Projects that everyone believes in aren’t venture capital, but crowdfunding?

Hmm, Mr. Pei’s statement was still defying common sense as usual, yet it was thought-provoking and contained rather profound philosophical thinking…

Everyone around the conference table pondered the meaning behind Mr. Pei’s words.

Although it seemed to make sense, something felt quite different.

Pei Qian flipped through the pitiful single page in his hand, trying hard to find more “success factors” on it, but failed.

The content of this investment proposal was notably “fantastical.”

The initiator of this project was called Zhang Wang. Although there were no photos or personal information on the investment proposal, Pei Qian couldn’t help but imagine a comedic character.

In this investment proposal, more than half of the content was devoted to elaborating on the bright prospects of the shared phone booth project.

“With the development of mobile communication technology, mobile phones have become standard equipment for almost everyone. However, public phone booths, once a symbol of urban public service, are rarely used anymore.”

“Long-term idleness, abandonment, and even facing the fate of demolition!”

“It must be said that this is a gap in cultural heritage, the disappearance of precious memories, the growing pains of an era’s development, and a collective loss for every citizen!”

Reading this, Pei Qian couldn’t help but want to make an “elderly people, subway, mobile phones.jpg” expression, but being under the public eye, he managed to maintain his composure thanks to his good acting skills.

“My goal is to revitalize public phone booths under the nourishment of internet thinking!”

“Shared phone booths will, based on continuing the functions of public phone booths, reshape public aesthetics through art, evoke public memories through nostalgia, change public lives through convenience, and demonstrate brand value to society through performance art!”

Pei Qian couldn’t help but admire how proficient the writer was with these parallel sentences—this level of language proficiency was at least eighth grade.

The rest was mostly some vague, repetitive talk. There were no specific plans for this project whatsoever, just a bare number: budget 200,000 yuan.

At the end of the proposal was contact information: a mobile number.

Pei Qian handed the proposal to He Desheng: “Make a call, ask him when he’s available to come discuss the project.”

He Desheng, noted down the person’s phone number and made a call nearby.

A moment later, He Desheng returned: “Mr. Pei, he said to wait for a moment, he’s on his way and should be here in about ten minutes.”

Pei Qian: “…”

So quickly?

I was just planning to schedule a time for a future meeting.

But on second thought, this was normal.

Most of the investment proposals currently received by Dream Fulfillment Investment were local projects in Jingzhou. This Zhang Wang probably lived in Jingzhou, possibly not far from Dream Fulfillment Investment.

A reasonable guess was that Zhang Wang likely didn’t have a proper job, and other investment companies probably wouldn’t even consider his proposal, so his schedule was probably quite flexible.

Being available at short notice was normal; it would be unusual if he were busy…

Since it was only ten minutes, they might as well wait.

Pei Qian took out his phone and casually browsed some web pages.

Meanwhile, He Desheng and others took the opportunity to circulate the investment proposal, reading it carefully word by word.

Although this proposal seemed quite unreliable from all perspectives, it must have had some point that moved Mr. Pei!

If so, finding this point might provide some insight into Mr. Pei’s investment approach.

Although this was just a small 200,000 yuan deal, merely equivalent to one percent of the previous investment, as the saying goes, “from small details, one can understand the bigger picture.” Perhaps it was these small deals that better revealed the essence of Mr. Pei’s investment philosophy?

Everyone around the conference table frowned, oscillating between doubt and self-doubt.

Soon, rapid footsteps were heard from outside.

“I’m here, I’m here to discuss the project!”

Pei Qian looked up to see a muscular man bursting in from outside.

It was already January, the weather had turned cold, consistently below freezing, but this muscular man wore only a quite perfunctory black jacket and jeans. He looked energetic, showing no signs of feeling cold.

The jacket, jeans, and sneakers weren’t from any expensive brands, but they were all clean, suggesting they were washed frequently.

With no hat, scarf, mask, gloves, or other “extras,” even in the jacket and jeans, it was evident that this guy was quite large, like a small mountain.

Particularly eye-catching was his flowing long hair, casually tied in a ponytail at the back of his head, with a few strands floating in the wind at the front, giving him somewhat of an artistic air.

However, this “ethereal” feeling was completely at odds with his physique.

Pei Qian was momentarily silent.

This Zhang Wang was vastly different from the image he had imagined…

He had envisioned various con artists or fools, but never imagined a muscular strongman—if someone said he was a bodyguard, no one would doubt it.

Ma Yang whispered in Pei Qian’s ear: “Looks like he might have run all the way here.”

Pei Qian noticed too—Zhang Wang’s forehead was covered with fine beads of sweat, his face was flushed, and he was slightly out of breath. Such a reaction wasn’t typical of short-term intense exercise, more likely long-distance running or cycling.

In this cold weather, both long-distance running and cycling were quite puzzling behaviors.

The atmosphere around the conference table was momentarily quiet; such a scene was probably unprecedented for everyone present.

Zhang Wang also seemed a bit awkward, lowering his voice and repeating: “I’m here to discuss the project.”

Pei Qian suddenly stood up and beckoned to others: “What are you all standing around for? Quickly prepare some tea! Please sit down, Mr. Zhang.”

Pei Qian gestured for Zhang Wang to sit in an empty seat across from the long conference table.

Someone nearby handed him a cup of hot tea, which Zhang Wang took with repeated thanks.

Pei Qian said: “No rush, take your time drinking. You’ve had a long journey, take a moment to catch your breath. We can discuss the project at our leisure.”

Zhang Wang blew on the tea and then gulped it all down in one go, looking at the young man across from him who had been speaking to him.

This was his investor, though he didn’t know how to address him.

He Desheng quickly introduced: “This is Mr. Pei, President of Tenda Group; this is Mr. Ma, CEO of Dream Fulfillment Investment.”

Zhang Wang was excited: “Mr. Pei, Mr. Ma, thank you both very much for giving me this opportunity!”

“Next, let me tell you about my project, Shared Umbrellas!”

“We often face this predicament: going out on a rainy day without an umbrella. Buying one from a roadside stand is not only expensive but also of poor quality!”

Pei Qian: “?”

He raised his hand, signaling Zhang Wang to stop: “Wait, wait, wait, what is your project?”

Zhang Wang was stunned: “Shared Umbrellas.”

Everyone around the conference table had a huge question mark above their heads.

Pei Qian coughed lightly: “But your proposal states it’s Shared Phone Booths.”

Zhang Wang was taken aback, then smiled somewhat awkwardly: “Yes, yes, yes, Shared Phone Booths is also my project!”

“Sorry, Mr. Pei, I have too many ideas and got them mixed up.”

“Mr. Pei, I wonder if you’re interested in my Shared Umbrellas project? Would you like to invest in it as well?”

Ma Yang’s eyes showed great interest as he whispered, “Qian Ge, this project seems more reliable than the phone booths!”

Pei Qian’s face darkened.

Shared Umbrellas? How could I possibly invest in a project that sounds so reliable?

Well, whether it’s reliable or not is debatable, but at least it’s useful.

Useful means risky!

Pei Qian shook his head: “No interest in Shared Umbrellas for now, let’s talk about Shared Phone Booths.”

“Alright, Mr. Pei.” Zhang Wang didn’t show much disappointment. “Shared Phone Booths originated from my nostalgia for public phone booths…”

Pei Qian sensed he was about to launch into a meaningless, lengthy discourse and quickly raised his hand to stop him.

“Alright, alright, no need to introduce the project details, your investment proposal already explains it very thoroughly.”

He Desheng, instinctively glanced at the investment proposal.

This single page is considered “very thorough”???

Pei Qian continued: “Let me just ask you one crucial question, and please answer as simply and directly as possible, okay?”

Zhang Wang nodded: “No problem, Mr. Pei!”

Pei Qian: “You’re asking for 200,000 yuan in investment. How did you arrive at this figure?”

Zhang Wang answered confidently: “Mr. Pei, I calculated it.”

“I plan to deploy 20 shared phone booths, each costing 10,000 yuan.”

“Each booth is 2.4 meters tall, made of tinplate, with powder coating, high-temperature baked paint, intricately carved vintage door handles, wooden decorative baseboards, exquisite craftsmanship, and a beautiful design. The price of the booth itself is around 5,000 yuan.”

“Besides that, other costs inside the booth require another 5,000 yuan in reserves.”

“So, altogether that’s 200,000 yuan.”

Zhang Wang finished and looked expectantly at Pei Qian.

Pei Qian thought for a moment: “That won’t do.”

“A total of 200,000 yuan, all invested at once? How can you run a project without emergency funds?”

“I’ll give you 500,000 yuan, and you think about what else you can add to these phone booths. If nothing else, just have these booths completely redesigned inside and out!”

Zhang Wang was overjoyed: “Yes, Mr. Pei! No problem!”

Pei Qian thought of something else and said, “By the way, these booths must be easy to install and dismantle. That’s my only requirement.”

Zhang Wang considered this and nodded: “Alright, although I don’t see the necessity of this point, since you’ve requested it, Mr. Pei, I’ll fulfill it!”

Pei Qian had no other requirements for this project, he just hoped the booths would be easy to dismantle so that when the project failed, these booths could be smoothly removed and sold as scrap metal, without creating urban waste.

After all, Pei Qian’s goal was just to lose some money, not burden the city—he wanted to be a person of quality.

Speaking of which, Pei Qian only now noticed that even for such an unreliable project, the system hadn’t issued any warnings.

Could it be that a mere 500,000 yuan was no longer considered significant in the system’s eyes?

After all, the system had already allowed a charity allowance of 5 million yuan.

Pei Qian couldn’t help but sigh: Oh, system, system, it seems you don’t understand the principle of “nipping problems in the bud.”

Many instances of 500,000 yuan could also accumulate into a substantial amount!

In any case, losing 500,000 yuan first was a good start!