making use of the fact that the factory is so tall. We will stagger the levels of the Golden Maze and utilize the height of the shopping mall. The shops would also be staggered, forming a three-dimensional maze.
"At the same time, this staggered-level approach allows us to segment areas for rest and viewing. Visitors could rest in the resting area and see two or three shops from afar. That would drive them to look for shops they had not found earlier after resting. After all, they would already have seen how a few of the shops look like. It might trigger their desire to see more.
"Of course, seeing them and finding them are two completely different things.
"There would be exits in all resting and viewing areas. Under normal circumstances, those exits would be hidden. They would look no different from other paths in the maze. However, in emergency situations, signs would light up so that visitors can move quickly and exit the mall.
"As for the construction period... We will have to purchase steel in large quantities. However, we won't be forking out the money so we can ignore the cost.
"As for the style, I have a simple rendering here. Boss Pei requested for a resplendent effect, but I think it won't be easy to cover the entire mall in pure gold. It would tire visitors' eyes, and the mall would look incredibly tacky. People might take one look at it and think about nouveau riche who wear huge, golden chains. It'll fall far short of the style we're going for.
"I'm thinking that the entire maze would look fundamentally the same. To ensure the unity of the style, we can think about using luxurious and high-end materials, as well as specific types of lighting. That would create a sense of luxury but avoid tackiness.
"On top of that, the details of various areas where the shops are located can be done differently. For example, figurines and merchandise could be sold at shops that appeal to younger people. Red which symbolizes life, vitality, and boundlessness... and orange which symbolizes buoyancy and wealth... can be the theme colors.
"High-quality products and souvenirs could be sold at shops that appeal to more mature people. Blue, which symbolizes rationality and peace, could be the theme color.
"Couples' headwear and themed costumes could be sold in cozier shops, and the embellishments could be in burgundy.
"Shops selling interesting gadgets can be in purple, which gives a sense of mystery. At the same time, we need to note that purple and gold are relatively rich colors that might cause spatial imbalance. That means we might have to use colors like white to balance things out here and there.
"All of these shops must have a passage for employees, which would be closed to all other visitors. That would make it easier for goods to be transported. Moreover, it would save employees the trouble of having to walk through the entire maze each time they go to work.
"We can also have random vendors in special areas around the maze, who would sell interesting little gadgets.
"That way, customers can use their general surroundings to look for a certain shop or region. They could also be assured that they're on the right path. "After all, Boss Pei only asked us to create a maze to give visitors an interesting shopping experience and not to dissuade them from buying anything. We would have to give visitors appropriate hints along the way to encourage exploration and mystery but prevent them from losing motivation just because the shops are too hard to find.
"That's the general idea. Do either of you has any opinions?"
After briefly explaining the design, Liang Qingfan looked up at the two other men.
At the same time, Chen Kangtuo and Shi Zherui answered, "No! It's great!"
Liang Qingfan immediately looked embarrassed. "If either of you have other thoughts, please tell me. It's normal for clients to request for the design to be edited. Don't feel embarrassed."
Chen Kangtuo shook his head. "No, I just think the design is perfect! I like everything, including the fact that visitors can see other shops from the resting area and that different shopping regions would have different color themes.
"We'll fulfill Boss Pei's requirements and ensure the mall's functionality and practicality as much as possible. Exploration, entertainment, and shopping would all be perfectly balanced in that mall.
"Boss Pei has been telling us to leave the professional things to the professionals and not to instruct insiders as outsiders. Just as Boss Pei completely trusts Big Boss Ruan, we have complete trust in your design!"
Liang Qingfan could not help but grin. It looked like Tengda's employees had inherited Boss Pei's spirit. Working with clients like that saved him a lot of trouble.
He turned to look at Shi Zherui. "Teacher Shi, you will be in charge of the construction. If you find anything inappropriate, please raise it as soon as possible so that I can make the necessary modifications."
Shi Zherui shook his head. "I have nothing! One look at the blueprint, and I can tell that you are both knowledgeable and professional, Teacher Liang. You have thought about this from every angle, and your imagination is admirable! If it were left to me, I would not have achieved something like this.
"Of course, I don't want to admit that you can do the work better than I can, but that's the fact! It's a good thing that Boss Pei invited you here from Shanghai. Otherwise, the maze would turn out badly, and I would take the blame, wouldn't I?"
Liang Qingfan laughed. "Teacher Shi, what are you saying? You just have too much on your hands because you have to take charge of Thriller Hostel at the same time. If you could design the maze without any distractions, you would have met Boss Pei's expectations perfectly." Both men praised each other's skills. Everyone was happy with the design.
"Alright. I'll hand this plan to Boss Li so that construction can begin as soon as possible."
Liang Qingfan yawned. "Alright, please do what you have to, then. I haven't slept much over the last few days so I'm going back to catch up on sleep. If you run into any problems, feel free to contact me at any time."
More than an hour later, Li Shi arrived at Chen Kangtuo's office.
"Boss Li, this is our plan for the shopping mall."
Chen Kangtuo and Shi Zherui handed Liang Qingfan's plan to Boss Li for a look.
They knew that Boss Li was not a professional in this industry. Thus, Shi Zherui did not go into too much detail as he explained the blueprint to him. Instead, Shi Zherui focused on the design's ideas, concepts, and various functions.
When Li Shi first saw the extremely complicated blueprint and the resplendent rendering, he was stunned.
How much would it cost to make such a complicated shopping mall as resplendent as a luxury shop? Is Boss Pei taking me for a fool? However, after hearing Chen Kangtuo's and Shi Zherui's explanations, Li Shi's suspicions dissipated into thin air. In its place was pure joy.
He had thought that the plan was just a way to make them waste money, but hearing about the entire plan made Li Shi realize something: it would cost a lot, but it would be very effective!
Not only would they have a shopping mall, but they would also have another amusement project in Thriller Hostel. This unique solution would loosen the reins on customers to draw them in. They would be caught between leaving and wanting more, and talking or staying silent...
All in all, it would be entertaining enough to encourage tourists to shop there!
The most important thing was that Boss Pei had given a lot of thought to this plan. In fact, he had put in a lot of work into it, too!
Boss Pei must have been the one who had thought of turning the shopping mall into a maze, right? It was such an intelligent and complicated plan, with both class and style. He must have spent a lot of money to get a professional designer to design the place, right?
All of those showed that this project was important to Boss Pei! If this was so important to Boss Pei, could the project fail?!
Here came the crux of the matter: why was this project so important to Boss Pei? Li Shi knew that it was obviously because he had figured Boss Pei out.
Before this, he had guessed that Boss Pei was an extremely calm person when it came to business. The amount of work that he let others do and the amount of profits that he shared depended purely on his own cold, hard interests.
If Li Shi had not willingly given up the shopping mall, agreed to bear the costs of renovation, and offered a share of the profits; Boss Pei would not have worked as hard to come up with the plan.
Yet, since Li Shi had offered a share of the profits to Boss Pei and tied all of their interests closer together, Boss Pei used his brain cells to come up with this outstanding design.
Look how beautifully this was done!
At the end of the day, this partnership is only possible because I have thought about and figured out Boss Pei's character accurately.
Shouldn't I reward myself?
When Chen Kangtuo finished explaining the design, he said, "Boss Li, if you have any opinions or suggestions to offer—"
Li Shi raised his hand. "No, I don't!
"Since Boss Pei was the one who came up with this plan, there shouldn't be a problem!
"I'll make arrangements for work to start as soon as possible!"
Chapter 534 Buying Buildings, Picking Up Rubbish
May 31st...
Pei Qian was sitting in Fish-Catching Internet Cafe's Handong University branch when he picked up Little Sun's call.
"Boss Pei, I've found the buildings that you asked for. When were you planning to look at them?"
After some consideration, Pei Qian said, "2 PM. Pick Mr. Liang up from the hotel and then pick me up from the internet cafe. We'll go there together.
"Send me the details of the two neighborhoods as well. I want to read through them."
A month had already passed since Pei Qian moved into his new house.
Over this month, Pei Qian had been very satisfied with the Sloth Apartments' style. Not only could it dissuade potential tenants, but it could also provide the optimum environment for him to live in.
Until now, Pei Qian was still the only one living in Sloth Apartments' first building. There was not a single other tenant.
On one hand, this was because they had not done much publicity for the apartments. On the other hand, they were expensive, and there were many rules. Naturally, even those who stumbled upon the apartments—who were among the minority-lost interest. All in all, everything was going well so far!
That was why Pei Qian decided that he could more or less continue. He had not finished spending all the money earned from the box office, but he could do so very quickly by buying buildings. Furthermore, considering that ten percent of the value of his fixed assets will be counted among the System Funds, Pei Qian could peg the limit at sixty or seventy million yuan for the current cycle. He had already spent thirty million yuan before, and that left him with another forty million. This time, Pei Qian planned to buy two more buildings. He would spend about 35 million yuan and leave the remaining money for renovations. If he fell short, he would add more later on.
He also had to make sure to repeat his successes. For example, these houses would need to have innate flaws as well.
Additionally, he could prioritize odd-shaped apartments.
Renting out regular-shaped apartments that faced north or south would be easy as long as they were nicely renovated. However, odd-shaped apartments often implied an uncomfortable living experience. Space would be wasted, and the price-quality ratio would be poor.
If houses like that were priced slightly higher, nobody would want to rent them.
Tenants would also be prohibited from moving their own furniture into the new buildings. Pei Qian would also keep other successful practices such as maintaining high prices by hiring butlers and cleaners and implementing a minimalistic style throughout all the apartments.
On top of that, Pei Qian would plug some gaps in the old design.
Before this, Pei Qian had bought apartments that had been exquisitely renovated, mainly because he had been in a rush to move in. What's more, he wanted to quickly find out if Sloth Apartments would incur losses or not.
That was why most money for the first building had gone into soft renovations. The apartments all contained huge televisions, high-end furniture, various smart appliances, smart light-adjusting glass, and the like.
Now, Pei Qian was going to buy more worn-down buildings so that he could conduct hard renovations as well. That would allow him to spend even more money, right?
In any case, he would not be the one living in those buildings, and he would probably not be able to rent the apartments out either. It wouldn't be much of a problem even if construction took longer, and the living conditions were worse.
He had to spend the same amount of money anyway. He could either buy an expensive and nicely-renovated building or a cheap and unwanted building before spending the rest of the money on renovations.
Obviously, the latter would result in a lower fixed asset value and thus have less impact on settlement.
Pei Qian would buy two buildings this time. Since he could not put all of his eggs into one basket, he especially requested for Little Sun to look for two buildings of completely different styles from the one in Dawn of Prosperous
City.
One was to be a residential-commercial building with relatively fewer households.
The other was to be an old building located in a deserted and faraway city district, where very few tenants would live throughout the year.
All in all, the principle to stick to was to find all means possible to pick up rubbish.
Now, most available properties could be found online. What's more, many middlemen could not wait to steal money from customers' pockets. It was not difficult to find buildings that matched Pei Qian's description. After receiving this task, Little Sun only searched Jingzhou for two days before achieving results. At the start of the month, Little Sun had been put in charge of ferrying Liang Qingfan around. However, a few days later, Liang Qingfan realized that he would feel better touring Jingzhou at his own time and pace. Thus, Little Sun stopped following him around. Coincidentally, it was then that Pei Qian instructed him to find the buildings.
Until now, Liang Qingfan had been set free to roam Jingzhou for almost a month. Pei Qian felt that it was about time to put him to work now.
After lunch, the waiter kept the cutlery and served him a cup of coffee. Pei Qian sipped his coffee and called Liang Qingfan.
After several rings, Liang Qingfan picked up. "Hello, Boss Pei?"
He sounded a bit nasal as if he had just woken
up.
Pei Qian could not help but rejoice. He must have gotten carried away after playing for a month. Why else would he still be sleeping at 12 noon?
Afternoon nap? He could not have taken an afternoon nap at 11 AM.
Good. I admire people who play to their heart's content and take afternoon naps while they aren't working. They are talents who never think much about work!
Pei Qian did not ask any questions for fear that Liang Qingfan would misunderstand him and think that Boss Pei was encouraging him to go back to work.
"I'm thinking about moving Sloth Apartments to the second stage. How are you? Are you ready to start work?"
Liang Qingfan: "Of course!"
Pei Qian was overjoyed. "Good. Get up as soon as you can and have a meal at the hotel. Little Sun will pick you up, and we will look at the new apartments together."
After hanging up, Pei Qian looked into the details of the two buildings that Little Sun selected. Then, he went online to look for more information.
One of them was the Shundong Gardens Residential-Commercial Building. It was located in the city center and was convenient to get to. What's more, it had just been built a while ago. However, since it was a newly-developed residential-commercial building, not many apartments had been sold.
The other was Block 9 of Binhu District. It was built in 2001 in Jingzhou's outskirts. The only thing about it worth mentioning was that there was a park nearby with an average-size man-made lake which one could see from the building. However, the apartments were as oddly-shaped as the 'sun never sets'-type apartments in Dawn of Prosperous City.
The rent for both of those places was significantly lower than luxurious apartments in other parts of the city. Clearly, they were not as popular. In fact, each building was unpopular for different reasons.
Pei Qian was overjoyed. Little Sun was quite dependable!
At 2 PM, Pei Qian and Liang Qingfan arrived at Shundong Gardens Residential-Commercial Building first.
The sales consultant was quite passionate, but Pei Qian politely asked him to wait at the entrance.
I have a professional architect with me; why would I need to listen to your lies?
The entire residential-commercial building had eleven stories in total, excluding the commercial first floor. Each story had two lifts and seven apartments, which were 5.5 meters high and 38.5 square meters big. Each square meter cost seven thousand yuan, and so each apartment cost 270 thousand yuan. That meant the entire building would cost more than twenty million yuan. Once Liang Qingfan saw the room configurations, he immediately understood. "Boss Pei, you want to buy a residential-commercial building?"
Pei Qian nodded. "That's right."
Liang Qingfan didn't say anything more. Since Boss Pei was sure that he wanted to buy a residential-commercial building, he would be familiar with its flaws.
Of course, Pei Qian was familiar with its flaws. However, those formed the reasons why he wanted to buy a residential-commercial building in the first place.
Compared to ordinary residential buildings, he could only hold ownership of residential-commercial buildings for shorter periods. He would also have to pay for utilities, electricity, property management, and carpentry according to commercial standards. That meant living expenses would be higher.
On the whole, there would be high living density in the area, too. The apartments would be small and wouldn't face north or south. It wouldn't be as comfortable.
Pei Qian considered this: although residential-commercial buildings were generally thirty to forty percent cheaper than residential buildings, they had the poor potential to appreciate, higher living expenses, and shorter ownership periods.
Pei Qian would also have to fork out more money to renovate the building. Wouldn't his chances of incurring losses increase?
As for why he wanted to buy a new building...
There were older residential-commercial buildings, but he needed to hire butlers and cleaners for the Sloth Apartments. Moreover, he would have to buy the entire building to start planning that. For older buildings, he ran the risk of not being able to purchase the entire building because one or two households were unwilling to move out; that was unless the buildings had remained empty for a long time, and the owners were eager to sell them.
Thus, buying a new building would save Pei Qian the trouble. Even if a few apartments had already been sold, Pei Qian could buy them back for a slightly higher price.
Pei Qian looked around. The apartment was squarish and not much different from ordinary lofts. The first floor contained a living room, a dining room, and a kitchen. However, there was no gas stove. Tenants would only be able to depend on an oven, a microwave oven, and an electric stove.
Pei Qian nodded quietly. Yes, this was quite satisfying
The second floor was quite simple as well—it was just a bedroom.
Pei Qian scanned his surroundings and discovered that the living conditions were not bad. However, it was quite small.
That meant that, if he stuck to the extremely minimalistic style of renovations, the house would not be able to contain much else. Tenants would not have a good experience living here in reality.
In addition, the rent would be high because of the building manager, cleaners, and utilities. Thus, Pei Qian was confident that pretentious, cultured youths would not be able to bear renting an apartment.
After making one round around the apartment, Pei Qian felt satisfied. He faced Liang Qingfan and asked, "Mr. Liang, do you think this price is appropriate?" Liang Qingfan pondered for a moment and said, "It's quite high, but it's acceptable. Still, the biggest problem is—".
Pei Qian did not wait for Liang Qingfan to finish speaking. Instead, he turned to Little Sun and said, "Alright, buy it. Notify Assistant Xin, and then we'll go and look at the next building."
Liang Qingfan: "..."
The middleman had not followed the group in but had been waiting at the entrance the entire time. When he saw Pei Qian starting to leave after making one round, he quickly moved forward. "Sir, if you're not happy with this apartment, there are others to consider-"
Without stopping, Pei Qian said, "I'll buy this building. Someone will come by in the afternoon to sign the contract." Liang Qingfan followed behind Pei Qian, swallowing his reminder to Boss Pei about the flaws of such an apartment. The middleman watched as the three men left and blinked in disbelief. At that moment, he had no idea how to react.
Buy? The entire building?
Is he playing a prank on me?
After leaving Shundong Gardens, Pei Qian and Liang Qingfan arrived at the second locationBlock 9 of Binhu District. Since it was located on the outskirts, it had taken forty minutes for them to get there.
There was a park near Binhu District, and there was a man-made lake in that park. Upstairs, one could enjoy the view of the park. The higher up one was, the better the view.
There were eight stories in Block 9, with one lift and two apartments on each story. Blocks 8 and 9 were side-by-side, each having a semi-circular column sticking out and facing the park and man-made lake. Each apartment was sixty square meters large, with two bedrooms and a living room. It was going for eight thousand yuan per square meter, which added up to five hundred thousand yuan per apartment. Since the entire building had eight levels, it cost about eight million yuan in total.
That was obviously lower than the average price of property in Jingzhou City. On one hand, it was because it was located on the outskirts. On the other hand, it was because it had remained empty for a few years; no one had even wanted to rent an apartment. Naturally, the price had been declining for years.
The middleman led Pei Qian and the others to the top of Block 9. Directly in front of them was an arc French window that offered a 180-degree view of the outside. One could see everything with a single glance. Pei Qian frowned. He wanted to back out immediately. However, when he saw Liang Qingfan frown as well, he changed his mind.
"Is there a problem with this house?" Pei Qian asked.
Looking disgusted, Liang Qingfan answered, "Of course! Why else would the building still be empty now? "The entrance and aisle are only 70 cm wide. That's so narrow-transporting any furniture inside would be extremely difficult. What's more, this building was built ten years ago. The waterproof layer is damaged, and the ceiling is full of mildew. You can even see watermarks at the corners of the wall. If you want people to live here, we would have to redo everything
"The kitchen is located in a small corner in the living room, and the bathroom is very small. Living here would be very inconvenient.
"What's more, this arc French window has the same problem as the one at Dawn of Prosperous City. The arc is irregular, and the space can't be maximized.
"Still, the apartments at Dawn of Prosperous City were big, and so it didn't feel that bad. This apartment is much smaller. If we can't maximize the use of this space, living here would be much worse than living in Dawn of Prosperous City. "On top of that, the structure of the apartments seems problematic. There's a reason why they're so cheap. If ordinary designers and renovation companies wanted to, they could have easily bought the apartments and renovated them."However, no one wants to stay here or renovate the place. That means it would probably be very difficult to modify these apartments, so that even ordinary renovation companies don't want to try!
"All in all, the structure of the apartments wouldn't allow for large-scale modifications. Either that, or it would be extremely difficult.
"Scarce landscapes only have value in the luxury housing market, but it's completely worthless in the general housing market. Not only would it have no premium, but it may even be the cause for lowering the price."
Pei Qian nodded. "I understand. Little Sun, I'll buy this building and the adjacent Block 8 as well."
Liang Qingfan: "?" Did Boss Pei not listen to a single word I said? It was fine if he wanted to buy one building, but he was buying two buildings at one go. That was 16 million yuan in a single breath!
If Liang Qingfan had found the previous residential-commercial building barely acceptable, this one was completely unacceptable. He had to try dissuading Boss Pei!
"Boss Pei, I already said that it would be extremely difficult to modify this building. We don't even know if we can make modifications to begin with..."
Pei Qian smiled and patted him on the arm. "That allows us to judge the designer's standard better, right?"