Pei Qian felt there must be something unusual behind this situation that needed to be clarified.
So, he quickly opened various forums to find discussions about Suffering Travel, wanting to see why so many people were still registering this time.
“Suffering Travel has opened again, hurry up and register!”
“Why register? Didn’t we already discuss this? You’re paying money to suffer!”
“You guys don’t understand anything. Those saying you’re paying to suffer are only at the first level—too shallow! I heard from an industry insider that the participants in Suffering Travel are all at the level of Tenda’s department heads and core employees! Going to suffer together builds camaraderie—isn’t that networking? It might even be an opportunity to get into Tenda!”
“Plus, Suffering Travel now has the ‘Ascetic’ title, which is an honor!”
“Right, when Qiao Laoshi went to suffer, he was literally crying to the heavens, but after returning, he’s been debating every day whether to go for the next session… If this thing has such a strong attraction even for a homebody like him, you can see how powerful it is.”
“And the weight loss effect is really good. Qiao Laoshi is a living advertisement… If even he can lose weight, other people with poor self-control can consider it too.”
“Actually, extreme sports enthusiasts, or people slightly interested in them, can go too. Regular extreme sports experience venues are expensive. Take rock climbing gyms—many charge over 100 yuan per session with a two-hour time limit. If you want to climb properly, wouldn’t that cost thousands or tens of thousands? But at Suffering Travel, they let you climb to your heart’s content, which is quite cost-effective.”
“In fact, becoming an Ascetic as a symbol of identity and effort really gives you a strong sense of achievement after obtaining it.”
“The main thing is that these spots are hard to get! With so many people competing for them, it just proves they’re worth more than their cost!”
“Actually, everyone’s overlooking an important point—corporate-funded Suffering Travel… For individuals, paying to go to Suffering Travel isn’t cost-effective, but what if a boss uses the activity budget to arrange for employees to go to Suffering Travel? Think about it, if you were a boss, spending the same amount of money, would you be more inclined to send employees sightseeing or to ‘temper their will’…”
“Damn, no wonder. These bosses won’t do anything remotely humane!”
These discussions left Pei Qian stunned.
Especially the last sentence—he felt like he was being shot at while lying down.
He was well aware that the “Ascetic” title and related rewards would attract customers. After all, he had approved Bao Xu’s plan specifically to attract Qiao Laoshi for a second visit.
But he had originally thought that this reward would only have a targeted appeal to people like Qiao Laoshi, and shouldn’t have much appeal to other ordinary, normal people.
Now it seemed that wasn’t the case!
Qiao Laoshi apparently represented a large portion of normal people!
Not only that, many people believed Suffering Travel could help build connections, and some bosses were using Suffering Travel as a substitute for employees’ paid vacations… This caught Pei Qian completely off guard.
“What kind of unscrupulous boss would replace employees’ paid vacations with Suffering Travel? Utterly heartless! Thoroughly evil!”
“Wait, isn’t that describing myself…”
“Umm…”
Pei Qian suddenly felt a bit split, somewhat regretting that he had come up with the idea of Suffering Travel.
But then he thought again, this idea wasn’t actually his—it was Bao Xu’s.
What he had originally envisioned was paid vacation travel; it was Bao Xu who forcibly changed it to paid suffering.
“Regardless, these two factors making Suffering Travel popular definitely need improvement, not just from a money-losing perspective, but also from a humanizing and caring-for-employees perspective.”
“Hmm, I’ll talk to Bao Xu about it!”
Pei Qian told Xiao Sun not to return to the company yet, but to first go to Suffering Travel’s indoor training facility.
By his calculation, the new batch of participants should be arriving soon.
Of course, this indoor training facility was no longer the only training site. In Jingzhou, Bao Xu had also scouted several other locations to increase capacity.
But as the original training facility, this place definitely still held special significance. Some of the most outstanding participants were sent here, and Bao Xu personally oversaw it.
Pei Qian planned to briefly check the situation here, then talk to Bao Xu about making further improvements to Suffering Travel.
…
Soon, they arrived at Suffering Travel’s indoor training base.
As soon as Pei Qian got out of the car, he saw a small bus already parked in front of the training base, with the new batch of participants disembarking.
Tian Mo, Ding Xiyao, Wu Chuan, Chen Kangtuo… along with many core members from various departments, all getting off the bus with grave expressions as if heading to the execution ground.
Pei Qian wasn’t unfamiliar with this list, as he had personally approved it.
Especially this Tian Mo—did you think I wouldn’t know you were sneaking attacks on me behind the scenes under the Young Master Tian banner? You must be included!
Besides him, Wu Chuan, the head of the animation department responsible for the wildly popular “Agent Academy,” and Chen Kangtuo, the person in charge of the wildly successful roller coaster project, naturally couldn’t escape either—they had to be included.
However, judging by their fit bodies trained at Tuoguan Fitness, their physical condition shouldn’t be poor, and they should have no problem enduring this Suffering Travel session.
Seeing Boss Pei, these people had various expressions.
Tian Mo looked like he wanted to say something but held back, as if he really wanted to ask Boss Pei why he was included in this batch of Suffering Travel. Clearly, he was deeply confused by this arrangement.
“I just opened an experience store as Boss Pei requested, right? I didn’t do anything particularly out of line, did I? Shouldn’t Suffering Travel not have come to me so quickly?”
“Even if it’s my turn, why was Ding Xiyao arranged too? She just joined not long ago and can hardly be considered a core employee, right?”
But after hesitating for a long time, he still didn’t dare to ask.
Wu Chuan was similar.
Only Chen Kangtuo’s eyes lit up when he saw Boss Pei, and he jogged over.
“Boss Pei, I originally wanted to find you at the company to report, but couldn’t find a suitable opportunity. Perfect timing—could you give me two minutes to briefly share my thoughts and suggestions?”
Pei Qian was taken aback: “Hmm? Go ahead.”
Chen Kangtuo glanced around slightly, as if to check whether Bao Xu was nearby, then lowered his voice and said: “Boss Pei, here are my thoughts.”
“First, I think the original intention of Suffering Travel is good—allowing managers and core members to exercise, strengthen their bodies, and cultivate an indomitable spirit through struggles with nature.”
“However, I feel Suffering Travel still has certain limitations, mainly in two aspects: First, for many people who have already become accustomed to this pace, it doesn’t actually have much effect. Take Brother Bao, for example—Suffering Travel no longer has much impact on him. Second, Suffering Travel only focuses on physical training but doesn’t emphasize mental fortitude.”
“Also, to prevent Suffering Travel from having too much power in the future and to avoid a trend of losing control, there should be one or two other departments to check and balance it.”
“Ahem, I’m not saying Brother Bao is using Suffering Travel for personal revenge. I’m purely thinking from an institutional framework perspective—this would be a bit more reasonable.”
Pei Qian initially had a confused expression, but after listening to everything and thinking carefully, it seemed that Chen Kangtuo actually had a point.
Mainly, Suffering Travel indeed had a bit too much power and could arbitrarily arrange for managers of other departments to participate. Although the final list required Pei Qian’s approval, with Suffering Travel developing so rapidly, Pei Qian couldn’t always keep an eye on it—he had many other things to do.
Ultimately, there needed to be a department to provide some checks and balances.
Pei Qian asked: “So your idea is…”
Chen Kangtuo cleared his throat: “Boss Pei, I think the Terrifying Inn is definitely more effective than Suffering Travel when it comes to mental fortitude training. I could also set up a special training class for the Terrifying Inn, similar to Suffering Travel, repeatedly tempering everyone’s mental strength.”
“This way, everyone can develop and progress comprehensively. Also, those who aren’t interested in Suffering Travel can come to the Terrifying Inn instead.”
Pei Qian thought for a moment and suddenly found it quite reasonable.
Wasn’t this the original intention when he established the Terrifying Inn?
However, when he initially arranged it for Ruan Guangjian, it didn’t achieve the desired effect, eventually leading Pei Qian to lose interest and set the Terrifying Inn aside as a purely money-burning place.
Chen Kangtuo’s reminder indeed brought back Pei Qian’s original intention for establishing the Terrifying Inn.
Moreover, having Suffering Travel and the Terrifying Inn check and balance each other while providing diversified suffering experiences was indeed a good thing.
Thinking of this, Pei Qian nodded: “Alright, that works! This is a good idea. After Suffering Travel ends, start working on it.”
“By the way, there haven’t been any new projects planned for the Terrifying Inn after the roller coaster. During your suffering period, think about it carefully. Once you have ideas, have Hao Qiong create a plan and implement it. Try to achieve a seamless transition and get the new project up and running within this year.”
Chen Kangtuo immediately nodded: “Yes, Boss Pei, understood!”
After reporting, Chen Kangtuo quickly rejoined the group to prepare.
They would all be training at this special training base for the month.
Bao Xu, after checking the headcount and completing the handover with the driver, finally noticed that Boss Pei had arrived.
“Boss Pei!” Bao Xu immediately came over to report.
He mainly reported on the newly opened training bases, the trained special instructors, and so on.
Pei Qian nodded. From this perspective, he had great trust in Bao Xu.
They shared the common goal of making everyone suffer better—Bao Xu’s objectives aligned perfectly with Pei Qian’s.
Pei Qian typically trusted people like this, such as Meng Chang.
After Bao Xu finished his report, Pei Qian began to suggest improvements for Suffering Travel.
“I think Suffering Travel needs to make two changes: First, starting from this registration, limit the number of people registering as a company unit. Maximum three people each time—any more will have to wait in line for the next session.”
“Our Suffering Travel is aimed at all customers. It’s best not to have situations where one company books the entire event. For cases like Tianhua Studio, we can make an exception and let them form their own group, but this must only be for companies that have close relationships with us—not for other companies.”
“Second, in the future, Tenda employees participating in Suffering Travel should try not to be grouped in the same team as much as possible—they should be dispersed. This prevents the phenomenon of huddling together for warmth and forces them to complete challenges independently!”