Meng Chang pressed the remote control in his hand and a picture appeared on the PowerPoint. It was a set of special cutlery.
The white porcelain plate and black sandalwood chopsticks looked very high-class.
"The second is to work on the cutlery and dining environment.
"Currently, we are using paper bowls and bamboo sticks to eat cold noodles. It is very unhygienic, unhealthy and not high-class enough. We need to produce a special set of cutlery for eating cold noodles. For example, we can make them look exactly like sushi!"
"The long, bluish-white porcelain plates are divided into small compartments. They are placed neatly, and each piece is cut equally wide. Each pair of chopsticks is made of black sandalwood with the logo of 'Cold Face Lady' carved on it. Every customer's chopsticks are brand new. After eating, customers can choose to take their chopsticks away to collect them."
"In terms of the dining environment, it is naturally spacious, bright, and comfortable. Since it is called 'Cold-Faced Lady', the waiters will all be beautiful ladies. It would bring the customers an excellent dining experience."
"The second milestone would be to start marketing. We will start a series of marketing activities such as sports cars delivering cold noodles, beautiful celebrities delivering cold noodles, Gourmet connoisseurs tasting cold noodles, the National Roast Cold Noodles Competition, and so on to help 'Cold-Faced Lady' to quickly become famous across the country!"
"All in all, all of these publicity would emphasize the cultural heritage and brand value of the 'Cold-Faced Lady'. Users would be very curious about how delicious the cold noodles would be.
"Use marketing to drive discussions, use traffic to generate popularity, and attract more funds. From there, we can open the branches of 'Cold-Faced Lady' to the entire country and create a country's food chain brand!"
"At the same time, our marketing model will fully utilize the Internet. We will cast aside the constraints of 'public traffic' and strive for 'private traffic'. We will make every customer our marketing node and establish an unprecedented and extremely reliable marketing network!"
"The third milestone would be to fully embrace the internet ecology and use 'multi-dimensional fusion' to open up the barrier between the online and offline, catering and internet, users and platforms!"
"Tengda Corporation has Fish-Catching Take-Out, nameless restaurants, and other catering departments. It also has internet cafes, express delivery companies, apartments, and other physical industries. At the same time, it also has the 'Tengda Life App'. It has extremely strong software development capabilities."
"Once the 'Cold-Faced Lady' succeeds and links up with Tengda's businesses, it would help each other, resulting in a chemical reaction!"
"By combining the ecology of food, internet services, cultural transmission, finance, cell phone and the like, and relying on Tengda's existing industries to fully attract the capital from the outside world, using the internet to create the spirit of craftsmen, we can alight this dream!"
"In short, the 'Cold-Faced Lady' is only the first milestone of the entire plan, but it is also an important milestone."
"We don't need much funds in the early stages. We only need five million yuan for the research and development of the formulas and the operations of the flagship store. It won't be too late to invest in Tengda after the 'Cold-Faced Lady' receives good response and returns."
Meng Chang looked at He Desheng confidently after throwing out the rare terms.
If he succeeded, he succeeded. If he failed, there was nothing else he could do.
Meng Chang was very confident in his eloquence and the contents of the PowerPoint. If the other party believed him, he would definitely take out five million yuan without any hesitation; if he didn't, it would be useless no matter how much he said.
He Desheng's tea was almost finished. He remained silent for a moment and did not reply immediately.
It sounded like a good project.
Would its business model definitely succeed? That was definitely not the case. Selling cold noodles and becoming a national chain? So that the entire country's citizens could eat expensive, dream-filled cold noodles at any time?
It was not entirely impossible, but the possibility was not that high.
That did sound ridiculous.
The simplest logic was that it was definitely not a problem to eat cold noodles occasionally as a snack. However, no one could eat it for every meal.
However, He Desheng was an investor. He knew very well that most of the internet business models did not intend to make money steadily.
Sometimes, you could earn money from the users, and so could the investors. There was no difference.
Some internet companies did not manage to find a profitable model and kept burning money. However, as long as people believed in it and as long as they had the capital, they could always find people to pick it up.
It did not matter if it was not profitable. As long as he could successfully sell it to willing parties, it would still be profitable!
It would be considered a success as long as he was not the last one to pick it up.
Of course, He Desheng knew very well that Meng Chang would not say that out loud. Not even in a place where there were only the two of them.
However, everyone had the same thought.
From a pure investor's point of view, He Desheng had two ways to invest in this project:
The first was that 'Cold-Faced Lady' was indeed as Meng Chang had said. Every shop in the country would sell tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of servings of cold noodles every day, earning profits.
The other would be that the 'Cold-Faced Lady' had not achieved its first milestone but they successfully sold it to a large company to take over. It might not be profitable but it would also be considered a success.
Putting everything else aside, Meng Chang's PowerPoint, his eloquence, his marketing idea, and his confidence in the entire business model...
He Desheng also felt that he was worth the five million yuan investment.
However...
After a moment of silence, He Desheng said, "This project is very good, but... we can only invest two million yuan."
Meng Chang was stunned. "Huh?"
He had not expected the script to develop this way.
In his opinion, Dream Realization Ventures either agreed to give five million yuan or nothing.
They would definitely satisfy his requirements if they agreed with him and would just reject him if they didn't.
What did giving half mean?
There was no way Dream Realization Ventures and Boss Pei could be lacking three million yuan.
What's more, Boss He had not even asked Boss Pei for his approval before he decided?
Meng Chang knew very well that the real controller of Dream Realization Ventures was Boss Pei. The shared phone booths, Fully-Automated Bickering Machine, Top Student, Come Quick, and the like had all been invested by Boss Pei.
Wasn't it a bit too much when he had spoken for so long and done so well but it wasn't reported to Boss Pei?
Meng Chang quickly said, "Boss He, two million yuan is a little... not enough. Why don't you take some time to report to Boss Pei and fight for it?"
He Desheng smiled and shook his head. "To be honest, this is a rule set by Boss Pei."
"If you had come half a year earlier, I would have reported your proposal to Boss Pei immediately."
"Unfortunately, Boss Pei had just set a new rule for Dream Realization Ventures some time ago. He is no longer directly involved in the investment. The upper limit of our investment for each project is determined by the size of your company."
"Your concept is good, but considering the company's regulations, I can only invest two million yuan."
Meng Chang was tongue-tied and did not know what to say.
He went on and on for a long time. From Boss He's expression and gaze, it was obvious that he was convinced by me and thought highly of me. However, he could only give me two million yuan and not a single cent more?
This half-baked number was unbearable.
What's more, Boss He did not seem to be picking or bargaining.
Ordinary people would definitely be satisfied with this model since they were willing to pay two million yuan. However, they would also be dissatisfied with something.
If that was the situation, they could negotiate again. If they were dissatisfied with the business model, they could change it until they were satisfied to make it up to five million yuan in total.
However, that was not the case for Boss He. He did not intend to go deeper into the conversation nor did he intend to add more money. His attitude seemed to be saying, "Just this two million yuan. Take it and scram."
This made Meng Chang very uncomfortable.
However, he could not say much. It would be easy to give himself away if he acted too eager.
Two million yuan might be a little tight, but at the very least, he would be able to obtain the halo of 'Boss Pei's Investment'. At the very least, he would be able to think of other ways to bluff others.
After some consideration, Meng Chang nodded. "Alright, thank you, Boss He! However, Boss He, I want to ask if you're still willing to continue investing in the company if all the money were spent?"
The first investment would only be two million yuan, while it was a little tight, it was still acceptable.
The key was whether he would be willing to continue investing.
He Desheng pondered for a moment and answered truthfully, "Whether or not we want to continue our investment depends on the actual operation. As for the amount of investments for a second wave of invest, I need to report it to Boss Pei. Theoretically, there should be no limit."
The so-called 'actual operations' depended on whether it was making profits or losses. That was the only measure.
According to Boss Pei's requirements, he would sell his shares and leave immediately if it earned money. If it lost money, he would continue to invest. How much he would invest would be up to Boss Pei.
However, he could not tell outsiders that.
Who knew what these people would do if he made it clear that he would continue to invest after losing money!
Therefore, he had to be more reserved. "We'll decide whether to continue to invest based on the actual operating situation."
However, Meng Chang felt that there was another meaning to those words.
He frowned as his brain worked furiously.
"According to the actual operation..."
"Then, the data and profits would definitely be taken into consideration?"
"You should have said so earlier. That would have been easier!"
"First, I have to think of ways to finance and open a store under the guise of 'Boss Pei's Investment'. We have to burn money to create data and generate popularity in the first stage. While we would have to spend a lot of money and it is not profitable, as long as the data is good, Tengda will continue to invest a huge sum of money."
"After that, I will continue to pull in more investments through Boss Pei's investments. In the second stage, I'll work hard to generate revenue and create the illusion that we are generating profits. That will push the company's valuation to inflate rapidly."
"There are both data and profits. Boss Pei and the other companies will definitely continue investing. When that time comes, the value of the 'Cold-Faced Lady' will expand to the maximum and attract a huge amount of funds. Then, we'll find ways for big companies to take over the business or..."
The more Meng Chang thought about it, the happier he became.
It would be great as long as Dream Realization Ventures continued to pursue investments in the future!
The original plan could still be successfully implemented.
With that thought, Meng Chang shook He Desheng's hand tightly. "Alright, Boss He. I hope we can work well together!"
"Let's set this dream alight together!"
Chapter 726: Designated Finance Director
Meng Chang prepared to leave after they shook hands.
To him, even though he had only two million yuan from his original goal of five million yuan, he had already achieved his goal of 'freeloading off Boss Pei's halo'. What's more, Boss Pei would continue to pursue investments in the future. There was no need for him to worry about the amount now.
What's more, Meng Chang had not even met Boss Pei yet.
Meng Chang felt that Boss Pei was very busy with work and he himself was not famous so it was reasonable that he could not meet him yet.
Once the 'Cold-Faced Lady' brand was done, he would bring all sorts of data and reports over. That would be very persuasive and Boss Pei would definitely take some time to meet him.
As long as they met, Meng Chang believed that he could persuade Boss Pei to invest more money with his glib of the tongue.
Therefore, he had basically achieved his goal today and could go back and prepare.
However, just as he was about to leave, He Desheng said, "Wait, I forgot to mention something."
Meng Chang stopped in her tracks. "Oh, please go ahead, Boss He."
He Desheng said, "According to Boss Pei's requirements, the companies we invest in must accept some of our conditions.
"First, it has to be law-abiding and honest.
"Secondly, we have to spend all our money on the operations of the company and normal operations. We cannot give the boss his own salary, and we cannot spend our money on personal consumption. Of course, we cannot interfere with the other investors' money.
"Given the above two points, we will assign a finance director to be your company's finance director. That must be explained in advance."
He Desheng smiled and sounded amicable.
These rules had been set by Boss Pei when he set the investment model for 'foolish people with too much money'. He Desheng was just going through the process and doing business as usual.
This was a very common phenomenon in the investment industry. After all, investors were not stupid. They would definitely not be able to accept it if they invested their own money only to find that the founders squandered everything on vice.
It was definitely the same for Boss Pei.
These founders could burn money, but they had to do things.
Otherwise, these founders would be living a good life, while Boss Pei would be eating sh*t. This mentality would collapse.
Therefore, Dream Realization Ventures had strict requirements for finance.
Sending one of his own people to be the finance director meant that the flow of money in this company could not escape Tengda's eyes. Once something went wrong, He Desheng could report it to Boss Pei immediately.
For most law-abiding entrepreneurs, this was not a restriction. They could even get a professional financial director without paying.
However, that was not the case for entrepreneurs with ulterior motives.
Meng Chang hesitated.
He knew that different investors had different ways of managing their investments. Some would assign the finance director to the core team of the company, some would request to have a board meeting every month, some would ask the invested company to establish various regulatory and reporting systems. However, there were also some who would not give a damn after spending money. They would only have a board meeting every year or half, or find an investment assistant to hold a position...
There were all sorts of methods. The key was the rules of this investment firm.
At first, Meng Chang thought that Boss Pei's investment firm would be more lax. However, it seemed like it was the strictest in the area of finances.
This slightly disrupted his plan.
After all, running away with the money was originally one of his options.
He could not run away just because he wanted to. He had to go through a series of complicated operations. It would be easier if the finance department was managed by himself. However, If he did anything while Tengda's people were in his finance team, he might be invited to the small dark room for tea.
However, after weighing the pros and cons, he felt that he still had to accept the investment.
First of all, Dream Realization Ventures' request was not too much. Many investors would have similar requests. What's more, Dream Realization Ventures only had strict financial management and did not interfere with the company's specific management strategy. Overall, this was a very loose and generous investment condition.
If Meng Chang rejected it, he might be suspected. Once this matter got out, it would be even harder for him to get money from other investors.
Second, even if he completely gave up on the option of running away with the funds, Meng Chang had other ways to benefit himself.
For example, he could expand the company and find a big company to take over the business. That would be completely within the reasonable rules and he could also push the blame to the big company.
Even though taking the money and running away would only earn him money, it also meant that he would not be able to return to China for the rest of his life. He would also be left with a bad reputation. It was not the best choice. Meng Chang did not want to take this path unless he had no other choice.
Of course, finding a big company to take over the business and for the founder to extricate himself would be a huge problem.
That was because many large companies would be interested in the founder's entrepreneurial ability after taking over. They would force the founder to keep all of his shares locked and not sell them. The founder would then continue to manage the company and work for himself.
However, there were no absolutes in this world. Some large companies preferred to assign their own employees to take over the company because they trusted their own employees' management skills more.
As long as Meng Chang could find such a company, he could still leave safely.
Therefore, after weighing the pros and cons quickly, Meng Chang felt that he had to accept the investment.
The risks were huge but the benefits were also huge.
Most importantly, Meng Chang had prepared for so long just for this opportunity. He was very unwilling to give up now.
A large part of the reason why people like Meng Chang could gain the favor of investors was because of their gambling characteristics.
If he won the bet, his net worth would easily exceed a hundred million; if he lost the bet, he would easily be in debt of a hundred million.
Therefore, it was difficult for Meng Chang to give up on such a huge gamble.
Meng Chang hesitated for a moment before squeezing out a smile. "Of course, that's necessary."
He Desheng nodded in satisfaction. "Alright, I hope we can work well together!"
...
At the same time, Pei Qian was drinking coffee and yawning in Fish-Catching Internet Cafe.
He was still thinking about how he should spend the money from selling the GPL quota.
At that moment, his cell phone rang.
It was Zhang Yuan.
"Boss Pei, the bosses of those three clubs have come personally. They hope to meet you."
Pei Qian was stunned. "You mean the club owners who sold GOG's branch?"
Zhang Yuan: "Yes. They are at DGE Club now. Do you have time to meet them?"
Pei Qian fell silent.
He definitely had time, and a lot of it.
The key was what were the three bosses here for.
After some thought, Pei Qian asked, "Are they trying to break the contract?"
Zhang Yuan: "They don't dare to break the contract. They're probably here to admit defeat."
In theory, these three clubs could indeed fork out three million yuan to breach the contract and decide not to sell their GOG's branch.
However, the problem was that not selling did not mean that they had a slot in the GPL!
From the beginning to the end, Pei Qian did not hand over the GPL slots to them in black and white. He only promised verbally that these clubs would "have" slots for the GPL. What's more, the prerequisite was that they had to accept various terms from Tengda's E-Sports Department, including the standard contract.
The only reason why they were allowed to transfer the GPL slot was because they had worked together before. That was to give these clubs some face.
If these clubs really fell out, Pei Qian could naturally ignore them and give the three GPL spots to someone else.
Of course, that was under the worst circumstances.
If he did that, the three clubs would not get any benefits. Pei Qian's reputation would also be slightly damaged.
That was why the bosses of these three clubs came to him. On one hand, they wanted to admit their mistakes, but on the other hand, they wanted to discuss a proper solution.
After some thought, Pei Qian decided that this matter had to be resolved.
All in all, he had to meet the bosses of these three clubs first.
"Alright, I'll go over now. Ask them to wait."
...
Half an hour later, at DGE Club...
The bosses of the SUG Club and the other two clubs sat in the conference room, drinking tea, unable to calm down.
Every second of waiting for Boss Pei was torturous.
Finally, he heard light footsteps outside. Boss Pei pushed the door open and entered.
The three club owners quickly stood up from their seats.
"Boss Pei!"
Pei Qian nodded slightly, shook their hands one by one as Zhang Yuan introduced them.
The boss of the SUG Club was called Ding Gan, a very rich second-generation heir. He was slightly inferior to Xue Zhebin but not much different from Yao Bo of Jinding Corporation.
Pei Qian had long heard of this person.
That was because SUG E-Sports Club had a certain reputation in the country. While it was not as old as the H4 Club, it was the richest among the earliest E-Sports Clubs.
Previously, SUG Club had prepared a total of 25 million yuan in order to buy the members of DGE Club. They did not spend much but it was enough to prove their wealth.
As one of the rich second-generation heirs who had entered the E-Sports industry earlier, Ding Gan had brought funds, attention, and traffic to the domestic E-Sports industry. However, he had also brought bad management and operations to the club.
Everyone took their seats.
Ding Gan cleared his throat and said, "Boss Pei, the three of us came all the way here today to apologize to you and clear the misunderstanding."
"Manager Li's lies not only caused Tengda to suffer losses, but also caused a huge loss to our club. From this point of view, we are all victims."
"I'll punish him severely when we get back and give you an explanation, Boss Pei!"
"I hope that Boss Pei will be magnanimous. Don't let this small misunderstanding affect our hard-earned partnership. After all, our clubs contributed our hard work while preparing for the global finals even if we did not make much contribution."
The bosses of the other two clubs chimed in with sincerity.
Pei Qian nodded and did not comment.
The three of them appeared very humble and sincere, but Pei Qian would be stupid to believe them all.
How could the club managers be able to decide a huge matter like selling its GOG's branches? They must have asked the three bosses repeatedly.
The fact that the three bosses did not stop them meant that they actually supported Manager Li's decision.
The higher the level of a person, the less likely they would be involved in such dirty work. Instead, they would leave it all to their subordinates. That way, if there were no problems, everything would be fine. If there were any problems, they could immediately draw a clear line.
Therefore, the bosses of these three clubs must be resisting the contract internally. They did not want to accept Tengda's management and restrictions at first.
They even thought that as long as the clubs worked together, they would be able to control the GPL league and force Tengda to retreat.
However, now that the situation had developed to this stage, they had no choice but to give in.
If no one was interested in the GPL quota this time and could not be sold for much, the club owners would definitely not have such an attitude.
Thus, Pei Qian was neither angry nor understanding.
"So, may I know if you intend to fulfill the contract?"
Pei Qian went straight to the point, paying no attention to these three people trying to get close to him.
Chapter 727: GPL League System Planning
The three club owners looked at each other before Ding Gan spoke.
"Boss Pei, of course we have to fulfill our contract. We businessmen have the spirit of a contract. We cannot go back on our words."
"However... putting aside the little interlude before this, we genuinely support the GPL league."
"Why don't we do this? We'll give you 15 million yuan as promised. Other than that, each club is willing to give you another 5 million yuan. The three clubs could give you a total of 60 million yuan. We'll buy three more GPL slots. What do you think?"
Obviously, the three club owners had discussed this before they came.
At this point, they had very few options left.
They definitely could not break the contract. That was equivalent to falling out with Boss Pei and all the other clubs that had just won the GPL quota. He would not be able to keep his face and money.
Of course, these three clubs could also choose to take the money and leave. However, if that happened, it would be almost impossible for them to return to the GPL league.
That was because according to the situation of this auction, the slots for the GPL league would definitely become more and more expensive. Now that 15 million yuan had been sold together with the slots, it was absolutely impossible to buy them back in the future.
Thus, these three clubs wanted to give it a try and see if Boss Pei could give them an additional three slots if they gave him twenty million yuan.
That would be directly expanding the quota for the GPL league to 19.
That was because the GPL league had not been finalized yet. There was still room for discussion.
However, if the GPL's schedule and competition format were finalized in a month or two, it would be impossible to add more people.
In this way, the three clubs would be paying their own GOG branch and five million yuan to keep the GPL spot. They would still lose money, but at least they could stay.
As for Boss Pei...
The 60 million yuan in this period should be able to move Boss Pei a little, right?
As for how to arrange the schedule of the 19 teams and how to appease the other clubs... These minor details were not that important.
The three club owners looked at Boss Pei expectantly.
The corners of Pei Qian's mouth twitched.
You even want to give me money?
What's more, you are offering 60 million yuan without any warning?
Pei Qian was still thinking about how he should spend the hundred million yuan. He has just made some progress when the three clubs are sending him another sixty million yuan!
"No!" Pei Qian said firmly.
The three bosses were stunned.
Boss Pei... was that determined?
It was 60 million yuan! Shouldn't he take more time to think about it carefully?
Ding Gan hesitated for a moment. "Er... Boss Pei, we can still discuss the amount..."
"How about we add some more?"
Pei Qian sniggered inside.
More money?
He took a sip of tea and quickly thought of an excuse to refuse.
"This is not about money at all.
"The 16 slots were set a long time ago. If we add more, the schedule would be difficult to arrange."
"If we really add 19 teams, not only would there be competitions every day, but the interval between each team's competitions would also become too long, which would be detrimental to maintaining standards."
"Tengda is a company that keeps its word. It has already told the other clubs and audiences that there are only 16 GPL league slots. If we accept money to do something, it would be equivalent to slapping ourselves in the face."
"That's impossible."
The three club owners looked at each other with bitter expressions.
Who could they blame?
They could only say that they had been muddle-headed in that moment. At first, they were the ones holding on to their GPL slots, laughing as the others fought so hard to get in. Now, they had lost their spots.
They were up early but failed to catch the worm, who could stand that!
Ding Gan still did not give up. He proposed a new plan. "Boss Pei, why don't we do this? There should be a promotion and demotion system for the GPL league, right? We can build a new team and fight back to the GPL. That should be okay, right?"
Pei Qian remained silent for a moment. "There is no promotion system for the GPL league."
"There will be internet cafe competitions and professional competitions for GDL. GDL spots will be given to the internet cafe competitions. However, without the promotion competition, the GDL champion will not be able to obtain a GPL spot."
The three club owners were flabbergasted. They looked extremely pained, as if they had lost a hundred million yuan.
Pei Qian had been thinking about the entire structure of GOG's E-Sports League these few days.
Internet cafe league and GDL must be done, but the key was whether or not there would be a promotion competition.
In fact, whether or not there was a promotion competition did not affect Pei Qian much. That was because the officials would not be able to obtain income directly.
Thus, Pei Qian considered this from the perspective of the entire competition.
After all, he had another identity as an ordinary audience in the GPL league. In order to watch more exciting competitions and to win glory in the world finals, Pei Qian had to establish a better system for the GPL league.
The experience in Pei Qian's memory explained: the promotion competition might look beautiful, but it did not mean much in reality. Instead, it would have a certain negative effect.
Many people thought that the promotion competition would put pressure on the last team in the GPL. At the same time, it would motivate the leading team of GDL. It would make the competition more intense and help improve the overall level.
However, the problem was that this theory was too idealistic. In reality, the situation was completely the opposite.
For the last team in the GPL, the pressure of the promotion competition was indeed very high. That was because once they were demoted, it would mean that all their investment would be wasted and they would suffer heavy losses.
However, under such circumstances, most clubs would not train newbies or train newbies in order to successfully maintain their level. Instead, they would choose to let experienced players continue playing.
That was because there was a risk in hiring new players. Once they failed, they would suffer heavy losses. On the other hand, even though the old players had no potential or upper limit, they were stable enough. They were very good at torturing noobs.
Even if the veteran players were beaten up as experience babies in the GPL league, it would be enough as long as they could torture the leading team.
For GDL teams, directly spending money on powerful old players or external help in order to snatch the GPL spots was the fastest way to achieve that.
Thus, a system that was meant to strengthen competition objectively made all teams focus on the paper strength in front of them and ignore the long-term goals.
Some rookies with potential would find it difficult to compete in such a utilitarian environment. It completely went against the original intention of the system.
On the other hand, the promotion system would be revoked. Each club would promote more new players, and their playstyles would be more aggressive. There would not be a situation where both teams wanted stability and did not dare to fight.
Thus, after much consideration, Pei Qian decided that it would be better not to have a promotion system.
Ding Gan grimaced. "Boss Pei, does that mean our clubs will never be able to return to GPL?"
"Boss Pei, our SUG has been in the esports field for many years. If the GPL excludes us, it would be a loss!"
Pei Qian looked at the three club owners and said, "That... is not entirely impossible."
"If you want to maintain the GPL quota, you need to continue investing. Once the club is at the bottom and loses continuously, it would not be able to bring the brand value to the parent company and would instead become a burden. There would definitely be clubs that want to leave."
"At this time, we will be the intermediary to transfer the GPL quota.
"As for the clubs that have achieved good results in the GDL league, they would receive a 30% discount when purchasing a GPL spot.
In other words, when a certain club burned money but could not produce results, they could choose to hire newbies and train newbies. If they continued to endure, they could also choose to transfer. They could stop losses in time and also earn a sum of money.
That way, not only would they be able to guarantee the interests of the current GPL League teams, but they would also not suffer too much loss whether they stayed or left. They would be able to invest without worry and would also be able to provide convenience to the GDL League clubs.
Ding Gan and the other two club bosses remained silent for a long time before nodding helplessly.
"Alright, Boss Pei."
They had no other choice. This was the best solution that they could fight for.
At the very least, they still had 15 million yuan in their hands.
First, they would play in the GDL, form teams, and train players. After they achieved results, some outstanding players could be sold to GPL teams at a high price. At the same time, when the GPL quota changed, they would be given priority to enter and spend less money.
The bosses of the three clubs had not expected this. They had only wanted to put some pressure on Tengda to make some concessions on the contestants' contract.
They did not think that he would lose the game and end up in this way.
...
After the three club owners left, Pei Qian said to Zhang Yuan, "I've thought about the rules for the GPL league."
"Internet cafe competition, professional development league GDL, professional league GPL. The GPL slots are like what I said just now. There will be no promotion or demotion, but they can be transferred."
"As for the money that these clubs spent on the slots, we'll split it into three parts."
"The first part is to be returned to these clubs so that they can specialize in it to maintain the budding training base. Each club must have a budding training base that can be used to absorb some young and promising new players who are not strong enough to play in the professional league. It will allow these new players to experience the professional atmosphere in advance so that they can view the playing profession seriously and be prepared."
"The second part is to support the development of the GDL and internet cafe competitions. Professional development competitions have relatively low attention. Give these clubs more opportunities to support and expose themselves."
"The third part will be used for daily operations, maintenance, and construction of the GPL."
Zhang Yuan was stunned for a moment. "Huh? Boss Pei, you're only using this bit of money to maintain the daily operations of the GPL? I don't think we can cover the rent and other miscellaneous expenses of that venue, right?"
Pei Qian nodded. "Of course, we can't cover it. We can't cover it with this amount of money anyway."
"In the future, we can sell tickets for competitions, we can have sponsors and advertisers. There are many ways to generate profits."
"Tengda is the organizer. Don't always look at the small profits in front of you. You have to look far ahead. If you don't have enough money, Tengda will pay for you first. We'll talk about it when you earn more money in the future."
Zhang Yuan instinctively straightened his back.
Indeed, Boss Pei had a long-term vision!
He might not be able to see much in the short term if he were to spend this sum of money, but in the long term, it would definitely improve the ecology of the entire E-Sports industry!
Actually, Pei Qian did not think too much about it. He only chose a plan with the lowest chance of making money.
There were only three ways to spend this sum of money: either spend it on the league and promote it as much as possible, or spend it all on the club and modify the training base and environment; or spend it on the cultivation system.
On the other hand, it would be very easy to quickly improve its competitiveness, enhance it's viewership, and attract attention if one were to smash the game to a league or a club. If that happened and many sponsors were attracted to the game, they might not even be able to make it through the cycle and start generating profits.
Based on past experience, this was highly possible.
Thus, after much consideration, Pei Qian decided to focus on the cultivation system and build a budding training base for the club to support the development of GDL and internet cafe competitions. That would slow down the effectiveness and allow them to persevere.
Chapter 728: Independent Game Designer
November 10th, Thursday...
In Beijing...
Qiu Hong looked at the address on his phone and then looked up at the old district in front of him.
The neighborhood was filled with elderly people. The neighborhood was very old and the living conditions were rather worrying. The residential buildings were also very narrow. Young people might not even want to live here, much less work here.
However, according to the address on the cell phone, there was an independent game designer here.
Qiu Hong also looked at the unit number. He followed the corridor that was filled with various psoriasis-style advertisements and climbed all the way to the sixth floor.
Qiu Hong knocked on the door after trying to determine which was unit 601 and which was 602.
Knock, knock.
A moment later, footsteps came from within. The old anti-theft door opened.
"You are... Boss Qiu?" A young man with messy hair and dark circles under his eyes asked hesitantly.
Qiu Hong nodded. "Yes, you're Wu Zhicheng?"
Wu Zhicheng nodded. "Yes, Boss Qiu, you can call me Little Wu. Please come in."
Wu Zhicheng stepped to one side.
Qiu Hong walked in and closed the door.
Heating would only be available in the middle of November in Beijing. There was still a week to go, so it was the coldest time right now.
After entering, Qiu Hong did not feel warm at all. Instead, he felt like there was wind blowing in through the gap in the window.
Wu Zhicheng looked like he was used to it. He dragged a chair over. "I'm sorry, Boss Qiu. I'm too messy. Please make do with it."
Qiu Hong did not mind. He pulled a chair over and sat down.
At first, Wu Zhicheng wanted the two of them to find a cafe to chat. However, Qiu Hong insisted on coming to the place where Wu Zhicheng worked because he wanted to see the most realistic working environment and working condition.
Qiu Hong looked around.
It looked like a very small one-bedroom apartment. The living room had become Wu Zhicheng's workroom. There was a computer desk, a computer, a messy pile of books, a game console, a small television, a small dining table... There was almost no space to step on.
The other room was Wu Zhicheng's bedroom. Apart from the bed and the wardrobe, there were too many things. The bed was also filled with books which was equally worrying.
Wu Zhicheng felt a little awkward. He searched in the mini fridge for a long time, but all he found was Coca Cola. He wondered if Boss Qiu was used to drinking this.
Qiu Hong quickly said, "Don't bother. Let's get to the main topic."
Wu Zhicheng nodded. "Alright, I'll briefly explain my situation."
Compared to Jiang Fan of Cherry Workspace, Wu Zhicheng's experience was much simpler.
Jiang Fan had originally worked in a law firm. He had first created a game in his spare time and succeeded. Only then did he make up his mind to set up Cherry Workspace to start a business.
On the other hand, Wu Zhicheng worked for a period of time after graduating from university. He had a certain amount of savings. He resigned and started to work on games because he was not satisfied with his job.
Wu Zhicheng had never considered the problem of not being able to finish the game and not earning money.
In any case, if he could not take it anymore, he would look for another job.
Qiu Hong asked, "How far have you developed the game? Can I give it a try?"
Wu Zhicheng nodded. "Sure, but... the completion rate is very low. Boss Qiu, you might have to use your imagination when you play it."
As he spoke, Wu Zhicheng turned on his computer and opened his game project on the official game editor.
Qiu Hong sat down in front of Wu Zhicheng's computer. He looked at the dust on the keyboard and mouse, as well as the ashtray full of cigarette butts and empty Coke bottles on the computer table. He was speechless.
Wu Zhicheng quickly took out two pieces of tissue from the tissue box beside him, wiped the keyboard and mouse carefully, and then tidied up the computer desk.
"Boss Qiu, this is a mobile game. However, it can only be played on the computer at the moment. You have to use the mouse to complete the manual operation. It's not very convenient. Please bear with it."
Qiu Hong nodded and entered the game.
The game's name was 'Black Ink and Clouds'. It was a 2D landscape version of the game. It was relatively difficult. The biggest difference between this game and ordinary landscape version of the game was that it had a special way of playing. It interacted with the scenes in the game through drawing.
Players could create or erase objects in game settings by painting. This interactive experience would give players a very novel experience in special stages and Boss battles.
However... that was the ideal situation.
Many games were full of ideals, but reality was harsh.
There were two prerequisites to achieve the effect that Wu Zhicheng was looking forward to. First, every stage and every battle had to be carefully crafted. Second, there had to be an outstanding art effect.
The biggest difference between Black Ink and Clouds and the other 2D landscape versions of the game was the graphic interactive experience. However, if it was just a simple drawing and smearing, the gamers' experience would be very boring and this game innovation would be meaningless.
A so-called game innovation must not be a simple concept but a set of rich gameplay and content.
He had to think and plan every stage and every boss's playstyle. He had to come up with more tricks based on this playstyle to be considered successful.
What's more, since the game was a game that focused on graphic interaction, the graphics had to be outstanding. Otherwise, the fun would be greatly reduced.
It was far from enough based on the current game completion rate.
That was normal. Wu Zhicheng was a student who had just graduated not long ago. He had created the game purely out of passion. Looking at the conditions, he did not have the ability to complete the gameplay and checkpoints. At the very least, there was no solution to the art resources.
Wu Zhicheng was not good at art, and he could not afford to hire any big names on the official platform. Thus, all the resources in the game were resources gathered everywhere. It looked very unflattering.
What's more, all the operations were done using the mouse. It was not as smooth as playing on the cell phone.
All in all, Qiu Hong's enjoyment of the game depended on his imagination.
Qiu Hong let out a melancholic sigh.
Previously, he felt that Cherry Workspace whose capital was about to be used up and would not be able to pay their salaries soon was very in line with the Destitution Plan's rescue conditions.
However, he realized that destitution had no end when he saw Wu Zhicheng today.
The question was, did this project meet the requirements?
Boss Pei said not to invest in those who were too reliable and unreliable.
According to normal standards, this was definitely not reliable. There was no guarantee of the design ability or level of art from an ordinary person who had no experience in developing games, developing completely out of passion.
However, Qiu Hong instinctively hoped that Wu Zhicheng would be able to obtain help. That was because Wu Zhicheng had a belief. It was this belief that made this project reliable.
"Boss Pei said that I'll decide for myself if I'm not sure if it's reliable or not."
"Since that's the case..."
Qiu Hong pondered for a long time before asking, "How much do you think this game would cost to complete?"
Wu Zhicheng was stumped. "Er... this..."
"Honestly, I don't know either."
"If I can get 200,000 yuan, I can hire a good artist to help me draw the game."
"If I have another 50,000 yuan, I can use it to pay the rent first. It can last for a long time..."
Qiu Hong fell into deep thought.
Cherry Workspace had very clear plans for the completion rate, employee salary, and daily expenses.
However, for Wu Zhicheng, he had no clear concept of project planning, working period, and resource control. Naturally, he could not give a specific number.
No matter how much money he gave, he could only solve the urgent problem first and think about the rest later.
Qiu Hong was not worried that Wu Zhicheng would spend too much money. Given his conditions, he would not spend much.
The key was that without a clear plan, the project control would fall into chaos. Qiu Hong knew very well that this was a fatal factor that could cause the project to fail completely.
These independent game designers were not only lacking money, but also various other supporting areas.
For example, how to plan the development cycle, how to control the cost, how to solve the financial problems, etc. These were all very difficult problems to solve.
However, given the gaming studio's size, it would be a waste to complete the entire set.
He couldn't possibly ask three or four people, including the finance department and administrative department, to surround Wu Zhicheng, right? That would be ridiculous.
Qiu Hong pondered for a moment and said, "Wait a moment, I'll make a call."
Wu Zhicheng nodded and waited patiently.
Obviously, he knew very well that it would be too far-fetched to ask someone to invest with his conditions.
Hopefully, Boss Qiu's leader would be kind.
Chapter 729
: Independent Game Incubation Base
At that moment, Pei Qian was having a meal at Ming House with all the club bosses of the GPL league.
The bosses of H4 Club and the other clubs who already had a place in the league were all present. They were toasting each other and it was very lively.
Lin Chang, Li Shi, and the others had already had a meal at the nameless restaurant after the auction ended. However, Pei Qian found an excuse to decline and did not go that time. Zhang Yuan was the one who hosted them.
He was mainly afraid of being hurt a second time.
However, he really could not turn down today's meal.
Pei Qian thought about how he had to meet these bosses and get to know them. At the same time, he had to tell everyone the rules of the GPL.
What's more, four days have passed since the auction. The chances of him being hurt again was very low. The main topic would still be focused on the GPL rules. It would be a good opportunity to meet.
This was a restaurant that Li Shi and Xue Zhebin opened together. The food here was not as good as the nameless restaurant but the place was bigger. They could book the entire place as they pleased and they would have more freedom.
Now, the rules of the GPL had been announced. The bosses chatted as they ate and discussed the rules of the GPL. It was a harmonious scene.
Li Shi looked at Boss Pei's GPL rules and discussed the terms with Xue Zhebin.
"See, I told you so."
"Other people would be collecting money for themselves, but Boss Pei must be collecting money for a long-term goal."
"See, Boss Pei took our money for the GLP slots where he in fact split it into three parts: building a budding players training base for the club, supporting the development of GDL and internet cafe competitions, and maintaining the normal operations of the GPL league."
"If it was an ordinary organizer, they would definitely use a portion of the money to run the GPL league. The rest of the money would be in their own pockets."
"Of course, it's understandable for the organizers to sell their slots to make money. However, this behavior is too short-sighted!"
"On the other hand, Boss Pei took the club's money and threw it all into the league to support the lower tier of the league."
"Those talented players can start with the ladder, then start with the internet cafe competition, then play GDL or train at the various clubs... Every step would be very solid."
"What's more, the standard contract allows them not to worry about being scammed. That way, talents won't be buried."
"Once such a system is established, it can continuously send new blood to the GPL league. It's perfect!"
Xue Zhebin nodded repeatedly. "Indeed."
"But, Boss Li, the money has been spent in these areas. What about publicity for the league? What about the club's investment? These two pieces are probably lacking, right?"
"The league system is very important in the long term but we cannot ignore the most pressing problem at hand!"
Li Shi smiled slightly. "This is the difference between ordinary people and Boss Pei."
"First level thinking: Sell the slots to make money and fill your own pockets."
"Second level thinking: Seeing Boss Pei use this money to seek long-term benefits."
"Third level thinking: See both long-term benefits and immediate benefits."
"However, Boss Pei is on a higher level than that. That is because he knew very well that long-term benefits had to be achieved with money while the immediate benefits can be achieved without money!"
"Therefore, Boss Pei did not ignore the most urgent problem at hand. Instead, he prepared another solution."
Xue Zhebin was a little confused. "Really? But how can we solve this without money?"
The GPL league had to be promoted and the club's infrastructure had to be built. All of these required money.
Li Shi explained, "Boss Pei not only has money, but also other resources, such as reputation, trust, and attention!"
"The long-term benefits of the GPL league cannot be guaranteed with these things. For example, if we want to support GDL and train young budding talents, it would be useless even if we have attention. No one would spend money on these things. Boss Pei would have to pay for it himself."
"However, the immediate benefits of the GPL league can be made with reputation, trust, and attention!"
"The so-called immediate benefits are nothing more than the initial popularity, attention, and the construction of the club."
"Now, let's see what kind of group these people are."
"There are veteran clubs in the country, veteran members of the first GOG global finals, well-known companies like Shenhua Real Estate and the Jinding Corporation, and ordinary participants like us. They might not have outstanding money and fame but they are fully supportive and cooperative with Boss Pei."
"There's no need for publicity at all. Just releasing this list would be enough to cover tens of millions of publicity expenses!"
"In other words, the GPL league was already popular even before it started. So what if we have more or less money for publicity?"
"What's more, the storm between Boss Pei and the three clubs has been going on for more than half a month. On one hand, it is increasing the popularity of the GPL league. On the other hand, it is sending a very clear signal to the outside world."
"The audience trusts Boss Pei, but the capitalist might not trust him. Many people believe that Boss Pei can create a good game, but they don't believe that he can make a good league."
"Through this incident, Boss Pei proved that he has absolute control over the GPL!"
"He kicked the three clubs out, true to his words. The remaining clubs will unconditionally cooperate. At the same time, Boss Pei will not make a promotion system. Instead, he will spend a huge sum of money on the bottom-tier cultivation system. That is actually a clear signal: GPL is looking at the long term!"
"The sponsors would not worry about their money being wasted when they combine with the multiple signals. They will naturally sponsor the club and the GPL league."
"This is the brilliance of Boss Pei: On the surface, he is spending money for long-term benefits, but in reality, he is spreading a signal. This signal will earn more money and solve short-term problems."
"Only rookies make choices. Experts get everything!"
"If you don't believe me, we'll wait and see. Before long, various sponsors will come knocking on our door."
Li Shi had already drunk a little before and was a little tipsy. At that moment, his face was slightly red and he was extremely satisfied with his analysis.
"I see!" Xue Zhebin replied with realization and tried hard to digest it.
At that moment, Pei Qian was focused on eating.
Everyone was talking. They were either talking loudly or whispering with their heads lowered. All of these voices made Pei Qian uneasy.
Suddenly, the cell phone in his pocket vibrated. It was Qiu Hong.
Pei Qian knew that something important must have happened. It so happened that he wanted to go out and take a breather, so he stood up and went outside to answer the call.
...
Pei Qian walked to a quiet corner and picked up the phone.
Qiu Hong briefly explained Wu Zhicheng's situation over the phone.
"Boss Pei, that's the general situation."
"My consideration is that the most important problem now is not money. While independent game designers are short of money, they are also short of other things."
"This is especially so for the various portions. The investment is huge and the effect is slow. It's a difficult problem to solve."
"Therefore, I'm not sure what to do with Wu Zhicheng's situation."
"I've already decided to invest in him, but I haven't thought about how to do it."
"If it's just money, I can still complete the project, but I feel like something is missing."
"Boss Pei, regarding this point, I have a preliminary idea. It's about the basic supporting facilities."
At that point, Pei Qian's eyes lit up.
Large investment and slow efficiency for basic supporting facilities?
That's great!
For independent game designers, they could create games as long as they had money. It did not matter whether or not the working environment was good or bad.
Many independent game designers created good works in a messy working environment.
Since it did not matter much, why not arrange a better environment for them?
This should be a classic example of high investment and low output, right?
Wasn't that his favorite?
Pei Qian immediately replied, "Just tell me how much your preliminary idea will need."
Qiu Hong hesitated when he heard how straightforward Boss Pei was. "Er... Boss Pei, this is what I think."
"Set up an incubation base similar to the concept of 'Shared Office Space' in big cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. Of course, we can also open one in Jingzhou."
"We will recruit administrative, finance, and other employees for similar entrepreneurial bases. Their job is to serve every independent game designer well and help them solve a series of problems other than game development."
"At the same time, we can guide their work to a certain extent. For example, we can simply teach them how to come up with a development plan, contact artists, make financial statements, and so on."
"Game designers can also get to know and communicate with each other."
"An incubation base like this would cost at least two to three hundred thousand yuan a month with daily utilities, employee salary, rent, and so on. The specific expenses would depend on the number of work desks, location, and so on."
Pei Qian frowned. "Two to three hundred thousand yuan? That doesn't fit the Tengda spirit at all!"
"Did you only calculate the rent of the work desk, the basic company of the employees, and the utilities?"
"You probably didn't include the office computers and employee benefits. It's not too much to give an independent game developer some basic income to maintain their daily lives, right?"
"The incubation base is a good initiative. Do it!"
"We'll continue with the Destitution Plan. We'll support those companies as much as we can. As for the incubation base, I'll give you extra money to spend!"
Pei Qian was elated. Qiu Hong was indeed outstanding. He had thought of a new way to spend money so quickly!
...
Qiu Hong hung up and could not help but feel emotional.
Boss Pei was truly a resolute entrepreneur who loved the game industry!
He had been so conflicted, but Boss Pei had decided on it so easily.
He looked at Wu Zhicheng. "Our Destitution Plan has decided to invest in your game!"
"On top of that, we will also provide you with an office space and some necessary help. We hope that we can complete the game together."
Wu Zhicheng's mouth was slightly agape. He felt that this scene was unreal.
After a few seconds, he said, "Thank you, Boss Qiu! Thank you so much!"
Qiu Hong smiled emotionally. "No, we have to thank Boss Pei."