Fearful Lodge, Maid Café.

“So, in your mind, what kind of image does Mr. Pei have?”

After introductions, Wu Bin and Cui Geng began their interview with Qiao Liang.

After leaving “Ultimate Terror,” Qiao Liang first washed his hands in the Healing Spring. The warm water instantly dispelled the horror and fear, making the lingering sense of dread vanish completely.

Qiao Liang thought that tonight he probably wouldn’t recall those terrifying memories and would sleep soundly… right?

Afterward, he met with Wu Bin at the Maid Café for the interview.

Up until now, in their efforts to annotate the Tenda spirit, Wu Bin and Cui Geng had interviewed Li Shi and Liang Qingfan, unlocking two different perspectives on Mr. Pei’s image.

However, these images were still far from sufficient to outline Mr. Pei’s profile—they were merely fragmented silhouettes.

So, they needed to continue gathering material.

Qiao Liang and Ruan Guangjian, as Mr. Pei’s good friends, had both been scheduled for interviews, though they would be interviewed separately.

Because strictly speaking, this wasn’t just a simple interview.

Everyone’s perspective was one-sided and couldn’t be used directly.

Wu Bin had to carefully analyze every word these people said, repeatedly compare and verify it against Mr. Pei’s past examples, extracting the essence and discarding the dross, to include a small portion of the content in the book.

After all, annotating the Tenda spirit was a task where the slightest error could lead to great misunderstanding—there was no room for carelessness.

Moreover, Wu Bin had other work responsibilities, so organizing this information always took a long time, ranging from two weeks to a month.

Now, the interviews with Li Shi and Liang Qingfan had finally been organized, and they could continue with more interviews.

Qiao Liang was Mr. Pei’s good friend and also an influential content creator on AiLiDao. Wu Bin believed that Teacher Qiao would provide another unique perspective!

“My impression of Mr. Pei…”

Qiao Liang took a sip of coffee and fell into deep thought.

If asked before today, Qiao Liang might have given a different answer.

But after completing all the projects at Fearful Lodge, Qiao Liang suddenly had some new understanding and insights.

He organized his thoughts and said, “First, I believe Mr. Pei is a person with a very broad mind. He can tolerate even some rather peculiar collaborators, and even become close friends with them.”

Wu Bin: “So this collaborator is…?”

Qiao Liang coughed lightly: “Well, I’d rather not disclose that. I can’t speak ill of others behind their backs.”

“And I must emphasize, this collaborator is just a bit eccentric in personality but is kind-hearted.”

“The reason Mr. Pei can become good friends with such a person is probably because he sees their inherent kindness.”

“But this doesn’t contradict Mr. Pei’s tolerant character!”

“At the same time, Mr. Pei is a person who keeps his promises and cares meticulously about his friends. After I arrived in Jingzhou, Mr. Pei arranged everything for me—food, accommodation, transportation, and more—at a level far exceeding my imagination. This kind of care is something I’ve never experienced before!”

Wu Bin nodded frequently, recording quickly.

Qiao Liang thought for a moment and emphasized: “I believe that Mr. Pei’s tolerance and generosity toward friends is not a compromise or forbearance, but a kind of wisdom, or rather, a kind of transcendence.”

“Mr. Pei does not need to compromise with anyone, no need to please anyone, and certainly no need to befriend people he doesn’t like.”

“The fact that he can do this must be because he views problems from a more transcendent perspective. His wisdom allows him to remain indifferent to friction in friendships!”

“It’s like a mature adult befriending a child. No matter how capricious the child is or how poorly they speak, the adult can smile and tolerate it, not taking offense at a child’s behavior…”

“So, everyone who becomes friends with Mr. Pei experiences that ancient saying: ‘When you associate with a gentleman, it’s like entering a room full of orchids—you no longer notice the fragrance after a while.'”

Wu Bin listened, nodding frequently.

This aspect truly matched the Mr. Pei in his impression, with extremely high credibility. It should be an important part of the Tenda spirit annotation!

But this was just an appetizer.

Qiao Liang changed his tone and began to talk about a more crucial part.

“Beyond this, I have an ultimate characterization for all of Mr. Pei’s identities.”

“Mr. Pei… is an independent expresser!”

Wu Bin’s recording speed increased: “The ultimate characterization of all identities?”

“This seems to be a very interesting point. Could you elaborate?”

Qiao Liang smiled slightly: “Actually, this point is very obvious, but it has been overlooked all along because this identity is easily overshadowed by the ‘entrepreneur’ identity!”

“We all know that Mr. Pei has many identities. He has created many games, made films, built a haunted house, and has numerous projects and brands like internet cafés, food delivery, mobile phones, and so on.”

“All these identities can be reduced to one: he is an expresser!”

“The biggest difference between Mr. Pei and other entrepreneurs is that other entrepreneurs are just busy making money. When they make a decision, they look at market feedback.”

“If market feedback is good, they continue; if not, they stop immediately.”

“The starting point for a project or product is often to consider what the market currently accepts and then do that, even if the current market demand is wrong or unhealthy.”

“They’ll say, ‘That’s just how this market is, other companies are the same, what can I do?'”

“But Mr. Pei is different. When creating these brands, he doesn’t ask for market feedback but asks his inner self!”

“Each of his industries is striving to express something!”

Wu Bin’s recording speed became even faster. This statement gave him a flash of insight, deeply inspired.

Above the identity of an entrepreneur, there was an even greater identity—that of an “expresser”?

“So, what exactly is Mr. Pei expressing?” Wu Bin asked curiously.

Qiao Liang took a sip of coffee and pondered for a moment: “It seems each project expresses different thoughts.”

“I won’t go into games and films—there’s already enough analysis of these cultural products online.”

“More crucial are Mr. Pei’s other physical projects!”

“I hadn’t noticed this before, but today at Fearful Lodge, especially after experiencing ‘Ultimate Terror,’ I suddenly understood many things in an instant.”

“Slackin’ Delivery is a good example. It’s losing money, so why does he keep opening new branches?”

Wu Bin thought for a moment: “To expand market share?”

Qiao Liang nodded, then shook his head: “Maybe that’s part of it, but it’s not the main reason.”

“If it were purely to expand market share, wouldn’t it be better and faster to make some cheap food and subsidize it with extra money?”

“If you observe, you’ll find that almost all of Mr. Pei’s businesses are independent and unique. He never seems to make ‘making money in the conventional way’ his primary goal.”

“So I say, Mr. Pei is trying to express his thoughts through these industries!”

“Take Slackin’ Delivery—Mr. Pei certainly couldn’t be doing this just to lose money; there are better ways to expand market share.”

“Mr. Pei’s true purpose is to express the concept of ‘healthy eating’ and to make this concept accepted by more and more people!”

“Similarly, Slackin’ Internet Café, Nameless Restaurant, Terminus Chinese Website… each of Mr. Pei’s businesses expresses one of his ideas, expressing his view on that industry!”

“And when Mr. Pei makes these expressions, he is extremely confident and independent. He never boasts about it, nor does he explain anything.”

“He just quietly expresses his thoughts, quietly waiting for someone to read the deeper meaning.”

Wu Bin recorded quickly, his expression becoming increasingly excited.

“This perspective is so innovative! And I think it makes a lot of sense!”

“An expresser… that’s truly the best interpretation of Mr. Pei!”

“Thank you very much, Teacher Qiao. You are the person who understands Mr. Pei best!… One of them.”

Qiao Liang had been smiling, but upon hearing the latter half of the sentence, his face fell.

Why “one of them”?

I, Qiao, am THE person who understands Mr. Pei best, without qualification!

But thinking again, this Wu Bin was the official interpreter of the Tenda spirit, now collecting various viewpoints to annotate Mr. Pei’s spirit…

It seemed their interpretations of Mr. Pei each had their merits.

Hmm…

Well, he’d reluctantly accept this statement!

After all, there’s no absolute first in literature. Everyone interprets Mr. Pei in their way, and there’s no need to compete.

Wu Bin thought for a moment and asked again: “Well, Teacher Qiao, do you think there’s a… central idea behind all the thoughts Mr. Pei expresses through his businesses?”

“Something that could summarize all his industries?”

Qiao Liang was taken aback and, after considering for a long time, said: “This… probably not?”

“Each industry operates differently and targets different groups of people. It can’t be generalized.”

“At least for now, all I can think of are some vague concepts, not a particularly clear idea.”

Wu Bin nodded: “Yes, that makes sense. If Mr. Pei’s thoughts were so easily understood, that wouldn’t be reasonable.”

“Anyway, this perspective is very inspiring. Thank you very much!”

“I’ll continue to explore in this direction. I hope we can communicate more in the future! Let’s grow together!”

Qiao Liang was also pleased: “Sure!”

“I’ve gained a lot from this exchange of ideas.”

“I’ve already thought of what title to use for my new series of videos!”

“‘The Lonely Expresser’!”

Their hands gripped tightly together as they smiled at each other.

This feeling—everything was understood without words!