"What Meng Chang did not expect was that his cheap tricks did not escape Boss Pei's eyes at all."
"At the news conference for all investors, Boss Ma of Tengda asked two soul-stirring questions: Is the cold noodles delicious? What does' multidimensional fusion 'mean?"
"This was a direct hit on Meng Chang's soft spot. It's equivalent to pointing out the two huge hidden dangers of the cold-faced lady in front of all the investors: bad taste, excessive marketing."
"Obviously, Boss Ma has two purposes for sending a message to Boss Pei: one is to remind investors of the risk of the cold-faced lady, and the other is to remind Meng Chang that the current cold-faced lady is just an empty building. She will definitely fail. It's not too late to make changes now."
"It's a pity that the high-spirited Meng Chang did not realize the severity of the warning this time. He continued to follow his script stubbornly."
"However, what he doesn't know is that he would not be walking on the script that he had thought of, but the script that Boss Pei had arranged for him."
"Boss Ma's questions at the news conference gave Meng Chang a blow to the head. He could only spend all his money on the Cold-Faced Lady's shop and use marketing, popularity, and beautiful financial reports to exchange for investors' trust."
"However, the process was not smooth because the nail that Boss Ma buried at the news conference was still hurting the investors. The investments that Meng Chang could obtain had harsh contents such as valuation adjustment mechanism agreement. Meng Chang still lacked the bargaining chips to bargain with the investors."
"At that moment, Meng Chang fell into a dilemma. He knew that the Cold-Faced Lady was still far from what he wanted. If he took the hot money now, there would definitely be a huge problem."
"It's not too late for Meng Chang to give up now."
"However, at that moment, Boss Pei extended a helping hand again and invested six million yuan. This allowed Meng Chang to once again possess bargaining chips in hand to deal with the other investors and his confidence was reignited."
"However, in hindsight, Boss Pei's move should be considered 'playing cat and mouse'. If not for this investment, the Cold-Faced Lady's ending might have been a flash in the pan, disappearing without a trace. Meng Chang's entrepreneurship would have failed but he would not have any debts. The two million yuan that Boss Pei invested in the beginning would have been wasted."
"However, the facts have proven that while Boss Pei's money seemed easy to get, it's actually not easy at all."
"The confident Meng Chang launched a grand marketing campaign in a more high-profile manner. His dominance made the observing investors waver. The investors were afraid of missing the Cold-Faced Lady's train and were already considering removing the harsh conditions. The mentality of both parties gradually reversed."
"Meng Chang felt that he was one step away from his goal. He was within reach. Thus, he came to Jingzhou with a carefully prepared financial report once, hoping to get a last sum of money from Boss Pei."
"As long as this sum of money was in place, other investors will follow suit. The Cold-Faced Lady's valuation will reach an unprecedented height. Meng Chang would have many choices, such as selling to Quanmin Reviews and other food and beverage giants to exit."
"However, Boss Pei only sneered after reading Meng Chang's financial report. What caught Meng Chang off guard was that Boss Pei directly sold all the shares of the Cold-Faced Lady in his hands. He even sold them at a low price, causing the Cold-Faced Lady's valuation to plummet!"
"Meng Chang is one step away, but the difference was like heaven and earth."
"After that, Meng Chang's actions were completely controlled by Boss Pei. When he saw that the Cold-Faced Lady was about to collapse, Boss Pei invested two million yuan to raise the price. When he saw that the Cold-Faced Lady's condition was gradually improving, he sold all his shares."
"Meng Chang fell into the mentality of a gambler. There are already too many chips on the table. He doesn't want to give up because all his previous efforts would be wasted if he gives up. It's as if the dawn of victory is right in front of him. However, no matter how hard he works, he's still a huge distance away..."
"Boss Pei gave Meng Chang one last bit of hope before he completely destroyed his last bit of hope. Thus, Meng Chang, who had always been clear-headed, finally relaxed. After struggling for a long time, he took on an investment that had collateral responsibility. In the end, the Cold-Faced Lady ended miserably. Meng Chang had to bear millions of debt and could not recover."
"It's not difficult to discover that Meng Chang's goal has always been the same looking at the entire process from Cold-Faced Lady's creation to failure. We can't guess what he's thinking, but from his actions, it's obvious that he doesn't want to create his own fast food brand like he said. The writer reasonably suspects that his intention from the start was to increase the valuation and cash out."
"However, Meng Chang used this method very skillfully and his eloquence was too good, so he successfully deceived the eyes of the investors. Or perhaps, some investors knew what Meng Chang was thinking but still invested money. They just had a wishful thinking and felt that they would not be the last one to hold the shares."
"However, Meng Chang failed completely. He was like an unruly monkey, thinking that he had the 72 Transformations and the Fiery Golden Eyes. He fought thousands of miles and wanted to make a scene in the sky before retreating. However, he did not expect Boss Pei to be always watching him. No matter how hard Meng Chang tried, he could not escape from Boss Pei's grasp!"
"Boss Pei obviously knows Meng Chang's goal very well, but he still played the game with him very patiently.
"Boss Pei warned Meng Chang immediately when he realized that he had ulterior motives. When Meng Chang wanted to exit, Boss Pei gave him some hope. When Meng Chang was about to succeed, Boss Pei took drastic measures to completely destroy his hopes."
"In the end, he held him down under the Five-Finger Mountain so that he won't be able to make a comeback."
"Some people might be confused when they see this: Does Boss Pei have a personal grudge with Meng Chang? Even if Meng Chang is suspected of cheating money from Boss Pei, wouldn't it be fine as long as Boss Pei doesn't give him money? Why go through so much trouble?"
"That's why Boss Pei is different."
Qi Yan could not help but nod when she read this.
Before reading this article, she did not know that the Cold-Faced Lady had such a complicated relationship with Boss Pei.
While Qi Yan had always been in charge of the Cold-Faced Lady's marketing, she did not have much experience in other aspects. Basically, she was only carrying out the tasks assigned by Meng Chang.
Qi Yan used to work enthusiastically because she believed in the picture Meng Chang artwork painted. She thought that Meng Chang could really turn Cold-Faced Lady into the leading company of Chinese fast food and give all employees an extremely bright future.
However, she was too naive from the looks of it.
Obviously, Meng Chang had never considered the future of the cold-faced lady and these employees. He only had his own interest at heart from beginning to end.
This article described the battle of wits between Boss Pei and Meng Chang in detail. It looked very credible. However, the most important problem was as the author had said. Why would Boss Pei take the trouble to play with Meng Chang when he was so busy?
It was almost the same as playing the game in Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
Perhaps Meng Chang himself could not figure out why Boss Pei was targeting him.
It was very likely that Meng Chang had become the monkey under the Five Finger Mountain precisely because he felt that Boss Pei did not have the time or the need to fuss over the millions.
Meng Chang had not been thinking about jumping out of Five Finger Mountain, but slipping out from the gaps available. He did not expect Boss Pei's Five Fingers mountain to impregnable.
The last paragraph of the article analyzed Boss Pei's intentions in detail.
"Let us consider something: What would happen if Boss Pei did not invest in Meng Chang? Would Meng Chang give up on his plan? Obviously not."
"Meng Chang will only think that the time is not ripe and put the entire plan aside for now. He will continue to accumulate experience and resumes and wait for the next opportunity. When the time came, would the next investor still have the wisdom and ability like Boss Pei? I'm afraid not."
"At that time, Meng Chang's plan would be successful. He would successfully cash out, leave a pile of rubbish, gain fame and fortune, and become an outstanding entrepreneur."
"Obviously, Boss Pei did not want this to happen. That's why he took the time out of his busy schedule to completely cut off this possibility."
"When encountering ferocious beasts on the road, you can ignore them and protect yourself, but you can't stop them from attacking people. Only by subduing them and putting shackles on them would he be a hero!"
"Boss Pei's move is killing three birds with one stone."
"First, he made Meng Chang a judgment debtor and had his reputation ruined. After the Cold-Faced Lady failed, it would be extremely difficult for him to make a comeback. It would also prevent him from harming others;"
"Second, correct the chaos and put Cold-Faced Lady on the right track. Set an example for everyone through example. Make one thing clear: it's useless to rely on marketing to run a business. The key is to be down-to-earth;"
"Third, this is also a warning to all entrepreneurs with bad intentions who want to cheat money from Dream Realization Ventures: As long as you operate seriously, it doesn't matter if you lose money. However, if your motives were not pure from the beginning, you will be the next Meng Chang!"
"From this, we can see Boss Pei's attitude towards people like Meng Chang."
"All of Meng Chang's actions are within the scope of legal permissions. Firstly, he doesn't make fake accounts and secondly, he doesn't engage in tax evasion. Whatever he did was completely legal."
"Everyone wants to hack liars into pieces, but our country is a country governed by law after all. We still have to distinguish emotions, reason, and law clearly. No one can carry out justice on behalf of the law. That would be too arrogant and overbearing."
"If Meng Chang violates the law, he will naturally be punished by the law. However, his problem is only in his business, so it's most appropriate to use business methods to solve it."
"I heard that Boss Pei gave Meng Chang a job when he was at his wits' end. Obviously, it was not out of compassion but because he had other plans for him."
"Now, I boldly predict that Boss Pei will use business methods to make Meng Chang suffer. The current situation is just the beginning."
"As for the path that Meng Chang will take in the future. Will he wallow in self-pity and give up on himself? Or will he go through all the hardships and repent? His fate is in his own hands."
Chapter 831: Fake Boss and Real Boss
Qi Yan had mixed feelings after reading the entire article.
When she read the previous article, Qi Yan thought that the change in the Cold-Faced Lady was only because of the gap between Meng Chang and Boss Pei.
Meng Chang had failed because he focused on doing light and practical marketing; Boss Pei respected talents and was down-to-earth no matter what he did. That was why he was able to keep succeeding.
In other words, Qi Yan had always felt that Meng Chang's problem was with his ability and not his attitude.
However, after reading this article, Qi Yan realized that Meng Chang had never intended for the Cold-Faced Lady to do well.
Meng Chang said so many pleasantries, but all of them were just words. He just wanted to sell the company for a good price. He had no intention to do as he said.
If Boss Pei had not intervened, what would have happened to the cold-faced lady?
Perhaps Meng Chang would have successfully embezzled money and earned both fame and fortune. The Cold-Faced Lady could have been sold to a large corporation like Quanmin Reviews. She had been sacked because of losses. The employees would have only worked for Meng Chang for a few months before they had no choice but to leave the Cold-Faced Lady to find a new job...
However, everything had changed because of Boss Pei's decisive action!
The failure of the Cold-Faced Lady was entirely Meng Chang's fault. Once Boss Pei took over, the Cold-Faced Lady would definitely welcome a brighter future!
Qi Yan shared the article with the Cold-Faced Lady's work group at that thought. Then, she stood up and clapped her hands lightly to attract everyone's attention.
"Please put down your work and listen to me."
"I know that the company has been through some trouble recently. Many people don't know what exactly happened or what they should do. Some of you are confused about the future of the company."
"Everyone can take a few minutes to read this author's three articles. I believe everyone can find the answer."
The other employees of the Cold-Faced Lady still looked confused. They did not understand what Qi Yan meant by these articles, but they still opened them obediently.
Qi Yan knew very well that the Cold-Faced Lady's employees were basically in a state of 'sequelae'.
Meng Chang was too good at painting pictures and at giving the employees steroid shots. Previously, all the employees felt that the company's prospects were especially good and their working conditions were all maxed out. However, now that the cold-faced lady was in trouble and Meng Chang had stopped caring about it, all the employees felt like they had been cheated. Naturally, they could not muster up any spirit.
Therefore, Qi Yan felt that the mentality of all employees should also be "rebuilt after destruction".
Meng Chang was indeed the former boss of the Cold-Faced Lady, but he was no longer doing anything for it. Only by completely rejecting Meng Chang's management philosophy could she unify everyone's thinking and revive the Cold-Faced Lady.
These few articles directly exposed the cruel truth about the cold-faced lady. The details were detailed and easy to understand. They could be used as 'teaching materials'.
Speaking of which, it was a little ridiculous in itself for the employees of the Cold-Faced Lady to have to read external articles to understand their own company. However, it was understandable as well. After all, many people, including Qi Yan, were actually kept in the dark by Meng Chang.
They might be "internal employees", but who among Qi Yan and the others had really been treated as one of his own by Meng Chang?
Everyone's expressions changed from confusion to lost, then to shock and anger, and finally to relief.
Actually, many old employees still had fantasies about Meng Chang.
After all, Meng Chang was generous, good at painting a good picture, and was charming. In many people's hearts, he was the perfect boss. Even when the Cold-Faced Lady was facing bankruptcy, many employees still unconditionally believed that Meng Chang would come back to save the company.
However, after reading these three articles, Meng Chang's image in their hearts collapsed.
How was this a perfect boss? He was obviously pretending!
Why was Meng Chang so generous and so good to his employees? That was because he had no intention of managing the Cold-Faced Lady for a long time. He only wanted to earn a sum of money and run away. Since he was earning quick money, he would of course be good to his employees because he was exploiting them!
However, some of them felt very lucky even though they were angry.
Fortunately, Boss Pei made his move and Meng Chang's plan failed!
Now that the Cold-Faced Lady was in Boss Pei's hands, Boss Pei was obviously going to make drastic changes to the problems left behind by Meng Chang when he was the boss. Wasn't it worth celebrating that the Cold-Faced Lady sent away a fake perfect boss and welcomed a true perfect boss?
Everyone could feel that the Cold-Faced Lady seemed to have changed from this moment onwards.
Qi Yan was very satisfied with everyone's reaction. Since these people were obviously not stupid to be able to enter the Cold-Faced Lady as employees. There were some things that did not need to be said in detail, they could be understood with a single point.
Qi Yan said to everyone, "I know. What happened a while ago made everyone very confused. They were not doing well at work. I'm the same. I'm not sure about the future."
"However, Boss Pei has already pointed out the direction of the Cold-Faced Lady's future development. What's more, it's different from the vision that Meng Chang painted. Boss Pei's direction of development is the real down-to-earth choice!"
"I'll briefly explain the recruitment of outstanding vendors to be Gourmet Advisers. Everyone, listen carefully. I hope that everyone will cooperate with me in the future..."
Qi Yan took the opportunity to explain her work plan in detail.
Everyone listened intently. Someone would raise their own opinions and actively participate from time to time.
They could feel that Cold-Faced Lady's fate was already changing!
...
...
January 18th, Wednesday morning...
Meng Chang stepped onto Jingzhou's land once again with mixed feelings.
He was relaxed and confident on his previous trips. His suit was ironed without a single wrinkle, his mustache was meticulously trimmed, and he exuded confidence everywhere.
However, this time, his clothes were full of wrinkles and green stubble had appeared on his cheeks. He looked very haggard.
During the period after the Cold-Faced Lady went bankrupt, he had thought of many ways and found many investors and big companies. However, all of them rejected him. The coldness and warmth of human relationships were vividly reflected.
Back when the Cold-Faced Lady was at the peak of her career, Meng Chang was a distinguished guest no matter where he went. The investors and bosses treated him very politely. Now, they would ask the assistants to turn him away and not even bother to meet him.
Meng Chang finally had no choice but to accept his current situation after suffering a series of blows: he could not survive anymore.
Of course, Meng Chang's capability was still his own. It would not be a problem for him to find an ordinary job.
However Meng Chang's character would not allow him to accept such an ordinary job, much less the fate of having to work hard for decades to pay off his debts.
Thus, he was utterly dispirited with the huge gap between his ideals and reality.
Meng Chang did not have a house under his name but his beloved car was taken away and his bank card was frozen.
Meng Chang could not live in the house that he had originally rented because he did not have money to pay for rent. In the end, he found a friend to borrow money and moved to a basement for a couple of days.
However, the one thing that dealt the most severe blow to Meng Chang were still the articles.
Meng Chang, who had no work or place to go, was holed up in the basement of Beijing. He had nothing to do all day and saw these three articles while browsing the internet.
Meng Chang could not help but feel emotional after reading it. The article was well-written. It was simply heartbreaking.
Every step he took had been guarded by Pei Qian. It turned out that today's ending was already set in stone from the moment he received the first sum of money from Dream Realization Ventures. Moreover, he did not know anything about it even at the very last moment.
This was not only crushing him in terms of intelligence, but also in terms of structure.
Reviewing the game after he failed left Meng Chang in despair.
Meng Chang came to Jingzhou today to meet Boss Pei to discuss work and salary.
Meng Chang wanted to pay his debts as soon as possible. He did not want to waste his life away in a dark basement eating instant noodles and only be able to take public transport when travelling long distances.
He did not want to do ordinary jobs. He could not fight for jobs that could earn more money. He could only come to Boss Pei to take a look and try his luck.
If it was the arrogant Meng Chang in the past, he would definitely not come to Jingzhou.
Boss Pei was obviously plotting against him. What good would it do to work under Boss Pei? Boss Pei might even make fun of him!
However, the current Meng Chang no longer had the arrogance and drive he had in the past. He wanted to move out of the basement in Beijing as soon as possible. He wanted to live in a spacious master bedroom where he could see the sun. He wanted to eat normal food that was not instant noodles. He wanted to earn more money and pay off his debts as soon as possible.
As for whether he would suffer working under Boss Pei... that was no longer important.
Meng Chang walked towards Dream Realization Ventures with that thought in mind.
Chapter 832: Make an Example Out Of Him To Intimidate The Thieves
At the same time, in Dream Realization Ventures' guest room, Pei Qian was reading a thick stack of documents that He Desheng had handed over. He was having a headache.
These were all companies related to Dream Realization Ventures. Some had already invested, while others were still queuing up to be invested in.
There was also a portion of the companies that had been sold after the company started making profits.
Pei Qian looked at the information of these companies, and his heart shook.
So many companies were starting to make money?
Fortunately, thank God that He Desheng followed his own instructions and sold them as soon as they earned money with no delay.
They would not make much money as long as they sold them early.
He Desheng saw Boss Pei's brows furrow and relax from time to time. He did not know what Boss Pei had seen from these documents, so he did not ask.
"Boss Pei, should I call Jing Haibing over and let her explain the details to you?" he probed.
Pei Qian shook his head. "Don't bother."
These documents were quite simple and concise. Pei Qian could completely understand them. What's more, Pei Qian could invest as he pleased. It would be good if he incurred losses and it did not matter if he made a small profit. Thus, he felt that there was no need for Jing Haibing, who was in charge of the finance department, to come and explain to him. It would be too troublesome.
Pei Qian flipped through the companies that had already earned money and sold their shares. He casually said, "Some of these companies that have earned money are developing better while others have collapsed."
Of course, Pei Qian did not feel sorry for those companies that earned money. However, he felt a little pity for those companies that could not make it after Dream Realization Ventures withdrew its investment.
Pei Qian felt that this was a little strange.
Dream Realization Ventures continued to invest in companies that did not make money; those that Dream Realization Ventures withdrew were companies that had already made profits.
Since they had already made profits, it meant that the company had found a healthy profit model. As long as nothing went wrong, they would be able to slowly grow.
However, some of the companies did not expand after Dream Realization Ventures left. Instead, they suddenly died. That was strange.
He Desheng smiled slightly and said, "That's right, Boss Pei. They are both profitable. Some companies are really profitable. Some companies are like the Cold-Faced Lady, making profits through some financial means. The profits are good, but the company's situation is not good. They are using the profits to pull in more investments."
"We divested both of them. The former had already passed the most difficult period so they could only be getting better while the latter showed its true colors."
Pei Qian was furious. "Can't people trust each other more?! Can't we be less scheming and more sincere?"
It did not matter if he did not have the capability, but if he had bad intentions, he would be shooting himself in the foot!
The companies which puffed up at one's own cost would have continued to receive Dream Realization Ventures' transfusions if they had honestly admitted to incurring losses. In the end, they insisted that they were making profits. Great, it ended with Dream Realization Ventures divesting its investment.
Without the most basic integrity, it would not never be your turn to spend Boss Pei's money!
He Desheng sighed with emotion. "That's right. Everyone knows that business is based on integrity. If you treat others with sincerity, you will always receive rewards. However, how many people can really do that in reality under the temptation of benefits?"
"I have to say, Boss Pei, your move is really brilliant!"
"Profitable companies would be sold. On the one hand, it would help those companies that really wanted to do real work and form good karma with them. On the other hand, we would kick those companies that are falsifying profitability and harboring evil intentions, avoiding the risk."
"We might be earning less money but we are earning our reputation and punishing scammers. That's killing two birds with one stone!"
Pei Qian: "..."
What the f*ck do you mean by killing two birds with one stone!
I don't need to kill two birds with one stone. I just want to spend more money. Is it that so difficult?!
Pei Qian put aside the information about the companies that had made profits and were sold. Then, he continued to look at the information about the companies that were still incurring losses and Dream Realization Ventures.
"Eh? What's the situation with this company? I remember that they spent a lot of money and created a huge marketing campaign. Why are they cutting two-thirds of their marketing fees now and using it to make products?"
Pei Qian had read about other companies and had an understanding about them when he invested six million yuan into the Cold-Faced Lady previously.
The few companies that liked to advertise, do marketing, and spend money quickly left a deep impression on him.
Originally, these companies were all big spenders and were the targets of Pei Qian's focus. However, in the latest information, they either cut a portion of their marketing costs and reduced their costs or spent their expenses on polishing products and hiring talents.
Since Dream Realization Ventures had sent funds to these companies, the contents were clearly written on the documents and brought to Pei Qian.
Pei Qian was unhappy that he was spending less money.
He Desheng chuckled. "Boss Pei, it's obviously your idea to make an example out of the Cold-Faced Lady! Who would dare to mess around with us after that?"
Pei Qian was confused.
?
Make an example of them?
From the Cold-Faced Lady?
What are you talking about?
Every word was clear, but Pei Qian could not understand them all.
He Desheng continued. "The companies that continue to incur losses and take money from Dream Realization Ventures are divided into two categories.
"The first type is making products seriously. It's just that they don't have enough money, abilities, or resources. These companies will continue to take money from Dream Realization Ventures, recruit talents, and fight for resources. They will slowly become better. The founders of the companies feel that they have done their best and have a clear conscience. Naturally, they don't need to change anything."
"The second category would more or less be related to Meng Chang's habits."
"They did not work hard on their products and spent all their money on marketing. Some people wanted to generate high valuation profits, and some people might purely not be smart enough to tell which was more important."
"Meng Chang and Cold-Faced Lady's case obviously served as a warning to others and to intimidate the thieves!"
"Even someone as strong and smart as Meng Chang was severely punished by you, Boss Pei, because of his bad intentions. He became an executioner and lost his reputation, let alone small fry like them?"
"If they don't change, they will end up like Meng Chang!"
"Thus, all of these smart entrepreneurs panicked."
"Before this, many small companies that were waiting in line for us to invest voluntarily quit. Those who had already received the investment also changed their behavior in the past. They did not dare to spend money extravagantly on marketing. Instead, they paid more attention to the products themselves."
"Obviously, these people have some schemes on their minds. They don't want to be the next Meng Chang. The Cold-Faced Lady's situation is like the Sword of Damocles floating above their heads. It makes them tremble in fear and they don't dare to have any other thoughts!"
"Cold-Faced Lady, this battle can be said to have settled everything with one battle: Previously, many entrepreneurs felt that Dream Realization Ventures' money was the easiest to obtain. However, they now realize that while Dream Realization Ventures' money is easy to obtain, the consequences of not doing anything are also the most disastrous!"
"This way, even if Boss Pei shifted your focus to other industries, Dream Realization Ventures would continue operating perfectly. No one would dare to come here to cheat money!"
Pei Qian was silent.
He had never thought that a little cold-faced lady could have such a deep impact.
The worst situation that Pei Qian could think of before was to sell the Cold-Faced Lady's shares and make a huge profit. That would only increase the pressure of spending money.
However, from the looks of it now, it was not just about making a huge profit.
Objectively speaking, the Cold-Faced Lady had served as a warning to others. In the future, the chances of Dream Realization Ventures investing and incurring losses would be greatly reduced!
Pei Qian sipped his tea quietly, feeling a mix of emotions.
Pei Qian had thought he had set a foolproof strategy for Dream Realization Venture to sell after being profitable and to continue investing if it was in a loss position.
However, a series of things had happened. Pei Qian's hopes were completely dashed. What's more, this plan had the opposite effect!
Pei Qian threw the thick stack of documents on the coffee table and sipped his tea quietly.
"That's all for today."
"I'll give you another sum of money later. Just invest it as you see fit."
Pei Qian had already decided to give up on Dream Realization Ventures. Thus, he did not ask for much from He Desheng.
However, even if he gave up, he would still provide him with money. It was still a little difficult to burn all the money on the 'Mission and Choice' project alone.
As the saying went, don't put all your eggs in one basket. Dream Realization Ventures had to share some of the pressure.
As for what would happen if he were to make money in the future... He could only think about it in the future. He would deal with this cycle first.
He Desheng looked at his watch. "Alright, Boss Pei. It's time to meet with Meng Chang. He should be here soon. I'll go and welcome him."
Pei Qian sipped his tea in the guest room while thinking about life after He Desheng left.
The initial plan was perfect. How did it end up like this?
Life was really unpredictable.
Meng Chang arrived before long.
Pei Qian was a little surprised to see Meng Chang so dejected.
Why, I haven't seen him in a while and he became depressed?
Pei Qian had originally thought that Meng Chang was someone with extremely strong mental fortitude. It would not affect his mentality even if he was beaten down. However, that was obviously not the case from the looks of it.
Pei Qian poured a cup of tea. "Come, sit down and have some tea."
Meng Chang was filled with vigilance and wariness. At the same time, he felt a little fearful.
What was Boss Pei up to?
You're the one who invested the money, and you're the one who ate me up. Now you're also the one who called me here to work for you.
Meng Chang felt like he was being played by Boss Pei. He could not figure out what Boss Pei was going to do next. This feeling made him very uncomfortable.
Meng Chang had always felt that he was one of the smartest people around until he met Boss Pei.
He had seen through all of his plans and plotted against him in secret. Yet, he still smiled and invited him to drink tea when they met... This Boss Pei was too scary!
Meng Chang would never have wanted to meet Boss Pei again if not for the fact that he wanted to earn more money to get rid of his beaten down status as soon as possible. That was because he would feel immense pressure even if he was just going to talk!
Chapter 833: One Point Higher than Ma Yang!
Both of them knew very well what the purpose of this meeting was, so there was no need to keep them in suspense. Pei Qian did not think much of Meng Chang either. He was just one of the less troublesome ones. He would have to settle the other things as soon as possible.
Pei Qian said, "You already know the general contents of the job. I'm mainly here to talk to you about the salary."
"You are free to choose between the two models. The first is a fixed salary of 40,000 yuan per month. As long as you complete your work, you will not lose a single cent. The second is a low base salary with a commission of 3,000 yuan. The commission will range from zero to 200,000 yuan."
"The specific calculation method for the commission is, of course, related to the publicity effect of advertising marketing. I'll have specific people on data analysis to give you a commission based on the money spent on each advertising plan, the popularity created, and the publicity effect."
"The more money you spend, the less popular the advertisement was, the worse the publicity effect, and the higher the commission."
Meng Chang immediately said, "I'll choose the second option... Wait, the lower the popularity, the higher the commission?"
"Inverse target???"
Meng Chang felt that it was quite normal when he heard the first part.
A low base salary and high commission was exactly what he was looking forward to.
Although 40,000 yuan a month was already a high income for most people, it was completely unsatisfactory for Meng Chang. After all, his salary had long surpassed that figure when he was an executive in a big company. There were many places that could give him 40,000 yuan a month now even if he did not enter a big company. There was no need for him to take this dead 40,000 yuan from Boss Pei.
What's more, he could use his 40,000 monthly salary to repay his debts. If he deducted his taxes and miscellaneous living expenses and managed to pay 300,000 a year, he would still need to repay the debt for 20 years.
How many decades could one live?
During this period, he would always be a judgment debtor. There were too many restrictions on him. He could not even take a high-speed plane when he went out. He could forget about buying a house, traveling, vacation, and going overseas.
By the time he was done repaying his debts, he would be at the age of retirement. Basically, he would be muddle-headed for the rest of his life. He could not possibly think about making a comeback in his fifties or sixties, right? That would be unrealistic.
If it was a few decades earlier, there might have been a chance. However, it was impossible now.
Sometimes, Meng Chang even felt that he would rather go to jail for three years if it could rid him of his debts. After all, there were many people who started their own businesses after being released from jail. It was better than paying twenty years of debt.
On the other hand, if he were to calculate based on the two hundred thousand commissions that Boss Pei had given him, he would probably be able to repay the money in five to six years. That was an opportunity that no other job could give him.
The only problem was... why was the popularity inversely proportional to the commission?
The worse the marketing effect, the more money Boss Pei would give?
What kind of logic was that?
Meng Chang thought that he had heard wrongly and asked again, "Boss Pei, did you just say that the ratio is inverse?"
Pei Qian nodded and said confidently, "Yes."
Pei Qian did not intend to explain nor did he need to. Meng Chang would always imagine a reasonable explanation for it as long as he acted confident enough.
He took an agreement from the side. "Here are the details. You can take your time to read it. You can fill in the timeline yourself. Three years, five years, ten years... The longer the agreement signed, the higher the commission."
Meng Chang fell silent for a moment. He took the agreement and read it over and over again, word for word. He kept feeling that there was a huge danger hidden behind this.
Could Boss Pei be plotting against him?
His sixth sense told him that there was a pit inside. However, he could not figure out where the pit was after much thought.
It would be very easy to understand if the publicity effect was better and the more money was paid. Meng Chang was very confident in himself. He would definitely make clear arrangements for marketing and publicity. He would definitely get a high commission.
However, Boss Pei's condition was that the more money he spent and the less popular it was would mean a higher the commission.
To put it in simpler terms, it was to spend as much money as possible, but the worse the publicity, the better.
What benefits would that bring to Tengda? Did they feel they had too much budget to spend on publicity? Were they worried if they could not spend all of it?
It didn't make sense!
Meng Chang felt that this would not benefit Boss Pei at all. Unless... Meng Chang's publicity plans exploded every time. In that case, Meng Chang would only be able to get a base salary of three thousand yuan. He would probably never be able to repay his debts in this lifetime. The better his work was, the more miserable he would feel.
However, Meng Chang felt that it was impossible.
Many big companies spent tens of billions of yuan on marketing every year. The heads of the advertising and marketing departments were hired with high salaries because this was a job that required skills. It was not easy to do well, and there were many people who could not do well.
In fact, such a job would be even easier for Meng Chang. He wouldn't even have to rack his brains to think of various marketing plans. Wouldn't he be able to get a high commission just by fooling around?
Meng Chang read the agreement many times but could not figure out what was wrong even though he instinctively felt that something was amiss.
Meng Chang was a wily old fox. He was not lacking in financial nor legal knowledge. He could tell that the contract was not a scam. It even made him feel unreal.
The only limitation was that Meng Chang could not mess around. For example, he could not directly scold consumers in advertisements, engage in regional or gender discrimination, or violate advertising laws. Someone would be responsible for supervising him.
However, this clause was quite reasonable to Meng Chang. It was considered a protective clause to prevent him from exploiting loopholes. It was understandable.
After thinking about the millions of debt he had to bear, Meng Chang said, "Alright, I'll sign it."
"The longest period is... ten years?"
Pei Qian nodded. "That's right. If you sign for ten years, the highest commission per month would be two hundred thousand yuan. If you sign for three years, the highest commission would be one hundred thousand yuan. The longer you sign, the higher the commission."
Meng Chang was silent for a moment before he decisively took the pen and signed it. After signing it, he filled in the year column for ten years.
Ten years it was then. Of course he had to get a high commission!
Meng Chang knew very well that if he signed the contract for three years and realized that he could have easily gotten a commission of two hundred thousand yuan after that, he would feel very regretful.
Even though he would not need ten years to pay all of his debts if he signed on for 10 years, he could still earn for a few more years.
Ten years later, he would still be considered rich and powerful. If he accumulated some wealth, it would be a good choice be it to enjoy life or to start a business.
Pei Qian was very satisfied. After keeping the agreement, he smiled and said, "Alright, I wish you the best of luck in paying your debts!"
Meng Chang: "?"
For some reason, he felt like Boss Pei was mocking him.
...
Meng Chang still felt surreal after leaving Dream Realization Ventures.
He took out the agreement that he carried with him and read it carefully. There was indeed no problem?
"Forget it, I've already signed it. Don't think too much."
Meng Chang felt that it was useless to worry about his personal gains and losses now. This was already his best choice at the moment.
Work would only officially start next month according to Boss Pei. Meng Chang could take a break during this period to adjust his mentality.
He was just about to leave when he saw a familiar long face walking over hurriedly.
Meng Chang instinctively shivered. Wasn't that Boss Ma?
He still remembered Boss Ma pretending to be slow-witted at the Cold-Faced Lady's news conference to successfully deceive him. Then, Boss Ma threw out two soulful questions to the core of the problem, causing the entire news conference to fail to achieve the expected effect.
How could Boss Pei's right-hand man be an ordinary person?
Meng Chang quickly lowered his head and left in a hurry.
Ma Yang walked past Meng Chang and stopped after taking two steps. He turned around to take a look.
"Eh, why does this person look familiar? Where did I see him before?"
"Er... I can't remember."
Ma Yang scratched his head. He had a lot on his plate recently, especially since he had been in seclusion for a long time to prepare for the exam week. How could he remember everyone from the mountain of people he had to meet everyday?
Ma Yang quickly forgot about this small episode and walked excitedly towards Dream Realization Ventures.
...
"Brother Qian!"
Pei Qian heard Ma Yang's loud voice before he saw his long face.
The next second, Ma Yang pushed open the door to the guest room and entered.
Pei Qian put down the documents in his hand. "Eh? Old Ma, why are you here?"
Ma Yang sniggered. "I've been preparing for the exam some time ago and didn't have the time to report on my work. Now that the exam is over, I should focus on my work again."
"By the way, Brother Qian, our results seem to be published on the Academic Affairs Office website today. Have you checked?"
Pei Qian immediately perked up. "Eh? Results are out? I'll check now."
He immediately took a laptop from the side and opened the Academic Affairs Office website. After logging in, he checked the results.
"Heh! I scored 72 points for that closed-book paper!"
Pei Qian could not help but feel proud.
For the humanities and arts majors in university, the closed book exam was the most difficult. The difficulty of the closed book exam was much lower than the open book exam but most people were too lazy to memorize it.
If they were in high school, it would be easy to memorize this knowledge. However, it was completely different in university.
Most of the subjects failed in the humanities course were closed book examinations, and many of those who failed were males.
There was no other reason but laziness.
Pei Qian had scored 72 points, which meant that his revision had been effective. If it had been a friendly score given by the teacher, Pei Qian would have given at most 60 points. Every extra point was his own hard work!
"Old Ma, how many marks did you get?" Pei Qian asked.
Ma Yang sniggered. "I'm only slightly higher than you, Brother Qian."
Pei Qian's smile disappeared in an instant. "What's slightly higher?"
Ma Yang replied, "81 points."
Pei Qian remained silent for a moment. "What about this open book exam? I scored 79 points."
Ma Yang took a look. "Brother Qian, I scored slightly higher than you. I obtained 82 points."
Pei Qian asked a few in a row, but Ma Yang actually scored higher than him in all of them.
Finally, when he reached the last paper, Ma Yang scratched his head. "I didn't score as high as you in this one. I scored 74 points, lower than you by one point."
Pei Qian heaved a sigh of relief, his expression finally looking better.
That's good, that's good. From first year to third year, there was finally one subject that he scored one point higher than Old Ma!
It seemed like his serious revision had paid off. It was a great start even though it was one point in one subject!
Chapter 834: Old Ma's Live-Stream Results
Satisfied, Pei Qian closed the website of the administrative office and stopped talking about results.
One point might be a historical improvement but it did not make sense to keep showing off. It was better to keep it in mind.
"It looks like you've been revising very hard and taking things seriously recently. How's work?" Pei Qian asked.
Ma Yang patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, Brother Qian. I'm doing both studies and work without any delay!"
"I came today to report to you."
"I've been working hard to fulfill people's dreams on Weibo, but the dreams that are worth fulfilling are becoming fewer and fewer. Many people can't even write a paragraph properly. How can I believe that such people really have dreams?"
"As for those flamers who have already received the money, their wishes have been fulfilled, and their flamers are almost squeezed dry. As a person, one cannot be insatiable, so I will not fulfill their dreams anymore."
"In the past week, I've only sent out about a hundred thousand yuan. Sigh, I can only say that this is an era where dreams are scarce."
"A good dream is more precious than gold. These are my heartfelt words."
Pei Qian was stunned.
What should he say about Old Ma?
Pei Qian only wanted him to spend more money on Weibo, but Old Ma was too serious.
Those who had already taken the money would not be given anymore, and those who did not write well would not be given either. In the end, they only sent out about a hundred thousand yuan a week? Given the speed at which you were scattering the coins, I'm afraid I can't count on you.
Pei Qian had already tried to persuade Old Ma to relax his standards and not be so harsh. However, Old Ma did not agree no matter what. He even said that dreams were rare and sacred things that could not be sullied.
Pei Qian had no choice but to let him be.
"What about the live-stream live commerce? How's the popularity?" Pei Qian asked again.
Ma Yang said, "The popularity has stabilized. It's not very popular, but it's not bad either."
Pei Qian was elated. It was as he had expected.
To put it bluntly, Ma Yang's reverse-live commerce was akin to cheating. At the beginning, it might be quite popular, but it would gradually stabilize and there would not be an explosive increase in popularity.
After all, it was not suitable to watch such a program of fake reviews every day. One would get sick of it if he watched too much.
The popularity did not continue to increase. Instead, it stabilized. This was good news for Pei Qian.
Ma Yang continued, "I've already done more than 10 live commerce live-streams. The goods ranged from stationery to home appliances, food, digital products, and so on, have all been very effective!"
"Some merchants took down their products, closed their online shops, and ran away."
"Some of the larger brands took the affected products off the shelves, apologized, and revamped it. Consumers who had tried to maintain their power but to no avail finally received the compensation they deserved.
"Many brands came to me in private, wanting to pay us to avoid disasters. They told me not to talk about them. Many brands that had not been exposed also hinted that as long as they did not mention their brands in the live-stream, everything would be fine. They could even give our show some sponsorship fees..."
Pei Qian asked with concern, "What did you say?"
Ma Yang laughed. "Of course, I blocked all the private messages they sent me!"
"Brother Qian, I haven't forgotten your instructions. No matter what the reason is, there is no way we are going to take their money! We didn't plan on doing the shows for those brands that haven't been exposed. However, sending us private messages, means that they are guilty of something. All the more we have to expose them!"
"I have a few million fans now. Everyone says that I'm a warrior, the spokesperson of the Tengda spirit, and the vanguard. How can this bit of money buy me over?"
Ma Yang's long face was filled with pride.
Pei Qian could not help but raise his thumb. "Well done! Old Ma, I've long seen that you're a promising talent. I can rest assured when things are given to you to do!"
He had to admit that if it was anyone else doing Old Ma's job, that person might not be so ruthless.
The brands that he had exposed during his live-stream were not all third-rate products. There were also some more famous manufacturers. This exposure would offend many people.
What was even worse was that he had even exposed the private messages that the manufacturers had sent to him. He did not leave any face for the other party at all. Ordinary people would not do such a thing.
Pei Qian was 100% satisfied with Old Ma's work.
Old Ma's fan base had been increasing and was already in the millions, there were many bloggers who had millions of fans on Weibo. Old Ma had spent so much money to earn millions of fans. It was completely acceptable.
"No one threatened you, right?" Pei Qian asked, concerned.
Ma Yang shook his head. "A few small accounts of the third rated companies sent me private messages. I directly @ the cyber-police and they were so scared that they deleted their accounts and ran away. What's more, our country is a lawful society. I have bodyguards. What's there to be afraid of!"
Pei Qian could not help but nod. "En, not bad."
The resistance would definitely not be ordinary if it was an ordinary person doing this. However, Ma Yang had Tengda backing him. Many things would be much simpler. Even if someone hated Ma Yang to the core, they would have to weigh the weight of Tengda behind Ma Yang.
Speaking of Tengda...
Pei Qian asked, "Have you done any live commerce of Tengda's products?"
Ma Yang paused and scratched his head. "Oh... no."
Pei Qian was a little unhappy. "Didn't I tell you to pay special attention to Tengda's products?"
Ma Yang scratched the back of his head. "But Brother Qian, Tengda doesn't seem to have any new products..."
Pei Qian said, "Isn't there the Fully-Automated Intelligent Bickering Machine? Do this for the next episode. Show everyone the problems, flaws, and bad points of this thing in detail in the live-stream!"
Ma Yang hesitated for a moment. "This looks like a new product, right? There's definitely no problem with the quality of our own products. There might not be much content for this program..."
Pei Qian's expression was serious. "It's precisely because it's our own product that we have to be stricter! We have to treat everyone equally. At the same time, we have to spur OTTO Technologies to continue improving!"
Of course, it would be a lie to say that they were spurring Otto Technologies on. Selling less bickering machines and earning less money was his true objective.
The Fully-Automated Intelligent Bickering Machine had been released for more than a week. At first, no one was interested in it and everything was fine. However, for some reason, its sales began to skyrocket one day!
Part of the reason was the Weibo post with Qiao Liang recommending it. However, it had only added fuel to the fire. Pei Qian had never understood the root cause of its popularity.
Pei Qian did not want to sit back and do nothing as he watched the inventory that he had saved up for the sake of spending money turn into troubling System Funds.
Therefore, he planned to make use of Ma Yang's live commerce live-streaming to reduce the sales of the Fully-Automated Smart Bickering Machine.
It had been more than a week since the Fully-Automated Intelligent Bickering Machine had been released. Everyone's blind enthusiasm for buying it should have faded a little.
Since everyone regained their sanity, talking about the problems and shortcomings of the Fully-Automated Intelligent Bickering Machine should have the best effect, right?
There were definitely problems with the product no matter what.
Otto Technologies did not have its own factory. It must have designed the smart stereo system by itself and found other factories to produce it. There was no particularly high technical threshold.
In other words, the quality of this thing was about the same as the echo wall products produced by the original factory. However, the price was raised because of the addition of a bickering machine.
What's more, the price of over two thousand yuan could only be considered a slightly better entry-level product which was not very ideal for fans. It was completely incomparable to the sound systems and echo walls costing thousands or tens of thousands of yuan.
See, there were many faults as long as they were willing to look!
Pei Qian felt that Chen Yufeng and the others, who were in charge of preparing Ma Yang's live-stream, were professional teams. They would definitely be better at picking faults than him.
They would tear down the Fully-Automated Smart Bickering Machine. He could at least dissuade some consumers even if he could not dissuade all, right?
It would be a good thing if he could keep a batch of goods in the warehouse before settlement.
Ma Yang said, "Okay Brother Qian, I'll talk to Chen Yufeng and get him to start preparing for the next live-stream. Then, we'll start working on the Fully-Automated Smart Bickering Machine!"
Pei Qian nodded. "Alright, let me take a look after the first edition of the script. I'll clear it for you."
"No problem, Brother Qian. Just watch!" Ma Yang left excitedly.
Pei Qian could not help but feel emotional as he watched Ma Yang leave.
It was a blessing to be a slacker like Old Ma.
It seemed like no matter what happened, he was always so optimistic, unlike himself, who was filled with all sorts of worries every day, racking his brains to lose more money.
How envious.
Pei Qian looked at the date. It was January 18th today. There was less than a week to Chinese New Year. All the work in the company had basically reached late stage.
Pei Qian planned to take a break after the annual meeting on the 20th since Chinese New Year Eve was on 22nd.
The annual meeting should have been held earlier, but there were many things to do in the last month. Pei Qian was afraid that the annual meeting would delay the settlement of his losses, so he postponed it for a few days and put it on the day of the holiday.
That way, he could go home on holiday after the annual meeting. That would be quite straightforward.
Of course, he had to arrange everything before the holidays.
Pei Qian might have made a lot of money during this cycle but he had made ample preparations. He had spent a huge sum of money on Mission and Choice, and Dream Realization Ventures had split a portion of it. Pei Qian planned to use the remaining money to advertise.
Pei Qian could not be bothered about the hidden dangers in advertising, since he had to spend so much money. What's more, Pei Qian's advertisements were mainly targeted at physical industries, including Fish-Catching Internet Cafe, Fish-Catching Take-Out, Deposit Fitness, Sloth Apartments, Upwind Logistics, and so on.
All of these industries had one common characteristic: while most of them were already making steady profits, as long as the shops opened fast enough, they would not make much money. Advertising these industries was much safer than advertising for games and cell phones.
During the Chinese New Year period, they would advertise in cities like Jingzhou, Beijing, and Shanghai. That would allow them to spend a huge sum of money.
In that case, the System would officially settle the accounts after the new year. He should be able to generate considerable losses.
Once the settlement was completed, Pei Qian would be able to focus all his energy on the next cycle.
Pei Qian felt that his plan was perfect and flawless.