He An continued speaking. "Of course, everything that I want to say constitutes smuggled goods as well. I hope you can understand this, Boss Ma.
"That's because there's no such thing as an objective and fair expression. Anything that has been through artistic processing would be affected by the hidden intentions of the person who did the work.
"However, the goods that I am about to smuggle were produced by me alone. They are my personal vision for the future local gaming industry. Boss Ma, it'll be great if it resonates with you, but it's also fine if it does not."
Seeing He An's stern expression, Pei Qian pushed his conflicting emotions to the back of his mind and listened intently.
"I am going to split today's lesson into two parts. "In the first part, I am going to talk about my successful experience while working on The Landlord Game. I will also theorize how I managed to smuggle the right 'goods' and exercise restraint at the same time.
"In the second part, I will briefly talk about my views on the gaming industry's prospects for development-or shall I say, my proposal."
Pei Qian nodded.
He could very clearly see that He An looked different today than in the previous two lessons. In the previous two lessons, He An had been speaking as an observer. He had been carefully analyzing successful cases and interpreting successful elements as a professional.
However, today's He An seemed to have a glow that only belonged to preachers who cleared confusion by giving moral and practical instruction. He reminded Pei Qian of old gentlemen who worried about their countries and people. Pei Qian wondered if he was just seeing things. After organizing his thoughts, He An said, "First, I want to talk about The Landlord Game.
"Actually, the game's gameplay did not come from me alone. The inspiration came from a board game I played during my enlightenment years. The origins of the game can be traced back to an American political economist named Henry..." Pei Qian had a vague impression of this story, but everything he knew was in a mess, and he did not really understand it. Now, hearing He An's narration, things were gradually becoming clearer. This political economist named Henry was born in poverty. He worked as a sailor, a miner of gold, and a printer. Throughout his work, he came into contact with countless people who were even poorer and of a lower class than
him.
In the mid-nineteenth century, the United States developed at a speed that was visible to the naked eye. However, that also caused an unprecedented widening of the gap between the society's rich and poor.
Henry realized that the accumulation of limitless wealth had not been improving the lives of the poor. Instead, it had only been widening the gap between themselves and the rich.
The income of the top one-percent of society had surpassed the sum of the bottom fifty percent of society's income.
Thus, Henry began thinking about the reason behind this massive inequality. In the end, he completed an entire thesis entitled 'Progress and Poverty', which exposed the root cause of all of it—the United States' land privatization system.
In the early twentieth century, a female journalist named Elizabeth inherited Henry's theories and decided to create a board game to test them. After a lot of development, the board game's rules were finally perfected. That was the prototype of He An's game, The Landlord Game.
He An sipped his coffee and continued speaking. "While I was working to produce The Landlord Game on the computer, I wanted to make it more interesting. That was why I added a lot of fascinating game play.
"For example, I added a variety of props and cards, increased the number of special events, established a perfect stock system, incorporated character voices, created a lottery mechanism, and so on. I also added different maps and polished the style of the game... "All of those designs served to make the game more interesting and cause gamers to love it more. "Obviously, that game contains smuggled goods-my agreement with Henry's theories.
"Many people have tried analyzing my game, looking for elements that were confirmed by reality. For example, the poor get poorer, and the rich get richer; buying land emphasizes one's first-mover advantage; location is king; insider information is important when dabbling in the stock market; paying attention to surrounding events is important when making investments; the essence of war is the redistribution of resources; people who do not have starting capital cannot enter the market...
"I had thought about most of those when I started designing the game. I only had a vague understanding of some during the designing process. However, I had absolutely no clue of an extremely small number of those things when I was developing the game. It was only when I was trying to perfect the rules that they took shape.
"Obviously, I had stuffed a lot of smuggled goods in that game. However, that game did not cause any gamers any disgust. Instead, it resonated with many people. That is one example of a successful plan. "In general, there are three principles to follow when trying to smuggle goods: "First, convey positive value.
"Second, guarantee fun.
"Third, have appropriate depth.
"The quality of any product must be achieved, be it a game or other cultural products. Generally speaking, games should be 'fun'. Otherwise, they would not qualify as games. Gamers would not welcome it. The goods you smuggle would not be able to affect others
"You need to have appropriate depth so as not to disgust your players. "Some of them would dabble and stop. They would only have a preliminary and superficial understanding of whatever you want to express. For them, the main pleasure of the game would lie in the gameplay. "Some would be savvier. Of their own initiative, they would make associative connections between the game and the world around them.
"Some would dig deep into every detail of the game. They would completely understand the goods that you're smuggling. In very rare cases, they might even over-analyze your thoughts...
"Thus, having appropriate depth would allow those three different types of players to play your game comfortably.
"Of course, I'm just talking about those things in theory. In practice, you would need to make decisions based on the situation you're in. Don't think that this is useless. The game industry, along with most other cultural industries, has no quantifiable standard for success.
"If a quantifiable standard for success existed, and there was a method to achieve quick success, everyone would be making successful games by now.
"The real value lies in these theories. Once you understand these theories, you would have found the correct method. That would be the first step to success."
Pei Qian nodded. Obviously, that was the most useful information that He An had in his storage of theories. To Pei Qian, those things were extremely hard to put into practice. Still, the theories themselves were very valuable.
It was like many instrumental disciplines. They could not directly change one's life, but they could subtly do so by increasing one's wisdom. He An took another sip of his coffee and spoke rather emotionally. "Next, I will share my opinion on the current gaming industry
"This only represents my own thoughts. Boss Ma, you can take it with a pinch of salt. It's alright if you do not agree with me
"The domestic game market is becoming increasingly prosperous, but I think that it's becoming increasingly hollow as well. Games with paywalls that peddle hatred can bring gamers a myriad of emotions. However, do they offer positive value of any kind? No, they do not!
"Of course, I am not saying that every game has to be educational. That's a misconception. Games are for entertainment. Their first goal should be entertainment, and there's nothing wrong with that.
"Yet, that does not mean that games are hollow and meaningless in themselves. A game that peddles hatred, plays with chance, and throws side-balls could achieve some success in the market. However, they would never become classic games that are known throughout generations, and they would never win any real respect from gamers.
"We want to emphasize that games are for entertainment, and that's right. However, we cannot mock developers who want to express certain content to gamers through their games. They are essential to the market.
"Unfortunately, game developers like that are few and far between in the current market. "Everyone likes violence, dramatic scenes, beautiful faces, and hot figures. The competition among game merchants can be likened to dishes that contain increasing amounts of seasoning. Gamers' taste thresholds are constantly pushed higher, leaving chefs who insist on sticking to original flavors with nowhere to go.
"That's why I'm considering retirement as well. I know full well that, in such a market, creating another game like The Landlord Game would not guarantee success anymore. "That's also why I admire Tengda Games so much. Tengda Games' Boss Pei is one of the rare developers in China, who dare to and are good at smuggling goods in their games. What's more, his games are always so thought-provoking.
"Boss Ma, if you become an outstanding game developer in the future, I also hope that you would understand how to smuggle the right goods in your games, appropriately and with restraint.
"Of course, don't forget to carefully wrap your smuggled goods with exquisite and acceptable packaging. You would definitely fail if you reveal the cold, hard truth to gamers directly."
Pei Qian listened intently, feeling conflicted inside.
He could sense the sorrow of a hero's twilight from He An's speech. He could imagine what He An had been like when he was working on The Landlord Game and other successful games: high-spirited and enjoying both fame and fortune.
Now, facing a market environment like that, he looked like he was retiring nonchalantly, but there was a sense of helplessness in that decision as well.
Still, there was good news. Pei Qian felt like he could definitely incur losses this time!
Did Struggle contain any smuggled goods? Regardless of the answer, Teacher Qiao would surely be able to come up with some smuggled goods. Yet, this game was just as He An had said. The cold, hard truth would be placed right in front of gamers! That was taboo!
According to He An's theory, to successfully smuggle goods, the game had to have appropriate depth, so that the gamers who dug more also learned more. Burying useful content just under the surface would dissuade most gamers, who were only looking to dabble and stop. That was a surefire way to fail!
He An glanced at the clock. "Alright, let's stop here for today.
"I hope this lesson was helpful to you.
"Also, please remember not to place the cold, hard truth directly in front of gamers. It would only backfire."
Afraid that 'Ma Yang' would knowingly commit the crime, he emphasized the lesson once more. Pei Qian nodded. "Alright, Teacher He! I'll keep your advice in mind!"
Chapter 561 Help Boss Pei Publicize
June 24th, Friday... At Dream Realization Ventures...
He Desheng looked at his watch; Boss Pei was about to arrive in less than 10 minutes.
He Desheng could not help but hold his forehead with a slight headache, looking at the slightly anxious Zhang Wang who did not realize the true seriousness of the problem... then at Ma Yang again, who was having fun with the Fully-Automated Bickering Machine.
He did not know what came over Boss Pei today to have given advanced notice to head over to Dream Realization Ventures to understand the progress with the Fully-Automated Bickering Machine.
Therefore, He Desheng called Zhang Wang and Ma Yang over to give a joint update.
That was because He Desheng did not know how to give an update!
Up to now, thousands of Fully-Automated Bickering Machines had been produced. There might still be a gap between what was currently produced and the final goal of 20,000 stocks, but any idiot could see that the situation was not good.
These few thousand Fully-Automated Bickering Machines were all in the warehouse, unable to be sold!
During this time, He Desheng and Zhang Wang had also thought about some publicity methods. For example, publishing them in online shops, advertising appropriately, and selling to some handicraft shops.
However, all of them without exceptiongave them the cold shoulder!
He tried to advertise, but the conversion rate was horribly low. In layman's terms, many people watched the advertisement, but no one bought it at all!
He Desheng sighed helplessly even though he knew this would be the result. In fact, He Desheng felt it was impossible when Zhang Wang first brought this project up.
The shared phone booth previously was useful after all. It could serve as a resting spot, a place to sing, and as a landmark building in the city. It had a completely profitable case.
However, there was absolutely no practical use for this Fully-Automated Bickering Machine!
Moreover, it was too expensive-completely out of the affordability of most consumers if it was to be a handicraft or a sand sculpture toy.
The sales figures were in double digits until now; many of them even returned their goods. They probably felt bored after playing with it for a day and immediately regretted spending 500 yuan on it.
In short, it was terrible. He Desheng was frantic now because Boss Pei would be there soon.
If He Desheng gave the report himself, he would definitely advise Boss Pei to stop the production and try to sell the Fully-Automated Bickering Machine at a reduced price to stop the loss in time.
However, if he were to do that, he would certainly not be immune to criticism.
Therefore, He Desheng called Zhang Wang and Ma Yang here to throw the responsibility to them. Anyway, the Fully-Automated Bickering Machine was a project strongly requested by these two people.
He looked at Ma Yang, having a great time with the Fully-Automated Bickering Machine, and could not help but wonder if Boss Ma really blocked an atomic bomb for Boss Pei. He would be able to know the correct answer today.
Boss Pei arrived as He Desheng was still fretting over it.
He quickly stood up and welcomed him, "Boss
Pei!"
Ma Yang reluctantly put down the Fully-Automated Bickering Machine until the 'continuous bar-lifting' status number disappeared. He then came to the conference table and greeted Pei Qian.
"Brother Qian!" Ma Yang had no shred of worry on his face.
Pei Qian's eyes swept across to see Ma Yang, Zhang Wang, and He Desheng's expressions. He realized that their anxiety was of a good proportion, which gave him instant relief.
It should be rather stable then!
"When is DGE Esports Club going to start?" Pei Qian asked Ma Yang a relatively irrelevant question first.
Ma Yang replied, "Next week. Brother Qian, it is not that we are not active. It takes time for the club to form teams and to try out players."
Pei Qian nodded. "Ok, I understand. Right, let's go into the main topic. How is the progress of the Fully-Automated Bickering Machine project?"
Ma Yang answered immediately, "Very smoothly! So far, thousands of units have been mass-produced. The stocks are very sufficient, and all of them have been carefully inspected. Individual defective goods have all been returned for repair!"
He Desheng could not help but to give a thumbs-up in his heart. You can do it, Boss Ma!
How dare you report good news rather than the bad in front of Boss Pei. Do you treat Boss Pei as a three-year-old, easy to fool? Pei Qian coughed lightly as expected. "What about the sales then?" Zhang Wang stood up. "Boss Pei, I'm willing to bear the responsibility of the poor sales results. It has nothing to do with Boss Ma!"
Pei Qian raised his hand. "Don't make haste. Tell me a specific number of units sold first." Zhang Wang pursed his lips. "Thirty units."
Pei Qian was stunned for two seconds. He nearly blurted out: How could so many units be sold?
There were actually thirty-one idiots who spent 500 yuan to buy this rubbish? The world was filled with all sorts of people!
Zhang Wang paused before adding on. "One of them was delivered to your residence, seven more were returned to us...
"Boss Pei, I'm the one mainly responsible for the loss this time. I'm willing to pay out of my own pocket to bear part of the loss..." Zhang Wang became less confident as he spoke. Obviously, as a great inventor, he was hit hard to find that his invention was so unpopular.
Moreover, even though Zhang Wang had a lot of shares in the shared phone booth project, it was still a drop in the bucket compared to the eight million yuan investment.
Pei Qian frowned immediately.
What do you mean? You want to fight with me over making losses as well?
Dream on!
Pei Qian held a hand up immediately. "What are you talking about? Dream Realization Ventures does venture capitalism. The one who shoulders the risk is definitely Dream Realization Ventures.
"These days, it is all about defrauding investors' money. How can they fill the hole for the investors?
"You don't need to care about anything, just continue producing according to the original plan! Cancel all the advertisements; only leave the online store."
The online store could not be canceled too because the rules required an active sales channel.
Zhang Wang started, "But Boss Pei..."
Pei Qian interrupted him, "But what? The biggest problem with this project now is that the production is too slow. You only produced a few thousand units in a month. When will 20,000 units be produced then?
"Grasp the production capacity and fill our warehouse with the Fully-Automated Bickering Machine as soon as possible. Otherwise, you should take a leaf out of Chang You's book and go personally to the production line!"
"Yes, Boss Pei!" Zhang Wang said with tears in his eyes, deeply moved.
Ma Yang nodded. "See, I told you not to worry a long time ago. How can something as fun as this not be able to sell? Orders will definitely fly off the shelf once we have enough stock and do some publicity!"
Pei Qian passed an approving look. "Well said! Everyone must be like Boss Ma; maintain an optimistic spirit!"
He Desheng was speechless.
He had confirmed it. Boss Ma must have blocked an atomic bomb for Boss Pei before. Moreover, it was probably more than one bomb.
Pei Qian left with great satisfaction after he understood the situation with the Fully-Automated Bickering Machine. He was still thinking if he should just give it all away if the Fully-Automated Bickering Machine could not be sold.
It would still be worth a bit of money even if he sold them as scrap metal; however, it would become a pure loss if he were to give it all away.
Then again, he dismissed that idea immediately.
He should definitely not do that!
What if it became a gadget for training hand speed if he were to send it to DGE Esports Club? What if it became trendy amongst the whales if he were to give them to Boss Li and his clique?
After all, anything that was related to Boss Pei would not escape the fate of being over-interpreted.
Therefore, Pei Qian decided that it was strictly forbidden to make this public. It was best not to give it away as a gift or to advertise. The best solution to them was to leave them in the warehouse to collect dust.
Zhang Wang's mood was very complicated after he watched Boss Pei leave. The shared phone booth would not have succeeded without Boss Pei. However, Boss Pei still trusted him so much even though the Fully-Automated Bickering Machine had such a bad start.
Zhang Wang felt a little ashamed while feeling touched.
He Desheng walked over and patted him on the shoulder. "Boss Pei said that we should mass-produce as much as possible so don't think too much."
He Desheng might not be able to guess the plan that Boss Pei had up his sleeve, but it was definitely right to act according to Boss Pei's requirement. Zhang Wang nodded. "I know, I just feel like I let down Boss Pei. I don't know what else I can do to help Boss Pei."
"Hmm?" He Desheng was taken aback and thought for a while. "Do you have any invention that can be used for the Thriller Hostel? Boss Pei seemed to be focused on this huge haunted house recently."
Zhang Wang frowned slightly. "This... I'm afraid no; the mechanisms in the Thriller Hostel are probably already designed. My earthy inventions are hard to pass up."
"However... does the Thriller Hostel require any publicity?"
He Desheng nodded. "Publicity? Of course, who would reject more publicity?"
Zhang Wang gave it some serious thought. "Then... how about I use the shared phone booth to publicize Thriller Hostel?"The shared phone booth had an outward-facing display within it. It was originally used for advertising and investment promotion so various advertising contents could be advertised there.
He Desheng suddenly replied, "Oh? That is a good idea! Then, I'll send a message to Chen Kangtuo and ask him to send the promotional materials over."
Zhang Wang could not help but be happy. His guilt was relieved.
The Fully-Automated Bickering Machine might not seem to be optimistic currently and would likely cause a loss. However, it would also be a great help to Boss Pei by advertising the opening of the Thriller Hostel in the shared phone booth in the shopping malls of major cities!
Wouldn't that also be repaying Boss Pei's kindness?
Boss Pei should be relieved by this, right?
He Desheng just sent the message before he suddenly thought of another issue. "If that was the case, the 'Top Student, Come Quick' application also has an advertisement module now. Should I also promote Thriller Hostel on it?
"It's a little forced. But it should be okay since all these companies are all under the same umbrella."
Chapter 562 Such a Publicity Method is Perfect!
June 26th, Sunday...
At Fish-Catching Internet Cafe, Handong University branch...
Pei Qian was enjoying his coffee after lunch while swiping through the mind maps of various departments. It was time for the monthly failure lesson again this afternoon.
Qiu Hong spoke about three failure experiences in a row, namely: the boss's random intervention, unable to find talents he wanted, and deviation from common sense. These failures were inspiring for Pei Qian nonetheless. The only problem was how to apply these failure experiences to daily operations.
I wonder what valuable failure Qiu Hong would bring today. How exciting! Pei Qian was drinking his coffee when he saw a familiar figure.
Boss Li!
Boss Li silently turned off the mind map on his laptop and then gave it to the waiter to put it away.
Li Shi naturally saw his action but did not put it to heart. It was normal and reasonable for a business genius like Boss Pei to have business secrets. Li Shi did not want to-nor did he dare -probe. What if he was left out of the pie otherwise?
"Boss Pei, I knew you would be here!"
Li Shi sat down very happily opposite Pei Qian. He took out a folded document from his pocket. "I'm here today mainly to talk briefly about the publicity works of each investor of Thriller Hostel!"
Li Shi was very shrewd.
The investors had done their best in carrying out the various publicity activities for the Thriller Hostel since the last meeting. Publicity had basically covered all corners of Jingzhou and even spread to Handong Province.
They had yet to see Boss Pei publicizing Thriller Hostel until now.
Li Shi brought this proposal to Boss Pei for two purposes: the first was to get credit, to show Boss Pei that the investors had already contributed their parts. Wasn't it time for him to show them his magical powers now?
The second was to test Boss Pei to see if he had other arrangements in mind for the publicity of the Thriller Hostel. The current publicity work seemed far from reaching levels of profitability for the Thriller Hostel.
"Boss Pei, the current publicity approaches are..."
Li Shi spoke about his publicity plan while observing Boss Pei's expression. However, the expression on Boss Pei's face was very confusing. Expectation? Definitely not, it looked like he was bored.
However, to say that he did not care? No, Boss Pei seemed to be listening to it genuinely.
Satisfaction? However, Boss Pei did not seem happy at all?
Dissatisfied? However, Boss Pei's expression had some changes after hearing some more powerful publicity.
How mysterious. Boss Li was pondering while explaining the publicity proposal...
While Pei Qian had nowhere to vent his anger.
Are you seeking death?!
How dare you do so much publicity! That would cause me to lose how much money!
Pei Qian was very resistant to what Boss Li had to say, but he had to listen to understand the current situation-which angered him.
Boss Li was done in no time.
"Boss Pei... what do you think of this publicity arrangement?" Li Shi probed.
Pei Qian: "...okay." What else could he say?
Did I have to present each of you a little red flower?
Li Shi did not know what to say at this point in time. He only felt that Boss Pei seemed to be a little reluctant.
"Boss Pei, to be honest, this publicity proposal is definitely not enough. It will not be able to broadcast Thriller Hostel to the entire country," Li Shi said sincerely. Pei Qian: "..."
You want to broadcast to the entire country? Are you still a human?
Pei Qian did not say anything. He sipped his coffee and looked at the time. Why was it not time for his class yet?
Luckily, it was less than half an hour away. It was impossible for him to go somewhere else first so he had to endure it for the time being. Pei Qian started playing on his cell phone quietly.
Li Shi was in a state of confusion.
Boss Pei, what did you mean? I reported the situation at work and you said it was okay. I told you the current deficiencies, and you fell silent and played with your phone?
Shouldn't you at least take a stand?
Li Shi could only take out his cell phone to ease the awkward atmosphere. By then, he saw a new message from another investor of the Thriller Hostel once he took his cell phone out.
"Boss Li! It had finally arrived, finally arrived!
"The Shared phone booth in the entire country had published the advertisement for the Thriller Hostel!"
"[Image]"
"[Image]"
Li Shi's eyes grew wide immediately.
The first image was a shared phone booth in a certain shopping mall in Jingzhou. The side screen displayed the publicity of the Thriller Hostel. It looked like a looped video.
The second image was from 'Top Student, Come Quick'; there was a recommendation for the Thriller Hostel in the advertisement area.
"So that was it!"
Li Shi banged the table with his fist.
Pei Qian was reaching out for the coffee on the table. This action caused the coffee in the cup to spill out onto his hand. Pei Qian: "..."
The coffee was not hot, but he was shocked.
He took out a paper towel from the table and wiped off the coffee stains from his hand. Pei Qian was a little speechless. "Boss Li, you are a successful investor; what kind of news can make you so excited?"
Li Shi laughed. "Boss Pei, you are really calm! I really cannot embody this sort of mentality. You're so calm because you had a ready plan for publicity right?"
Li Shi recalled Boss Pei's expression, and everything made sense now!
Why did Boss Pei not go to the investor's meeting?
On the one hand, it was for the investors to contribute; on the other hand, it was also because Boss Pei knew every well that no matter what the other investors thought, he could also carry out the publicity works of Thriller Hostel!
What was Boss Pei's expression neither satisfied nor dissatisfied? Why was Boss Pei indifferent to the issues with publicity?
Boss Pei obviously saw the hard work on publicity by the various investors and knew that it was far from enough. It was lacking in the most important national publicity so it was incomplete.
Yet, Boss Pei had long arranged using both the 'Top Student, Come Quick' application and the shared phone booth to perfectly make up for this shortcoming at low cost. That could spread the news of opening the Thriller Hostel throughout the country!
Li Shi had been thinking that publicity had two difficulties.
It seemed like tourists from Jingzhou and Handong Province would not be able to sustain the popularity without advertising to the entire country. However, to broadcast to the entire country would require too high a cost and would have a low price-quality ratio.
However, Boss Pei solved this problem perfectly!
Moreover, all of these stemmed from the plan that Boss Pei started implementing a few months ago so that the shared phone booth spread throughout the country and the Top Student, Come Quick' application had an extremely large user base!
No wonder Boss Pei was so calm.
What was there to be nervous about if everything was within control?
Li Shi could not help but feel proud. What did I say? Boss Pei would definitely take the initiative if everyone showed their hard work to Boss Pei!
Wasn't he taking the initiative now?
As expected, investing in Jingzhou would always be successful if you could understand Boss Pei!
Li Shi nearly wanted to laugh out loud.
Pei Qian did not know the drama going on within Li Shi's heart, but he felt very confused.
What was he talking about? Why was he so happy?
What did you mean by 'had a ready plan for publicity, right'?
Li Shi looked at the publicity documents in his hands and sighed. They would cost a lot of money but were not necessarily effective. He took out a pen from his pocket and wrote a few words in huge characters in a blank area.
The publicity plan was finally completed after writing it!
"Cooperating with Boss Pei is just to win by doing nothing!"
Li Shi left the publicity plan on the table and left happily.
Pei Qian: "?" He curiously reached out for the publicity plan only to see the large characters written in the blank space.
'Shared Top Student + Shared phone booth = Thriller Hostel becoming an instant hit throughout the entire country!'
Pei Qian was stunned for a few seconds and then tried his best to think about the possible connection between these two projects and Thriller Hostel.
However, he could not help but blurt out.
"F*ck!!!"
However, Boss Li had left the internet cafe happily, with no knowledge of this matter.
At the cafe near Handong University...
Qiu Hong asked with concern, "Boss Ma, you don't look too well. Are you alright?"
Pei Qian smiled reluctantly. "Nothing, I just met with some unhappy stuff..."
Qiu Hong nodded. "I know instantly that Boss Ma is obsessed with work and is overthinking. Relax and open your views, you will be happier in life.
"Did Boss Ma use the three experiences that I shared previously?" Pei Qian nodded. "Kind of."
Qiu Hong did not continue probing and proceeded. "Alright, let's continue on to the matter at hand.
"The failure experience that I want to talk about today is that the Research and Development team is not united. That can be seen from a large project where a certain major western manufacturer was forced out.
"This manufacturer rarely got involved in new game types. Their success was mainly based on existing game types. Its employees are experienced players so it is very important to be united in 'replicating and optimizing the game experience'. "However, once they were to set foot in an entirely new field, such a model would become ineffective.
"No one had defined this brand new game type. Designers had lost their reference. It was difficult for the boss to make up his mind to hand over this project to a certain person. However, no one could be convinced of such a method.
"Once the project reached this point, the project lost its goal. Talented developers would only continue to argue, modify, and iterate. The project was fated to fail."
Pei Qian was speechless. He seemed to have solved a hidden danger that might have caused the project to fail perfectly. The project team was not united?
Hmm... there did not seem to be such a problem in Tengda.
That was because everyone would strictly abide by Boss Pei's requirements. It might be a complete misunderstanding, but it ensured that everyone was united and knew what the ultimate form of this game was.
However, could he reverse the experience and use it? Try to create some inconsistencies within the project team?
Pei Qian could not help but fall into deep thought.
Chapter 563 A Talk on How to View Wealth
June 27th, Monday...
In the counselor Zhang Wei's office at Handong University...
"Another donation? You want to add another five million yuan?" Zhang Wei's jaw hung open as he thought about what to say in response.
Pei Qian had visited his office again this afternoon, saying that he wanted to continue giving allowance to the needy students that he had helped earlier. In addition, he wanted to donate another five million yuan.
The previous five million yuan had been distributed to two thousand students. They had been given a five hundred yuan allowance every month for five months. The sum had been added to their campus cards to pay their basic living expenses.
That was back in December. Until now, five months had passed, and Pei Qian's donation was coming just in time to continue distributing the allowance. On top of that, Pei Qian wanted to donate another five million yuan, to be distributed as a type of scholarship.
The current name list would still form the foundation, and five hundred students with outstanding academic results would be given a scholarship of ten thousand yuan each.
Pei Qian had the same aim as before. He specifically wanted to help the needy and not let the money go to waste.
There were many poor people in the world. Although there were many types of charitable causes, giving money to different groups of people would yield different effects. Some people did not have sufficient awareness. Giving them money alone would not do much to change their poor lives.
For needy students—especially poor students who had outstanding academic results, obtaining this sum of money could be life-changing. It would count as a significant contribution to society.
Now, Pei Qian was allowed to donate a total of ten million yuan. It looked like a lot of money, but compared to the number of poor people who desperately needed financial aid in this world, that sum was still peanuts.
His primary aim was to ensure that the money went to people who needed it most. "Alright, Teacher Zhang. If there's nothing else, I'll make a move first."
Pei Qian had only come here to settle the donation. Now that it was done, he could go back and worry about how to incur losses.
Zhang Wang and He Desheng had started advertising the Thriller Hostel in the shared phone booths and on 'Top Student, Come Quick'. This was a huge blow to Pei Qian.
"Hey, wait, wait!"
Zhang Wei quickly stopped Pei Qian. "Wait, there's something else." Pei Qian: "Oh?"
Zhang Wei smiled. "Of course, I am all for your donations being used to improve the lives of needy students in this school. However... have you forgotten about the talk I asked you to do earlier?"
Pei Qian: "..."
He had indeed forgotten.
When he made the first donation, Zhang Wei had said that he hoped Pei Qian would give a talk to share his entrepreneurial experience with the seniors.
After all, to Zhang Wei, Pei Qian was a proper business genius. He would never believe that the latter had no business experience to share at all.
Yet, Pei Qian was helpless. He really didn't have any experience to share!
What's more, Pei Qian did not want to reveal his face in front of all of his seniors. He did not want to become famous, or his schoolmates would be asking him for jobs no matter where he went.
However, this was the second time that Zhang Wei was bringing this up. Pei Qian had escaped the first time, but rejecting him again did not feel appropriate.
Pei Qian pondered for a moment and said, "Well... how about this?
"I'll get someone to speak on my behalf, but I'll write the script. That would be equivalent to me going up on stage to speak, right?
"As for what the speech would be about...
"I have nothing much to say about employment or entrepreneurship. Teacher Zhang, you know that chance plays a huge part in entrepreneurship. My experience cannot be replicated. If I share it, it could mislead others.
"As for employment... a single test is used throughout Tengda. Trying to answer different types of questions is the best method.
"What if... We talk to the needy students? The talk's title would be 'I hope you use the money well'."
Zhang Wei pondered this for a moment, thinking that it made sense.
Entrepreneurial experiences could not be replicated. The more Pei Qian said, the more likely the students would be misled. Employment would be even worse. Those were all taken care of by the HR department, and Pei Qian never interfered with their work.
He had already donated fifteen million yuan to the needy students in school. Although each person was not getting that much, that was not a small sum of money.
It was reasonable for Pei Qian to give a talk, asking them to make good use of the money. In fact, it would be more fitting than sharing his entrepreneurial experience.
Zhang Wei nodded. "Alright, I'll make the necessary arrangements. Once I'm done, I'll send the time and location to your cell phone."
After walking out of Zhang Wei's office, Pei Qian called Tang Yishu.
"Little Tang, go and give a talk to the needy students that Tengda is sponsoring on my behalf.
"What? You're shy? No way. This is your mission. You have to go.
"Script? Oh, don't worry. I'll send it to you before the talk.
"Alright, that's set, then."
After hanging up, Pei Qian called Assistant Xin.
"Come up with a script for needy students for me. I have no requests for the content. Just come up with something and tell them to make good use of their newfound wealth or something "When can you finish it?
"Tomorrow morning? Alright, once you're done, send it straight to Little Tang."
After hanging up, Pei Qian felt more relaxed.
He was done! That was easy!
Actually, Pei Qian had not thought too much. After all, he was not doing charity to put on a show, and he was not trying to build his reputation either. He was purely trying to help the needy students and spend the maximum amount of money that the System allowed for charity while he was at it.
The only thing he was worried about was that the needy students would spend the money on the wrong things after getting a hold of it.
Thus, he wanted the talk to guide the needy students to the correct path as much as possible.
Of course, exactly what kind of effect it would have in reality depended on how Assistant Xin's script turned out.
...
The next afternoon...
At the Science Hall of Handong University...
This was the biggest hall in Handong University, and it could accommodate more than two thousand people. Ordinarily, it was used for large-scale talks, orientation nights, theaters, and dramas, and so on.
At that moment, almost all needy students were present. Apart from a few seats in the row right at the back, every single seat in the hall was filled. Logically, a horizontal banner that said the title of the talk should have been put up on stage.
However, Pei Qian's script had not been done until the last minute. Thus, he had had no time to think about what to write on the horizontal banner.
Still, that was not the main point, as long as everyone knew what they were there for.
Before the talk began, some needy students began discussing off-stage.
"I heard that today's talk would be about how to view wealth?"
"There's nothing wrong with our view on wealth, is there?"
"I wouldn't say that. I see some needy students eating bread every day and talking about buying Pineapple cell phones."
"That's right, they should talk about it. What if people spent all that money on shoes, bags, and cell phones? Would they still be human?"
Zhang Wei was also seated off-stage, inwardly exclaiming at how simple the event was. He had initially intended to add a few more items to the program. After all, Pei Qian was donating ten million yuan. Having some sort of ceremony would not be overboard.
However, Pei Qian resolutely rejected the idea. Time and time again, he emphasized that he wanted a simple talk and nothing more. Otherwise, he would have canceled the talk altogether.
Zhang Wei had been left with no other option but to go along with Pei Qian's wishes.
"I wonder who Pei Qian got to speak. The Vice President of the company? He would at least have sent the head of the HR department, right?
"Eh, that's strange... Where's Little Tang?"
Zhang Wei suddenly recalled that Little Tang was a needy student as well. Yet, why hadn't he seen her yet?
Just as he was feeling confused, he spotted Tang Yishu holding a script, walking out from backstage and towards the podium in the middle.
Zhang Wei: "..."
Tang Yishu stood in the middle of the stage, looking down at the crowd seated in darkness. Now, she was feeling even more nervous than before.
When she came to rehearse in the morning, two microphones had failed for no apparent reason. When the staff prepared to send them for repair, the microphones went back to normal. It had all been extremely confusing.
Now, Tang Yishu wanted nothing else but for the microphones not to malfunction again.
"F-Fellow needy students ...
"Good afternoon to you all."
Tang Yishu started speaking very carefully. Fortunately, the microphones were all normal. Her bad luck seemed to have dissipated with the few obstacles that she had met in the morning. "Boss Pei—the man who donated the living allowance and scholarships—is extremely busy today, and so he's unable to come down. Thus, I will read this letter addressed to all of you on his behalf. I hope all of you will learn something from it."
Tang Yishu paused and then started reading the script in her hands clearly.
"Juniors, I hope you are well. I'm sorry that I cannot be there because of my busy schedule. I can only convey my intentions and hopes and share some of my personal experiences with you through this letter.
"Many of you might think that I want to talk to you about how to use the money you have.
"Perhaps some of you are worried that those who obtain the scholarship money would spend it on meaningless things that could only intensify one's materialism.
"However, I'm sure all of you already know this principle. I don't want to belabor the point.
"I want to explore how we should view wealth from another angle. That is, what are the true riches that we possess and that we should cherish?
"Most of you seated here probably would not think that you once had, or that you now have, an outstanding amount of riches. I believe all of you have been confused about this before: how can I become wealthy? "Some of you spend most of your energy seeking recruitment to become wealthy. As a result, your academic results get affected.
"Some of you don't dare to fill your stomachs or buy necessities because of your poverty. Like a guardian of cash, you put away all of your money. It's as if your sense of security diminishes with every cent that you spend.
"I want to tell all of you that that is the wrong view of wealth.
"Please think about this: What are you willing to exchange for wealth?
"Imagine that you are a blacksmith living in ancient times. One day, you run out of food. To get grain, there are three things you could do:
"Plant your own.
"Rob and steal.
"Create farming tools and trade with farmers.
"Most people would choose the third option. All of you would realize that constantly manufacturing metal equipment and trading would help you to get richer. Thus, the foundation of accumulating wealth is 'trade'. "If you choose to plant yourselves, rob, or steal, would you be choosing not to trade?
"That's not true.
"If you choose the first option, you would be trading your time, effort, and farming experience. If you choose the second option, you would be trading your fighting skills, taking risks, carrying weapons, and preparing for crime.
"No matter which you choose, you would be trading. What's more, what you give would not be any less valuable than if you manufactured farming tools.
"Every decision you make to gather wealth would amount to a trade.
"If you take away what is destined to be and the things that you have no control over, what is wealth that we truly possess and can truly trade?
"Is it money? No, that does not really belong to us. That is just a numerical representation of the wealth you have already given away.
"Is it time? No, the passage of time cannot be shifted by human will.
"Is it our bodies? That is indeed wealth that you own, but if you trade it for money, you would become miserable.
"The greatest wealth that anyone has is 'focus' or 'energy'.
"If you want to earn money by working, it would be of no use if you just sit in the office. You have to focus on your work and apply your knowledge to solve problems. That knowledge would be acquired if you focused in class and at work.
"Aside from everything else that we cannot control, the only wealth that we really have is our focus.
"This is the view on wealth that I want to share with you today: how should we make use of our focus?
"Many people might waste it away. Many people's focus might be taken away by businessmen with selfish motives. Some people might focus on big data analysis.
"Many students complain about being born poor and about life being unfair. This kind of resentment would destroy you. It will waste your focus and cause your life to fail.
"If we want to change our fate, we have to invest our focus on ourselves.
"Read a book for an hour every day. Even if you only improve by one percent—a year later, you would be 38 times better than you used to be.
"That's why I hope that the students who receive this sum of money would not store all of it away. Don't feel reluctant to spend it, but don't buy meaningless things to satisfy your own materialism either. Even more so, don't spend it on entertaining activities that would distract and consume you.
"Spend it on what you need most: self-improvement.
"Always keep this in mind: focus is our most valuable resource. I hope all of you would use it wisely and cherish it properly.
"That's the right way to view wealth."
Chapter 564 Boss Pei's Conflicting Sides
The entire hall burst into applause.
Tang Yishu bowed, embarrassed. Then, she walked briskly off the stage. However, when she reached backstage, she tripped on a wire on the ground. Fortunately, she had been prepared and grabbed the curtains by the side. It was a false scare.
The students did not see that. As they continued to clap, they thought about the talk that they had just heard.
"That makes so much sense. The most valuable resource we have is not money, but our focus." "He's encouraging us to spend the money on improving ourselves and to make better use of our focus. That talk was much better than those that encourage us to scrimp, save, or 'buy things that you like'!"
"Boss Pei really did not become so successful by chance!"
"Did anyone record that?"
"I did! I'll transcribe it and post it on the campus forum. After that, we can try to digest it more!"
The students had thought that this talk would be no different from other talks that they had attended on how to view wealth. They had expected the focus to be on how to spend their money.
Naturally, most people would think about that when they thought about 'wealth'.
However, Boss Pei's letter had provided a completely new perspective to them: they had to learn how to put their focus to good use. That was because, in reality, man had to use their own focus to earn money.
Squandering one's focus was more terrifying than squandering one's money. The latter would cause one to lose the money on hand, but the former would cause one to lose the ability to create value.
The talk was very short. There were no long theories or hardcore preaching. All it had done was providing a whole new perspective that most people would not have noticed. Thus, it was much more acceptable to ordinary people.
June 29th, Wednesday...
At Tengda Corporation's HR department...
Wu Bin and Cui Geng were sorting out the manuscripts that they had received recently.
Both of them had divided the tasks very clearly. Wu Bin was in charge of gathering material and confirming the interviewees while Cui Geng was in charge of transcribing the recording and organizing everything systematically. The material would become interpretations of the Tengda spirit. At the same time, they would serve as a record of the way Boss Pei handled problems. "The transcript of Boss Pei's speech at Handong University has become very popular on the campus forum. Should we consider adding that to our current materials?" Cui Geng asked.
Wu Bin considered this and then shook his head. "There's no rush.
"The transcript's sphere of influence is merely within Handong University. What's more, strictly speaking, the transcript was only a theory. Without specific examples, it would have very little persuasive power.
"Most importantly, Boss Pei was not the one who wrote the script. It did contain elements of what Boss Pei would have said, but Boss Pei is too busy. The script was most likely done by Assistant Xin."
After pondering for a moment, Cui Geng said, "Even so, the script expresses Boss Pei's mindset. It's about the same."
Wu Bin thought about this and said, "Hmm... that's true. Well, we can take that factor into consideration, but we would have to screen the materials very carefully. After all, what we want to create is notes on the Tengda spirit. Everything that we say has to be justified."
Both men's progress was not fast. In fact, it was quite slow.
That was because they wanted to use concrete examples to explain Boss Pei's mindset and the Tengda spirit. Of course, they had to avoid ambiguous interpretations, and they had to keep all of their content well-documented.
For example, Boss Li and the other investors' evaluations could be accepted as evidence. Concrete things that Boss Pei had done could also be accepted as evidence. If both were taken together, the contents would be more realistic and reliable.
However, it would not be appropriate to include a mere transcript of a speech in the book until there was corroborative evidence. "It's time to go."
Wu Bin glanced at his watch. They were supposed to interview Liang Qingfan today, and it was almost time to get going.
Wu Bin had carefully selected the interviewees.
Boss Li of Fu Hui Investments could provide the perspective of Boss Pei's business competitor and partner. On the other hand, Liang Qingfan could provide the perspective of an elite professional from another field, who had just started working with Boss Pei. Among all the department heads, Liang Qingfan had interacted with Boss Pei the least. Maybe they could obtain some sort of inspiration from his first impressions.
Half an hour later, Wu Bin and Cui Geng arrived at Block 9 of Binhu District.
The two buildings there were being urgently constructed. From the outside, one could tell that the buildings were dilapidated and had been unoccupied for a couple of years. As the construction team rushed this project, drilling of holes in the ground and smashing of walls could be heard from time to time.
After waiting downstairs for two minutes, Liang Qingfan came downstairs with a safety helmet on.
He handed his safety helmet to one of the workers on-site and then smiled at Wu Bin and Cui Geng. "The construction site is a mess. Let's go to the nearby park."
The three of them arrived at the man-made lake in the park and sat down on a long bench.
Wu Bin said, "Mr. Liang, we are here today mainly to ask about your impression of Boss Pei."
Before this, Wu Bin had already reached out to Liang Qingfan over the phone. Thus, both men were prepared for today's interview. Liang Qingfan gazed at the subtle ripples in the lake, feeling sorrowful. "Honestly, at this moment, I don't understand Boss Pei at all."
Wu Bin smiled. "It's alright, that's normal. If Boss Pei were so easy to understand, he would not be called Boss Pei.
"We want to interview different people to collect as different groups of people's impressions of Boss Pei as possible. After that, we want to bring all of those impressions together to get a full and complete picture.
"We also interviewed Boss Pei's business competitor and partner before this and gained a lot of insight.
"As employees of Tengda Corporation who have been working under Boss Pei for a long time, we only get to see one side of him.
"You just joined Tengda Corporation, and you have not worked with Boss Pei for very long. Your first impression of him would definitely give us a fresh perspective."
Liang Qingfan nodded. "Alright, let me explain it briefly.
"Right now, I am sure of something: With regard to certain concepts, Boss Pei is on the exact same page as me, and many other outstanding designers. In other words, Boss Pei is one who pursues the best.
"That was something I learned when we were working on the renovation of the Sloth Apartments."
Liang Qingfan briefly described how the first Sloth Apartments had been renovated and decorated. He especially emphasized how Boss Pei abandoned practicality and livability in his pursuit of what he thought was best-extreme minimalism.
"It is the same for these apartments as well. "Boss Pei's thinking is exactly opposite of ordinary people's. When ordinary people choose apartments, they would focus on things like location and ability to appreciate. On the other hand, they would save as much as they can on renovation. After all, they would be considering renting the apartments out and not living in them.
"Yet, Boss Pei does the exact opposite. He doesn't seem to care about the apartments' location and ability to appreciate. Instead, the amount that he's spending on renovations is close to half the cost price of the apartments themselves.
"I think this is enough to show that Boss Pei's pursuit of artistry is very extreme and never-ending "Boss Pei loves extreme minimalism, and so he injects his own personal preferences into the Sloth Apartments project.
MA
"Although there's a huge possibility that doing so would lead to failure, Boss Pei shows no intention of backing down. Instead, he insists on his own pursuit of extreme artistry..."
At that point, Wu Bin frowned.
Liang Qingfan keenly noticed this. Thus, he paused and waited for Wu Bin to respond.
After much consideration, Wu Bin finally said, "But... that directly conflicts the way that Boss Li describes Boss Pei.
"According to Boss Li, Boss Pei is a calm and ruthless man. He's so calm that he can address any problem objectively and logically and that allows him to make the right decisions.
"In other words, Boss Pei should be choosing extreme minimalism based on business acumen. He must think that doing this would lead to great success.
"What's more, Boss Li's conclusion is backed by different examples. It is most likely reliable."
Liang Qingfan remained silent for a while. "I think it is impossible for Sloth Apartments to achieve 'greater success'. At best, it would be a small and beautiful project that earns a reputation but not profit."
Wu Bin fell silent once again.
Both parties seemed to make sense. Seeing that the interview had resulted in a deadlock, Cui Geng said, "Maybe... both of those impressions of Boss Pei don't conflict. Perhaps both of them are different aspects of Boss Pei that blend together perfectly in ways that we cannot see. "It's just like how Boss Pei can always find a way to turn decay into magic and cause seemingly-impossible projects to become popular overnight." Wu Bin nodded. "Yes... that makes sense. We can look deeper into these conflicting views..."
July 1st, Friday... Thriller Hostel had officially been completed!
Pei Qian stood at the entrance of the old industrial zone-no, Thriller Hostel-feeling very conflicted inside.
When he visited before, the entire project was still under intense construction. There were scaffolding and various construction materials everywhere, and it looked like a full-blown construction site. Pei Qian could hardly detect any change. Yet, now, Thriller Hostel and all of its surrounding facilities had been completed. They were ready to welcome their first customers!
Although Pei Qian had been prepared for this before, seeing it before his eyes was still a huge blow.
Only a few short months had passed, but the change was huge! This was probably the shock that an infrastructure freak would cause.
Of course, Pei Qian was only thinking this way because Boss Li and the others had completely disrupted his original plan with their antics.
Pei Qian's original plan had been to build a loss-incurring haunted house that no one would care about in the corner of a barren and run-down old industrial zone.
Yet, Boss Li and the other investors had built facilities around the haunted house and even repaired the surrounding ground. At once, the entire place looked different.
Pei Qian felt extremely uncertain.
It looked so reliable now. Would it still incur losses?
He had worked so hard over two cycles for nothing...
Pei Qian sighed and walked in.