Previously, Pei Qian had set his thesis topic as: “Theory of Creation and Dissemination of Popular Literary Works in the Internet Age.”

Although this topic had been limited by the two key phrases “Internet Age” and “Popular Literary Works,” it still seemed too broad—a subject completely unmanageable for an undergraduate student.

But… if he were to write the thesis in a conventional manner, Pei Qian feared that what he produced might be even worse.

Because his foundational knowledge was truly too weak, his grasp of detailed theories could only be described as fragmentary. The more specific he wrote, the more likely he would expose his shortcomings.

Instead, this kind of broad and empty topic would be more conducive to his performance.

Considering his own halo effect, Professor Kong’s guidance, and the already low requirements for undergraduate graduation theses, Pei Qian felt that once this thesis was actually written, it should be able to secure both his diploma and his image.

If, for the sake of a diploma, he were to completely shatter Mr. Pei’s persona and suffer a social death, that wouldn’t be worth it either.

As for Pei Qian’s accomplishments during this period of seclusion… they were actually quite fruitful.

At least this thesis was no longer just a newly created folder with a title, but now had a relatively clear overall direction.

After some consideration, Pei Qian decided to write this thesis from several angles.

First, he would analyze the difficulties faced by literary works in the internet age, specifically: the disconnect between traditional literary works and ordinary people, the invasion of Western cultural works, and the impact of fast-food culture and sex-instrument-pleasure entertainment models.

From this, he would establish the necessity of studying the theory of creation and dissemination of popular literary works in the internet age.

Second, based on these challenges, he would propose the necessary factors for the creation and dissemination of popular literary works in the internet age.

This could also be simply summarized in three points: content rooted in traditional cultural foundations and the cultural aspirations of the general public; the contemporaneity, trendiness, and even foresight of the works themselves; and a concise and eye-catching form of expression and structure.

Third, he would propose the mission of popular literary works in the internet age: to promote positive values among ordinary people, to satisfy the people’s spiritual and entertainment needs, and to explore the theoretical patterns of literary creation in the new era and form guidance.

Finally, he would analyze these theoretical creative patterns and form guidance from three different directions: internet literature, film and television works, and the textual presentation in interactive game works, using specific examples.

Actually, after finalizing these major directions, Pei Qian realized that the length would definitely exceed the limit.

Because undergraduate graduation theses were basically around 8,000 words. Although some schools or majors might require more than 10,000 words or even more, the word count requirements for most undergraduate graduation theses were not very high.

This was reasonable, after all, undergraduate students didn’t have much research ability. 8,000 words were enough to discuss a small academic point. If the word requirement were higher, everyone would just fill it with fluff, making it difficult for both students and advisors. There was no need for that.

Moreover, this was a thesis, not web fiction.

For some web fiction authors who could be described as “tentacle monsters,” 8,000 words was often just a matter of three or four hours. But a thesis had to be meticulously crafted. Every word and sentence had to be carefully chosen; there couldn’t be useless clichés or nonsense. Add to that literature citations and various annotations, and it could be said that every word was extracted through racking one’s brains.

But Pei Qian still decided to write according to this structure.

It was still for the same reason as before—if he wrote something too small, he feared exposing his weaknesses and not meeting the word count.

If he wrote about something smaller and finished in 5,000 words, but the thesis required 8,000 words, what would he do? He would have to pad it, wouldn’t he?

By writing more content, reaching 8,000 words would definitely not be a problem. As for details and literature citations, those were not things Pei Qian needed to worry about. Someone would edit it for him anyway.

Before submitting it to Professor Kong, the counselor would help him first. As an excellent graduate who remained at his alma mater as a counselor, Zhang Wei’s level was excellent, and such matters were easy for him. After that, it would be handed over to Professor Kong, which would be foolproof.

Even if the word count exceeded a bit, it wouldn’t be a big deal.

Pei Qian continued writing according to this approach. Really, after tying himself to the chair and restraining both hands, his efficiency had truly improved significantly.

Watching the word count of the thesis increase rapidly, Pei Qian inexplicably felt a sense of pride and satisfaction.

“Seclusion, seclusion, going all out!”

…

…

March 13th, Wednesday.

Pei Qian undid the safety belt on his ergonomic chair, took off the two medical wrist guards he was wearing, and then went to comfortably use the bathroom.

After returning, he glanced at the thesis and couldn’t help feeling a bit proud: “My progress is so fast, I’m really amazing!”

“I can take a little break now. By my calculation, it’s only been three days and my thesis progress has already reached this point. Completing it on schedule is absolutely no problem at all!”

“Need to balance work and rest, take a break.”

“Hmm, I can’t go too far though. I can’t reinstall games on the computer, and I can’t tear the seals on the TV and game console. So… I’ll just play with my phone a little bit.”

“Just a little bit.”

Pei Qian was quite self-aware, knowing deeply that once the sinful seals on the TV and game console were torn off, they might never be reattached. Therefore, he was very cautious about only wanting to touch his long-missed phone.

In today’s society, everyone is a head-down clan member. Without a phone, people experience severe withdrawal symptoms, and most people find it very difficult to endure.

Pei Qian had been able to check his phone no more than 10 times in these three days with his great willpower—this was already a greater achievement for him than creating Tenda.

He picked up his phone and lay comfortably on the couch.

Pei Qian planned to casually scroll through his phone, check some news and videos, and then go back to continue battling with his thesis.

However, after briefly looking at the news online, Pei Qian was stunned.

“Tenda Group and the Anti-Tenda Alliance in fierce battle?”

“Various departments of Tenda Group striking back hard, gradually turning the situation around?”

“Slackin’ Delivery and Headwind Logistics in deep cooperation, about to create a milk tea brand called ‘Fast-Sell Milk Tea’??”

“A new video section has been opened on the AiLiDao website, specifically featuring heads of various Tenda departments, breaking down competitors’ business tricks?”

“This…”

“How many things have happened during my three days in seclusion!!!”

It was fine when he wasn’t checking the news, but once he did, Pei Qian was dumbfounded.

Originally, his so-called “seclusion” was just a joke, nothing more than disconnecting from the internet and not going out, focusing on writing his thesis.

But now he found that it seemed to have really become seclusion, giving him an illusion of “one day in heaven, a thousand years on earth”!

How could so many things happen in just three short days? It was absurd!

“Every time I let go of control, these people come up with new tricks… damn it!”

Pei Qian was speechless. It seemed that even in seclusion, he couldn’t have peace and still had to worry about things at Tenda.

He carefully sorted through this information again and roughly understood what had happened in these three days.

Pei Qian’s original idea was to let the Anti-Tenda Alliance attack freely, while Tenda would remain unmoved regardless of how the opponents attacked or engaged in price wars.

Let them taste some sweetness first.

If they immediately responded tit-for-tat by burning money and engaging in price wars from the beginning, they might scare them off, and the entire alliance might collapse without a fight.

After all, Pei Qian knew very clearly that such an alliance was just a bunch of rabble. Their organizational ability and discipline should never be overestimated.

Pei Qian had planned to use this opportunity to write his thesis. By the time he submitted it next month, these companies in the Anti-Tenda Alliance would have seized some market share and tasted the sweetness—equivalent to taking the bait.

At that point, everyone could burn money to their hearts’ content!

But to his great surprise, various departments had counterattacked on their own!

Pei Qian somewhat regretted not telling everyone before his seclusion, “Everything is within my plan, everyone carry on as usual.” Perhaps this situation wouldn’t have occurred.

But he hadn’t said anything.

The heads of various departments couldn’t find Pei Qian and had no way to ask Mr. Pei for advice, so they had to counterattack on their own.

And their counterattack wasn’t chaotic—it was very targeted!

First, the various departments had united to prioritize providing resources and help to core industries like express delivery, food delivery, and housing rental.

Because in the Anti-Tenda Alliance, the most active and aggressive were companies like Shengrun Group, Zhujia Group, and Zhaiju Delivery.

The reason was very simple—these companies had the strongest conflicts of interest with Tenda and were the least likely to back down.

They were all platform-type companies. Take Shengrun Group for example—they had a life-or-death relationship with Headwind Logistics. As long as Headwind Logistics existed for one more day, Shengrun Group would be restless and would never be able to lie down and make money comfortably.

Therefore, Tenda’s corresponding industries were definitely under the most pressure, and other departments had to provide resources and help to withstand the greatest pressure.

The reason Slackin’ Delivery and Headwind Logistics wanted to create a new milk tea brand called “Fast-Sell Milk Tea” was to fully utilize their nationwide network of outlets and use the profits from milk tea to subsidize the price war.

And the name they came up with was quite interesting—Fast-Sell Milk Tea, using one character each from “express delivery” and “food delivery.”

Second, they had chosen Haoxiang Fitness, the soft target in this alliance, as the first breakthrough point!

Although the battles in the express delivery, food delivery, and housing rental fields were fierce, they were clearly not suitable as the main direction of attack and breakthrough point.

Because these companies were all die-hards, very difficult to deal with.

Take Shengrun Group for example—even if all of Tenda’s departments concentrated their efforts to hurt them, would that make them back down?

No.

Because Shengrun Group knew very clearly that once they backed down, the entire anti-Tenda alliance might collapse. At that point, this alliance would absolutely never be re-established, and Shengrun Group would be completely finished.

Therefore, no matter how much loss they suffered, they would grit their teeth and persist.

That being the case, they needed to aim the main direction of attack and breakthrough point at other companies, looking for those with unsteady attitudes who were easier to handle—the soft targets.

Haoxiang Fitness was an excellent breakthrough point.

This was a large domestic chain of gyms, but its market share was slightly lower than Tuoguan Fitness, not to mention compared to the combined market share of Tuoguan Fitness and Starbird Fitness.

This was because the domestic gym industry was generally quite fragmented, with many gyms only able to deeply cultivate small areas, and no super-large chain gyms had formed yet.

But in this alliance, Haoxiang Fitness was a quite important link because they needed to directly benchmark against Tuoguan Fitness.

If they could force it to withdraw, it would be very good news for Tenda.