“Old Qiao, you damn…”

After watching the final segment, Pei Qian nearly passed out.

Look, just look, is this something a decent person would do?

I don’t care if you educate people about game gacha rules or expose industry secrets.

But don’t pin the blame on me!

Especially Qiao Liang’s statement that “the one who really stood up to expose all this was Mr. Pei,” shifting the blame so cleanly.

Even if this video generated massive influence, everyone would think that Mr. Pei was the true whistleblower, while Qiao Liang was just a video creator who happened to interpret it.

Isn’t this just causing trouble?

In reality, Pei Qian hadn’t thought about any of this. When he saw Finger Company and Longyu Group’s gacha activity, he was even a bit envious.

As for “Fitness Battle” allowing refunds at will, that was only to get players to request more refunds and spend less money.

But Qiao Liang had misinterpreted it again!

Given the current situation, based on past experience, there was no use clarifying now because players had already been influenced by Qiao Liang, and the topic’s popularity was rapidly increasing.

Even if he explained, players simply wouldn’t believe him!

After all, compared to the reason of “simply wanting to lose money,” Qiao Liang’s explanation was more reasonable, comprehensive, and persuasive.

This was what bothered Pei Qian the most: no matter what he did, Qiao Liang always seemed to come up with a reason that players found more believable than his original motive…

Watching the video’s popularity grow, Pei Qian sensed trouble.

Because public opinion on both sides was subtly changing.

Originally, many people thought that Finger Company and Longyu Group’s gacha activity was quite generous, significantly improving their impression of these companies, with previous unpleasantness showing signs of being gradually forgotten.

But after watching this video, many people felt something was off.

They claimed the gacha was giving back to players, but according to Old Qiao’s video, this type of gacha was still making money!

Many wealthy players had already started taking action, posting their gacha results.

Probability is something difficult to verify because only when there’s enough data does the calculated probability approach the true probability. If the sample size isn’t large enough, the calculated probability naturally won’t be accurate.

Precisely because it’s difficult to verify, many game companies fearlessly engage in various tricks.

But this time, Finger Company and Longyu Group’s gacha activity was large-scale with many wealthy participants, so when these wealthy players shared their gacha records, there was some reference value.

Most crucially, many people were watching to see who would ultimately get the car.

Old Qiao had already made his judgment in the video: according to the gacha rules, this car would definitely not go to an ordinary player but would have a spending threshold, with only those who recharged a certain amount having a chance to obtain it.

If the final result matched Old Qiao’s prediction, it would prove that the gacha used false probability and indeed had some unwritten rules hidden in the code.

Although these were unwritten rules that many people had become accustomed to, once explicitly pointed out, it became a different matter.

This gacha was indeed more generous than many others, and even after Qiao Liang’s video was released, those who wanted to participate would still continue, with no possibility of achieving a united boycott.

But the key was the online trend!

Previously, many people had “forgotten” because of this gacha activity, feeling that Finger Company and Longyu Group’s gacha was more generous than Tenda’s. But this video revealed a fact: this gacha only appeared generous, but in reality, its sincerity couldn’t compare to Tenda’s!

As a result, the online focus once again tilted toward Tenda.

Discussions about “Fitness Battle,” the Fully Automated Smart Argument Machine, and the 515 Game Festival once again gained the upper hand.

Those who originally wanted to participate in the gacha to try their luck at getting earphones or keyboards, after watching this video, many had changed their minds.

Rather than spending a lot of money on gacha with negative expected value, they’d rather buy the Smart Fitness Clothes Rack, recharge in “Fitness Battle,” or participate in the 515 Game Festival activities.

At least those showed genuine sincerity!

…

Watching the online trend becoming increasingly unfavorable, Pei Qian was devastated.

Isn’t this just causing trouble?

Everything was fine before, why did this suddenly happen!

What was even more concerning was that after the Smart Fitness Clothes Rack combined with “Fitness Battle,” players’ interest seemed to be growing rapidly.

Qiao Liang wasn’t the first streamer to introduce the Smart Fitness Clothes Rack; it seemed to be becoming a trend, with many streamers and content creators trying it out!

And the sales of the Smart Fitness Clothes Rack were also rising rapidly.

Even if Pei Qian wanted to slow down its sales, it wouldn’t work because there was too much inventory, and the Headwind Logistics side was all automatic shipping, so he couldn’t intervene.

After this weekend, the situation was likely to change dramatically…

Pei Qian couldn’t sit still.

“This won’t do, I need to do something.”

“All departments have gone home now, so it’s too late to launch a new money-burning activity.”

“Is there anything I can directly modify…”

After pondering for a long time, Pei Qian suddenly had an inspiration.

Got it!

He immediately opened the backend of the 515 Game Festival and used his highest authority to modify the values of several reward items.

The 515 Game Festival’s activities were divided into many parts, such as random rewards for epic items, rare skin packages, random free orders when purchasing games, random cashback red packets for being online for a certain time, and so on.

And some of these rewards also depended on probability.

For instance, the probability for random free orders was 5%, meaning that out of every 20 orders, one might be free.

Pei Qian thought for a moment and directly doubled all similar probabilities.

Originally, the probability for free orders was 5%, now changed to 10%. The probabilities for obtaining rare items, rare skins, and various tiers of red packets were all increased.

Since it only required changing a few numbers, there was no need to trouble the relevant department staff; he could complete it smoothly by himself.

After making the changes, Pei Qian felt slightly more at ease.

Give away a bit more money, and hopefully Tenda’s funds would be exhausted soon, thank you very much!

Moreover, probability was something difficult for players to verify. Even if changed, it wouldn’t necessarily be discovered, making it low-key enough, and naturally reducing the risk.

In short, do your best and leave the rest to fate!

Weekends were already peak activity times for players. After changing these probabilities, the money given away by the 515 Game Festival would definitely increase significantly.

If the situation looked promising then, there was still hope to spend all the money!

Pei Qian decided not to think about it anymore and would make plans after seeing the situation at the company on Monday.

…

…

May 21st, Monday.

Pei Qian arrived at the company anxiously while checking his phone.

He was looking at the sales records of the Smart Fitness Clothes Rack.

Clearly, over the weekend, the sales of the Smart Fitness Clothes Rack had surged again!

And the income from “Fitness Battle” was equally impressive.

The Smart Fitness Clothes Rack itself had high topic potential. Combined with “Fitness Battle,” many players had already recognized its fitness effectiveness. Add to that the promotion by many streamers and content creators, and sales were climbing steadily!

Previously, a large amount of funds was tied up in inventory, but with the rapid sales of the Smart Fitness Clothes Rack and the income from “Fitness Battle,” cash was naturally flowing back quickly.

For Pei Qian, this was obviously very bad news.

The only unknown was whether the 515 Game Festival, after the probability changes, could spend this money even more aggressively?

Two employees, seeing Mr. Pei walking by, started whispering.

“Mr. Pei doesn’t look good today.”

“Don’t you know? The rumors online are wild, saying our company’s cash flow might have a small problem.”

“What? How can cash flow problems be small? It must be a big problem! The company might even be in crisis! Hasn’t our company been doing well? All games are making money, how could we encounter such a situation?”

“We earn a lot, but expenses are also high! Think about it, the movie keys for ‘Mission and Choice’ are delayed and we haven’t received payment yet. So many projects need funding, plus the 515 Game Festival gave away so many benefits…”

“Where did this news come from? Is it accurate?”

“This is all business confidential; how could there be accurate news? But looking at Mr. Pei’s expression, it’s probably mostly true. And haven’t you noticed that Assistant Xin has been going to Mr. Pei’s office very frequently recently? Obviously, there’s something urgent. Of course, it might not be as serious as we think. With Mr. Pei’s reputation, raising some funds to overcome the crisis shouldn’t be difficult, but it’s probably not that easy either.”

“Then… what can we do?”

“What else can we do besides working hard?”

“How about we reduce some expenses? I’ve always been mooching food and drinks at the company, drinking coffee and eating snacks. Our company’s snacks are expensive, even the chocolate is top-grade. What I eat every day probably costs over a hundred yuan. I’ve decided not to eat any snacks at the company from now on, and not to take taxis and claim reimbursement after work. I’ll take the bus!”

“Yeah, that’s right. Although these don’t amount to much money, little drops make an ocean. It’s our small gesture. I won’t drink coffee either from now on; I’ll drink water, promoting a healthy lifestyle!”

“Do people in other departments know?”

“They must all know by now. I’ve already seen several internal groups discussing it. The key is that the credibility of this matter is quite high—better to believe it exists than not.”

“The company is in this state, yet Mr. Pei hasn’t thought about cutting our benefits and compensation, but is thinking about how to overcome difficulties by himself. It’s really touching…”

After whispering for a while, the two continued to work diligently.

In the office, Pei Qian had just sat down when Assistant Xin knocked on the door.

“Mr. Pei, the probabilities for the 515 Game Festival activities… did you change them?”

Pei Qian nodded: “Yes, I found that the probabilities were set a bit low, not strong enough, so I changed them. What’s the current status of our funds?”

Assistant Xin answered truthfully: “We were barely holding on, but this weekend, the sales of the Smart Fitness Clothes Rack suddenly went up, and the recharge income from ‘Fitness Battle’ will soon be credited. Once this money arrives, the financial situation will be greatly relieved!”

“However… after changing the probabilities for the 515 Game Festival activities, our estimated expenses have surged by over 30%.”

“At this rate, we should have no problem scraping through to complete the 515 Game Festival with our current funds, but afterward, we probably won’t have the capacity for new activities.”

“Of course, your goal in changing the probabilities has been achieved. Now players online have discovered the probability changes. Combined with the previous gacha incident, the online trend has completely shifted in our favor.”

Pei Qian’s mood fluctuated wildly like a roller coaster following Assistant Xin’s report.

Hearing that the expenses for the 515 Game Festival had surged by over 30%, Pei Qian was initially quite happy, but after hearing the last part, his face fell.

What the hell?

It’s already been discovered by players?

And the trend has completely shifted in our favor?

You players, do you have to be so sharp? The probabilities were changed just over the weekend, and in just a day or two, it’s been discovered?

Pei Qian had thought that these players might not even notice until the end of the 515 Game Festival.

He sighed slightly.

Well, discovered is discovered. Anyway, the money has already been spent. The popularity and reputation created, although harmful to losing money in the long run, couldn’t be helped now.

At least the funds were mostly spent, so could they now sell a building?

Previously, buying so many buildings was a desperate measure to spend money quickly. Although buying buildings could spend money fast, it would also take up the system’s fund quota, affecting the final loss amount.

Selling a building and continuing to burn money would reduce obstacles at settlement time.

Pei Qian said: “Spread some rumors, find potential buyers, and see which building is suitable to sell.”

“We might need to continue burning money after the 515 Game Festival, so we must ensure sufficient funds on hand.”

“The villa of the Nameless Restaurant is definitely not for sale. It’s best to sell the Sloth Apartments that were recently purchased and don’t have many residents yet. Of course, for Sloth Apartments that are already occupied, we can also consider overall transfer without affecting the tenants’ interests.”

“As for the specific arrangements, you handle it.”

Assistant Xin nodded: “Yes, Mr. Pei. I’ll keep you updated.”