September 14, Wednesday.

Pei Qian woke up early.

He picked up his phone, casually browsed the AiLiDao website, and found that last night’s talk show from Jingzhou Finance Channel was already on the homepage. Overnight, who knew how many Automatic Contrarian Machines had been sold?

Pei Qian could have called Zhang Wang last night, but after much hesitation, he had resisted.

He couldn’t send the wrong message to employees!

Since he had repeatedly emphasized that employees should never work overtime under any circumstances, calling an employee after hours to discuss work would cause misunderstandings.

So, although Pei Qian knew that the talk show and this “world-famous painting” would spread rapidly overnight, he had no choice. The no-overtime rule couldn’t be broken.

He would have to remedy the situation first thing at work today.

However, last night, Pei Qian had already found the source of this “world-famous painting.”

Ruan Guangjian’s Weibo!

As one of China’s top artists, he often posted practice works on his Weibo. He was also the original artist and concept designer for games like “Ghost General,” GOG, “Turn Back to Shore,” and “Struggle,” so he already had a large fan base, many of whom were Tenda players.

Shortly after he posted this on Weibo, it spread like wildfire online.

The same applied to Mr. Li’s interview. Although it was only broadcast on a local finance channel, it would spread quickly once a few people saw it and posted it online.

Pei Qian was completely at a loss for words.

So, he needed to quickly think of remedial measures!

First, he went downstairs to find the property manager, Song Kai.

Song Kai wasn’t just the manager of this building; he was also considered the person in charge of Sloth Apartments. He and Liang Qingfan had distinct responsibilities.

Liang Qingfan was mainly responsible for the design and quality control of the apartments, while Song Kai was responsible for daily operations and maintenance.

“How are the other Sloth Apartments units doing now?” Pei Qian asked.

Song Kai happily replied: “The situation is excellent! I can see from the data backend that many units were sold this morning, and I heard people are queuing to view the apartments. The Lakeside Complex will probably be fully rented out in these two days, and the commercial-residential building should be no problem in ten to fifteen days!”

Pei Qian fell silent.

The situation was even more serious than he had imagined!

The news only came out yesterday, and people were already rushing to rent this morning? How were they all so well-informed?

Pei Qian said, “Add a prominent line to the Sloth Apartments’ official website description: Living here won’t improve your thinking ability.”

Song Kai was stunned: “Huh?”

As the person in charge of Sloth Apartments, Song Kai had, of course, seen the talk show video online and applauded Mr. Li’s interpretation.

So that was it!

Song Kai felt somewhat ashamed that even he, as the project manager of Sloth Apartments, hadn’t thought of this aspect, truly failing Mr. Pei’s trust.

After watching the video, Song Kai realized this point and firmly believed that Sloth Apartments could enhance thinking ability.

Because he carefully recalled that he had been working on the first floor, and after spending a long time in such an environment, his mind did seem clearer!

But what did Mr. Pei mean by this requirement?

“Living here won’t improve your thinking ability”?

Was he trying to completely refute what Mr. Li said yesterday?

Pei Qian didn’t explain anything, just emphasized: “Add it immediately.”

Song Kai could only nod: “Yes, Mr. Pei.”

Pei Qian didn’t say anything more, afraid that saying more would lead to more mistakes, and quickly left.

Little Sun was already waiting outside. Pei Qian got into the car and headed to Dream Fulfillment Venture Capital.

…

At Dream Fulfillment Venture Capital, He Desheng, Ma Yang, and Zhang Wang were celebrating with champagne.

The Automatic Contrarian Machine was selling like crazy!

After work last night, they had thought it would be another day of zero interest, but unexpectedly, orders for the Automatic Contrarian Machine started pouring in like snowflakes.

By this morning, orders had increased rapidly. The sales volume, which had been less than ten units, suddenly surged to several hundred. Headwind Logistics’ delivery personnel had been busy all morning, frantically stocking and delivering.

Zhang Wang sighed: “I’ve been wondering why all the promotional plans I proposed were rejected by Mr. Pei.”

“Now I finally understand! Mr. Pei had plans all along!”

“If my promotional plans had been implemented, they would have given all consumers a preconceived impression, essentially deconstructing the deeper connotations of the Automatic Contrarian Machine. That would have been losing the greater for the lesser!”

Zhang Wang had previously racked his brains to sell the Automatic Contrarian Machine. He first thought of placing it in the Golden Maze, then considered giving it as a gift to practice hand speed for the DGE Club, and had thought of many conventional promotional methods.

However, all of these were rejected by Mr. Pei!

Not only that, but Mr. Pei also emphasized that they should never promote the Automatic Contrarian Machine in any way, saying he had his own arrangements.

At that time, Zhang Wang was skeptical.

As the inventor of the Automatic Contrarian Machine, he couldn’t figure out how to promote this device. Could Mr. Pei have a better method?

Now he discovered that Mr. Pei indeed had one! And with such a marvelous promotional approach!

This promotional method had given the Automatic Contrarian Machine special philosophical meaning and symbolic significance, adding intangible value to it.

No wonder Mr. Pei didn’t allow other promotional methods. Because other methods would preemptively tell everyone that this was just a boring gadget. Once this concept was established, telling people “the Contrarian Machine has philosophical meaning and symbolic significance” wouldn’t work anymore.

Mr. Pei said that the promotional methods Zhang Wang had thought of would have the opposite effect, and he was absolutely right!

And the decision to double both the cost and price of the Automatic Contrarian Machine now seemed incredibly correct.

First, it ensured the machine’s sense of quality, making it not seem cheap at all but rather having an extremely high-quality feel. Second, since they were selling the symbolic meaning of the machine rather than the machine itself, most people weren’t so sensitive to price, and this pricing could pursue maximum profit.

Of course, even so, compared to the premium of other craft items, the premium of the Automatic Contrarian Machine was already quite modest.

Previously, with so much inventory piling up, Zhang Wang didn’t dare to continue production. It was Mr. Pei who unwaverlingly insisted on continuing production, even if the warehouse was full and they had to rent more warehouse space, just to ensure inventory!

Many people think inventory isn’t so important, believing that they could just produce after receiving orders. After all, they could produce a large batch in a couple of weeks.

But would consumers wait for a couple of weeks?

People’s attention and memory are limited. If consumer impulses can’t be satisfied immediately, and there’s a shortage for a couple of weeks, most people would have long forgotten about it.

So, this crazy stockpiling had paid off!

Mr. Pei had required the production of over 20,000 units, with a cost of less than 400 yuan each, selling at 488 yuan. If all were sold, they would effortlessly earn two million yuan!

Moreover, judging from the current frenzy, how could over 20,000 units be enough? They could only withstand the first wave of the buying spree.

Now they had to hurry to stockpile more; otherwise, they wouldn’t keep up later.

In any case, the Automatic Contrarian Machine was another great success!

Zhang Wang couldn’t help but feel proud: “I told you, my invention, plus Manager Ma’s judgment, plus Manager He’s execution, plus Mr. Pei infusing it with soul, is simply invincible!”

“Of course, the main credit still belongs to Mr. Pei. Without him infusing it with soul, the Automatic Contrarian Machine wouldn’t have been transformed!”

“It’s a shame Mr. Pei isn’t here. We’re opening champagne, and we’re a player short.”

He Desheng also had many feelings.

From the beginning, he had not been optimistic about this project. He was very clear that Zhang Wang and Manager Ma both had unusual thought processes, and the Automatic Contrarian Machine project was originally 100% destined to lose all invested capital.

But the variable appeared in Mr. Pei!

He still remembered when Mr. Pei had seen the Automatic Contrarian Machine sample, he had quickly made the decision to raise the price and mass-produce!

At that time, He Desheng had found it incredibly unbelievable.

But thinking about it now, it was obvious that Mr. Pei had this plan in mind the moment he saw the machine, and everything afterward was arranged according to the plan!

Mr. Pei was truly unfathomable!

He Desheng was now thoroughly convinced and genuinely happy.

The undefeated legend of Dream Fulfillment Venture Capital would undoubtedly continue!

The three were happily celebrating when Pei Qian arrived.

“Brother Qian!”

“Mr. Pei!”

The three were delighted. Speak of the devil!

Ma Yang immediately took a new glass from the side and poured champagne: “Brother Qian, how did you know we were going to celebrate? Perfect timing, come, let’s toast together!”

As soon as Pei Qian entered, he saw the three smiling faces and felt the whole Dream Fulfillment Venture Capital office filled with a joyful atmosphere, which was completely at odds with his own mood.

Whether to accept this champagne or not seemed a bit awkward…

After hesitating for a moment, Pei Qian instinctively took the champagne and reluctantly clinked glasses with the other three.

After symbolically taking a sip, Pei Qian quickly got to the point.

“Now immediately add an explanatory text to the Automatic Contrarian Machine’s sales page, writing this:”

“It’s expensive, it’s boring, and it won’t enhance your thinking ability. Perhaps you could spend your money on something more meaningful.”

Ma Yang was somewhat taken aback: “Huh? Brother Qian, are you serious?”

Zhang Wang and He Desheng were also stunned.

What did Mr. Pei mean?

Wasn’t this an official denial of the Automatic Contrarian Machine’s greatest value?

The one who emphasized the philosophical meaning and symbolic significance of the Automatic Contrarian Machine was Mr. Pei;

The one who emphasized that the Automatic Contrarian Machine had none of these meanings was also Mr. Pei.

Wasn’t this self-contradictory?

Was Mr. Pei running a fever?

Or… did he have other considerations?