October 30, Sunday afternoon.

Pei Qian was sipping coffee at Slackin’ Internet Café while checking public opinion on the internet with his laptop.

Sure enough, after those club managers took Tenda’s regulations back, they began creating public opinion on the internet.

Starting from Friday evening, news about Tenda preparing for the GPL league had appeared on Weibo and forums, along with “alleged Tenda exploitation of clubs” news.

Among these posts were some from influential opinion leaders, as well as some who appeared to be internet army leaders. They all reposted each other’s messages, and the source of the information could no longer be traced, nor was it known which club had leaked it.

The content of these posts was largely similar, and they generally included the original text of the regulations.

“Tenda has established an Esports Division, requiring all clubs not to sign contracts with players privately, and to accept Tenda’s official mediation in case of disputes. Even contracts cannot be freely negotiated between clubs and players; they must accept Tenda’s unified standard terms. If clubs do not accept this condition, they cannot obtain GPL admission qualifications. Isn’t this too heartless?”

“These clubs invested money and effort to make GOG’s World Invitational happen, and now Tenda is turning on them?”

“Clubs and officials should have a mutually beneficial relationship, with each having their areas of expertise. Game officials should focus on improving game content and ensuring a fair esports environment. Excessive intervention will only make the esports environment rigid!”

“Only by ensuring club interests and guaranteeing the benefits of major clubs can they participate in the GPL league without worries. Otherwise, club investments could be wasted at any time. Which club would dare to participate? This is a lose-lose-lose situation for players, viewers, and clubs!”

“I think Tenda officials should seriously ensure the interests of major clubs, respect the professionalism and experience of each club in the esports industry, and everyone should play their respective roles well to ensure the healthy development of the domestic esports industry…”

Many people had reposted similar content with largely similar arguments.

Essentially, they emphasized that Tenda’s GPL rules were numerous and excessively restrictive to clubs, effectively constituting exploitation of clubs, which was not conducive to the healthy development of the entire esports industry. Various clubs had united to jointly call for a boycott of this phenomenon…

Naturally, many clubs had also reposted similar viewpoints, expressing their concern.

They didn’t explicitly state their position, but their attitude was clear.

In the comments below these Weibo posts, players’ opinions were diverse.

Some agreed, some opposed, and others just wanted to watch the drama unfold.

“Looking at these terms, I think Tenda’s starting point is good, aiming to standardize the esports environment, but have they considered what happens to the league without club participation? Clubs are partners, you can’t just exploit them!”

“Right, Tenda is pursuing its interests and squeezing clubs too hard. Now, all the clubs have united in opposition. How can the GPL continue?”

“I think Tenda is being too hasty. It’s unnecessary. Clubs need some living space.”

“What are you all talking about? Tenda isn’t preventing clubs from making money. Endorsements, competitions, sponsorships—nothing is restricted. They’re just requiring standardized contracts and accepting Tenda’s regulation and supervision. Is that too much? Why are you all reacting so strongly?”

“These are all good measures to standardize the industry. Besides, I trust Mr. Pei. Mr. Pei must have his reasons for doing this!”

“Come on, this isn’t the time to argue about right and wrong. Both sides should take a step back. Don’t make it so that no one can back down. Mr. Pei needs other clubs’ support to run GPL successfully, right?”

“Only children distinguish between right and wrong; adults only look at interests. I think it’s a bit excessive to exploit clubs like this from the start. Give them some sweeteners first, then gradually implement changes.”

“As an audience member, I don’t care about these things. Just get the GPL league started quickly. I can’t wait to watch the matches!”

There were traces of internet army activity here, but they were quite subtle, and ordinary people couldn’t tell.

The reason public opinion wasn’t one-sided was partly because the clubs had a loud voice with internet armies participating, and partly because too few people were concerned about players’ rights.

As the domestic esports industry was just in its infancy, players had just transitioned from eating instant noodles to having food and clothing security. Many internet-addicted teenagers had transformed into high-salaried esports players.

Many onlookers didn’t think being trapped by contracts was a terrible thing for them.

“You play games and get annual salaries of hundreds of thousands, and you’re still complaining about being cheated? Have you no shame?”

Moreover, there hadn’t been many malicious contract disputes exposed yet.

So, the vast majority of spectators couldn’t realize the importance of this matter. With a little instigation from the clubs’ internet armies, they would think Tenda was making a mountain out of a molehill.

If it were someone else, they would surely feel bitter and have no outlet for their anger.

But Pei Qian, looking at this public opinion, was quite happy.

It doesn’t matter whether you understand or not!

It would be best if the clubs thought they had victory in the bag and sold all their GOG divisions!

This was a perfect opportunity to take over all the GOG divisions and hold them to slowly lose money. How much money would that cost?

Just thinking about it made him happy.

So Pei Qian had no intention of clarifying anything, and even if he did, it wouldn’t have much effect.

Let public opinion continue to ferment; it’s not like I’m at a disadvantage.

As he was browsing online comments, his phone vibrated. It was Zhang Yuan calling.

“Mr. Pei, the heads of various clubs have come again. They say they’ve fully communicated with their bosses and hope to discuss the specific details of cooperation with us again.”

“Also, they hope you can be present during the discussion.”

Pei Qian couldn’t help but smile slightly.

The club managers, seeing that public opinion had fermented sufficiently, thought his attitude might have softened, so they wanted to talk again and test his stance.

Zhang Yuan’s words weren’t reliable enough for them, so they had to speak with Mr. Pei face-to-face.

Pei Qian replied directly: “Tell them that today is Sunday, and Tenda doesn’t work. Whatever it is, we can discuss it Monday afternoon.”

Public opinion hadn’t fermented enough yet. Waiting one more day wouldn’t hurt.

Besides, Pei Qian wasn’t lying. Tenda indeed didn’t work on weekends. Pei Qian could drink coffee and browse the web on weekends with nothing else to do, but meeting with these club managers to discuss work?

Pei Qian didn’t want to do that.

…

On the other end of the phone, at the DGE Club.

Zhang Yuan was silent for a moment: “Alright, Mr. Pei.”

He turned around to look at the group of club managers who had come: “Mr. Pei said that today is Sunday and we’re not working. Everyone, please come back at 2 PM on Monday. I’m sorry that you’ve made a wasted trip.”

Manager Li and the other managers looked at each other, remained silent for a long time, and finally nodded: “Alright… fine, then we’ll come back when Mr. Pei is working.”

After leaving the DGE Club, Manager Li and the others all had bewildered expressions.

They had taken the initiative to come today because they felt public opinion had fermented enough, and Mr. Pei had probably recognized the seriousness of the problem, so it was about time to talk.

Give Mr. Pei a step down, and since Mr. Pei was a smart person, he would immediately understand, come down the slope, and then both sides would engage in friendly negotiations, each taking a step back…

However, the script didn’t go that way at all!

Everyone lowered their voices and discussed quietly.

“What’s going on?”

“Manager Li, this situation is very different from what you expected…”

“Mr. Pei, still has the mood to enjoy his weekend? Public opinion has fermented to this extent, and he wants to wait another day?”

“Could it be that we’ve misjudged, and Mr. Pei doesn’t care about this at all? Then all the preparatory work we’ve done would be wasted!”

“Not necessarily! I think Mr. Pei is bluffing, deliberately extending it by a day, pretending not to care at all, so that he can get more bargaining chips when negotiating with us…”

“That makes sense, that’s why Mr. Pei only dares to delay for one day.”

The club managers analyzed the situation, but no one could be certain.

Mr. Pei’s moves were so unconventional that, made him unpredictable.

Plus, Tenda itself held an absolute dominant position, which made Mr. Pei’s moves seem even more profound, requiring some deeper interpretation.

Manager Li was also a bit uncertain, but he quickly composed himself and said in a deep voice: “We don’t need to scare ourselves. Maybe Mr. Pei is also uncertain and is deliberately sending out these smoke screens to create psychological pressure for us.”

“Everyone, just carry on as usual. If Mr. Pei isn’t in a hurry, why should we be?”

“Whatever issues there are, we can discuss them at the meeting table.”

“As long as we stay united and boycott Tenda, victory will be ours!”

…

…

October 31, Monday.

Pei Qian woke up naturally as usual, calmly had lunch, played games at Slackin’ Internet Café for a while, and then leisurely headed to DGE Club.

Zhang Yuan had arranged for these club managers to meet at 2 PM, and Pei Qian deliberately arrived 15 minutes late.

There wasn’t any special reason; he simply wanted to irritate these club managers a bit more.

By then, when they got angry, they would probably sell their GOG divisions quite decisively, right?

Meanwhile, in the meeting room of the DGE Club.

The managers of various clubs were all feeling a bit embarrassed.

What did this mean?

Not seeing them on Sunday was one thing, but after agreeing on a time on Monday, Mr. Pei was late?

Wasn’t Mr. Pei known to be punctual?

Could it be that Mr. Pei was really this tough? First delaying, then being late—was he making a statement to all clubs: dare to openly confront me and see what happens?

Manager Su had a vague feeling of uneasiness.

SUG’s Manager Li had a stern face. He couldn’t falter now, because if he did, the other clubs would instantly become cowardly too, and all their efforts would be wasted.

Besides, Mr. Pei’s behavior was most likely just a bluff. They absolutely couldn’t show any fear.

Pei Qian arrived at the empty seat at the meeting table, looked around, and without mentioning his lateness, just smiled slightly: “Has everyone already spoken with their bosses? If there’s no problem, could the clubs that want to transfer their GOG divisions please raise their hands? We can sign the transfer contracts right away.”

The expressions of the club managers all froze, with question marks appearing above their heads.

???

Manager Li had especially many question marks above his head.

Everyone was completely confused, almost wondering if they had missed a meeting or if they were suffering from amnesia.

Wait, weren’t we supposed to have a detailed discussion today?

Without even starting the discussions, he directly assumed we want to sell.