Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

Both of them entered the guest room, and Pei Qian gestured for Lin Wan to sit down on the couch. Then, he served her tea personally.

That’s how good generals were treated!

Pei Qian was quite satisfied with Bloody Battle Song: The Powerful Version’s current situation. They managed to spend eight million yuan and incur losses. Lin Wan was most likely dealt a hard blow this time, too. Perhaps she would not be able to take the pressure and would soon go home to take over her family business.

These were two pieces of good news!

Indeed, buying Shang Yang Games back then had been the right decision!

However, it was a pity that the game’s rating was low on TPDb. If he could get it above 8.0, he would be able to pay another four hundred thousand yuan worth of bonus.

He could not belittle this sum. What if he ended up being just four hundred thousand yuan from incurring loss?

Of course, Lin Wan and Shang Yang Games were performing extremely well now. Boss Pei was easily content.

Watching Boss Pei personally serve her tea, Lin Wan felt pampered. She took the cup with two hands and sipped her tea, forgetting what she had come here for.

Oh, right. I’m here to report to Boss Pei. Lin Wan briefly explained Shang Yang Games’ current problems.

“Boss Pei, I have come to talk about two main problems.

“First, everyone has been cursing Zhang Zuting’s advertisement. Not only has that advertisement worsened our game’s reputation in the eyes of netizens, but it has also greatly disturbed Zhang Zuting.

“Yesterday, he took the initiative to contact Shang Yang Games’ staff, asking if he could fly down to Jingzhou and re-film the advertisement. What’s more, he was willing to re-film the advertisement without being paid a single cent. “I know that this advertisement was done to attract traditional web-based gamers, but it has affected Zhang Zuting’s reputation. Why not let him re-film a classier advertisement to make it up to him?”

Re-film the advertisement? No way!

Without even thinking about it, Pei Qian shook his head. “There’s no need. I understand Old Zhang’s emotions, but re-filming the advertisement would not resolve the problem.

“The advertisement has already been published. Everyone’s impressions have already been set. We cannot possibly brainwash everyone and erase their memories.

“What’s more, the advertisement’s popularity has earned Old Zhang more new fans. It should not matter that he’s being cursed at by some.”

Lin Wan still felt uncomfortable. “But many people are calling him ‘Zha Zhuti[1]’ on his Weibo profile. He’s finding it extremely difficult to accept being referred to like that.” Pei Qian smiled. “Why does Old Zhang seem so different from before? It’s because he was too well-packaged as an idol. He can’t even tell what young people like nowadays.

“Is he still trying to stick to his old ways and think about how to make a comeback and make a name for himself? Everyone’s referring to him affectionately as Zha Zhuti. They like him. Doesn’t he understand this simple logic?” Lin Wan looked confused. “Huh?”

Boss Pei was making sense. Yet, the person involved did not like it at all!

Pei Qian continued. “Go back and work on Old Zhang’s mindset. Help him to change his worldview. I think ‘Zha Zhuti’ is quite a nice nickname. It sounds affectionate.

“It even sounds appetizing. Young people would like it for sure. If you don’t believe me, look through Zhang Zuting’s Weibo. See if there have been more fans recently. Is he obviously more popular?”.

Lin Wan looked at her phone, confused. “It looks like… he has gotten many more fans. Alright, I’ll go back and talk to him…”

Lin Wan was confused after listening to Pei Qian’s lies. This problem was settled. “The second problem is Bloody Battle Song: The Powerful Version’s figures. You’ve seen them, right…?

Seen

“Although the figures are not ideal, I think it’s still too early to say we’ve failed. I’m prepared to keep an eye on the figures for a week. If they still do not improve after that, we’ll try making some changes.”

Hmm? Try making some changes after a week? What the hell are you making changes for? Isn’t the situation now ideal?

Don’t you dare make any changes!

Pei Qian’s expression became very stern as he said, “Failed? Where have we failed? The rating left behind by paying customers on TPDb was 9.2. That’s an excellent rating! I’ve also browsed a couple of forums. Old players are very satisfied with the current game.

“Tengda Games is using reputation as the main measurement of success now. This game has not failed in any sense. Instead, it’s considered quite a success. It has achieved its aim perfectly.

“It’s not a big deal that it’s not generating any profit now. Cast your eyes further. As long as we have a good reputation, we will make profits one day.”

Lin Wan was conflicted. “Er… that’s true, but… netizens have given the game very low ratings —we only got 4.3.”

Pei Qian sipped his tea and grinned. “They’re just a bunch of Cloud Players who are here to join in the fun. These people have never even played the game. They’re rating the game based on the advertisement alone. Why should we be concerned about them?

“Netizens’ rating of the game is 4.3, but that is mainly because there are very few users on

TPDb at the moment. Many people have misconceptions about Bloody Battle Song: The Powerful Version. The ratings are not exactly accurate.

“We need to have faith that the game will not be buried. Since paying customers are affirming it, we have to persevere. The sun will shine eventually!”

Lin Wan nodded without saying anything.

Hmm, Boss Pei is much more optimistic than I expected.

The netizens’ ratings were bothering Lin Wan, but it did not seem to be a big deal at all to Boss Pei.

Boss Pei smiled subtly. “Haven’t I said it time and time again? Cast your eyes further.

“Bloody Battle Song: The Powerful Version is the culmination of everyone’s hard work. Since we all think that we’ve created a good game, why must we be so concerned about it incurring losses for now?

“Don’t panic and confuse yourself. Don’t make any changes. Keep things as they are.” Lin Wan nodded. Boss Pei was the most thorough!

Since even Boss Pei did not see the need to make any changes to the game, there was probably no need for any changes to be made.

However… Would it be appropriate for them to sit back and wait? Couldn’t they do something more practical?

Lin Wan pondered for a moment and said, “I’ll ask them to make some minor improvements for now then. We will keep the game’s contents as they are, but we’ll just repair bugs.”

Pei Qian nodded, satisfied. “Mm, alright.”

As long as you don’t make any major changes and keep things as they are, I’m fine with anything

“But… Boss Pei, when do you expect to see a change in Bloody Battle Song: The Powerful Version’s situation?” Lin Wan asked.

When will there be a change in the situation? You’ve stumped me. I don’t know either. If you let me decide, I would make it so that the situation never changed…

However, looking at Lin Wan’s hopeful eyes, Pei Qian could not help but say something to appease her.

“It depends on fate. When it’s time, the situation will change.”

…

After sending Lin Wan off, Pei Qian heaved a huge sigh of relief. Everything’s almost done!

Just a while ago, Ming Yun Private Kitchen’s failure made him extremely anxious. Now, he was getting good news from Shang Yang Games. Pei Qian could finally relax.

Lin Wan would appease Zhang Zuting. After all, they had already paid him and given him a good treat. They even made him more popular. One could not complain that Pei Qian had treated him badly.

Old Zhang was just getting cursed at here and there. How big of a deal was that? If Old Zhang really felt disturbed, he could always look for a couple more Hong Kong celebrities to join him in filming advertisements next time. He could ask them to do so on account of their friendship.

At the very most, Pei Qian would invite Old Zhang back to Jingzhou and treat him to another good meal.

However, the thought that he would have to make a reservation whenever he wanted to go to Ming Yun Private Kitchen and that he would not be able to eat there whenever he pleased again made Pei Qian feel extremely down. “Oh, that’s right. I have to call Lin Canrong!”

Pei Qian recalled a critical problem.

Ming Yun Private Kitchen’s situation had been too optimistic before. There were too few reservations not enough to fill up all the slots.

Although Ming Yun Private Kitchen was already fully booked until next week, Pei Qian still had time to make reservations for after that.

Pei Qian called Lin Canrong to make several more reservations.

Before this, he only booked the restaurant on the 20th of every even month. He also booked the biggest private room for the first and third Sunday of each month.

Now, he was going to book the entire restaurant on the 20th of every month, and the biggest private room on the first and third Sunday and second and fourth Saturday of each month.

Simply put, he doubled the number of reservations he made the last time.

Pei Qian wanted to make more reservations, but he needed to have a legitimate reason each time he organized a gathering.

Booking a private room once a week and the entire restaurant once a month was about all he could do.

Once he finished making the reservations, he heaved a long sigh of relief.

He would treat Teacher Qiao to a meal this Saturday in order to comfort his broken soul.

On the 20th of this month, he could treat Shang Yang Games’ employees to a meal to reward them for their hard work.

He would not have to worry about Shang Yang Games for now. He felt much more relaxed. Once again, he picked up his controller and prepared to suffer in Repent and Be Saved. At that moment, his cell phone’s screen lit up. It was a message from Lin Chang. “Boss Pei, are you Hardcore Reviews?”

Pei Qian was confused.

Oh? How did you find out so quickly?

He had thought Lin Chang would not notice a minor account like Hardcore Reviews since he was such a busy person.

Pei Qian was going to inform Lin Chang about the videos after filming all twenty episodes. He had not expected Lin Chang to find out about him so early on. Ever since he started updating Hardcore Reviews’ videos last month, he had uploaded a total of eleven episodes. He was about halfway through his initial goal of twenty. Pei Qian had planned to play around with and upload twenty episodes for fun. Then, he would be able to relax and spend the two hundred thousand yuan.

However, the results were much better than he expected. Hardcore Reviews gained many fans, and there were now more than six hundred thousand viewers.

The first three cell phone reviews were especially popular. Fans of all three cell phones kept fighting in the comments. Until now, the videos were still gaining popularity.

Of course, even an account with six hundred thousand fans was considered average on Aili Island. One could say that it only had a little fame in the system.

Naturally, Pei Qian did not expect Lin Chang to notice his videos. Could it be that Boss Lin normally browsed Aili Island when he had nothing to do as well? If other people had seen Hardcore Reviews, perhaps they would not have recognized Boss?Pei.

On one hand, Pei Qian did not show his face. He also slightly altered his voice. On the other hand, other people would not have expected the rich Boss Pei to shoot videos for fun.

Yet, Lin Chang was different.

He had funded this program. He also knew that Boss Pei was running a test on performance art. Looking at the video, he would probably be able to guess that the host was Boss Pei just from his figure and voice.

There was no need for Pei Qian to hide the facts either. From the beginning, he had produced the videos for Lin Chang to see. Thus, he readily admitted it.

“It’s me.”

[1] This means Deep-Fried Pig Trotters in Mandarin.