Huang Sibo and Zhu Xiaocai knew exactly what they wanted to film. This documentary didn’t focus on glorifying the glamorous aspects of these professional players, but rather concentrated more on their daily lives, showing everyone their struggles.

“It’s very well made.”

Pei Qian’s words came from the heart.

He had seen many excellent esports player documentaries before, and the film Zhu Xiaocai made was quite outstanding, both in content and technique.

Huang Sibo smiled helplessly: “I’m quite satisfied with it myself.”

“But… we probably won’t recover the costs.”

“We approached several video platforms, but none could provide sufficient revenue. If we just participate in regular incentive programs, even with three million views, we’d only earn a few thousand yuan—a drop in the bucket.”

Pei Qian nodded.

Indeed, the difficulty of monetizing documentaries was on an entirely different level from short videos.

Short videos cover an extremely wide range of subjects, can make money, and can be produced continuously. For video platforms, signing such programs brings tangible traffic.

But documentaries were completely different.

Huang Sibo and his team used high-end filming equipment, traveling between Jingzhou, Magic City, and Li Zhengwei’s hometown. Since Pei Qian required them to arrange food and accommodation according to Tenda’s business trip standards, they naturally spent money like water.

Similar documentaries were generally produced by official organizations for game or event promotion, and no matter how much money was spent, it could be earned back.

But Huang Sibo and his team did this purely for semi-charitable purposes, so not recovering costs was very normal.

Huang Sibo knew that this time Lü Mingliang had led the development of new versions, and all the game DLCs had achieved great success. In the position of lead designer, his achievements had already surpassed Huang’s own.

Fei Huang Studio had accomplished nothing this time, making them somewhat embarrassed at this dinner gathering.

Pei Qian smiled.

“You’re upset just because of this?”

Huang Sibo was startled: “Mr. Pei…”

Pei Qian raised his wine glass, swirling it casually as his tone became calm: “Didn’t I tell you before?”

“Don’t be concerned about temporary gains and losses, and don’t care too much about money.”

“Didn’t short videos start as a labor of love? Refusing low-end monetization didn’t lead to starvation, and in the end, you found the perfect way to monetize.”

“In my view, the focus isn’t whether you can make money, but whether you’re doing something meaningful.”

“When you decided to make a documentary, weren’t you prepared to take a loss from the beginning?”

“You sought virtue and found it—what is there to regret?”

Huang Sibo felt a warmth in his heart: “Mr. Pei, thank you…”

Both men couldn’t help but feel moved. If these words had come from someone else, they might have seemed fake.

But coming from Mr. Pei, they sounded so sincere!

Perhaps this was the difference between Mr. Pei and other bosses—he truly had an extraordinary breadth of mind and a far-sighted, expansive vision!

Pei Qian smiled: “Never doubt yourselves.”

“What’s wrong with doing something for the love of it? As long as this documentary can generate enough attention and resonate with players, it means Fei Huang Studio is on the right path!”

“You don’t have funds for the next film? No problem, just tell me how much you need!”

Pei Qian was delighted.

For this documentary, Huang Sibo and Zhu Xiaocai had probably spent about seventy to eighty percent of what Fei Huang Studio had previously earned, with little remaining.

This gave Pei Qian the perfect excuse to give them more money to spend!

Of course, that would be for the next cycle.

“Mr. Pei, it’s more than just lacking filming funds,” Zhu Xiaocai sighed softly. “We put in our savings and found it still wasn’t enough. Now we owe our employees a month’s salary…”

“Great!” Pei Qian blurted out.

Zhu Xiaocai was stunned: “?”

Pei Qian coughed lightly: “You’ve done very well.”

“This shows that your employees are of one heart and mind with you!”

“In such difficult circumstances, with not a single employee leaving, it proves that Fei Huang Studio has become a mature team that can withstand tests!”

“Don’t advance the money yourselves. Go directly to Assistant Xin, and whatever amount is needed will be provided in full.”

“No, just covering the exact amount isn’t enough. Delaying wages is a very serious matter—we must add interest! We absolutely cannot disappoint the brothers who sincerely support us!”

Huang Sibo was taken aback: “Mr. Pei, is that appropriate? I’ve never heard of adding interest…”

Pei Qian waved his hand, indicating that he didn’t need to say more.

“Huang Sibo.”

“What films you make and how you struggle, that’s not my business.”

“But I absolutely will not allow anything that affects the company’s image!”

“We must never dishearten employees who share hardships with Tenda, understand?”

Mr. Pei spoke with righteous conviction.

Huang Sibo was moved to tears.

This was the warmth of home!

No matter what setbacks they faced outside, returning to Tenda was like coming home, never having to worry because Tenda and Mr. Pei had their backs!

Seeing Mr. Pei’s unconcerned manner, Huang Sibo and Zhu Xiaocai felt much less psychological pressure.

Pei Qian asked: “So for your next project, do you still plan to make documentaries?”

Huang Sibo shook his head: “We haven’t decided yet.”

“Let’s wait until this documentary is released online and see the response before deciding.”

“However, we probably won’t continue with this subject matter, not because it doesn’t make money, but because we’ve already captured many of the things we wanted to express.”

“We might venture into new areas.”

Pei Qian nodded: “Alright, feel free to experiment. If you need money, just ask.”

After chatting a bit more, Pei Qian suddenly remembered something.

“By the way, how is Chen Lei doing now?”

Although he had sent him to Magic City, Pei Qian still felt somewhat concerned.

Chen Lei was a person with real talent, and Pei Qian was afraid he might cause some trouble, so he casually asked about him.

“Him? Not sure. As you requested, I took care of his food and accommodation. But we were busy filming, and he was running around Magic City, so we didn’t interact much.”

“We initially wanted him to sing the ending theme for the documentary, but our budget was insufficient, and we couldn’t find good lyrics or music, so we didn’t mention it to him.”

Huang Sibo spoke in a disconnected manner.

Pei Qian’s heart skipped a beat, but he quickly returned to normal.

That scared me!

Fortunately, Huang Sibo hadn’t mentioned the ending theme to Chen Lei. If he had sung it, who knows what might have happened!

Although this documentary wouldn’t make money, given its subject matter and the care put into filming, its viewership would be high!

If Chen Lei’s song had somehow gone viral, been discovered by a talent scout, and subsequently made Fei Huang Studio famous…

The consequences would have been unthinkable.

Thankfully, none of this had happened.

Of course, it wasn’t that Pei Qian couldn’t bear to see Chen Lei succeed—he mainly hoped that Chen Lei would wait a bit longer, not becoming famous in this cycle, and not dragging Pei Qian into it.

He could become famous quietly, but please don’t involve me!

“And now?” Pei Qian pressed.

Huang Sibo thought for a moment: “He should still be in Magic City looking for opportunities. If you want to know, Mr. Pei, I can call and ask.”

Pei Qian waved his hand: “No need, no need. I was just asking.”

As long as Chen Lei didn’t affect this settlement, everything would be fine.

Zhu Xiaocai couldn’t help but feel moved.

Mr. Pei truly cared about every single employee!

He had also heard a little about Chen Lei.

Chen Lei was a resident singer at Slackin’ Internet Café and reportedly created good benefits for the café.

If it were another boss, they would exploit Chen Lei to death, treating him like a goose that lays golden eggs, and would never let him leave.

But Mr. Pei did exactly the opposite—not letting Slackin’ Internet Café constrain Chen Lei’s dreams, but instead personally paying to send him to Magic City, allowing him to seek opportunities on a bigger stage!

This was an action with absolutely no benefit to Mr. Pei, a completely altruistic act.

Even in this setting, Mr. Pei still remembered to ask about Chen Lei in far-off Magic City—what kind of spirit was this!

Mr. Pei always warmed people’s hearts.