SUG Club.

The managers of several clubs who had decided to sell their GOG divisions were waiting for Manager Li to make a statement.

“Manager Li, why hasn’t Mr. Pei promoted the transfer of GOG divisions until now? There’s still no news about it online!”

“Yes, Mr. Pei’s behavior is a bit unusual. Even though this price might not be achievable, he should at least promote it and look for potential buyers, right? Or does Mr. Pei plan to take over himself?”

“Sigh, I don’t know what to expect now. Should we hope for many bidders so we can make a big profit, or should we hope that no one comes to buy…”

Several club managers were getting a bit impatient.

Because this matter, from beginning to end, had completely escaped their control!

Originally, Manager Li had arranged everything, alerted several major clubs, and told them not to take over.

Manager Li thought that, to pressure them, Mr. Pei would widely publicize this matter and invite many people to bid.

But if Mr. Pei did so, it would play right into their hands.

Due to Manager Li’s early operations, no matter how much Mr. Pei promoted it, there wouldn’t be many bidders. That would mean Mr. Pei would have to dig into his pocket to take over at a high price, while also indicating that these GOG divisions’ inflated valuations would collapse.

At that point, SUG Club would take the money and leave, then get a new team to fight their way back to the GPL league. With this simple maneuver, they would make several million in profit, which could be described as delightful.

Other clubs had similar thoughts.

But now, Mr. Pei wasn’t promoting it at all!

Why was that?

Manager Li tapped the table lightly, deep in thought.

After a moment, he said solemnly, “I understand Mr. Pei’s plan now. He… seems to be playing a ‘hold back inventory and sell at a premium’ strategy.”

“He has likely seen through our intentions.”

“Think about it. If Mr. Pei promotes it extensively but few people come to bid, it would indicate that GOG divisions aren’t worth that much money, and the show couldn’t go on.”

“So, Mr. Pei decided to hold back inventory, only promoting it in a small circle, letting people around him buy a bit while he covers the rest. This way, he creates an illusion of ‘high demand.'”

“In essence, it’s the same strategy as some merchants artificially raising prices.”

“Limited quantity, selling a little at a time, raising the transaction price, and gradually ‘reducing inventory.'”

“This way, prices won’t collapse, and he can make more money!”

The other club managers suddenly understood.

So that was it!

Mr. Pei, having realized that not many people would take over, planned to hold back inventory himself. By deliberately not releasing information, he created a false impression that “ordinary people can’t buy it, internal personnel are frantically grabbing it,” thereby maintaining the high valuation of these released GOG divisions and GPL entry qualifications.

After Tenda bought them all, they could continue to hold back inventory while gradually selling through other methods, artificially creating scarcity and raising prices.

“What should we do?” someone started to panic.

If Mr. Pei truly succeeded, the sellers would lose out, and it would be difficult to buy back in.

Manager Li chuckled: “What’s there to panic about! We have plenty of methods!”

“The simplest method is to go online and buy water armies to extensively promote the news that GPL is about to collapse, several clubs are transferring their GOG divisions, and because of Tenda’s unfair regulations, the league can’t continue!”

“We’ve already spoken with other major clubs, and they definitely won’t make a move.”

“Human nature is to buy when rising, not when falling. Once a ‘downward’ expectation forms, other capital will wait and see, not buy in.”

“At that point, Mr. Pei’s inventory-holding technique would collapse on its own!”

“After all, the premise of holding inventory is that you need small-scale transactions. If no one wants it, what’s the point of holding back?”

Several club managers’ eyes lit up: “Good, we’ll arrange for water armies right away!”

Manager Li couldn’t help but sneer: “Hmph, Mr. Pei is nothing special.”

“Where’s the legendary formidability?”

…

…

November 2, Wednesday.

Pei Qian woke up as usual, went to Slackin’ Internet Café to have brunch while scrolling through his phone.

Regarding the sale of GOG divisions, he wasn’t concerned at all because there was no need to be concerned.

He was just waiting for all these divisions to remain unsold, and then Tenda would take over!

While browsing today’s news, suddenly, someone called.

Pei Qian looked carefully—it was Lin Chang calling!

Why was he calling?

The new movie from Fei Huang Studio was still in its earliest stages!

With confusion, Pei Qian answered the phone.

“Hello? Mr. Pei, I heard that some clubs in Tenda’s GPL league are transferring their ready-made GOG divisions and GPL spots, is that right?”

A question mark instantly appeared above Pei Qian’s head.

?

He hurriedly asked, “Did Lin Wan tell you?”

Lin Chang laughed: “Why would I need A-Wan to tell me? It’s all over the internet!”

Pei Qian: “???”

He quickly gestured to the waiter to bring over a laptop. Holding the phone with one hand, he searched for related information online.

The results were overwhelming!

The news had spread from somewhere unknown, and even information such as each club’s asking price was available. Since last night, a large number of netizens have been discussing it!

He quickly scanned a few posts.

“Over ten million? So valuable!”

“When I win the lottery, I’ll buy one. Professional players can play games with me!”

“EK won runner-up and still wants to sell? Crazy?”

“It seems the news from a while ago was true. Tenda squeezes the clubs too hard, so the clubs decided to collectively quit, which is why they all want to sell! This means they don’t want to play with you anymore!”

“I think Tenda is in for a heavy blow this time. With such high floor prices, who would buy? This money is enough to buy a small club with change to spare!”

“I heard if they can’t sell, Tenda will cover the bottom? True or false?”

“That can’t be right. Why would Tenda need to cover the bottom? Do they have too much money to burn?”

Spectators were all discussing, with some supporting the clubs and others supporting Tenda.

Pei Qian felt dizzy.

Who did this?

Who leaked this information?

I just wanted to quietly lose some money, but now with such great attention, what if someone comes to snatch it away?

On the phone, Lin Chang said, “Mr. Pei, is the GPL league not going smoothly? I see the public opinion online, those clubs don’t seem to be listening to you very much.”

“Here’s the thing. I discussed with my second brother, whose football club already costs quite a bit but has good promotional effects. I told him to take some spare money and buy a GPL team.”

“After all, I believe Mr. Pei will make GPL successful. It would be nice to see Shenhua’s team when watching matches!”

Pei Qian: “???”

Feeling that Lin Chang seemed about to hang up, Pei Qian hurriedly said: “No need! Really no need, my situation is completely under control, no help needed!”

On the phone, Lin Chang chuckled: “Oh, this isn’t helpful. We’re buying a GPL team for our promotion, too.”

“Don’t worry, Mr. Pei, this is small money. My brother’s football club pays 20 million for a single player’s transfer fee. Spending a bit over 10 million to buy a ready-made GPL team is quite cost-effective for him.”

“That’s it then. I’ll come to find you in Jingzhou for a drink another day!”

After speaking, Lin Chang hung up.

Pei Qian looked at the phone screen: “What the hell…”

He looked through the online information again.

Although most of the information online was pessimistic about this matter, with everyone thinking that the GPL league would be affected by so many clubs boycotting it, Pei Qian vaguely felt that things would not develop as predicted online.

This was bad!

There were only six teams in total. For each one sold to a third party, Tenda would have one less to cover, meaning over 10 million less spent!

Without delay, he hurriedly called Zhang Yuan.

“Hello? Zhang Yuan, how many people have contacted you about buying GPL teams recently?”

Zhang Yuan’s excited voice came from the other end: “Mr. Pei, now there are at least about ten buyers who have expressed purchase intentions!”

Pei Qian’s heart instantly sank.

Ten?!

He had thought two or three would be good, but how could there be so many people?

Pei Qian hurriedly asked: “Who are they?”

Zhang Yuan answered: “Mr. Li’s Fuhui Capital and investors want to buy two; Mr. Lin from Shenhua Real Estate wants to buy one; that coal boss’s rich second-generation Xue Zhebin wants to buy one; Mr. Zhou Muyan from Tianhuo Studio wants to buy one…”

“Others include some large enterprises that have wanted to cooperate with us for a long time, as well as speculators who see an opportunity to buy the GPL spot and resell it at a profit later…”

Pei Qian fell silent.

Counting like that, there were indeed more than ten!

He was just puzzled why Xue Zhebin and Zhou Muyan were meddling in this.

It was understandable that Xue Zhebin, who had opened a restaurant with Mr. Li and was young himself, would be persuaded by Mr. Li to buy a club. But why Zhou Muyan?

Pei Qian said to Zhang Yuan: “Alright, arrange a time for everyone to bid, the sooner the better!”

Pei Qian didn’t dare wait any longer; delay could lead to changes.

The more participants, the higher the price would be raised, wouldn’t that be terrible!

After hanging up, Pei Qian immediately called Zhou Muyan.

He wanted to ask Zhou Muyan why he was meddling in this!

Soon, the call connected.

“Mr. Zhou, why are you running over to buy an e-sports club?” Pei Qian was very confused.

On the other end, Zhou Muyan was a bit taken aback: “What’s wrong, is it not allowed?”

“…It’s allowed, but this costs over 10 million. Tianhuo Studio maintaining such a club won’t make money. What’s your goal?” Pei Qian was very puzzled.

Zhou Muyan chuckled: “Oh, so Mr. Pei is worried I’m spending money in vain.”

“You need not worry about that. Tianhuo Studio is a game company. Maintaining a club, raising our profile among players, advertising ourselves, promoting our new games—isn’t that quite reasonable?”

“Rest assured, Mr. Pei, our studio’s income is more than sufficient to bear these costs.”

Pei Qian: “…”

Indeed, Tianhuo Studio was a famous pay-to-win game developer. Games with monthly revenue over 100 million were common. Taking out a bit over 10 million to buy a club was certainly easy.

Zhou Muyan’s reasoning was sound, and Pei Qian couldn’t find a way to refute it.

“Fine then.” Pei Qian hung up, feeling very helpless.

Zhou Muyan looked at his phone, his expression somewhat confused.

Why did it feel like Mr. Pei wasn’t happy about him showing support?