Li Shi returned to the meeting room with a somewhat melancholic mood.
But upon entering the meeting room and seeing the investors, his face already showed a look of sudden realization.
All the other investors had gradually arrived, and Chen Kangtuo and Hao Qiong were also present.
Based on the current progress estimate, Thriller Lodge could officially begin operations early next month, so the promotion plan for Thriller Lodge had to be finalized soon.
After all, before the promotional work officially began, many preparations were needed, and the production of various promotional materials also required time.
The seat at the head of the conference table was empty, but Li Shi didn’t sit there; instead, taking the first empty seat to the left of it.
That seat was originally intended for Mr. Pei.
Li Shi looked around at everyone and said, “I have good news and bad news.”
Everyone: “?”
Li Shi explained, “The good news is that Mr. Pei was just wandering around Thriller Lodge, though he deliberately avoided us. This is enough to show that he still values this project.”
“The bad news is… he made an excuse about having something to do and doesn’t want to participate in our discussion about promotional work.”
Everyone: “??”
Most investors were also confused by Mr. Pei’s feint.
Mr. Pei, if you weren’t coming, you could have just not come. No one expected you to come anyway. But since you were already here, just two steps away, yet you didn’t attend the meeting—what does that mean?
Seeing everyone’s bewildered reaction, Li Shi knocked on the table.
“Haven’t you figured out Mr. Pei’s attitude yet?”
“His attitude is very clear!”
“The fact that Mr. Pei came to Thriller Lodge to check on progress shows that he still values this project, but doesn’t want to appear too obvious.”
“Not attending this meeting means he wants to see what sincerity we can demonstrate in the promotional work!”
“If we show full sincerity, Mr. Pei will certainly respond when he sees it!”
The other investors thought carefully and showed expressions of sudden understanding.
It seemed that was the case!
Previously, Mr. Pei had always appeared nonchalant, but when everyone proactively proposed to raise funds to build a mall and give half the profits to Mr. Pei, he immediately became serious and created the Golden Maze.
It seemed that the promotional matter was likely the same—Mr. Pei was waiting for our performance!
With this realization, Mr. Pei’s behavior became understandable.
With aligned thoughts, Li Shi said, “Alright, what promotional methods do you all have? Put them on the table openly, don’t hold back.”
The investors quickly spoke in turn.
“I’m considering buying some advertisements on Jingzhou’s buses and stops, and also chartering a bus to run a special line from nearby public transport stops to Thriller Lodge.”
“I can organize people to distribute flyers in Jingzhou’s major shopping malls and university campuses. Young people should be more interested.”
“I’m thinking of… advertising online? But I need to consider how to do it specifically, otherwise it might not guarantee results.”
“Doesn’t Mr. Li know Mr. Wang from Universal Review? Shouldn’t it be possible to have a discounted ticket purchase event on Universal Review?”
Everyone contributed ideas, and soon, the promotional plan had spread to every corner of Jingzhou.
Everyone was already accustomed to this working method.
After all, there had been disagreements when initially determining who would be responsible for which supporting industries, but Mr. Li had forcefully united them.
Now they were all in the same boat. Each had invested a lot of money, and if this project failed, though it wouldn’t lead to immediate bankruptcy or queuing on rooftops, it would certainly cause major losses.
Li Shi nodded: “I’ll speak to Mr. Wang about Universal Review.”
“The problem now… seems to be that all promotion is concentrated in Jingzhou, at most extending to Hangdong Province.”
“Well, there’s no other way. Trying to promote nationwide at this stage would be too ambitious.”
Everyone knew that Thriller Lodge’s main clientele in the early stage would come from Jingzhou, at most radiating to Hangdong Province.
It was unrealistic to expect tourists from across the country to make a special trip to Jingzhou just to experience a scare at Thriller Lodge.
Moreover, how much would it cost to advertise nationwide?
They would either need to advertise on major variety shows or national television, or spend a lot of money on ground promotion in various cities. Either way, the cost-effectiveness would be very low.
So, for now, this was the only option.
They could only wait for Thriller Lodge to make a big splash, become popular, and gradually spread its reputation before promoting nationwide.
Li Shi looked at Chen Kangtuo: “Young Chen, regarding Mr. Pei…”
Chen Kangtuo looked somewhat helpless: “Mr. Li, you know what kind of personality Mr. Pei has. My words can’t possibly influence Mr. Pei’s plans.”
Li Shi nodded: “Yes, yes, I understand. I’m just saying we should all do our best.”
Chen Kangtuo: “Of course.”
Li Shi looked at the finalized promotional plan but still felt a bit uneasy.
However, with their current capabilities, this was the best they could do.
…
At a motion capture studio in Jingzhou.
Zhang Zuting was instructing the motion capture actors in English.
Since all these actors were extras from “Beautiful Tomorrow” and they all knew Zhang Zuting, they listened very attentively.
Zhang Zuting didn’t dwell on the details of each scene but instead explained the overall performance approach.
“From my understanding of Mr. Pei, since he has already decided to make the characters stereotypical, he wants everyone to use more exaggerated acting. That means amplifying every subtle expression as much as possible, with performances leaning more toward stage plays and theater.”
“On a theater stage, because the audience is quite far away, they can’t see some of the subtle expressions. To enhance stage presence, the performance must be exaggerated.”
“This game can be seen as an interactive film, which is similar in some ways. Using stereotypical characters and exaggerated performances can effectively remove players’ sense of immersion. Although it might not seem as realistic, it will strengthen the symbolic meaning of the characters and story, provoking thought in players…”
“I’ve given each of you a page describing the stereotypical characteristics of your character. You should carefully think about these traits and try to express them exaggeratedly…”
The actors listened attentively, nodding from time to time.
Before Zhang Zuting came, they weren’t clear about how they should portray their characters. Each had their approach, which would have resulted in a chaotic performance that wouldn’t meet Hu Xianbin’s requirements.
But after Zhang Zuting’s analysis and explanation, everyone had a deeper understanding of their characters, and their performance styles became unified.
Seeing this, Hu Xianbin was delighted and quickly said, “Great, everyone, let’s put in a bit more effort and reshoot the scenes we weren’t satisfied with!”
“We must meet Mr. Pei’s expectations!”
…
“Achoo!”
Pei Qian was lying on the sofa, sunbathing, when he suddenly sneezed for no reason.
“That Mr. Li must be talking about me behind my back…”
…
…
June 23, Thursday.
In a café near Hangdong University, He An’s third lecture for “Ma Yang” officially began.
It seemed the promotional activities for Thriller Lodge had already started. On his way to the café, Pei Qian had already seen a Thriller Lodge advertisement at a bus stop.
But Pei Qian didn’t have any good solutions now; he could only let it happen and pray that these promotional activities wouldn’t be too effective.
He An handed today’s teaching materials to “Ma Yang” while taking a sip of coffee, preparing to begin.
Pei Qian’s face still wore a modest, eager-to-learn, calm smile, but his slightly trembling fingers betrayed him mercilessly.
Today, it seemed like they really wouldn’t be discussing Tenda case studies!
At least, that’s how it appeared from the teaching materials.
The title of the teaching material was: “Successful Case Study Lesson Three: Restraint on Personal Preferences and the Desire for Expression.”
To be safe, Pei Qian flipped through the specific content of the materials and found that the case study was one of He An’s successful games from long ago, called “Landlord Game.”
If Pei Qian had seen this name earlier, he might have thought of the three-person card game “Beat Me with Seventeen Cards.” But since he had done his homework and researched He An’s previously successful games, “Landlord Game” reminded Pei Qian of another familiar name: “Monopoly.”
Although the names and packaging were different, the gameplay was the same.
Pei Qian couldn’t help but feel a little anticipation for this lesson.
He An said, “The main content of this lesson will no longer focus on Tenda’s case studies.”
“Because on this issue, Tenda’s cases don’t have much learning value.”
Pei Qian was pleasantly surprised: “Oh? Professor He, what do you mean by that?”
He An smiled: “What I’m going to talk about today is restraint on personal preferences and the desire for expression. Whether it’s novels, movies, or games, every content creator becomes a creator because they have a very strong desire to express themselves.”
“And what they express, strictly speaking, is all ‘personal preference,’ because this content comes from their knowledge base and isn’t necessarily accepted by everyone.”
“When most people agree, we say: their expression evokes empathy, reveals truth, contains wisdom, and provokes thought.”
“But when most people disagree, we say: their expression includes personal biases, produces misleading guidance, and their intentions are condemnable.”
“However, if creators don’t ‘include personal preferences,’ then they aren’t qualified creators, because the content they produce will lack ideas and be empty.”
“So, for a creator to succeed, they must maintain restraint—not too many personal preferences, but not too few; not too extreme, but not too banal.”
“As for why Tenda’s cases have no reference value…”
“Because Tenda’s games and movies have already transcended this stage. No matter how many personal preferences they include, everyone will accept them. So don’t learn from them.”
Pei Qian: “…”
For a moment, he didn’t know whether to be happy or frustrated.