Pei Qian yawned in his office.
The office heater was running at full blast, making him drowsy.
Although slacking off on the first day back at work seemed a bit inappropriate, Pei Qian truly had nothing else to do.
While it felt like there were many things to be busy with, as if countless bloody daggers were waiting to backstab him, when he thought carefully about it, he couldn’t figure out what he should be doing now.
He opened the TPDb website to see which projects needed “improvement.”
Then Pei Qian’s gaze immediately fell on Slackin’ Internet Café.
He remembered wanting to open a Slackin’ Internet Café near his parents’ home!
He’d also need to open one near his newly purchased house, preparing in advance for future needs.
In short, no matter where he lived in the future, he wanted to be able to find a Slackin’ Internet Café just a few steps from his door.
With this thought, Pei Qian immediately sent a message to Zhang Yuan, asking him to come over.
Zhang Yuan usually stayed at the Slackin’ Internet Café’s Handong University branch, handling matters related to the café and ROF computer assembly. Today was no exception.
So, he arrived within a few minutes.
“How’s the work handover going?” Pei Qian asked directly as soon as Zhang Yuan sat down.
“Mr. Pei, it’s only the first day back at work…”
Zhang Yuan was speechless and also showed a hint of reluctance.
After being selected as an outstanding employee, Zhang Yuan had received one million yuan from the Dream Fund, but this also meant he had to give up all his duties at Slackin’ Internet Café and ROF computer assembly.
Zhang Yuan was certainly unwilling.
Whether it was Slackin’ Internet Café or ROF computer assembly, he had managed them brilliantly. Even if his salary and benefits remained unchanged, he was unwilling to switch to another position.
But Pei Qian would not agree to let him stay.
The first-place elimination system was established specifically to eliminate people like him!
Being evaluated as an outstanding employee meant he had performed exceptionally well in his position. For Mr. Pei, such an employee who had posed the greatest threat to him over the past half year needed to be reassigned.
So, Zhang Yuan needed to be removed from his position as quickly as possible.
Pei Qian could see Zhang Yuan’s reluctance and frowned: “You’re moving too slowly. I’m giving you three days to complete the work handover. Drop all work related to Slackin’ Internet Café and ROF computer assembly, then submit the list of people to be promoted to the Human Resources Department.”
Zhang Yuan had nothing to say and could only nod: “Yes, Mr. Pei.”
Pei Qian continued: “By the way, during the handover, tell the new person in charge to open two more Slackin’ Internet Café 1.0 locations in these areas.”
Pei Qian pointed out the locations of his parents’ home and his new house on the map.
Zhang Yuan looked at these two places, somewhat confused.
One was in a small county town near Jingzhou, and the other was near a high-speed rail station in Jingzhou that hadn’t opened yet.
What special locational advantages did these two places have that made Mr. Pei specifically emphasize opening a Slackin’ Internet Café in each?
It’s worth noting that the last time Mr. Pei inquired about Slackin’ Internet Café matters, it was about opening the “Slackin’ Complex” in Lin City, with an investment of millions. Logically, Mr. Pei shouldn’t need to concern himself with the locations of these two small internet cafés.
However, Zhang Yuan had long been accustomed to Mr. Pei’s unique site selection techniques, so he didn’t ask further questions. He just made a mental note to pass this on to his successor.
After arranging the Slackin’ Internet Café matters, Pei Qian asked: “Have you decided how to spend your Dream Fund? Don’t worry, if one million isn’t enough, more can be added.”
The one-million-yuan Dream Fund was a standard established in Tenda Group’s early days, when Tenda wasn’t as large as it is now, and scraping together one million was already quite difficult.
But as Tenda grew larger and earned more money, a mere one million was just a drop in the bucket, and couldn’t quench the thirst of Pei Qian, who desperately needed to spend money.
So, Pei Qian casually asked, and if Zhang Yuan’s dream was somewhat outlandish, he wouldn’t mind giving more money.
Of course, if Zhang Yuan’s dream was too utilitarian, he would not give a penny more.
Zhang Yuan thought for a moment: “Uh… Mr. Pei, I did give it some serious thought during the holiday. My preliminary idea is to set up a small esports club.”
An esports club?
Pei Qian was slightly surprised.
He had thought Zhang Yuan would continue tinkering with his computer assembly business, but he didn’t expect him to have moved on.
This answer satisfied Pei Qian.
Esports clubs burn through money quite quickly, and only a small percentage turn a profit.
Moreover, in 2011, the esports industry was still very small. There was a lack of large-scale tournaments worldwide, and many professional players were still at the stage of sleeping on curbs and eating instant noodles.
Those involved in esports now were rich second-generation kids playing around, which very much suited Pei Qian’s taste.
Even if Zhang Yuan hadn’t suggested it, Pei Qian had already been thinking about setting up an esports club for fun!
Pei Qian immediately smiled and gave a thumbs up: “Not bad, good idea!”
Zhang Yuan was startled, feeling that Mr. Pei seemed even happier about this news than when memory prices increased.
“Is one million enough? Players competing in tournaments work very hard; we can’t let them suffer. Their compensation must be adequate! If it’s not enough, just ask me for more money!” Pei Qian was immediately enthusiastic.
Zhang Yuan hurriedly waved his hands: “No, no, no, Mr. Pei, I need to test the waters first and explore, since I have no experience in this field.”
“Hmm… alright, just say the word when you need more money.” Pei Qian reluctantly agreed.
Zhang Yuan had somewhat of a dilettante mindset, so he didn’t dare ask for more money.
If he were to seriously set up a building with all the supporting facilities and pay high prices to poach a few star players, the one million wouldn’t even be enough to fill a tooth gap.
Currently, most so-called esports clubs haven’t completely separated from gaming studios. With just a few rooms and a few computers, they dared to call themselves esports clubs.
What Zhang Yuan wanted to create was probably something similar.
Pei Qian certainly couldn’t accept this—more money had to be added.
But this matter couldn’t be rushed. Forcing money on him now might put pressure on Zhang Yuan, giving him the false impression that Mr. Pei valued this project highly and wanted it to be done with the utmost dedication.
If Zhang Yuan got fired up and Mr. Pei’s “encouragement buff” took effect, the consequences would be unimaginable.
So, Pei Qian didn’t insist.
After the club opened, Pei Qian would go to inspect it, then pick faults and find pretexts to add more money.
“Alright, you can go attend to your business. Remember, complete the work handover within three days, and focus all your energy on the esports club.”
Pei Qian gave a few more instructions before sending Zhang Yuan away.
Afterward, Pei Qian quickly went through the matters he hadn’t had time to deal with before the New Year.
Right, the “Genius Coming” app!
Pei Qian immediately decided to visit Dream Fulfillment Venture Capital.
Although other projects were also dangerous, this one seemed to be the most dangerous.
Before the New Year, Pei Qian had updated the “Genius Coming” app, eliminating any possibility of using it as a social networking app. This caused the app’s popularity and traffic to plummet, and much of the previously spent promotion funds went down the drain.
He had originally planned to make this project fail in one go, but to his great surprise, being honest with those investors had instead brought in over seven million yuan of investment.
They wouldn’t listen to his discouragement, so Pei Qian had no choice but to find ways to continue burning money!
As for exactly how to burn it, Pei Qian wasn’t very clear. He Desheng had taken care of it, and Pei Qian needed to ask him about it quickly.
Soon, Pei Qian arrived at Dream Fulfillment Venture Capital and raised his questions to He Desheng.
He Desheng seemed prepared and answered Mr. Pei’s questions fluently.
“The money was mainly spent in three areas.”
“First, on developing other features for the app. Currently, the app only supports offline meetings. After developing new features, it will allow geniuses and struggling students to use video calls to discuss problems. It will also have an integrated problem database where users can search for correct answers and explanations by taking photos. The functions will be more diverse, and the target audience broader.”
“Second, on promotion.”
Lastly, on subsidies, making struggling students pay less and helping geniuses earn more.”
“The good news is that under our promotion, the Genius Coming app has already taken root in first-tier cities with rich educational resources like the capital, the magic city, and the ram city, with daily active users steadily climbing!”
Pei Qian decisively interrupted: “I don’t want to hear good news, just tell me the bad news.”
“Uh…” He Desheng had a whole string of good news to share, but was stopped by Mr. Pei’s words, feeling a bit uncomfortable.
“The bad news is that the current model might be difficult to sustain. We’re afraid that after the initial excitement dies down, we’ll lose momentum and be left with nothing.”
“The current model of the Genius Coming app has sparked widespread discussion, with many voices expressing skepticism.”
Oh?
Voices expressing skepticism?
I need to hear about that!
Pei Qian searched for discussions related to the Genius Coming app on his phone while listening.
As a result, he found that there was indeed much discussion, but there weren’t many “skeptical voices”!
“Genius Coming: A New Direction for Educational Software!”
“Genius Coming Updated, Eliminating Potential Security Concerns, This Move Deserves Applause!”
“Genius Coming: Knowledge Sharing is on the Way!”
Pei Qian scanned through these headlines briefly and felt his heart rate increase, with cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.
“Where are the skeptical voices? This is all praise!” Pei Qian asked in confusion.
He Desheng hurriedly explained: “Oh, Mr. Pei, most of the reports you’re seeing are paid for, and some discussions are from water armies we hired. Part of that seven million was spent on this…”
“Mr. Pei, this idea wasn’t mine! It was requested by the other investors…”
He Desheng knew that Mr. Pei didn’t like such promotional tactics, so he quickly shifted the blame.
Pei Qian felt somewhat relieved. So all these people praising the app were paid water armies—that gave him a scare.
He had thought so many people were genuinely giving the project positive reviews!
Since this popularity was just a false image created by spending money, there was no need to worry so much.