November 14th, Monday...
Pei Qian briefly organized his schedule in the office.
This cycle was relatively short. There were still more than two months to settlement. At the moment, it seemed like all the projects were progressing smoothly. There should not be any problem.
Someone knocked on his door just as he was considering.
Pei Qian looked up as Ma Yang pushed the door open and entered.
"Eh? You're back. How was the news conference?" Pei Qian asked casually.
Ma Yang sat down opposite Pei Qian's desk. "News conference? That was so boring! I almost fell asleep listening to it."
"However, not to worry, Brother Qian. I didn't embarrass you. I even asked two questions."
Pei Qian looked up at him, lowered his head, and continued browsing the web page. "Oh."
Old Ma asked questions?
It was better not to talk about this topic. It would be very awkward to imagine the scene at that time.
Pei Qian was not interested in what exactly Old Ma had asked. Old Ma had not even listened to the contents of the news conference seriously. What kind of high-level questions could he ask? It would be good enough if he did not embarrass Tengda.
Of course, it did not matter even if he did lose a little bit of face. One of Pei Qian's biggest worries was that Tengda and Dream Realization Ventures had too many good reputations. As a result, they had been overly glorified and caused a huge obstacle to his loss.
Ma Yang did not take this matter to heart. He did not bring it up again seeing how Pei Qian was not interested. Instead, he began to talk about the problem that he had been more concerned about recently: becoming an internet celebrity.
"Brother Qian, I'm here today to talk to you about the live-stream."
"I'm still trying to fulfill people's dreams through weibo. It's just that the frequency has decreased by quite a bit, roughly about one to two times a week now, at a rate of about thirty to fifty thousand yuan each time."
Pei Qian was stunned for a moment. "Oh? We can't be stingy or slack at realizing dreams. We have to persevere since we're doing this."
It was originally a good thing for Ma Yang to spread coins on Weibo, but why was it that the frequency of him doing so was getting lower? While the amount of money he spent each time was still the same as before, the less he did it, the less he would spend.
Ma Yang replied, "Brother Qian, it's not that I don't care. The key is that there were many people who wanted to fulfill their dreams in the beginning. Now, there are fewer and fewer of them. There are fewer and fewer new comments on Weibo as well. As a 'dream investor', I have to keep a close eye on such investment opportunities. I can't give money to just anyone."
Pei Qian was a little confused. "Erm... actually, the meaning of dreams is very broad. We can relax the standards a bit."
Ma Yang waved his hand. "Hey, Brother Qian, I've already made it very general, but how can their dreams be considered dreams if they are not passionate about them?"
"Some people wrote medicorely on weibo. It's hard for me to believe that this is their true dream."
"I even got someone to record all of the dreams and tabulated them. Let me tell you, Brother Qian, I'm not an elite but I'm still smart. No one can fool me!"
Pei Qian could not help but fall into silence.
It did not seem realistic to expect Old Ma to distribute money without limit.
Old Ma's splurge on Weibo depended on whether the idiotic netizens' dreams were creative or not. He did not pay for all kinds of dreams. Just as Old Ma said, if the paragraphs were not well-written, it meant that these people did not care about their dreams. Old Ma would not give these people money.
In theory, Old Ma's thinking was right.
However, he only spent thirty to fifty thousand yuan once or twice a week. Wasn't that too infrequent?
He had used up all the money from Dream Fund previously and Pei Qian had been giving money to Old Ma non-stop when he was giving away money at a neck-breaking speed. However, Old Ma's efficiency was getting slower.
However, seeing how principled Old Ma was, Pei Qian could not say much.
Ma Yang continued, "There's also my live-stream live commerce. I've already made two episodes so far. It will be the third episode this week."
"During my live-stream, some staff recorded the video and uploaded it to the Aili Island website. The goods in live commerce were very bad. A few of the smaller brands closed their online stores the next day. A few larger brands also released an urgent notice that all the products involved had been taken off the shelves and changed."
"A local channel seemed to be reporting about this. They're trying to teach these merchants a lesson. I think I deserve some credit even though they didn't mention me, right?"
"Sigh, however, Brother Qian, I still don't quite understand. Is this a live-stream live commerce to sell goods or to destroy goods? The effect seems to be a little different from what I expected."
Old Ma's face was filled with pride, but there was also a hint of confusion.
Pei Qian smiled. "Sigh, these are all minor details. Don't worry."
Ma Yang pondered for a moment and continued, "Brother Qian, Chen Yufeng told me that while what I'm doing now is reasonable and legal, it's still a little dangerous. He said that if possible, he wants me to talk to the company and apply for a bodyguard or something."
"I don't think it's necessary, but he insisted that I report the situation. So, I want to ask, Brother Qian, what do you think?"
Pei Qian looked at Old Ma, his eyes twinkling. "Bodyguard?"
Ma Yang nodded. "Yes. Brother Qian, you think it's a little exaggerated too, right?"
Pei Qian raised his hand. "No, not exaggerated at all! Old Ma, I'm just filled with regret. Why didn't I think of that before?"
"We are a society governed by law, but while we must not have the heart to harm others, we cannot fail to guard against others."
"How about this? You're making a sacrifice for the company by showing your face in public. In order to ensure your personal safety, I'll hire a personal bodyguard for you. I'll hire him for 100,000 yuan a month. He'll definitely protect you well!"
Ma Yang was stunned. "Brother Qian, isn't this a little too high? You don't even have such a setting for yourself."
Pei Qian shook his head. "Sigh, you can't say that. Your job requires you to have a bodyguard. Don't reject it."
Ma Yang might say that there was no need but he was still elated to see Pei Qian's persistence. "Alright, Brother Qian, I'll accept the company's arrangement!"
"That's right, Brother Qian. Recently, a few of my brothers have asked me for tickets to the GPL league. I told them that the company has regulations and that tickets have to be done in a business-like manner. They don't believe me, I have no choice but to ask you for advice."
Pei Qian nodded. "Yes... I can give you some tickets, but not a lot."
"How about this? I'll talk to Shang Yang Games and ask them to reserve a portion of the tickets for the internal employees. However, the number of tickets and seats must be strictly controlled and not given randomly."
Ma Yang was now an influential figure in school.
Since Pei Qian had been deliberately hiding his identity, most people in the school only saw him as a small internet celebrity. They saw him as Boss Pei's actor. They saw him as a high-level employee in Tengda at the very best.
In any case, no one treated him as Boss Pei himself.
However, Ma Yang had never thought of hiding his identity. Everyone knew that Ma Yang was a high-level executive of Tengda. Especially recently, Ma Yang since had been spreading money on Weibo and live-streaming. More people knew about him as the days passed.
Now, Ma Yang rarely appeared in school, he was now afraid of trouble.
However, even if he could avoid trouble in school, he would not be able to avoid his friends.
The good thing was that most of his friends knew their limits, and it was not time for them to graduate and find a job. Therefore, they were too embarrassed to ask Ma Yang for too much.
It was not too much to ask for a few tickets to the GPL competition.
What's more, there should be quite a number of internal employees with such needs. It would be better to set the rules as soon as possible so that when the GPL league officially began, the internal employees would not fight with the audience for the tickets. That would not do.
Ma Yang was elated. "Alright, Brother Qian, I have nothing else. I'll head back to prepare for the next live commerce."
After sending Ma Yang off, Pei Qian pondered for a moment. It had been some time since he had visited Shang Yang Games. Thus, he stood up and headed over to see how the work there was going.
...
In Shang Yang Games' conference room...
A few core members had arrived. Lin Wan began to report her work situation.
"Boss Pei, Shang Yang Games is still in charge of two aspects according to the previous work plan. The first is GOG's overseas operations, and the second is that Wang Xiaobin is in charge of revising old games."
"GOG is doing quite well overseas. Even though our marketing campaign has slowed down, GOG's popularity and market share are still increasing because of its advantages in gameplay, mobile games, and early-stage operations."
"For us, spending less money to maintain this rate of growth is very cost-effective."
"At the moment, GOG's main job in overseas operations is to promote and operate as usual. They also have to develop the existing characters of Hurricane Comics Company. The response is not bad. They are more suitable for Western players."
"The development of the new version is going smoothly as well. However, due to limited manpower and resources, the working period is relatively short. Thus, they are all modifications that are within the norm."
Pei Qian nodded.
Yes, that would do.
It would be unrealistic if he did not wish to spend a huge sum of money without producing results.
GOG would be slowly promoted after some small fights. The new version would also be quite standard. Even if they made a profit, they should not make too much. That was good enough.
Lin Wan continued, "Also, Boss Pei, there's something that you might not have paid much attention to. I just happened to see it and would like to just mention it."
"Eric has been replaced. Dayak has changed the person in charge of the promotion of IOI's domestic server."
Pei Qian was stunned. "Eric? Oh, the person-in-charge of IOI's domestic server, right?"
Lin Wan nodded. "Yes, it seemed to have happened in the past few days. If I'm not wrong, he should have already flown away."
Pei Qian could not help but fall into silence.
Eric came and left in a hurry.
Didn't he say that he was going to make a name for themselves? Didn't he say that he was going to lead IOI's local server to meet GOG?
In the end, I had just been prepared, nothing had happened yet and Eric had already left?
Things were really... unpredictable.
For some reason, Pei Qian felt emotional.
If he had known earlier, he would have sent him off. What a pity.
"That's right, Boss Pei." Lin Wan recalled something else.
"I've already arranged for the tickets for the GPL league that you mentioned previously. As for the specific location and how the internal employees would obtain these tickets, we'll have to research further on that."
"The renovation of the venue for the GPL league has been more or less completed. It's still the same venue for GOG's international finals. However, according to the decisions of the various clubs, they have rearranged the decorations and hung the flags of the various clubs."
"Of course, the details of the venue have also been optimized according to the suggestions of viewers in the global finals."
"Why don't we take some time out in the afternoon to take a look?"
Pei Qian nodded. "Alright, let's go take a look."
Chapter 736: GPL Arena Preparations
In the afternoon...
In the heart of Jingzhou, the Great World.
Pei Qian, Lin Wan, Zhang Yuan, and Min Jingchao arrived at the plaza outside the shopping mall.
He could see it from afar. There was a huge promotional poster hanging outside the building. The original poster for GOG's global finals had been removed and replaced with a publicity poster for the GPL league.
Previously, GOG's global finals had mainly been printed with GOG's iconic heroes, such as Modest and Ruan,the Literary Genius of the Winds, as well as GOG's first international invitational tournament.
However, the main part of the GPL poster had now become the flags of all the clubs. There were logos of various clubs on the sixteen flags. Of course, most of these logos were related to the brand of the parent company.
For example, Shenhua Real Estate's team's SHG had made some changes based on Shenhua Real Estate's logo. It looked more fashionable and had the charm of an E-Sports Club.
However, through the logo and the name of the team, people could tell that this club was related to Shenhua Real Estate. It could help promote the company's brand.
Sixteen war flags were lined up neatly in two rows. It looked like a battlefield where two armies were facing each other. The flags were fluttering in the air, looking very majestic.
It had an aura even though there were no fancy heroes in the promotional poster.
At the moment, GOG was already very influential in the country. Customers who often came to the Great World had basically linked this poster to GOG.
Thus, there was no longer a need for those fancy heroes to show up. The protagonists now were the various clubs in the GPL. The main stage was for them.
Pei Qian was very satisfied with this poster.
There was no more Modest, he was finally free!
The four of them arrived at the shopping mall. There were all sorts of restaurants, beverages, and shops.
Manager Zhang of the shopping mall was already waiting inside. He quickly walked up to them when he saw the four of them.
After introducing themselves, Manager Zhang suggested, "Boss Pei, it's almost noon now. There are many high-end restaurants here. Which one do you want to go to? I heard that a new family has opened a high-end buffet that costs more than a hundred yuan each. Why don't I give you a treat? Boss Pei, would you be willing to give it a try?"
Tengda had signed a long-term agreement with the Great World. What's more, the GPL league had already been extended to so many large companies to form clubs to participate in. No matter what, they had to be on good terms with such big clients.
Pei Qian waved his hand. "No, let's just eat something casual."
Manager Zhang quickly said, "That won't do, Boss Pei. You came all the way here, and it's just time for lunch. Eating casually would make me seem like I'm not treating you well."
Lin Wan smiled. "Manager Zhang, there's no need to be so polite."
"You haven't interacted much with Boss Pei, so you don't know his character."
"Boss Pei has always been an extremely pragmatic person. He doesn't like such superficial things. Otherwise, someone of Boss Pei's status wouldn't be able to keep eating his Fish-Catching Take-Out."
"This time, Boss Pei wants to see how the GPL league is going. We are putting ourselves in the shoes of ordinary audiences and we'll eat whatever ordinary audiences eat."
"You don't have to accompany us. We're just walking around."
Manager Zhang did not insist. "I see. Boss Pei, please feel free to do as you wish. You can look for me if you have any questions at any time."
Pei Qian and the others strolled around the shopping mall and headed up. The surroundings of the escalator are already used to promote GPL competitions.
When they reached the last escalator, the flags of various clubs were hung on both sides. It was as if they were passing through a corridor with many flags, heading towards a cruel battlefield.
The GPL competition venue on the top floor had also been completely renovated according to the relevant requirements. This included the custom-made areas for the official support props that the audience responded strongly to, the custom-made figurines, props, and so on.
In fact, these had been empty spaces in the first place which were now fully utilised. That had made the game and the fighting atmosphere more immersive.
After entering the venue, Pei Qian realized that there were obvious changes.
The first was that the two areas in front of the stadium had turned blue and red respectively. This represented the fans of both sides of the competition. They could cheer and support their teams.
As for the other areas, such as the back row, they were prepared for neutral audiences. However, the back row of the red zone was more inclined towards the red side. That would also help to differentiate them.
The flags of the various clubs were hung on the walls around the stadium. The corresponding team's flags would glow during the competition.
What's more, the details on the stage seemed to have been rearranged. It looked like the people in charge of the GPL league had put in a lot of effort.
Lin Wan said, "I specially asked Liang Qingfan to come over. While the overall renovation style cannot be changed much, adding some embellishments would not be a problem."
"Liang Qingfan has rearranged the stage, chairs, and walls. Compared to the international invitational tournament, the atmosphere of the entire venue is obviously much better."
"On top of that, our broadcasting station and various on-site equipment for the live venue have also been reconfigured. For example, we just bought this rocker arm. It can help us take a bird's eye view and show that there are no empty seats."
"Boss Pei, is there anything else you want to improve on?"
Pei Qian shook his head silently. "No, they're all good."
Sometimes, the thing that made Pei Qian feel the most melancholic was that he did not have to worry about anything and his employees could do everything on their own.
There were many people in the stadium.
The Great World was originally a shopping mall in the heart of Jingzhou. There was a lot of traffic, and the GPL competition venue on the top floor had been completely renovated. It could even be said to have experienced a facelift. There might not be any competitions now but many people came to visit out of curiosity.
Pei Qian did not want to attract attention, so he just walked around the corner, keeping a low profile.
However, at that moment, Lin Wan suddenly saw a familiar figure.
A slightly bald Western man's face stood out among the countrymen.
Lin Wan quickly said, "Eh? Boss Pei, isn't that Eric?"
Lin Wan had only met Eric once, but he had left a deep impression on her since his beard was longer than his hair and his eyes were higher than his head. She quickly managed to identify him.
Pei Qian followed Lin Wan's finger and saw Eric.
Eric's side profile was facing this side at first. He was observing the flag on the wall. Then, he found a seat and sat down. He began to observe the player seats and the big screen and other equipment on the stage.
This was the first time Pei Qian had seen Eric. Before this, he had only heard his voice and not seen him.
Pei Qian was confused. "Eh? Didn't you say that he was no longer in charge of IOI's domestic server?"
Lin Wan thought for a moment. "This information should be accurate. He is definitely no longer in charge of IOI's domestic server. However, it looks like he's not in a hurry to leave. Instead, he came to scout for information."
Pei Qian nodded. "That makes sense."
"Boss Pei, since we're old friends, should we go over and greet them?" Lin Wan suggested.
Pei Qian pondered for a moment. Eric was in such a miserable state; he must be in dire need of support and comfort. Thus, he nodded. "Alright, let's go say hi."
Min Jingchao could not help but frown when he saw Eric taking out his cell phone to take a photo. "Boss Pei, should we stop him? What if Dayak Corporation imitates us after he takes the photo?"
Pei Qian raised his hand. "No, let him take it!"
...
Eric held his cell phone and took pictures of the main stage and the entire studio seriously. His expression was very complicated.
It had been almost four months since he was in charge of IOI's domestic server.
Looking back at the past four months, one could only describe it as despair!
Eric had used all his operating experience in the other parts of the world, and racked his brains to think of various methods. However, no matter how hard he tried, he could not get any market share from GOG!
The upper echelons of Dayak's company were extremely dissatisfied with this. They felt that this was a mistake in Eric's work and that he was lacking in ability. Eric had a hard time explaining himself.
No matter how he explained the situation objectively, the company would not be able to understand. They would only think that it was all Eric's excuse.
Thus, Eric was not willing to take the blame. On the other hand, he became very interested in Tengda and GOG.
He was very puzzled. How did Tengda achieve this?
Therefore, Eric did not leave after the handover. Instead, he flew to Jingzhou to conduct a comprehensive inspection and research, especially on the various operations of GOG.
The global finals and the GPL league were of course the top priority of his research.
Finger Games had wanted to hold a global finals previously, but they were scared off by GOG's international invitational tournament.
Eric felt that if he could report the operation strategy of GOG to the higher management of Finger Games in detail after he returned, he could share his responsibilities and help Dayak Corporation to complete the global finals that they were preparing for. He would be able to at least make up for it no matter whether the failure of the domestic server of IOI was his fault or not in the end.
Eric was no longer in charge of IOI's domestic server but he still had to work at Dayak Corporation. He could not give up just like that.
After taking another photo, Eric saw a few people walking towards him.
He was shocked when he saw Lin Wan at the front.
This is bad!
I'm caught red-handed for taking photos in secret!
The GPL competition venue was completely open and anyone could take photos as they pleased, While it was not considered a secret but Eric himself was a high-ranking member of Dayak after all. It would sound bad if someone saw this.
However, Eric had been through hundreds of battles after all. He had been in all sorts of major situations with the executives of multinational companies. How could he be frightened by these young men in their twenties? That was impossible.
Thus, Eric quickly calmed down and kept his phone. "Miss Lin, what a coincidence. We meet again."
Lin Wan smiled. "Mr. Eric, why didn't you say anything about coming to Jingzhou? Tengda should host you."
"That's right, Mr. Eric. This is the Boss Pei you've been longing to meet."
Eric was stunned.
He had not watched Boss Pei's Daily Life, nor had he paid attention to Tengda's latest news. Thus, he was only surprised. He had not expected Boss Pei to be so young.
The more he thought about it, the more he felt that something was amiss. Employees over thirty years old were extremely rare in the entire Tengda Corporation. How did this group of young people make Dayak Corporation suffer so much?
Eric no longer dared to belittle Boss Pei. He extended his hand and said, "Boss Pei, nice to meet you."
At first, he was worried that Boss Pei would ridicule him with the attitude of a victor. After all, Boss Pei was a young man in his twenties. It was normal for him to take the opportunity to make sarcastic remarks since he had achieved such a huge victory at such a young age.
However, Boss Pei did not do that. Instead, he smiled and took his hand. "Mr Eric, nice to meet you. I'm really sorry. I was too busy with work the last time you came to Jingzhou so I didn't have time to entertain you. How about this, if you have time, I'll treat you to a meal?"
Eric's expression changed looking at Boss Pei's sincere attitude. He could not figure out what Boss Pei was up to.
Was this a courtesy unique to Asians? Or was it a type of sarcasm unique to Asians?
The cultural gap made Eric feel a little lost.
Chapter 737: Prying For Intelligence
Pei Qian was very envious of Eric's 'results' over the past few months.
He had been burning money the entire time. However, not only did he not earn any money or gain any market share, he did not even manage to cause a splash. His money was burnt away silently.
Pei Qian could not hold a candle to this level.
Pei Qian had thought about poaching Eric, but he quickly dismissed that idea.
How could someone who became a high-level executive in a multinational company be a useless bum?
The possibility was very low.
In that case, why was Eric defeated when he was put in charge of the IOI domestic server?
Pei Qian felt that this most likely had nothing to do with his personal ability. It was mainly because of the current market situation.
The current situation of IOI's domestic server was beyond saving.
Wasn't Shang Yang Games also beaten to the ground by GOG when they were operating IOI's domestic server? Pei Qian had to roll up his sleeves and take action himself. Lin Wan and Ye Zhizhou had racked their brains and tried their best to launch a series of marketing events, which were eventually proven useless.
The root of the failure was that IOI had already fallen behind GOG, and GOG had already occupied most of the market share in the country. Under such circumstances, even the best marketing plan could not change it's fate.
That could not be attributed to Eric's incompetence just like that.
What if Eric released all of his pent-up energy after he was being poached? What would he do then?
What's more, Eric was a senior executive of a multinational company. The Dayak Corporation had the absolute advantage in terms of wages, shares, competition agreements, cultural background, and so on. The chances of them being poached away were extremely low.
Thus, Pei Qian did not plan to poach him. Instead, he had other plans.
Eric might no longer be in charge of IOI's domestic server but he would not be left in the dust when he returned, given his qualifications and status, He would still be a high-level executive in Dayak Corporation and still have a strong say in IOI's operations.
When he returned this time, he would definitely need to report to the upper echelons of Dayak Company. He might also be held accountable.
No matter what, Eric would definitely report everything that happened while he was in charge of IOI's domestic server, including GOG and Tengda Corporation's intel.
In that case, wouldn't Eric be equivalent to a messenger between Pei Qian and the top management of Dayak?
Before Eric left, he specially made a trip to Jingzhou to take pictures at the GPL league venue. Obviously, he was collecting information and using it as a bargaining chip to make a comeback.
The more information he gathered from Tengda Corporation and GOG's promotion, the more complete the details would be. That would lessen his responsibilities and even affect the decisions of the upper echelons of the Dayak Corporation.
Pei Qian felt that if that was the case, why not make use of Eric to send a message to Dayak's higher management?
He was worried about Dayak's hindsight.
There was no need to talk about the domestic market. IOI's domestic server was almost out of business. The few players that were left were still disappearing every day. GOG's overseas market was also advancing by leaps and bounds. If Pei Qian had not deliberately split half of the people in Shang Yang Games to slow down its expansion, IOI's overseas situation would not have been so optimistic.
From Pei Qian's perspective, IOI's situation was already very dangerous. This made him very worried.
Even so, Dayak Corporation was still slow to react and did not offer any reliable solutions.
It was because Dayak Corporation was too arrogant at the end of the day. They looked down on Tengda, a small Chinese company from the bottom of their hearts, just like when Eric first arrived in Jingzhou.
The difference was that Eric had been beaten awake, while Dayak's higher management had yet to be awakened.
Thus, Pei Qian hoped to make use of this meal to make Eric his mouthpiece and influence the policies of Dayak Corporation's higher management.
Eric looked calm on the surface, but thoughts were racing in his mind.
Boss Pei's actions seemed to be superfluous. It was impossible for him to do this for a favor.
There was no need for personal favors in business.
Or perhaps was he just trying to make him the butt of a joke at the table and mock him?
Eric did not think that Boss Pei was that childish.
Then the only possibility was that Boss Pei wanted to use this opportunity to obtain some information from him!
Now that the person-in-charge of IOI's domestic server had been changed, it meant that Tengda Corporation was about to face a new opponent. Boss Pei probably wanted to obtain some information about this, which was why he was treating him to this meal.
At the moment, Tengda Corporation might be winning steadily, but it was smaller in size when compared to Dayak Corporation after all, the winner was not clear yet.
In that case, was Boss Pei planning ahead to obtain some information about Dayak Corporation's next move from him? That made sense.
Both sides wanted to obtain information from each other, but who would obtain real information and who would obtain fake information? That was hard to say.
Eric hesitated for a few seconds and immediately put on a smile. He nodded. "Of course, it's my honor to dine with Boss Pei."
...
Ten minutes later, they arrived at a high-end restaurant in the shopping mall.
The Great World was a huge shopping mall in the heart of Jingzhou but the prices of the restaurants were still far from those of nameless restaurants or Ming House. The more expensive restaurants only charged about 200 yuan per head.
It was the year 2011 after all. The overall price level was not that high.
The reason why he did not go to Ming House was because Eric was leaving on a plane in the afternoon. He did not have much time, so he booked a meal at the restaurant in the shopping mall.
He ordered a few more expensive dishes and a bottle of the most expensive XO yet it did not allow him to spend much money. That made Pei Qian feel slightly regretful.
However, everyone's goal was not to eat in the first place.
After exchanging pleasantries and toasting a few times, Eric decided to get down to business.
He knew very well that dealing with smart people like Boss Pei it was meaningless to try to get close to him or hoping that he would say something wrong after he was drunk.
If he wanted to obtain information from Boss Pei, he had to take the initiative to release some information. This was a game that could only be played with a more brilliant opponent.
Thus, Eric swirled the glass in his hand. "Boss Pei, we're all smart people. I won't beat around the bush anymore."
"We all know that we both have the information that we want. Otherwise, we wouldn't be eating at the same table."
"Since that's the case, let's be direct. We can save each other some time."
"I'll have to report to the higher-ups of Dayak Corporation when I get back. In the worst case scenario, I might be demoted or marginalized. Once I'm transferred to the peripheral departments, it would be almost impossible for me to climb back up to be in charge of important business."
"Therefore, I have to save myself. The way to save myself is to obtain more intelligence."
"We'll take turns to ask each other three questions and exchange information that we're both interested in. If any question is difficult to answer, we can change to another question. What do you think, Boss Pei?"
Pei Qian had originally wanted Eric to be the mouthpiece between himself and Dayak Corporation. However, he was afraid that the topic would be too stiff and aroused Eric's vigilance.
Pei Qian could not ask for more now that Eric had taken the initiative to bring it up. He immediately nodded and said, "Sure."
Eric was even more certain of his deduction now that Boss Pei had agreed so readily.
He did not emphasize that they had to give each other a real answer because even if he emphasized this point, it would not be able to constrain both sides. Saying it would be equivalent to saying it for nothing.
However, since both sides were taking turns to ask questions, if one side did not give a satisfactory answer, the game would not continue.
Therefore, the best solution was to release some real information that did not have much of an impact and mix some misinformation into it, causing the other party to be misled.
That would depend on both parties' ability to discern information.
Even misinformation would be valuable to Eric because misinformation could be screened, dissected and he could infer the right information.
Eric felt that Boss Pei must have known this as well. That was why he agreed so readily.
Zhang Yuan, Lin Wan, and the others pricked up their ears, feeling nervous.
Indeed, Boss Pei had a special motive for treating Eric to a meal!
There were not many fancy moves between experts. They were all smart people. The efficiency of this exchange was too high.
To put it bluntly, for them to ask three questions each would be a form of intelligence battle. However, Eric looked very scheming. Could Boss Pei win?
Everyone could not help but perspire even though they were confident in Boss Pei.
At that moment, Pei Qian was not even a teeny bit nervous.
That was because he did not need to be nervous at all.
Pei Qian did not expect to obtain any useful information from Eric. No matter what Dayak Corporation did in the future, Pei Qian would continue to spend money and deal with any changes that come by not changing.
What's more, Pei Qian was not afraid to leak the real information to Eric. That was because other than the system itself, he had no other secrets to speak of.
In fact, Pei Qian wished he could tell them the inside story so that Dayak could continue burning money.
Pei Qian would be over the moon if Dayak Corporation were to start a price war with Tengda, !
However, in order not to make Eric suspicious, Pei Qian had to put on a very serious expression.
Eric said, "To show my sincerity, Boss Pei, you can ask first."
Pei Qian pondered for a moment. He did not seem to have any good questions. He casually asked, "What's the name of the person that Dayak Corporation sent to replace you? Tell me about him."
Eric did not think about it for too long. "Chrétien, the higher management of the original Finger Games who had been in charge of marketing and distribution in the European market. He has a higher say in Finger Games and can make certain changes to the game content. He is stronger than me in technical proficiency."
"His character is relatively conservative, and he values localization of the game. He is in charge of IOI's domestic server this time, and he might collaborate with local games companies to promote it."
Eric knew very well that this information was all information that Boss Pei could gather. Thus, there was no need to hide it. It would seem more sincere if he told him about it.
Pei Qian nodded. "It's your turn to ask."
Eric thought for a while and said, "I've already gathered some information about Tengda. I know that one of the key reasons why GOG can maintain its lead is that you're really willing to spend money on it, Boss Pei."
"Now, even though GOG has already occupied such a huge market share, the low pricing strategy and large amounts of marketing fees have caused the game to fluctuate between small profits and losses."
"I roughly know how much money you have spent on GOG, but what I find puzzling is why do you dare to burn so much money?"
Chapter 738: Three Questions
Pei Qian answered, "That's very simple. There can only be one MOBA game that dominates the world. This is a competition where the winner gets everything."
"To me, this is not a matter of whether I dare to burn money or not. It's because I have no other choice. If I don't persevere, all the money I spent previously would be wasted."
"What I want to ask is, what is the upper limit for Dayak Corporation to burn money for IOI?"
Eric took a sip of his tea and said after some consideration, "I don't have a definite answer to this question, and I can't guarantee its accuracy."
"The senior executives of our company do not share the same opinion on similar issues. No one knows what the outcome would be before the meeting."
"What's more, the company has a department that is in charge of data analysis to provide evidence for higher management decisions. The data in this department is also very important. That is fine because I have a new and very important task for you!"
"If I were to judge, this number would fluctuate according to the situation. If we invest a large amount of resources without seeing any effect and the market share were to increase slowly, it would not be impossible for us to give up."
"If I had to estimate a number... I would guess 100 million US dollars."
"Our company only spent about 250 million US dollars on acquiring Finger Games. This has already brought us a certain amount of pressure. We can't burn money indefinitely, especially if we can't see a clear future."
"My second question is the same as you, Boss Pei: What is the upper limit for Tengda Corporation to burn money for GOG?"
Pei Qian smiled. "The upper limit is all the funds that Tengda can use."
"My third question, 100 million US dollars is obviously not the limit of Dayak's ability. Then... do you think there is a possibility of Dayak burning more than 100 million US dollars?"
Eric considered for a moment. "I personally think that this possibility exists, but the odds are slim."
"Everyone knows that our company has always been a company that focuses on short-term interests and immediate gains. This has nothing to do with whether the concept is right or wrong. It's just our company's way of thinking.
Lin Wan nodded subconsciously.
The reason why Dayak Corporation was so notorious in the gaming circle was because they displayed the ruthlessness of investment to the extreme.
They bought over many game companies with potential, quickly overdrawing and squeezing out all their potential. That process destroyed many outstanding games companies.
This showed that Dayak Corporation was indeed an investment company that only cared about immediate gains, not long-term interests. There was indeed a very high possibility of Dayak Corporation giving up and stopping their losses if the market share of Finger Games continued to decline and burned money like a bottomless pit without producing any results.
Eric said, "My last question is: Boss Pei, you said that you would use all of your funds to market GOG. However, the problem is that with Tengda's current size, doing so would definitely put huge pressure on your capital. If there are any uncertain factors, it could cause huge losses and drag down the entire organization."
"Boss Pei, where did your courage come from?"
Pei Qian remained silent for a moment and sighed. "My luck has always been good."
That seemed to be a very empty answer, but Eric did not feel dissatisfied. Instead, he fell into deep thought.
A moment later, he smiled and raised his glass. "Boss Pei, I think we have all obtained the information we wanted. Let me toast you."
Pei Qian raised his glass and smiled. "Mr Eric, I hope we can meet again if fate allows it."
...
After the meal, at the entrance of the Great World...
Everyone from Tengda watched Eric leave.
Pei Qian could not tell what kind of information Eric would be able to summarize from his own words. He was only sure of one thing: their topic was always on burning money.
As long as Eric could influence the upper echelons of Dayak Corporation to continue burning money happily after he returned, that would be enough. Nothing else mattered.
"Boss Pei, do we need to coordinate with Shang Yang Games?" Lin Wan probed.
Pei Qian shook his head. "There's no need. Everyone has worked hard today. Go back and rest."
Little Sun was already waiting in the car. Pei Qian had a few drinks at the dining table and was naturally a little sleepy in the afternoon. Thus, after bidding everyone farewell, he took the car back to rest.
After watching Boss Pei leave, Lin Wan, Zhang Yuan, and Min Jingchao gathered together to discuss what had happened at the dining table.
Zhang Yuan looked confused. "What did Boss Pei and Eric's three questions mean?"
"None of the three questions they asked seemed to be very important;"
"The answers were quite ambiguous as well, there was no telling which was real and which was fake."
"Yet, both of them are very satisfied with the answers to the questions. This..."
"It looks like a riddle. I can't figure it out."
Zhang Yuan was really confused.
Min Jingchao nodded in agreement. "That's right. The two of them seemed to have talked about many things, but they didn't seem to have said anything."
"Some information might seem important, but based on both parties' ability to obtain information, this information should be able to be obtained sooner or later."
"What's more, everyone at the dinner table was actually in a chain of suspicion. Even if Eric told us the truth, we would not believe it. Instead, we would think in the opposite direction..."
"I don't understand it at all."
Lin Wan shook her head as well. "I'm not sure either. However, I'm guessing that the focus of both parties' questions should also be hiding some information. It's just that we can't understand or interpret it."
"As expected, Eric is not a simple person. Anyone who can reach the upper echelons of a multinational company is not ordinary."
"At the end of the day, we were only able to beat him because of Boss Pei. Our thinking is still too low."
"In short, we should trust Boss Pei. I think Dayak Corporation will not let this go."
...
On the plane, Eric pulled down the window cover and closed his eyes to rest.
During the long flight, he had a lot of time to slowly organize the information he had gathered in his mind and dig out useful information from the three questions.
At the dining table, both Boss Pei and him asked and answered three questions each.
Eric knew very well that they were both sly old foxes. It was impossible for them to take each other's words seriously.
However, Eric knew very well that both of their aims were to dig out some useful information from the other party's fake answers.
"Boss Pei asked me three questions: the new person-in-charge of IOI's domestic server, the upper limit of Dayak's spending, and the possibility of breaking this upper limit."
"Obviously, he is still curious about his new opponent, but he is not very concerned. He is more concerned about how much Dayak Corporation will burn."
"This means that... burning money is the crux of this commercial war."
"The three questions I asked were actually related to Tengda's marketing strategy. Boss Pei's answer might be true and false, but if you analyze it seriously..."
Eric thought hard.
In the past few months, he had done a lot of research. Apart from some details on the execution of the game, he had also done a lot of research on GOG's operations.
It was nothing more than burning money like crazy!
At first, Eric thought that Tengda was only willing to spend money on marketing. However, he later realized that making less money was actually a form of burning money.
All of GOG's heroes were free, and their skins were dirt cheap. The first skins designed by gamers were sold at a 90% discount... It was no different from giving them away for free.
A very important reason why IOI had never been able to defeat GOG was the pricing of heroes and skins.
A price war was of low taste but it was very effective.
Eric knew this, but he had no way to change it. It was difficult for him to convince Dayak and Finger Games' executives to change the price of skins to dirt cheap prices like GOG. The profits involved were too huge.
Therefore, the question that Eric wanted to ask the most was, why did Tengda dare to burn money?
One had to know that Tengda was not publicly listed. There was no such thing as burning investors and shareholders' money. It was burning the company's money. More accurately, it was burning Boss Pei's money.
That was why Eric was confused. Boss Pei was burning his own money, wouldn't he feel painful?
Boss Pei's answers to all three questions could be summarized into one point.
MOBA game was a winner-take-all model, that was why they had to keep burning money, otherwise, all their efforts would be wasted;
They would use all of Tengda's funds to burn money to promote GOG;
As for the risk of rupture in the capital chain, Boss Pei's answer was "believe in his own luck".
He was a gambler!
Eric rubbed his temples.
"Based on the current information, Boss Pei's actual actions are exactly the same as what he said. It's not too much to call him a gambler."
"If this information is true, Boss Pei might have two motives for saying all that:
"The first possibility is to scare away Dayak Company and tell them that this war is a bottomless pit. If they don't dare to follow him to the end, then please give up as soon as possible."
"It's like placing all your chips on the poker table, creating huge psychological pressure for the other party, betting that the other party would not dare to follow and take away all the chips on the table."
"The second possibility is to goad Dayak into burning money, including lowering the price of the skin. That way, both parties would be caught in a dangerous melee, but the entire MOBA group would expand rapidly."
"Once the cake becomes bigger, the winner will be able to eat it all, and would be able to obtain greater benefits."
"However, the latter is obviously too risky. It doesn't seem like a rational course of action."
"What if Boss Pei intentionally released fake news?"
"That means that Boss Pei is not a gambler but a bluff. That means that he still plays the role of 'intimidation'. To put it bluntly, he wants to scare Dayak Company away."
"Indeed, it's too difficult to guess Boss Pei's mentality.
"However, I can bypass this problem and start from the real world problem."
"Boss Pei's answer to these three questions has actually inadvertently confirmed one of my suspicions. That is..."
"Tengda is burning money ruthlessly, but the flow of funds is not particularly healthy. In other words, Tengda Corporation is dancing on the edge of a knife."
Eric had long analyzed the situation. He felt that with Tengda's investment and returns, it was very likely that it would maintain a small amount of profit or even a small loss. In other words, Boss Pei seemed to place too much emphasis on the speed at which money was being transferred, causing the company's ability to resist risks to be weak.
Tengda was indeed willing to spend money, but there was a limit to it.
Once the rate of spending money exceeded Tengda's profitability, Tengda's capital chain would be in danger.
When Eric asked about the capital chain, Boss Pei's answer was 'depended on luck'.
Eric already had an answer. "In other words, I don't need to worry about what Boss Pei's mentality is. Whether he's a gambler or not, Tengda Corporation's capital chain is in a relatively tense state."
"In other words, Dayak Corporation's burning of money would have a 'limit'. That limit would be the profitability of all of Tengda Corporation's businesses combined and the upper limit of the funds that Tengda Corporation could obtain through various means."
"It would be useless no matter how much money we burn if we don't exceed this limit. GOG's pre-emptive advantage cannot be shaken. However, once it exceeds this limit, Tengda Corporation might collapse!"
Eric could not help but smile.
He had said a number when he answered Boss Pei's question: 100 million US dollars. He had said that this was the upper limit of the amount Dayak Corporation could afford.
Dayak Corporation would only burn so much money if it did not produce obvious results.
It was hard to tell whether those words were true or false. However, whether or not Boss Pei believed it or not, it would create an anchor point in Boss Pei's mind and serve as a psychological hint.
What's more, Eric's hypothesis was that Dayak Corporation was not very clear about Tengda Corporation's situation. They would only give in when they burned money to their bottom line.
However, the problem was, what if Eric shared this information with the upper echelons of Dayak Corporation?
Chrétien would adopt a different operational strategy from Eric. He might make some modifications to IOI itself. He might even cooperate with local games companies to operate it.
However, Eric judged that the results of this series of actions by Chrétien would not produce any better results than him.
Eric could take the opportunity to report this information to the upper echelons of Dayak Corporation when Chrétien fails. There was a high chance that he could make a comeback.
At that time, Dayak Corporation would either give up on the money-burning war with Tengda Corporation or listen to Eric's advice and burn their money until Tengda reached its limits!
There was no need to think about anything anymore if it was the former; however, if it was the latter, Eric would have the chance to turn the tables!
Chapter 739: First Edition of AEEIS
November 15th, Tuesday...
Handong University's Ancient Chinese Studies Dormitory.
A few students were typing on their keyboards onto their respective laptops. From time to time, they would stop and search for various information online.
Those who did not know would think that they were writing a thesis.
However, in fact, they were the first batch of creators of the 'Useful App'. At that moment, they were completing the task assigned by their mentor.
These master program's students were responsible for a portion of the content each, mainly poems, lyrics, ancient texts, and so on. After the basic content was uploaded to the 'Useful App' note, they would be responsible for summarizing, sorting out existing research results and knowledge, and perfecting the terms.
The 'Useful App' had a special platform template. The creators only had to fill it in according to the template. The content would be reviewed by higher-level creators. Normally, it would be done by PhD students or young lecturers. The template would be displayed after the review.
These master's students would normally log onto the wiki website or the Knowledge Network. However, compared to these two websites, the 'Useful App' was more scientific in terms of structural planning.
The 'Useful App' structure was similar to the Encyclopedic website, but apart from the content, there was also a huge difference in the details of the usage.
Simply put, 'Useful App' was trying hard to do subtraction and stratification.
Ordinary wiki websites would display most of the information of the same word on the same page. On the one hand, it would appear too messy. On the other hand, the content would not be on the same level and would not be able to adapt to the need for personalization.
For example, some people only wanted the most basic information, while others needed detailed analysis of a certain word or sentence. These two extreme requirements were difficult for the wiki website to take care of.
"Useful App" was actually a multi-layered structure. The first layer was the core and most essential analysis of a certain word; the second layer was some classification analysis of the word; the third layer was the analysis and study of a particular word; the fourth layer was the origin of the content, citing the thesis, and so on; and the fifth layer was the various questions derived from the word.
The levels would be displayed in various ways such as flipping pages or flicking windows, taking care of users' usage habits.
For users, they could accurately and quickly find the content that they needed the most without having to read any unnecessary information.
At the moment, the 'Useful App' was being used for ancient poems and literature. The basic functions had already been developed. Apart from repairing all sorts of bugs, the main task now was to rely on the creators to continuously update the content.
This was a relatively boring job, but the students did not find it tiring.
On one hand, this was their profession. It was akin to consolidating their own professional knowledge when sorting out these contents. On the other hand, this was also a job that could very well subsidize the daily expenses of these poor students.
A masters program student had just finished his work for the day. He leaned back in his chair and stretched.
"Old Li, have you completed your task today?"
"Almost."
"What do you mean by almost? Don't try to fool us. Previously, you used the wrong thesis, and we were warned by our supervisor. Professor Kong Zhemin is in charge of this. Don't even think about graduating if you dare to cause any trouble!"
"Don't worry, I was negligent last time. I checked the contents several times now. I won't make that kind of low-level mistake again."
"However, I'm puzzled. Why did Tengda pay us to make something like that? They would probably won't be able to earn much money even though it's supposed to be charged, right?"
"Who knows? Maybe he's planning to sell it to some education groups? At the very least, it would be quite useful for primary and secondary students to use this 'Useful App' to read poetry."
"However, the problem is that the information can be checked with Qiandu search engine, and it's free. There are also explanations for these poems in the textbooks and supplementary books."
"You can't say that. The contents of Qiandu's investigation are too messy. It's difficult to distinguish them. As for the contents of the textbooks and guidance books, they're obviously not as comprehensive as ours. I think that using the application would probably burn money in the beginning. Not many people would pay for it. However, as more and more content is created, more people would pay for it."
"At our current speed, I highly doubt that we will be able to make it profitable within ten years..."
All of these students had their own views on the 'Useful App'. Many of them did not think that it would succeed at all. They only used their spare time to create and enrich the contents because of Tengda's subsidies.
Many people were even prepared that Tengda would give up on this project at any time. They had the mentality that they would earn some money for as long as they could.
One student was confused. "Sigh, I've always had a question. 'Synonyms', 'Antonyms', 'Rhyming Words' and other functions don't seem to be displayed on 'Useful App'. Why are they doing this?"
The so-called 'Synonyms', 'Antonyms' and 'Rhyming Words' were actually establishing a connection between words with similar meanings, opposite meanings, and similar rhythm
Every time a poem was recorded, one could freely add its synonymous words, antonyms words, rhyming words, and the like to establish a connection between different poems or poems.
These contents were also included in the workload, and the weightage was not low. After sorting out a poem, one could search it online, verify it, and then fill in the relevant poems in the backend platform.
However, the strange thing was that this connection would not be displayed in the 'useful application'. That made everyone slightly confused.
"I don't understand. They obviously created this function but didn't show it. Isn't that a waste?"
"Who knows? Maybe the reception for this function is still under development? Is it done at the backend platform and displayed directly after it's done?"
"Maybe."
The students did not pay much attention to it and continued working on the backend platform.
...
At Otto Technologies...
Chang You invited Yu Pingan to the guest room when he arrived.
"Wait a moment."
Chang You left for a moment, he returned with an OTTO cell phone.
"You're here today to do some work on the application database. Since you're here, feel out the functions of the first version of AEEIS' smart assistant."
"Our researchers have been working on it for a while now. We need a complete outsider to give us some opinions from a more objective point of view."
Chang You handed his cell phone to Yu Pingan as he spoke.
Yu Pingan was supposed to work with Chang You today because the data on the application would be directly linked to the AEEIS smart database. There were many details in the design that required the two in charge to make decisions.
In the end, Chang You caught him as a lab rat to experience AEEIS' initial version.
Yu Pingan might not be very interested in these but he still reached out to take the cell phone and seriously tried it out.
There was an unwritten rule within Tengda Corporation that every department had to unconditionally and unreservedly cooperate with the other departments to meet their needs. All department heads had to abide by this rule habitually.
When did such unspoken rules become established?
Most people did not know.
However, the source of this unspoken rule could probably be traced back to Boss Pei. On one hand, Boss Pei attached great importance to the cooperation between the various departments. On the other hand, there was no pressure from the heads of the various departments to compete with each other. Everyone worked for Boss Pei, and their salaries were not much different. The bonuses did not depend on profits but on reputation. Thus, there would not be sectarian bias between the various departments like some large companies.
Yu Pingan noticed that there were some changes to this OTTO E1 when compared to the cell phone that was being sold on the market. The most direct observation was the operating system of the cell phone.
At first, the operating system of Otto Technologies was more like that of the original Andriod. The interface was simple and clean, but it also gave people a feeling that it was too simple.
However, this version of the operating system had much more content. The UI animation of various systems became smoother, more natural, and had many more details. There were also many more options in the system settings that could better dig into some new functions of the Android system. The camera system's icons had been changed, and new functions would be discovered after clicking into them, such as the optimized algorithm for taking pictures, new filters, and so on.
Other than that, the system also incorporated the functions of AEEIS' smart assistant. He could either press the power button or directly speak to AEEIS to get the Intelligent Voice Assistant to appear.
Yu Pingan did not know much about AEEIS' Intelligent Voice Assistant.
He only knew that this Intelligent Voice Assistant had also used the latest artificial intelligence research results of Xinkuo Technologies. It was similar to the smart assistants and smart speakers produced by other manufacturers. The only difference was in the details of the adjustments.
In addition, Chang You had said that this was a 'erudite and easygoing smart system'. It would sometimes speak with venom and also had poetry function.
However, Yu Pingan did not take it too seriously. Since all the low-level technologies were used for communication technology, this voice assistant should not be that different from other voice assistants. What's more, it was only the first version.
Yu Pingan said into his cell phone, "AEEIS."
After a crisp beeping sound, a dark gray cover appeared on the cell phone screen, covering the content of the original image. A colorful tilde appeared on the screen.
The main part below the tilde was a display area for information. At the bottom was a smaller tilde.
The colorful tilde above the screen was AEEIS' main body. It would only move according to the sound notes when AEEIS answered. When AEEIS did not answer, it would have other dynamics such as rolling in in wave motions or rotating regularly. This was used to express AEEIS' current mood and state of mind.
On the other hand, the smaller tilde was used to collect voice messages from the outside world. It would vibrate as Yu Pingan spoke.
The entire page was very clean. There was no additional text information.
Yu Pingan had used other voice assistants before. Many words would be displayed on the page, including frequently asked questions. However, the AEEIS interface was cleaner and simpler. It was the same style as Otto OS.
Yu Pingan had a good first impression of AEEIS.