Pei Qian’s current mood was like encountering a pack of wild dogs, barely managing to scare them off by desperately baring his teeth, only to have some idiot throw a bone in their direction.

Mr. Li was that idiot.

As the saying goes, seeing is believing. Several investors were already thinking of backing out after seeing the desolate scene, but Mr. Li’s speech completely changed their thinking!

The investors looked at each other, influenced by Mr. Li’s extremely firm tone, and inexplicably felt his words made perfect sense.

The fact that everyone had previously agreed to invest money here was only one aspect.

For profit-seeking businessmen, promises made by word of mouth that hadn’t been put on paper weren’t considered promises at all.

What had an impact on them were the sentences that followed.

Mr. Pei is testing our determination!

Think about Scholar Rush!

Everyone pondered this. It was the same when investing in Scholar Rush—Mr. Pei repeatedly tried to dissuade them, deterring many wavering investors.

And what about now? Those people’s intestines had turned green with regret!

The investors present now were all those who had followed or even increased their investment back then, all receiving handsome returns from the project.

These days, it wasn’t easy being an investor!

The returns on conventional investments weren’t that high, and venture capital investments could easily lead to being deceived, losing everything if you weren’t careful.

But investing alongside Mr. Pei had indeed given everyone a taste of sweetness!

So, recalling the faint smile at the corner of Mr. Pei’s mouth when he was trying to dissuade everyone, doubts immediately arose in everyone’s minds.

Mr. Pei seemed to be playing a game of reverse psychology again!

He wanted to filter out some of the current investors; only those who trusted him and continued to invest would be qualified to share the soup with him!

And those weathervanes who gave up halfway would be permanently excluded in the future.

Look at this investment—those investors who hadn’t followed up on Scholar Rush weren’t given a chance to participate this time, were they?

It wasn’t that those investors didn’t want to join; they would now be willing to bet their entire fortune on Mr. Pei’s projects. But it was useless; they no longer had that channel!

Everyone’s investment opportunities with Mr. Pei more or less came through Mr. Li’s mediation. If you backed out this time and stood Mr. Li up, would he still call you the next time such a good opportunity arose?

There were plenty of people queuing up to invest money with Mr. Pei; did they need you specifically?

So, after hearing Li Shi’s speech, many investors immediately understood.

Everyone had made a lot of money from Mr. Pei before. Even if this investment lost money, by sticking with Mr. Pei, there would be opportunities to rise again in the future.

If they didn’t invest now, regardless of whether this project made or lost money, they wouldn’t be included in future opportunities!

Wasn’t the choice clear?

Soon, an investor who had previously been thinking of backing out changed his expression and said seriously, “What are you saying, Mr. Li? Are we the kind of people who would flee in the face of battle?”

Another investor also said, “Exactly, Mr. Li is underestimating us. We agreed to invest together; whoever breaks their word, we’ll cut off all business dealings with them in the future!”

Others all chimed in.

“Yeah, who’s dissatisfied with this project? This is a project with enormous potential. Even if all of you want to withdraw, I’m still investing!”

“Mr. Pei, rest assured, we have no intention of withdrawing. To show our determination, I’ll add another million to my investment!”

Everyone instantly unified their tone. Even those investors who still had doubts forcibly controlled their expressions and emotions, pretending to be full of confidence and determination.

Pei Qian: “…”

What was going on?

He was almost successful, but Mr. Li’s intervention had messed everything up!

Pei Qian still wasn’t giving up. He looked at the investor with the most insincere expression: “Brother, don’t listen to their nonsense; they’re trying to fool you!”

This investor trembled, his expression immediately becoming righteous: “Rest assured, Mr. Pei, I’ve not been influenced by them. My desire to invest in your project comes from the heart!”

Pei Qian looked at another investor whose face was pale, but before he could speak, this investor had already said solemnly: “Mr. Pei, my investment has nothing to do with others; I purely want to make a humble contribution to Jingzhou’s economic development!”

Other investors also declared their loyalty, with phrases like “just want to return your kindness,” “it doesn’t matter if we lose money,” “believe in Mr. Pei,” and so on, never-ending.

Pei Qian’s questioning only made things worse, making it seem more like he was testing them.

Everyone was thumping their chests, just short of swearing oaths.

Pei Qian was completely speechless.

It was over!

Anything more said would be a waste of breath. It seemed they had entered yet another bizarre cycle of “Mr. Pei says something, everyone understands but chooses not to interpret it as Mr. Pei intended.”

Pei Qian couldn’t help but sigh deeply. Good advice can’t save a ghost destined to die!

Since you’re all determined to lose money with me, so be it.

Pei Qian reluctantly nodded: “Fine.”

“After all, you’ve all seen this wasteland. If you want to throw your money away, I won’t stop you. Just choose your preferred posture.”

“Carry on, I’ll be leaving first.”

Pei Qian turned to get in his car.

“Ah, Mr. Pei, please wait!”

The investors, led by Mr. Li, hurriedly stopped Mr. Pei.

Under everyone’s gaze, Li Shi cleared his throat: “Ahem, Mr. Pei, you’re busy with work, we all understand.”

“But…”

“The Thriller Lodge project is being coordinated and planned by you. How is it structured exactly? You need to give us a brief introduction.”

“We don’t understand this project. With so many people, each with their ideas, if one builds a hotel and another builds a restaurant without unified planning, wouldn’t it all be a mess?”

Everyone nodded.

“Yes, Mr. Li is right!”

“That’s what we think, too.”

“Mr. Pei, just spare a few minutes to briefly explain to us!”

Everyone clearly understood that even with Mr. Pei involved, blindly throwing money wouldn’t guarantee success, especially for such a large entertainment project. Investing so much money required good planning!

Moreover, these investors all felt they didn’t have the ability to revitalize this wasteland; they were all counting on Mr. Pei.

They needed Mr. Pei to provide a clear plan so they could confidently invest money!

Of course, this couldn’t be said directly, as it would make everyone seem like they were just riding coattails, although that was indeed the case.

So Mr. Li found an excuse, euphemistically calling it “coordination.” This way, they could benefit from Mr. Pei’s Midas touch plan while saving face for everyone, killing two birds with one stone.

However, Pei Qian shook his head vigorously: “No, I absolutely cannot get involved in this!”

Pei Qian had discovered that every time he observed something, things would change.

Many times, it was better if he didn’t propose a solution; whenever he came up with an improvised plan, it often inexplicably became the so-called “finishing touch.”

Therefore, Pei Qian decided that no matter how eloquent these people were, he wouldn’t give them any advice.

Let them figure it out themselves; whatever form it took would be fine, but he would not get involved!

Everyone was confused.

Hadn’t Mr. Pei already accepted our investment? Since he accepted it, why was he still so reluctant? What’s wrong with just saying a few words?

Li Shi maintained his composure. He was already accustomed to some of Mr. Pei’s puzzling and confusing behaviors.

Even if Mr. Pei didn’t say anything, it must be because of some deeper reasons.

He coughed lightly and said, “Mr. Pei, everyone, why don’t we find a compromise?”

“Mr. Pei is busy with work, and Thriller Lodge is just one of his many projects, not particularly outstanding, so he definitely can’t spend that much energy on it.”

“We’ve all seen that construction here is already halfway done, which means Mr. Pei has certainly already given the general direction to his subordinates.”

“How about this, Mr. Pei, just let the employee responsible for this project briefly introduce the situation to us, which will save us a lot of investigative trouble.”

“Of course, if you really can’t spare any staff to introduce it to us, that’s fine too. We’ll just have to hire professionals to conduct a detailed investigation and decide how to spend the money. I happen to know quite a few friends in the capital and Shanghai who specialize in amusement park projects…”

Pei Qian waved his hand: “Come with me.”

To Pei Qian, Li Shi’s statement sounded very threatening, though Mr. Li himself probably didn’t intend it that way.

But given the choice, Pei Qian would rather have Chen Kangtuo give them a brief description of the project.

With these people’s connections, they could find professionals specializing in amusement park projects to plan for them, there was no doubt about that.

Of two evils, choose the lesser.

As he walked, Pei Qian took out his phone and secretly sent a message to Chen Kangtuo.

“Only introduce the current situation, don’t say a single extra word about anything else.”

Soon, the group arrived at Chen Kangtuo’s temporary office.

Someone was responsible for reception and serving tea, and everyone found places to sit.

Pei Qian glanced at Chen Kangtuo, who immediately understood and silently nodded to indicate he had received the message.

Pei Qian immediately felt more at ease.

He cleared his throat and introduced to the investors: “This is the person in charge of the Thriller Lodge project, named Chen Kangtuo, originally an employee of Tenda’s gaming department.”

Pei Qian’s intention was to hint to these investors that this person in charge was randomly selected from the gaming department and wasn’t a professional for haunted house projects at all—you can still change your minds!

However, after hearing Pei Qian’s introduction, these investors sat up straight, filled with respect.

“A talent from the gaming department! Pleased to meet you!”

“We’ve long heard that Tenda’s gaming department is the essence of Tenda Group, with extremely strict selection, everyone a dragon among men. Meeting you today proves the reputation is well-deserved!”

“With Mr. Chen here helping Mr. Pei oversee this project, it can be said to be foolproof! I’m completely at ease now!”

Pei Qian: “…”

Great, it had completely backfired.