After hanging up the phone, He Desheng looked at Pei Qian with a bitter expression.

“Boss Pei, there are three more investment companies. Should we continue calling them?”

“In this short while, we’ve already deterred at least 2 million yuan in investments…”

He Desheng found this utterly baffling. Others were eagerly offering money, and they were refusing?

What exactly was Boss Pei scheming?

Two to three million yuan had just vanished into thin air, yet Pei Qian’s face remained expressionless, still calmly drinking his tea, with even a faint smile appearing at the corners of his mouth.

“Keep calling!” Pei Qian felt his strategy was succeeding!

Deter everyone so they wouldn’t come and cause more trouble!

He Desheng had no choice but to continue calling the next investment company.

“Chairman Chen! Yes, this is He Desheng. I wanted to talk to you about the ‘Scholars Come Quick’ app…”

He Desheng continued according to the previous approach—first briefly asking for the other party’s views on the project, then elaborating on the problems the project currently faced and the potential risks in this investment.

Chairman Chen on the other end, listened silently, occasionally responding with “Hmm” or “Ah.”

When everything had been said, He Desheng quietly waited for the response.

After hearing so much, Chairman Chen would probably say, “I’ll think about it more,” just like the bosses of the previous investment companies.

Finally, after a moment of contemplation, Chairman Chen on the other end spoke.

“Good, in that case… I want to increase my investment. Originally, I was going to invest one million, now I’ve decided to invest three million!”

“Pfft!”

Pei Qian had just taken a small sip of tea and almost choked.

What the hell?!

Did Chairman Chen have something wrong with his brain?

After explaining so much, how could he still want to increase his investment?

He Desheng was also surprised and momentarily speechless.

Chairman Chen on the other end laughed and asked, “What’s wrong? You’re not happy that I want to invest more?”

He Desheng hurriedly replied, “No, no, no, of course we’re happy! But why would you…”

Chairman Chen laughed heartily: “I’ve heard from Chairman Li for a long time that Tenda’s boss, Boss Pei, is a very interesting person who often can put his interests aside when doing things. I must say, it’s admirable.”

“This time is no exception. Other companies seeking investment all exaggerate their projects to the extreme—if they have even a tiny bit of success, they’ll blow it up to the sky, while keeping quiet about the hidden dangers and risks of the project, with the mentality of swindling as much investment as possible.”

“But your company is completely different. You’ve clearly explained all the pros and cons before investment, with quite the spirit of ‘Jiang Taigong fishing—those willing will take the bait.'”

“Just for this attitude alone, I believe the management of your project is very responsible! You have Boss Pei’s style!”

“So, I want to invest three million. To be honest, what I believe in isn’t your project, but your people. With a group of people like you who work earnestly, any project can succeed!”

“Even if it doesn’t succeed, it doesn’t matter. Venture capital is risky by nature, haha.”

He Desheng was deeply moved: “Very well, Chairman Chen! When our Boss Pei hears your words, he will surely be greatly comforted!”

Pei Qian held his teacup and gazed at the ceiling, momentarily speechless.

Great, all the investments he had worked so hard to secure were now recouped from Chairman Chen!

He Desheng was greatly encouraged and continued calling the next investment company.

After Chairman Chen, one company remained unmoved and maintained their previous investment amount, while another company also increased their investment!

In the final tally, not only had the investment not decreased, but it had actually increased from before!

After finishing the calls, He Desheng excitedly gave a thumbs up: “Boss Pei, your strategy of feigning retreat to lure them in, letting those willing take the bait, has truly opened my eyes!”

Pei Qian: “…”

He waved his hand and weakly asked, “So, how much investment has this project received now?”

He Desheng calculated: “About 7 million yuan, Boss Pei!”

Pei Qian stared blankly at the ceiling, speechless.

What was going on?!

He sincerely tried to deter them, but they were all so unappreciative!

Some even wanted to increase their investment? This was insane!

Heaven’s gate is wide open, but you refuse to walk through; Hell has no door, yet you insist on entering…

Since that’s the case, don’t blame me for being ruthless!

Pei Qian put his empty teacup on the table and said through gritted teeth: “Fine, they all want to invest? Let them invest!”

“Keep burning money until not a penny is left!”

…

…

On the way back to the company, Pei Qian was still fuming.

Things were not going well at all!

The shared phone booth project had already failed.

The shared scholar project, from the current outlook, also had an uncertain future.

During this time, Ma Yang, like Pei Qian, had been busy with exams and had just finished.

But considering the current popularity of IOI in Europe and America, as well as the 35 million yuan that was practically being given away, all of which were Ma Yang’s achievements, Pei Qian felt he couldn’t yet restore his trust in Old Ma.

Thinking that in such a large company as Tenda, with thousands of employees, he couldn’t find a single truly trustworthy person, Pei Qian felt his heart being cut like a knife.

“Hmm? Right, how is Cui Geng doing now?”

Pei Qian suddenly thought of this “pigeon spirit,” as if a drowning person had grabbed onto a lifeline!

Pei Qian immediately took out his phone, opened the Endpoint Chinese Website app, and checked the update status of these authors in the study group.

After scrolling a bit, he discovered that the authors in the study group had a noticeable downward trend in their update volume!

The most obvious decrease was from Ming Yu, the “model worker,” who yesterday updated just over 4,000 words, which was one-third of his usual daily update!

Other authors had also decreased their update volume to varying degrees, generally by around 1,000 to 2,000 words.

As for Cui Geng himself, he had gone from initially updating 8,000 to 10,000 words to now about 7,000 words.

Updating 1,000 fewer words per day might not seem like much, but with web novels, small amounts add up!

One thousand less today, one thousand less tomorrow—how much would that be in a year?

Moreover, all the authors were in the “dark room” state, with no other entertainment activities, so they could only write.

Under these circumstances, being able to reduce by 1,000 words, and for a model worker like Ming Yu to have his update directly halved, was enough to prove that Cui Geng’s work was remarkably effective!

Pei Qian couldn’t help but feel happy. He hadn’t misjudged this person after all!

When Cui Geng returned to the study group, he immediately brought the seed called “slacking off” and quickly infected the other authors in the study group.

The effect was immediate and dramatic!

“This kind of talent must be put to good use!”

Pei Qian was almost impatient to have Cui Geng spread this spirit to all departments of Tenda!

…

Endpoint Chinese Website Authors’ Study Group.

“So, Giant Ming Yu, what insights have you gained from learning the Tenda spirit?” a curious author asked at the dinner table.

Other authors also turned their heads, clearly interested as well.

In the past two days, Ming Yu had gone all out to be able to go to Tenda headquarters to learn the Tenda spirit.

He spent less than two hours writing a 4,000-word update, then spent the remaining six hours organizing his outline and filling in settings.

Hard work pays off—he finally managed to earn the qualification to go to Tenda headquarters for learning.

Most authors who hadn’t gone yet were very interested in this mysterious “Tenda Spirit Learning Activity.”

Ming Yu temporarily put down his chopsticks, his eyes filled with admiration: “How should I put it? It was completely different from what I imagined.”

“When I went there, a guy from the Human Resources Department specifically took me to the game room and let me play games there.”

“In the game room, there were all kinds of entertainment facilities—high-end computers, gaming consoles, comics, novels…”

The authors looked confused: “That’s it?”

Ming Yu shook his head: “Of course not! The game room wasn’t the focus!”

“At first I didn’t understand, but now I do. The game room was just like a mirror, a test!”

“They wanted to use this test to first roughly understand your personality and where your issues lie, and then provide targeted guidance to help you understand the Tenda spirit in your way!”

The authors found this incredible.

“Really? I thought it was just pure theoretical learning…”

“It seems this Tenda spirit has rich connotations, even teaching according to individual aptitude?”

“Giant Ming Yu, tell us quickly, what did you do then?”

Ming Yu sighed: “Actually, I didn’t think too much at the time. I just sat on the sofa, found a couple of books to read, and after waiting for ten minutes, I realized something was wrong.”

“So I immediately went out and found that HR guy.”

“Afterwards, we had a heart-to-heart talk. He pointed out many of my problems, saying that I seemed very hardworking but was not hardworking at all, and urgently needed to be transformed by the Tenda spirit!”

Ming Yu fell into deep thought, seemingly recalling the scene: “At that moment, I felt like a lightning bolt splitting the dark clouds—I suddenly awoke from a dream!”

Thinking carefully, it was indeed true. I update many words every day, more than most authors, but my results have never improved much. That’s because I’ve been too focused on quantity and neglected quality!”

“These past few days, I’ve deliberately slowed down my pace, writing more slowly with fewer words, but the plot has received unanimous praise from readers!”

“This is all the influence of the Tenda spirit!”

The authors showed various expressions.

“Is it really that magical?”

“Both Brother Cui and Giant Ming Yu have had epiphanies through this Tenda spirit training. It seems it’s effective!”

“Why do I feel this is mostly a psychological suggestion? Tenda is a gaming company, and isn’t the Tenda spirit meant to supervise employees’ work? What effect could it have on our novel writing?”

Some were skeptical.

Ming Yu shook his head, his face serious: “I also thought it was a psychological suggestion at first, wondering if I was overthinking. But after careful consideration, it’s not!”

“The Tenda spirit is completely different from the corporate spirits promoted by other companies. Other companies’ spirits are nothing but empty slogans, meant to brainwash employees and squeeze as much labor from them as possible.”

“But the Tenda spirit is completely different!”

“The Tenda spirit encourages rest and entertainment, considering them more important than work. They even adopt mandatory rest policies for employees who work excessively.”

“Moreover, the Tenda spirit doesn’t have specific content that is forcibly instilled in you. It’s like philosophy and Zen meditation—it mainly guides everyone to enlightenment! This approach can strengthen your inherently correct views, rectify your partially wrong views, and truly change your way of thinking!”

“This is because the Tenda spirit focuses more on excavating and nurturing employees’ potential, rather than exhausting potential through exploitation!”

“This principle aligns with the laws of web novel creation, or it could be said to be universally applicable!”

“It can even serve as a methodology to guide various industries! It can even rise to a philosophical level!”

After hearing Ming Yu’s speech, the authors all lowered their heads, deep in thought.

A moment later, someone sighed: “That makes sense!”

“Alright, I also want to go see if it’s that mystical!”

“I want to go too!”

“What exactly is the Tenda spirit? We’ll naturally know after making a ‘pilgrimage’!”

The authors finally realized that perhaps the greatest gain from coming to Jingzhou wasn’t the “dark room” of this study group.

Tenda, as a company, harbored more important spiritual wealth!