Wednesday.
Pei Qian woke up feeling hungry.
He opened his phone and ordered delivery from Slackin’ Delivery.
Although Mr. Pei’s grand plan to lose money had consistently encountered setbacks, to be fair, through his unremitting efforts, both his and the people of Jingzhou’s living standards had indeed improved considerably.
When buying something online, Headwind Logistics would deliver it to your door.
When craving takeout food, Slackin’ Delivery offered healthy and nutritious dishes.
Not to mention Slackin’ Internet Café’s outstanding contributions to improving the internet environment.
Slackin’ Delivery had been operating stably for more than four months now and was still consistently operating at a loss.
Pei Qian was particularly satisfied with this point.
Unfortunately, Slackin’ Delivery’s operation wasn’t large enough. Although it continued to generate stable losses, it wasn’t losing enough money.
After waiting for over twenty minutes, the food arrived.
Slackin’ Internet Café’s Handong University branch was quite close to where Pei Qian lived, so the delivery was relatively quick.
While eating, Pei Qian pondered what to do next.
Now it seemed the pressure to spend money was quite high. Besides regular expenses, Pei Qian needed to find other ways to continue spending money.
Looking at the exquisite tableware and familiar home-style dishes before him, Pei Qian suddenly wondered if delivery could take on more of the money-spending burden.
After all, Slackin’ Delivery had already won Mr. Pei’s trust with its consistent losses.
“If all else fails, I could temporarily resort to a desperate measure?”
Pei Qian reasoned that the next cycle’s matters could be handled in the next cycle.
First, he needed to ensure that he would be in a loss state by the end of this month, as this wasn’t just a matter of money but also related to the special rewards given by the system.
As for how to recoup everything plus interest in the next cycle…
He would just have to develop more quick money-burning industries in the next cycle.
In short, focus on the present!
With this in mind, Pei Qian took out his phone and checked the calendar.
Today was October 13th. He could continue investing in Slackin’ Internet Café and Headwind Logistics until October 24th, but not after that.
To spend money in the final week, he would have to target his employees.
Now Tenda Group had grown considerably large. The gaming business plus Endpoint Chinese Website and TPDb website had over a hundred employees, Shangyang Games had more than forty employees, Slackin’ Internet Café had over a hundred employees, and Headwind Logistics couriers plus Slackin’ Delivery delivery staff totaled about six to seven hundred people.
Of course, different industries would need to be treated differently. It wouldn’t be possible to give the same benefits to employees of core departments like Tenda Games and delivery couriers.
If he gave a bit more to each person, Mr. Pei’s pressure would decrease a little.
But these benefits also had limitations. What if he still couldn’t spend it all?
Pei Qian thought for a moment—then he would have to resort to a desperate measure and launch a customer appreciation event!
He couldn’t use this method during the last settlement, mainly because at that time, Mr. Pei’s only physical business was Slackin’ Internet Café, and it had unexpectedly boomed just before settlement, catching him off guard with no way to resist.
But this time, the money had come earlier, giving Pei Qian ample reaction time.
Pei Qian looked at the date, his gaze fixed on October 24th.
October 24th (10/24) was Programmers’ Day, although this concept wasn’t widely recognized yet.
Just like November 11th, which people generally still viewed as “Singles’ Day” rather than “Shopping Spree Day.”
Double Eleven would be in the next cycle, so Pei Qian couldn’t catch it, but he could still make it for 10/24.
Taking advantage of this day to run a week-long discount promotion would allow certain industries to work harder at generating more losses, greatly relieving Mr. Pei’s pressure, wouldn’t it?
With this thought, Pei Qian felt his future brighten a bit more, and he quickly considered the industries at his disposal.
He needed to carefully think about which specific industries to choose.
Games couldn’t be discounted because games had no cost—lowering prices would only increase profits, equivalent to suicide.
The ultimate goal wasn’t promotion or generating buzz, but a rapid spending of money.
So after some thought, Pei Qian decided that Slackin’ Internet Café and Headwind Logistics were most suitable for this.
Especially Headwind Logistics, which was already continuously losing money due to labor costs. If each Headwind station delivered more packages during this period, paying couriers more performance-based wages, wouldn’t all these small amounts add up to a large sum of money spent?
Moreover, even if there were losses, as long as they were controlled within certain limits and genuinely improved reputation, the system would tolerate such behavior.
After some simple probing of the system, Pei Qian quickly determined a subsidy plan for the 10/24 Programmers’ Day.
First, subsidies for Slackin’ Delivery—all dishes would receive certain discounts, and delivery fees would be waived.
Second, subsidies for Headwind Logistics.
Currently, Pei Qian has opened nearly 200 Headwind stations and expects to add forty to fifty more before the 24th, covering most areas of Jingzhou city.
At that time, using these Headwind stations to send packages would result in reduced shipping fees, which would all be subsidized out of Pei Qian’s pocket.
At the same time, all home deliveries originally incurred a commission fee. During the promotion period, this commission would be eliminated, attracting more couriers to give their packages to Headwind for delivery.
Additionally, purchasing some small gifts to be delivered along with the packages would also incur a considerable amount of money.
While others acted as middlemen to profit from price differences, only Mr. Pei acted as a middleman who subsidized the price difference.
Simple promotions would begin soon, with the activity lasting from October 24th to October 31st.
Pei Qian also didn’t dare to promote too aggressively. Although this would spend more money, the risk would also be greater—he couldn’t be reckless.
Pei Qian had very cleverly set the payday for employees at the end of each month, which would allow him to dispense large sums of employee funds before settlement, reducing the system funds as much as possible.
During the promotion period, Pei Qian would also increase performance-based wages for all delivery staff and courier personnel. For each additional takeout or package delivered, they would receive extra bonuses.
Although the amount per person wouldn’t be much, considering the number of Headwind stations and employees throughout Jingzhou city, this would quickly add up to a large sum of money spent.
As for the consequences…
Obviously, during the 10/24 Programmers’ Day period, Slackin’ Delivery and Headwind Logistics would see some growth in users, but since these two industries were consistently operating at a loss—the larger the scale, the greater the loss—there was no need to worry too much.
Besides, even if they made money, that would be a matter for the next cycle.
This was also why Pei Qian didn’t dare to rashly adjust other industries—he couldn’t drastically reduce prices or offer free services for the internet café, nor could he discount games, as the risks and side effects of such actions would be too great.
After outlining his plan, Pei Qian felt this was promising and prepared to call Lü Mingliang and Ma Yang, intending to bring them together to briefly discuss this matter.
Soon, Lü Mingliang’s call connected.
“Are you free today? Come to the Slackin’ Internet Café, Handong University branch. I have a promotional activity for Slackin’ Internet Café and Headwind Logistics.”
Lü Mingliang was surprised: “Mr. Pei, I’m already at the Handong University branch.”
Pei Qian: “Huh?”
“What are you doing there?”
Lü Mingliang: “Manager Ma asked me to come over. We’re discussing details about the computer assembly business.”
Pei Qian: “???”
He was momentarily confused.
What the hell? What computer assembly business?
“Wait there, I’ll be right over!”
Pei Qian quickly got dressed, wrapping himself in a thick coat and scarf, ready to go out.
Fortunately, his cold wasn’t too severe. After resting for a day, he had improved. Today the weather was nice with good sunshine and no wind, so going out shouldn’t cause any problems.
Besides, at this critical moment, how could such a minor ailment hinder Mr. Pei’s grand money-spending plan?
He made a call, and the company’s dedicated car soon arrived to pick him up.
…
Slackin’ Internet Café, Handong University branch.
Not long after the call with Lü Mingliang, Pei Qian arrived.
Seeing Mr. Pei wrapped up so thoroughly, all three of them were a bit confused.
“Mr. Pei, are you…?” Lü Mingliang remembered that Mr. Pei hadn’t looked like this the last time they met.
Pei Qian pulled his scarf down slightly, speaking with a nasal tone: “I have a slight cold.”
“Brother Qian, you’ve caught a cold and you’re not resting properly! I must criticize you for this—you can’t just focus on work and neglect your health!” Ma Yang called to a nearby server, “Quickly bring Brother Qian a cup of hot water.”
Pei Qian: “…No need, I’m sick of drinking hot water. Give me coffee.”
Pei Qian looked at the host computer on the table and keenly noticed how it differed from the previous Slackin’ Internet Café computers.
It had an illuminated logo on top!
Pei Qian instantly sensed this wasn’t a simple matter.
Well done, you three are secretly scheming behind my back again! Fortunately, I discovered it in time!
Pei Qian was exasperated. If I hadn’t been thinking about the loss-making business while dragging my sick body around, I might have been fooled again!
Ma Yang grinned: “Brother Qian, we were originally planning to give you a surprise, but you discovered it.”
“This time, Zhang Yuan and I were considering leveraging Slackin’ Internet Café and Headwind Logistics to start a computer assembly and customization business…”
Ma Yang briefly introduced the birth story of the ROF brand.
In short, “Look Back to Shore” had brought many wealthy players with high computer configuration requirements to the internet café. These wealthy customers objectively had a demand for purchasing identical high-configuration computers. Zhang Yuan, as a computer assembly enthusiast, saw this business opportunity and decided to start a host computer customization business, combining Headwind Logistics’ delivery and on-site service to develop a new industry.
This venture required minimal investment. Each computer would generate a profit of five hundred to a thousand yuan. Zhang Yuan and the internet café administrators only needed to purchase components online, assemble them, deliver them to customers, and provide after-sales service. It didn’t require a significant financial investment.
Even if it didn’t succeed, there wouldn’t be much loss, as Zhang Yuan and his team didn’t plan to purchase and stockpile many components; they would only order when wealthy customers made requests.
After listening to Ma Yang’s explanation, Pei Qian fell silent.
If they did this, it would make money!
That Ma Yang, even someone with such honest features, would betray me!
But on second thought, this wasn’t Ma Yang’s fault since he was easily persuaded.
This had to be Zhang Yuan’s doing!
It seemed necessary to transfer Zhang Yuan away from Ma Yang as soon as possible to eliminate this hidden danger!
Pei Qian looked again at the “ROF First-Generation Prototype” on the table.
To be honest, this venture sounded quite promising. If they went ahead with it, they might make a small profit, giving Mr. Pei a sudden attack before settlement.
Pei Qian couldn’t help but secretly feel relieved.
“I almost fell for it. That was close.”
“Fortunately, I was prepared this time!”
Pei Qian wasn’t angry; rather, he felt somewhat relieved.
Fine, since you all like entrepreneurship so much, help me out by losing more money!
This project was originally meant to make money, but since Pei Qian had discovered it and set his sights on it, he certainly wouldn’t let it be profitable!
Seeing Mr. Pei smile silently, Ma Yang didn’t know whether he supported this project or not.
“Brother Qian, what do you think of this project? Is it promising?” Ma Yang asked.
Pei Qian nodded: “I think it’s not bad, but there’s one problem.”
“You’re spending too little money!”
“There’s no point in small ventures. If we’re going to do it, let’s do something big. Don’t worry about money—I’ll provide it!”
Zhang Yuan was stunned, not knowing whether to be happy or what.
“It’s great that Mr. Pei supports us, but… there’s not much need to spend money here…”
Zhang Yuan thought that selling some assembled computers with a brand label wasn’t a big deal. Many online stores were doing this, and it didn’t require much startup capital.
Even if Mr. Pei allocated several million, Zhang Yuan wouldn’t know how to spend it.
Pei Qian shook his head: “You’re just too conservative! You don’t even have imagination when it comes to spending money—how can that work?”