Li Yaling had never been interested in becoming a branch manager; she preferred the coaching job itself.
Whether it was working out herself, teaching others to exercise, or maintaining good relationships with customers and helping them train better—these were all things Li Yaling enjoyed.
Now, hearing Mr. Pei’s proposal, Li Yaling thought it sounded quite good!
A full-time coach, responsible for only ten players, requiring extremely high-end professional knowledge—this was perfectly suited to her!
Moreover, Mr. Pei had promised a salary increase and committed to meeting all necessary training conditions.
This was practically every coach’s ultimate dream!
Li Yaling immediately nodded: “No problem, Mr. Pei. I’ll complete this mission!”
Pei Qian smiled and nodded: “Very good. I’ll give you two days to hand over your work at the gym. On Saturday, I’ll come to the gym to pick you up, and we’ll go to the training base together.”
Li Yaling was delighted: “Alright, Mr. Pei. I’ll finish the handover work before Saturday!”
Although Tuoguan Fitness didn’t offer one-on-one private coaching, many members came specifically for Li Yaling, so she needed to notify them before leaving.
Moreover, the coach scheduling at Tuoguan Fitness had already been completed. With Li Yaling’s departure, they would need to rearrange the schedule, so two days for the handover were necessary.
Pei Qian got up to leave, feeling extremely pleased.
Mission accomplished!
He had both removed a security risk from Tuoguan Fitness and found a coach for the DGE team.
It was truly a win-win situation, a double blessing!
Of course, Pei Qian was well aware that when he brought Li Yaling to the DGE e-sports club’s training facility on Saturday, both sides would be confused.
Li Yaling was expecting to coach a group of broad-shouldered professional fitness athletes, but instead would meet a bunch of skinny internet-addicted youths.
And these internet-addicted youths were expecting a professional e-sports coach, but instead would get a female coach who could kill a bull with one punch.
The requirements definitely wouldn’t match up.
But Pei Qian thought, they’re all coaches, whether training bodies or hand speed, it’s all training—what’s the difference?
Moreover, given the current level of coaches in China, Li Yaling might not be worse than them.
It’s like the stock market: sometimes, by not buying any stocks at all, you’ve already outperformed 70% of competitors.
In short, this arrangement was perfect—using people’s talents and resources to their fullest potential.
Pei Qian couldn’t help but marvel: I’m simply a genius!
…
May 12th, Thursday.
Pei Qian was lying in bed, sleeping in, when his phone rang.
Opening his drowsy eyes, he picked up the phone and looked at it, thinking, Who’s calling me at this early hour of 11 o’clock?
Looking at the caller ID, it was Ma Yang.
Pei Qian jolted awake instantly.
Could it be that Old Ma was up to something again?
Ma Yang was now Pei Qian’s key surveillance target, and he couldn’t afford to miss this call.
“Hello? Brother Qian! I’ve made major progress with my work at Dream Realization Investment!” Ma Yang’s excited voice came through the phone.
Pei Qian immediately went on high alert.
Previously, Pei Qian had already schemed to tie Ma Yang to the DGE e-sports club, making him play games every day until he became so addicted that he forgot about investment matters.
But some time ago, those reckless DGE players had gone too far, directly defeating Old Ma 0-28 in one game, helping Ma Yang overcome his gaming addiction.
So, Ma Yang had no choice but to go back and continue pondering investment matters.
Pei Qian sat up in his bed: “Hmm, tell me about it.”
Ma Yang excitedly said, “Brother Qian, didn’t you tell me to find projects with especially grand dreams? I’ve been searching for a long time, and I finally found one!”
This time, Pei Qian became interested: “Oh? How grand?”
Ma Yang: “As grand as you want it to be, Brother Qian! The dream potential is off the charts!”
Pei Qian’s eyes lit up. Could it be that Old Ma was about to render another meritorious service?
But what Ma Yang said next immediately doused him with cold water.
“And Brother Qian, guess who proposed this especially dream-filled plan? It’s our old acquaintance, Zhang Wang!”
“So I’m telling you this project is particularly reliable, right? It has both dreams and comes from a familiar person we’ve successfully worked with before. This is perfect! Brother Qian, come to the company quickly to see the proposal!”
Pei Qian: “…”
Zhang Wang, wasn’t he the one who did the shared phone booths?
I haven’t even settled accounts with him yet, and he has the nerve to approach me?
When doing the shared phone booths, Zhang Wang first gained Mr. Pei’s trust with a fake business plan, then secretly modified the phone booths beyond recognition.
Now, these phone booths have penetrated major shopping malls in cities across the country. Especially in Jingzhou, those GOG hero-themed phone booths personally illustrated by Ruan Guangjian had almost become must-visit spots.
With such a deep grudge, he still wanted to get money from me?
Not a chance!
Pei Qian immediately wanted to hang up: “No way.”
Ma Yang was stunned: “Brother Qian, you haven’t even heard the project name yet. Don’t be so quick to reject it. Let me tell you, this project is really interesting. Zhang Wang brought the prototype, and I’ve already played with it for over half an hour. I couldn’t stop! I think I could play for three days and three nights!”
Pei Qian listened with confusion.
Prototype? Played for over half an hour?
What exactly was this?
“Alright, tell me the project name.” Pei Qian relented.
Ma Yang: “Auto Contradictomatic.”
Pei Qian: “What?”
“Auto Contradictomatic.” Ma Yang repeated.
“What’s that?”
Ma Yang chuckled: “See, Brother Qian, I told you you’d be interested! Come quickly. It’s hard to describe in words how fun this thing is!”
Pei Qian immediately got out of bed: “Okay, wait, I’ll be right there!”
…
Half an hour later, Pei Qian arrived at Dream Realization Investment.
He Desheng and others had already gathered. When Zhang Wang saw Mr. Pei arrive, he immediately stood up and cordially shook hands with him.
“Mr. Pei! Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to come see my new project!”
Pei Qian remembered the first time he met Zhang Wang was in January. At that time, the temperature outside was several degrees below zero, and Zhang Wang wore a perfunctory black jacket and jeans. You could see the muscles bulging under his clothes, and his flowing long hair was tied in a ponytail behind his head, giving him something of an artistic aura.
But today, Zhang Wang’s appearance had undergone a complete transformation.
The flowing long hair hadn’t changed, but his clothes had. He had switched to branded T-shirts and jeans, looking dozens of times more expensive than when they first met.
Of course, that otherworldly aura hadn’t changed.
It made sense when you thought about it—Zhang Wang had achieved financial freedom with just the shared phone booth project…
Of course, everyone’s definition of financial freedom differs. Zhang Wang was the type who didn’t care much about personal enjoyment, so his standard was lower than others. But regardless, the money earned from shared phone booths was enough for him to live without worries, no longer having to struggle for a living.
Pei Qian didn’t want to talk to him at all and just perfunctorily shook his hand before asking: “Where’s the project?”
Ma Yang pointed: “Brother Qian, it’s this thing on the conference table!”
Pei Qian sat down at the conference table and found a square black box on it. The box had nothing on it except for a row of neatly arranged stainless steel rods, shaped somewhat like the seesaws commonly seen in kindergartens.
Ma Yang moved the box slightly, positioning its front to face Pei Qian.
From Pei Qian’s angle, all these small rod seesaws had their pressed-down ends facing him. At the contact point between the rods and the box—the edge of the box facing him—it was polished very smooth, seemingly to facilitate flipping the small rods.
From above, you could see that these small rod seesaws occupied only half the space on the box’s top surface. There was a subtle line in the center of the top surface, seemingly dividing it into two halves. [See chapter notes]
Pei Qian was confused. What was this?
Ma Yang said, “Brother Qian, quickly lift one of those small rods!”
Pei Qian extended his finger beneath the pressed-down end of one small seesaw, just touching the smoothly polished edge. The metal rod felt cool and smooth, with a nice touch.
Pei Qian lifted it, and with a light “snap,” the stainless steel rod flipped like a seesaw—one end raised, the other lowered.
Pei Qian was about to ask “then what?” when he saw the box’s top lid automatically open. A Y-shaped black metal rod rose from the box and lifted the lowered end back up.
With a light “snap,” all the metal rods returned to their original state, back to how they were before Pei Qian lifted the rod’s end.
Then, the Y-shaped black metal rod retracted into the box, and the lid closed automatically.
Everything returned to its original state.
Pei Qian: “?”
He tried lifting another small rod, and the result was the same as before. The box opened, a Y-shaped black metal rod rose from the corresponding position, and lifted the lowered end back up.
Pei Qian flipped multiple metal rods in succession, and the Y-shaped black metal rods in the box would restore all the metal rods in sequence, eventually retracting into the box, maintaining everything in its original state.
Zhang Wang proudly said: “Mr. Pei, this is my invention—the ‘Auto Contradictomatic’!”
“This machine perfectly simulates the experience of arguing simultaneously with many seasoned contrarians!”
“Whenever you want to start an argument, the contrarian in the box will immediately argue back, ready to accompany you in endless debate without rest!”
“This effectively solves the pain point of arguing with contrarians online only to have them give up midway!”
“No matter how long you want to argue, this machine will accompany you forever, never feeling bored!”
“And, Mr. Pei, look at the bottom of the box’s front. There’s a purely mechanical automatic counter that tallies your consecutive arguments and displays them with the most concise numbers. Once you stop, the number disappears.”
Ma Yang was very excited: “How about it, Brother Qian? Isn’t it super fun? Couldn’t you play continuously for three days and three nights? I already got the number up to over three hundred just now!”
Pei Qian looked at the confident Zhang Wang, the expectant Ma Yang, and then at the pained expression on He Desheng’s face.
He Desheng was very pessimistic about this project.
Pei Qian considered for a moment, then asked: “How much does one Auto Contradictomatic cost to make, and what’s the selling price?”
Zhang Wang said: “The cost is under 200 yuan. I plan to sell it for around 260 yuan. Mr. Pei, I only need 2 million yuan to produce ten thousand units.”
Pei Qian shook his head: “That won’t do. Increase the cost to 400 yuan and sell it for 488.”
“I’ll give you 8 million yuan. Start mass production immediately!!”