October 14th, Friday.
At the Slackin’ Delivery’s Hangdong University store.
Qiu Hong needed to go back to handle some of his affairs before officially joining Tenda Group to take charge of the “Last Resort Plan.”
After taking photos with two enthusiastic fans, Pei Qian sipped his coffee while considering his plans.
This cycle was shorter than before, making it less difficult to lose money than previously.
This wasn’t because Pei Qian had become overconfident; it was mainly because he had very cleverly exploited a loophole in the system.
The system stipulated that each cycle could have one unfinished project. Pei Qian had smartly split “Mission and Choice” into two separate projects: the game itself and the story CG movie, assigning them to Tenda Games and Fei Huang Studio, respectively.
This way, he had tied up the two most profitable departments together—one spending 200 million and the other 300 million—enough to drag things out until the next settlement cycle.
So, Pei Qian’s main pressure wasn’t in this cycle, but in the next one.
But this also meant the pressure for the next cycle would increase dramatically, so he needed to start planning for that cycle now as well.
As Pei Qian was contemplating this, a long face pushed through the door.
“Qian Bro!” Ma Yang’s face was beaming with a bright smile as he sat down across from Pei Qian.
Pei Qian closed his laptop and handed it to a server. “What’s up?”
Ma Yang grinned. “Qian Bro, I’m here to update you on the Dream Fund situation!”
Pei Qian’s interest was piqued. “Oh? Tell me about it.”
Previously, Ma Yang had earned the title of Best Employee and received the Dream Fund after making a huge profit of 500 million.
Ma Yang had mentioned wanting to take this money to Weibo to help others realize their dreams, but there had been no updates since. Pei Qian had been busy trying to lose money and didn’t have the energy to follow up.
Now that he had time, he wanted to hear Old Ma’s ideas.
With Tenda Group having developed to its current scale, the Dream Fund was no longer a significant amount, but what Pei Qian cared more about was that the Dream Fund could be used to test new loss-making models.
Once a loss was successfully achieved, they could ramp up efforts!
Ma Yang happily said, “Qian Bro, I’ve already got my real-name verification on Weibo.”
“Here’s my idea.”
“Although Dream Venture Capital has always been dedicated to helping people fulfill their dreams, it’s still limited. Many people with dreams can’t get their dreams conveyed to Dream Venture Capital!”
“So, I’ve decided to go on Weibo to find those people with dreams and use the Dream Fund to help them realize their dreams.”
Pei Qian nodded. “Hmm, it’s good that you have this idea! But how do you plan to implement it specifically?”
Ma Yang said, “It’s simple—post on Weibo.”
“I’ll just directly post about helping others realize their dreams on Weibo, then collect dream submissions. When I see a dream that moves me, I’ll give them varying amounts from the Dream Fund to help make it come true!”
Pei Qian was taken aback. “What do you mean by ‘varying amounts’?”
Ma Yang answered, “Anywhere from 10,000 to 100,000 yuan, depending on the content of the dream.”
Pei Qian fell into a brief silence.
He vaguely felt that Ma Yang’s model had significant problems.
There seemed to be no possibility for profit at all?
Dream Venture Capital invested in projects that could either suffer massive losses or reap massive profits. Because there was a possibility of profit, the system wouldn’t interfere.
But with Old Ma’s model, considering Old Ma’s intelligence, this behavior was equivalent to randomly giving money to netizens.
How had the system not forbidden this?
Of course, the system’s level of control over spending varied. The original system, which was directly controlled by Pei Qian, was more strictly managed, but after the “Dream Fund” had been handed over to someone else, the system’s control became much looser.
Even so, it couldn’t be used recklessly.
For example, if Old Ma decided to use the Dream Fund as his personal spending money, the system wouldn’t allow it.
So why would the system approve of Ma Yang’s money-spewing approach?
After thinking for a moment and combining his experience with Headwind Logistics, Pei Qian deduced the rationality behind it: Ma Yang’s actions would bring a certain degree of recognition to Ma Yang himself, as well as to Tenda Group and Dream Venture Capital.
In other words, it was spending money to buy fame.
Since Ma Yang was giving each person between 10,000 and 100,000 yuan, the system judged this expense to be within a reasonable range and therefore didn’t prohibit it.
Pei Qian looked at Ma Yang and fell into deep thought again.
Ma Yang’s long face showed complete bewilderment, not understanding why Qian Bro was thinking for so long, but he didn’t ask. He just gulped down a couple of sips of coffee.
Pei Qian was considering whether spending money to buy fame was worth it.
For most people, it definitely wouldn’t be worth it.
Fame might seem intangible, but Pei Qian had already suffered quite a few losses because of it.
There’s a term in the internet age called “attention economy.” The reason so many people want to become internet celebrities is that as long as you have attention, you have ways to monetize it.
Many of Tenda’s industries had a low chance of success initially, but they turned losses into profits precisely because they received too much attention.
But…
Would this fame be useful if attached to Old Ma?
With Old Ma’s appearance, emotional intelligence, and intellectual capacity, could he become an internet celebrity?
Pei Qian had serious doubts about this.
Even if Ma Yang could maintain attention by spending money, people would only like his money, not him as a person. Once he stopped throwing money around, his attention would immediately drop to zero.
After pondering for a while, Pei Qian felt it might be worth trying. From any angle, this seemed like a very good deal.
With this in mind, Pei Qian nodded. “Okay, go for it!”
“Old Ma, this is a very dreamlike idea, and I support you!”
Ma Yang, who had been anxiously waiting, beamed with joy on his long face. “I knew you would support me, Qian Bro! I’ll prepare this weekend and post my first Weibo!”
Pei Qian quickly stopped him. “Wait, don’t rush. I think the details of your model need further consideration.”
“Let me offer a few suggestions.”
Ma Yang nodded vigorously. “Please go ahead, Qian Bro!”
After some thought, Pei Qian said, “First, you can do whatever you want on Weibo, but don’t mix it up with Dream Venture Capital.”
“I’m mainly concerned about attracting people with ulterior motives who might try to scam investments. The two projects must be kept completely separate.”
“Second, this money is intended for grassroots individuals. People with over 1,000 followers aren’t eligible to receive it.”
“Lastly, don’t just keep giving out money; occasionally interact with your fans too. For example, play some games or do some livestreaming.”
“This can help you build a closer relationship with your fans.”
Ma Yang listened and nodded repeatedly. “That makes sense! Qian Bro, I’ll do exactly as you say!”
Pei Qian couldn’t help but smile.
Good, it’s settled!
Pei Qian’s three requirements further eliminated any possibility of Ma Yang becoming popular or generating profits.
In essence, this model was about spending money to buy attention, a strategy many had tried before.
But when others tried it, they chose people with many followers to give money to, because people with large followings had greater influence. For the same amount of money, they could buy more attention.
How much influence could be generated by giving money to nobodies with fewer than 1,000 followers? Most people wouldn’t do this.
Moreover, if attention increased, it might cause Dream Venture Capital’s attention to skyrocket. What if some profitable projects came knocking on their door?
So it was important to prevent the attention Old Ma bought from spreading to Dream Venture Capital.
Asking Old Ma to livestream more was particularly ruthless.
Everyone familiar with Ma Yang’s gaming skills understood—even DGE’s professional players struggled to carry him.
If fans saw Ma Yang’s gaming level, they’d probably be so angry they’d want to take up knives and hack him to death. They would unfollow him in droves.
The best part was that Ma Yang wouldn’t realize this; his self-perception was extremely positive.
In short, everything was arranged perfectly to minimize any chance of making money!
If Ma Yang couldn’t become popular no matter how hard he tried, Pei Qian would be overjoyed—another money-burning tree!
Although this money-burning tree was a bit small, it could still burn money.
In terms of investment, Pei Qian was very disappointed with Old Ma.
But compared to other people around him, Old Ma was still the most like a trusted aide. Pei Qian decided to give him another chance in the internet celebrity field.
…
…
October 15th, Saturday.
Pei Qian slept until he naturally woke up. The first thing he did was grab his phone and open Weibo.
Ma Yang should be posting on Weibo this morning, and Pei Qian wanted to see the response.
Ma Yang’s account was easy to find—just search for his name and look for the verified badge.
But when he clicked into it, Pei Qian was stunned.
There were fewer than three digits of followers?
This must be Old Ma’s original Weibo account, and many of those followers were probably bots.
Pei Qian quickly found the Weibo post Ma Yang had made around 7 AM.
“Helping everyone realize their dreams. Describe your dream, leave your account or QR code, and randomly receive Dream Fund money.”
Pei Qian confirmed the time—it was now after 10 AM. The post had been up for three hours, yet it only had a dozen or so reposts and about twenty comments.
Moreover, the comments were mostly short and contained no useful information.
“???”
“What does this mean, scammer?”
“There’s verification information here—internal employee of Tenda Group.”
“Pfft, even an internal employee doesn’t buy some followers? This is a new account.”
“Just a working-class guy?”
“I have a dream, pick me, pick me!”
“Seems suspicious, everyone, be careful not to leave your account info. Beware of scams!”
Pei Qian almost burst out laughing.
Ma Yang had verified himself as a “Tenda Group internal employee,” which was truly something else.
This verification had absolutely no prestige!
Plus, Ma Yang’s Weibo account originally had no followers, and he chose to post in the morning when fewer people were online. After posting, he didn’t arrange for anyone to repost it, so it did not influence at all.
What’s worse was that Old Ma’s post content was as bland as water, completely failing to spark anyone’s desire to participate.
No wonder everyone thought he was a scammer—he was even less convincing than an actual scammer!
Pei Qian was delighted. Old Ma truly hadn’t disappointed him!