An employee asked: “Mr. Li, the way you describe it, keeping that 20% stake in Cold Noodle Girl shows your incredible foresight! Meng Chang sold his 40% stake, doesn’t that mean he lost out big time?”

Li Shi smiled proudly: “That’s not quite right.”

“Do you think my ability to keep this 20% stake was a coincidence? Of course not!”

“It was definitely with Mr. Pei’s tacit approval that I kept these shares!”

“At the time, Mr. Pei’s requirement was that Tenda must acquire over 70% of Cold Noodle Girl’s shares, or he wouldn’t take over this mess at all.”

The employee asked again: “But Meng Chang could have firmly refused to sell, right?”

Li Shi smiled slightly: “This was simply a basic psychological game theory problem.”

“It was known that Mr. Pei always keeps his word—if he said he needed 70%, he absolutely needed 70%. I held nearly 40% of the shares, Meng Chang had over 40%, and other investors together had less than 30%. And I absolutely would not sell my remaining 20%.”

“In other words, there were only two possible outcomes between me and Meng Chang: First, neither of us sells, and we both end up with nothing; Second, I don’t sell, but he does. This way, whether Cold Noodle Girl would make money in the future was uncertain, but at least he got some cash immediately.”

“Did he have any other choice?”

“Fuihui Capital is large and powerful—losing these shares wouldn’t be a significant loss for us. But Meng Chang was burdened with debt; getting money earlier meant paying off his debts sooner. What grounds did he have to challenge me?”

“Moreover, it was precisely because of our seamless cooperation with Mr. Pei that he tacitly allowed us to keep this 20% stake—this kind of operation is something others simply cannot replicate!”

Everyone nodded in understanding.

Someone couldn’t help but think of Mr. Pei’s game called “Struggle,” where the so-called “rich mindset” versus “poor mindset” was vividly demonstrated at this moment.

Many people describe the rich mindset and poor mindset as a gap in wisdom between the rich and the poor, but that’s not entirely accurate. It’s more like an inevitable result shaped by objective circumstances.

In other words, it’s not that people become rich because they possess the so-called rich mindset; rather, it’s because they’re already rich that they can afford to think with this so-called rich mindset.

Just like with the Cold Noodle Girl shares.

Would Meng Chang be unaware of the potential future value of these shares?

Other capital investors might not understand Mr. Pei deeply, but Meng Chang absolutely knew how formidable Mr. Pei was.

But in a situation where only one person between Meng Chang and Li Shi could keep their shares, Meng Chang had to choose to sell because his risk-bearing capacity was completely different from Li Shi’s.

Similarly, rich people can think with the so-called “rich mindset” because they have sufficient ability to bear risks, while poor people lack this risk-bearing capacity and naturally cannot force themselves to think with the so-called “rich mindset,” focusing instead on immediate small gains.

Fuihui Capital’s employees clearly understood this principle, but how they would specifically think about it varied from person to person.

Perhaps they would sigh and lament the unfairness of the world, or perhaps they would resolve never to let themselves fall into such a predicament with no choices.

One employee gave a thumbs up and praised: “Mr. Li, now I understand better what you meant by ‘investment is actually investing in people’!”

“Acquiring and keeping Cold Noodle Girl’s shares was an excellent investment, but the prerequisite for this investment’s success was establishing a good cooperative relationship with Mr. Pei!”

“Otherwise, even if you saw this investment opportunity, there would be no way to act on it.”

“So your most successful investment was recognizing Mr. Pei’s excellence early on, before Tenda Group had developed, and cooperating with him early, cultivating his friendship!”

“Your investment wisdom is truly worth our continued study!”

It must be said that brown-nosers can be found anywhere.

But Li Shi wasn’t annoyed because this employee’s flattery had style and sophistication.

It wasn’t awkward flattery but hit on Li Shi’s proudest point, making him feel quite comfortable.

As Tenda Group continued to grow and develop, Li Shi increasingly felt that his previous estimation of Mr. Pei had been too modest.

He had a feeling that investing in Mr. Pei early enough would be the most boast-worthy thing in his future!

Of course, this investment was in the broader sense—gaining Mr. Pei’s friendship was also a form of investment.

“Alright, alright, let’s stop this topic here.”

“Considering how hard everyone has worked overtime today, I’ll share a small piece of information with you, pointing you toward a promising direction.”

“You all know about the Food Market situation now, and how property and commercial space prices there have increased.”

“But from my observation, they’re far from reaching their peak.”

“Do you know what differentiates me from others who rushed to buy commercial properties nearby? The difference is that their imagination is insufficient—they can’t estimate Mr. Pei’s true capabilities. So they’ll quickly feel that prices have nearly peaked.”

“But I dare say that the area around the old industrial district, including the vicinity of the Food Market, Food Street, and the Horror Inn, definitely still has room for appreciation!”

“Whether you can benefit from this depends on your own determination.”

“Of course, my judgment is very subjective, based solely on my belief that Mr. Pei will make more major moves in this area. I could be wrong, so if you make money, no need to thank me, and if you lose money, don’t blame me either.”

Everyone’s eyes lit up as they nodded: “Thank you, Mr. Li!”

Since the Food Market became popular, property prices and commercial space values in that area had all grown rapidly.

This was perfectly normal—with the Food Market opening so successfully, even a fool could see that this area would appreciate.

But exactly how high would it go? That was the question.

Currently, property and commercial space prices in that area were rising rapidly. Many people originally wanted to invest but backed away after seeing this situation, fearing that excessive speculation had already created a bubble in the area.

After all, judging from how Tenda made Food Street turn a corner, Tenda seemed inclined to monopolize the benefits. Commercial properties close to Food Street already had owners, and who could guarantee that buying properties further away would let them share in the Food Market’s benefits?

So many people hesitated.

But Mr. Li’s judgment was that this was just the beginning—prices would definitely continue to rise!

Not for any other reason but because Mr. Pei surely had other plans for this area!

But Li Shi himself couldn’t possibly buy all the buildings and commercial properties in the entire old industrial district.

So he mentioned this hint.

As for whether his employees would invest, how much money they could put in, and whether they could hold out until the end—these weren’t issues Li Shi needed to worry about.

Leaving the company, Li Shi felt even better.

Recently, he’d truly experienced triple happiness!

First, Starbird Fitness had achieved great success after introducing smart fitness drying racks and changing their fitness model; second, he had quickly appreciated his investment by purchasing commercial properties near the Food Market; and now, Cold Noodle Girl, which had been dormant for so long, also brought good news.

He had to thank Mr. Pei for all of this!

That said, he had already thanked Mr. Pei at the dinner table for the Starbird Fitness and Food Market matters, but he hadn’t yet expressed gratitude for the Cold Noodle Girl situation.

It seemed appropriate to specially thank him; otherwise, Mr. Pei might think he was someone who took advantages without showing appreciation, which wouldn’t be good.

But for this kind of thing, it wouldn’t be appropriate to make too much of a fuss, as it might just be a small matter to Mr. Pei.

After much consideration, Li Shi finally decided not to make a big deal out of it and simply send a message.

After composing it, just as he was about to send it, he paused.

“Hmm… this doesn’t seem like the perfect timing.”

“While Cold Noodle Girl’s success is now certain, it hasn’t gone viral yet. Based on the current situation, news of the capital’s Cold Noodle Girl store exploding in popularity probably won’t come until tomorrow, Sunday.”

“If I send this message too early, would it seem like I’m trying to be clever?”

“Hmm… better to keep a low profile and wait until tomorrow to send it.”

When dealing with smart people, sometimes it’s wise to act a bit dumber—this is a form of great wisdom.

Li Shi finally saved the message as a draft, waiting for an appropriate moment.

…

…

June 24th, Sunday.

Pei Qian woke up naturally, looked at the time—9:30 AM.

“Which game should I play at home today?”

“Wait, no!”

Glancing at the reminder on his calendar, Pei Qian suddenly realized that today was the day Tenda Experience Store’s large screen installation would be completed and officially open!

This made Pei Qian a bit depressed.

He had to go out again!

Although the experience store had been very popular during its trial operation, he still needed to check out the completed big screen.

Even if it was more popular than before, he needed to see just how popular it was, to have a psychological expectation.

Pei Qian reluctantly got up from bed to wash up, and only then discovered that Mr. Li had sent him a message.

“Mr. Pei, thank you for the Cold Noodle Girl matter!”

Very brief—clearly Li Shi believed that intelligent people understood each other, and some things only needed to be hinted at, with mutual understanding naturally following.

However, when Pei Qian saw this message, he stood holding his toothbrush with a mouth full of foam, thinking for a full half minute, still unable to understand what it meant.

Li Shi?

Cold Noodle Girl?

Why thank me?

After straining to remember, Pei Qian finally recalled the connection between Li Shi and Cold Noodle Girl: when he had acquired Cold Noodle Girl’s shares at dirt-cheap prices, he had collected all the shares from others, except for the 20-something percent that remained in Li Shi’s hands.

“What’s there to thank me for?” Pei Qian remained puzzled.

At that time, Pei Qian had been adamant on site, stating that he must acquire over 70% of Cold Noodle Girl’s shares, or he wouldn’t take over.

He wasn’t trying to monopolize profits but was cautious because of previous lessons learned.

When initially developing the Scholar Express app, Pei Qian hadn’t paid attention to share distribution issues, allowing Li Shi and other investors to acquire too many shares.

As a result, these people had joined forces to target Xude Education, dumping their shares, and forcing Xude Education to buy in at high prices.

It wasn’t just that they had made huge profits; the key was that Dream Realization Venture Capital had also sold its shares and made a fortune!

Pei Qian had nearly coughed blood at the time but was completely helpless, only able to rage impotently.

The Scholar Express project was originally intended to lose a lot of money, but somehow ended up making money inexplicably—who could he complain to about this!

So after that, Pei Qian became more shrewd. For projects like this where he could spend more money, he must acquire over 70% of the shares to ensure absolute control.

If others held too many shares, Pei Qian couldn’t control many things.

If another disaster like “Scholar Express” occurred, what then?

As for why he left Mr. Li with 20%…

It was because Pei Qian knew very well that with Mr. Li’s personality, he would absolutely refuse to sell these shares, no matter how much persuasion was applied.

Besides, this 20% stake was harmless and didn’t affect Tenda’s absolute control over Cold Noodle Girl.

If Mr. Li wanted to throw money down the drain, let him do as he pleased.

Pei Qian had completely forgotten about this until just now when Mr. Li sent this message.

He was puzzled—what did Mr. Li mean by sending such an abrupt message?

Suddenly, Pei Qian’s pupils dilated, and he spat all the toothpaste foam into the sink with a “poof.”

“Oh no! Has something happened with Cold Noodle Girl?!”

Perhaps because he’d eaten too much seafood yesterday and was a bit inflamed, there were slight signs of bleeding gums.

The toothpaste foam, tinged with blood, looked rather like he was foaming at the mouth while experiencing a surge of anger…