Pei Qian made one final five-minute effort before dragging the mind map into the recycle bin.

He gave up. This thing simply didn’t work!

Pei Qian wasn’t a stubborn person. When it was time to give up, he had to decisively abandon it and think of other solutions.

Finishing his cocktail, Pei Qian checked the time. It was about time to go home and rest.

What could be better than playing games on the big TV for a few hours and then having a comfortable sleep?

Although he had completed many games, games were inexhaustible.

With this thought, Pei Qian got up and left, planning to go home to play games and sleep.

…

Arriving at the 12th floor of City Dawn, just as Pei Qian was about to enter his door, he found a small note attached to it.

“Hmm?”

“What’s this?”

Pei Qian thought it might be a water bill or something similar, but then realized that wasn’t right. Water bills were usually long strips, and the property manager at Sloth Apartments was responsible for handling utility payments.

Taking it down, he saw a single line: “Tonight at 9 PM, Jingzhou TV Finance Channel.”

Pei Qian was stunned.

What did this mean?

An assassination notice?

A death threat?

What would be on Jingzhou TV?

Now, anything remotely connected to television made Pei Qian feel uneasy.

There was no signature on the note, but there was no time to dwell on who might have left it.

Checking his watch, it was already past eight, approaching nine. If he had stayed at Slackin’ Internet Café a bit longer, he might have missed it.

Pei Qian quickly entered, changed his shoes, and turned on the TV.

A few minutes later, the Finance Channel’s talk show began right on time.

“He is the helmsman of Fuhui Capital, a renowned investment company in Jingzhou.”

“He is regarded as the second wind vane in Jingzhou’s investment industry.”

“When all businesses and investors were not optimistic about old industrial zone renovation, he resolutely invested huge sums.”

“Having experienced ups and downs in the investment circle and witnessed countless wealth legends, what unique insights does he have on investment? Facing complex work, how does he maintain a clear mind and rational thinking?”

“In this era of mass entrepreneurship and innovation, what successful secrets does Li Shi, who has navigated the business sea for half a lifetime, want to share with young people?”

“Tonight’s Financial Story, ‘Li Shi and the Thinker,’ exciting content coming soon!”

This talk show had a strong “Meeting with XX” vibe, but that was normal. After all, that was a nationally popular talk show, and it was natural for Jingzhou TV’s program to imitate it.

After watching just the introduction, Pei Qian had already identified who had left the note on his door.

It was Mr. Li!

However, although he had identified the culprit, Pei Qian questioned his motive.

This talk show had nothing to do with him, right? Wasn’t this Mr. Li’s interview?

So why did Mr. Li want him to watch? To see how handsome he looked on the talk show?

Was Mr. Li showing off? Showing off that he could be on a TV talk show while Pei couldn’t?

Didn’t he know that the Finance Channel had approached Pei first, and only after he declined did they approach Li?

What was there to show off?

On second thought, Pei Qian realized that Mr. Li shouldn’t be that kind of person.

With confusion, he continued watching.

As soon as he saw the interview scene, Pei Qian was stunned.

This was Sloth Apartments!

It was Mr. Li’s room, with an identical layout to his own, even the Automatic Contrarian Machine on the table was in the same position!

Pei Qian suddenly realized the issue.

How did Mr. Li get an Automatic Contrarian Machine?

He did have one in his room, but that was specifically delivered by Zhang Wang and his team. They hadn’t provided one to the other rooms, had they?

Pei Qian calmed himself and continued watching.

On screen, Mr. Li was speaking eloquently.

“…Mr. Pei invested, so I invested too.”

“…Mr. Pei achieved the extreme in every aspect, which is why he can invest in so many successful projects.”

“…Rather than calling this Mr. Pei’s residence, it’s more like Mr. Pei’s training room, his meditation chamber.”

“Success is not a coincidence, but the result of diligent thinking day after day…”

Watching the talk show, Pei Qian’s expression changed from relaxed to confused, to shocked, and finally to complete blankness.

Mr. Li’s speech completely bewildered him!

He understood each word individually, but together, he had no idea what Mr. Li was saying!

And the more he listened, the more absurd it felt.

Are you sure the “Mr. Pei” described here is the same person as me?

And wasn’t this interview supposed to be about you? Why do you keep talking about me?

Pei Qian had initially thought that the talk show title “Li Shi and the Thinker” referred to Li Shi being a thinker.

Now he realized that “the thinker” referred to himself!

The “and” wasn’t explanatory but coordinative!

Thinking back carefully, Mr. Li had been piercing his heart step by step in this program.

First, he discussed Startling Inn with the host, portraying himself and Pei Qian as investors concerned about Jingzhou, unhesitatingly supporting the old industrial zone renovation;

Then he shifted the topic to Sloth Apartments, elaborating on how the special layout and structure helped people concentrate on thinking.

Finally, he mentioned the Automatic Contrarian Machine, describing it as the finishing touch to the entire “thinking space,” even attributing philosophical meaning to it.

Pei Qian had initially been dismissive, thinking, “So what if you’re being interviewed? What does that have to do with me? Why leave a note on my door to show off?”

Now he understood. This wasn’t showing off; it was delivering a death notice!

Pei Qian felt terrible.

Something bad had happened, something very bad!

Sloth Apartments had already gone through several twists and turns, and now only the last wall remained unbreached.

The recent formaldehyde apartment incident had tarnished the reputation of many rental companies like Homely and Snail Apartments, who were now busy apologizing and managing public relations. Only Sloth Apartments hadn’t suffered damage in this incident, but had gained fans!

However, people who truly decided to move into Sloth Apartments remained few, ultimately due to the “bare walls style.”

But now, Mr. Li’s combination of persuasion and promotion had completely reversed the explanation for the “bare walls style”!

The original “impractical” instantly became “helpful for calm thinking.”

Even the harmless invention of the Automatic Contrarian Machine hadn’t escaped Mr. Li’s clutches, being explained as an art piece that trains one’s mentality and helps with calm thinking.

One talk show directly took down Startling Inn, Sloth Apartments, and the Automatic Contrarian Machine in one fell swoop!

Pei Qian’s overwhelming feeling now was regret.

He hadn’t anticipated that rejecting the Finance Channel’s interview would backfire!

But who could have foreseen this?

Pei Qian hastily took out his phone to check the latest reviews of Sloth Apartments on the Tenda Life APP.

Now he could only hope that the public wouldn’t be deceived by Mr. Li!

Sloth Apartments had absolutely no effect on helping with thinking. Don’t be fooled!

The Automatic Contrarian Machine was purely a boring toy that wasted time. Please don’t buy it!

However, seeing the new comments under Sloth Apartments, Pei Qian’s heart instantly sank.

The original comments mostly criticized the place for being inconvenient and impractical.

But in the newest comments, the focus of discussion had completely changed.

“So that’s it! I thought Sloth Apartments was unsuitable, but I was approaching it wrong!”

“I’m an artist, and after watching the talk show, I suddenly realized that Sloth Apartments is exactly my ideal residence! Minimalist to the extreme, absolutely nothing will disturb my thoughts.”

“I’m a writer, and I also think this place is great!”

“Programmer here, +1”

“Does Mr. Pei’s thinking method work? I’m tempted to rent a unit and try!”

“There’s some logic to it. ‘Minimalism’ and ‘simplicity’ are trending now. Of course, this can’t be said to be completely right. Everyone’s life should be considered what suits them, but this concept does have some merit. Everyone’s energy is limited, and to make huge breakthroughs in a certain field, one must eliminate distractions. Sloth Apartments is providing exactly such a place!”

“Then how do you explain the lack of storage space and inability to move furniture?”

“Don’t you understand yet? This is to ensure that everything in the room won’t be messed up by you! Think about it, if there were a lot of storage space, you’d constantly buy things and stuff all kinds of useless items into cabinets. If you could furnish it yourself, you’d fiddle with it according to your preferences. All this would completely contradict Sloth Apartments’ philosophy!”

“Yes, the entire house layout was specially designed by brilliant designers. If you move things around, you’d destroy that perfect arrangement, and all the elegance would be gone.”

“Right, Sloth Apartments has managers and cleaning services, and you can’t change the furnishings. Isn’t this making sure you don’t have to manage anything and can concentrate on your thinking?”

“It’s normal to feel it’s impractical because Sloth Apartments initially practiced Mr. Pei’s life philosophy, which wasn’t meant for everyone. It’s specifically prepared for thinkers.”

“I heard the largest units have already been taken by Jingzhou’s investors. There are still two lakeside units and one commercial-residential unit left. Hurry up, big shots, they’ll probably be rented out soon.”

“These three types of housing have three different price points, right? Is it to allow people from all wealth tiers to experience this minimalist lifestyle?”

“Friendly reminder, after renting Sloth Apartments, you must get an Automatic Contrarian Machine!”

“I’m not renting, but I’m very interested in the Automatic Contrarian Machine. Already ordered one!”

“Has anyone noticed that the Automatic Contrarian Machine is simply amazing! It perfectly matches all human essences: repeater, procrastinator, hypocrite, and contrarian!”

“Repeatedly doing meaningless things = repeater;”

“Playing for five minutes then abandoning it to collect dust = procrastinator.”

“Initially saying no one would buy this thing, but now everyone’s scrambling for it = hypocrite;”

“Getting increasingly absorbed while playing with it = contrarian.”

“Damn, it is! They say this is Mr. Pei’s invention. Could it be that Mr. Pei had already calculated all this when inventing this thing?”

“No more talk, ordering, hurrying to order!”

“No need to rush, the official website shows ample stock, there’s enough for everyone!”

Pei Qian was completely dazed.

He couldn’t understand what these crazy people were thinking!

I’ve accepted that you’re frantically renting Sloth Apartments, but what’s the meaning of frantically buying Automatic Contrarian Machines?

I managed to secretly produce more than 20,000 units, and so far, I’ve sold fewer than 10. Everything was going well, and now it’s all ruined!

Pei Qian had no idea how many Automatic Contrarian Machines would sell once it became popular, but judging from the internet users’ intense interest, it would be significant!

Pei Qian felt helpless. Were there no normal people among the internet users?

Couldn’t anyone see that Mr. Li was bluffing and talking nonsense?

He was completely making baseless assumptions!

Suddenly, Pei Qian saw a comment that rekindled his hope.

“Are you all confused? Does extreme minimalism help with thinking? What’s the evidence? Mr. Pei has so many businesses under him, each with its manager. How could he oversee everything? So don’t deify someone. Mr. Pei might not even be managing these things at all; it’s all done by department heads!”

“Yes, Tenda has so many businesses now, how could Mr. Pei manage them all?”

“I also think the greatest possibility is that Mr. Pei has an eye for talent, arranging capable managers for each department, leading to the current success. If he had to think about so many things, he definitely couldn’t handle it all, and it might even be counterproductive.”

Pei Qian’s heart warmed.

These few brothers, you’re right!

I really can’t manage it all!

It’s all indeed done by department heads, with no connection to me!

However, the next comment instantly extinguished the small flame that had just risen in Pei Qian’s heart.

“Want evidence? Here it is. [Image] [Image]”

The first image showed Pei Qian’s back view at Slackin’ Internet Café, with his right hand on his chin, deep in thought.

Because there had already been two “world-famous paintings” from Slackin’ Internet Café and Slackin’ Takeout, this back view was instantly recognized.

The second image was a zoomed-in view of the computer screen in front of Mr. Pei. It was blurry, but one could barely make out that it was a flowchart, with the largest boxes labeled with the names of core departments like Tenda Games and Slackin’ Takeout.

“This is the evidence. Satisfied?”

“The facts prove that Mr. Pei is not only grasping the direction of each department but also managing the interactions between departments! Look at these dense lines. A normal person might struggle to see clearly, but Mr. Pei can plan the interaction between departments through this flowchart!”

“I see! No wonder hosting the GOG World Invitational could help promote Tuoguan Fitness and the club! Was it all within Mr. Pei’s plan?”

“Thinking about it this way, those genius-like promotional methods and interactive effects from before all make sense!”

“Whoa… these dense lines, how many times must Mr. Pei have thought about this? Is his brain a galactic computer? Computing a billion times per second?”

“I wasn’t entirely convinced by the interview content before, but now I believe it! Mr. Pei’s ability to think in this superhuman way is closely related to his lifestyle! I’m ordering an Automatic Contrarian Machine right now!”

Pei Qian looked at this image, his expression once again falling into a state of blankness.

This… this just happened tonight, right?

Possibly, just over an hour ago?

Who did this?

Who had nothing better to do than to secretly photograph me!

First a talk show, then a world-famous painting.

All of you, did you plan this? Are you taking turns stabbing me?