In the afternoon.

Zhang Yuan was busy beyond measure.

Today was November 2nd, Wednesday. Mr. Pei had only given three days, which meant that by Sunday, November 6th, all GPL spots would be officially auctioned off and their ownership decided.

Not only did they need to auction the GOG divisions and their spots from the three clubs led by SUG, but they also needed to auction the other six GPL spots.

Within these three days, they had to notify all clubs in advance and arrange the relevant matters. The schedule was indeed tight.

But the most nervous weren’t Zhang Yuan, but rather the companies participating in the auction.

Because Zhang Yuan only needed to arrange the process, while the bidding companies had to make decisions.

Should they buy ready-made GOG divisions or just buy the spots?

How much budget should they prepare?

What was the cost-performance ratio of different teams?

What was their expected price point?

If they didn’t buy now, what would happen if they wanted to buy later?

In the short span of three days, it would be difficult to thoroughly consider all these questions.

Moreover, some companies still had to raise funds in advance and prepare ammunition before they could bid.

So, Zhang Yuan was instead a bit worried about these bidding companies.

Worrying aside, Mr. Pei’s decision couldn’t be taken lightly.

Zhang Yuan could only inform all companies participating in the auction about this news, including the clubs “selling themselves” and the various companies preparing to bid, encouraging them to prepare early and make quick decisions.

As for how much money would be raised at auction, which companies these GPL spots would go to, and whether new companies would want to enter…

These were beyond Zhang Yuan’s control or prediction.

Mr. Pei’s strategy was too profound and difficult to fathom.

So, he just needed to execute it diligently.

…

SUG Club.

Manager Li frowned deeply as he looked at the new message from Zhang Yuan. He was in a state of complete bewilderment.

Mr. Pei wasn’t playing by the rules again!

In these two days, Manager Li’s mood had been like a twig on the ocean, rising and falling, suffering tremendous battering.

Initially, he had planned meticulously, thinking that Mr. Pei wasn’t so formidable.

Gradually, he discovered that Mr. Pei had signed a contract and thought Mr. Pei was bluffing.

Now he realized that Mr. Pei was serious! He had prepared his next move long ago!

All of Manager Li’s previous judgments were based on the premise that “there wouldn’t be enough companies to take over, and Tenda wouldn’t take over either.”

But now Manager Li was shocked to discover that there were people taking over, and there were many of them!

The other three clubs had beaten a retreat, and suddenly, ten buyers were competing for three GOG divisions.

And among these ten buyers, most were quite influential!

At this point, Manager Li began to hesitate again.

Because he felt that with these big shots competing, ten companies fighting for three spots, they could certainly auction them off for an astronomical figure.

If they could truly sell their GOG division for 20 million, Manager Li felt he could give his boss a satisfactory explanation, as the premium was too high for the boss to refuse.

As for re-entering the market in the future, that was a matter for later.

Who knew how long the GPL league would last? What if the popularity gradually declined, making GPL spots cheaper?

This wasn’t impossible!

So, after the other three clubs had backed out, Manager Li consulted his boss and decided to continue selling the SUG division because they could make more money.

But less than half a day later, the intelligence changed again.

Mr. Pei decided to sell all six GPL spots in one go!

Originally, ten buyers were after three GOG divisions; now it became ten buyers after three GOG divisions and six GPL spots. The competition suddenly became much less intense!

This meant these GOG divisions couldn’t be sold at a high price anymore!

So Manager Li found himself in a dilemma, completely stuck.

If they sold, they probably couldn’t get a very high price.

If they didn’t sell, they’d lose three to four million in breach of contract penalties for nothing.

Either way, it would be difficult to explain to his boss!

Especially the matter of losing the breach of contract money, which made him look stupid and incompetent, essentially giving money to Tenda for free.

The three clubs that had backed out had their decisions made by their bosses. Those club managers would definitely be scolded terribly when they returned, and might even face disciplinary action.

Manager Li didn’t want that to happen to him.

He frowned deeply and said through gritted teeth: “Mr. Pei is truly ruthless…”

“All my little schemes were calculated by Mr. Pei.”

“To retaliate against our three clubs, he put all six GPL spots up for sale at once, just to drive down the price of our GOG divisions.”

“Is it necessary to hold such a grudge?”

Now he was in too deep to back out. The best option was to drive the price as high as possible, sell at a price his boss couldn’t refuse, and then let his boss make the final decision.

This way, much of the responsibility would be shared by the boss, and in the short term, he wouldn’t face too much criticism.

After all, Manager Li was just an employee; he couldn’t consider things 100% from his boss’s perspective. At this point, backing down would be equivalent to admitting his incompetence.

These esports clubs owned by rich second-generation heirs had management promotions and raises that depended entirely on performance in front of the boss. Making mistakes wasn’t a problem; the key was how to cover them up.

With this in mind, Manager Li made his decision.

He could only continue to hype up public opinion!

He would try to sell the GOG division at a high price to satisfy his boss. Future matters would have to be dealt with later.

Manager Li also had a bit of wishful thinking—what if this time they sold at the peak, and later the GPL couldn’t be established, and the spots became less valuable?

Wouldn’t that be a huge profit?

He could also significantly boost his reputation with his boss.

Manager Li guessed that the managers of the other two clubs that still planned to sell probably had similar thoughts.

They were all in too deep, with no way forward or backward. They could only solve the immediate problem, taking care of one thing at the expense of another.

Manager Li quickly called the managers of the other two clubs, reasoning with them and appealing to their emotions, agreeing to advance and retreat together.

…

Meanwhile, at Fuhui Capital.

The investors had just received Zhang Yuan’s notification and were also somewhat confused.

Sell all six remaining GPL spots in just three days?

And the number of GPL league spots might remain at sixteen for the next few years?

Originally, when the investors saw companies like Shenhua entering the market and only three GOG divisions remaining, they had decided to concentrate their funds on buying just one.

But now that Mr. Pei had released so many GPL spots at once, Li Shi felt that perhaps they could buy two.

He just found it puzzling why Mr. Pei wanted to make it so urgent.

Three days to sell all the GPL spots for the next few years?

Wouldn’t it maximize profits to keep them and sell one each year?

Everyone looked toward Mr. Li.

At this point, they needed Mr. Li to interpret Mr. Pei’s true intentions.

Mr. Li was silent for a moment: “I think… this is a major positive signal that Mr. Pei is sending us! We must raise more funds. This time, we should go all out to secure two GPL spots!”

The investors were a bit confused: “Huh? How is this good news again?”

No matter what decision Mr. Pei made, in Mr. Li’s view, it was always great news.

This time, Mr. Pei hadn’t given anyone any special treatment, so how was this good news again?

Li Shi smiled slightly: “Think carefully about these two numbers: six GPL spots, three days.”

“Would Mr. Pei not know that keeping all the spots and selling them one by one would maximize profits?”

“But why is he selling them all at once, and with such urgency?”

“I think there are at least three reasons for this!”

“First, having to get the news, raise funds, and participate in the auction within three days is an invisible threshold. In the end, only two types of companies will remain: those like us who got insider information in advance, prepared in advance, and have consistently followed Mr. Pei; and those like Shenhua, which are massive companies that don’t care about the money and don’t mind whether it’s expensive or cheap.”

“This keeps out those opportunistic companies that just want to make a quick profit and leave. What remains are companies with real strength and willingness to cooperate with Mr. Pei to make the GPL league successful!”

“Second, Mr. Pei is demonstrating an attitude.”

“By putting all the spots up for sale at once, it shows that Tenda is determined to expand the esports industry. More teams, intensive competitions, and large investments mean that the audience’s viewing experience will be the best.”

“This gives a clear signal to all participating clubs: GPL will be a large-scale, high-investment, regular league in the future. Everyone can invest with confidence and will receive handsome returns!”

“At the same time, it further demonstrates Tenda’s support for its partners, essentially sharing the soup with everyone.”

“Think about it—if, according to Mr. Pei’s vision, GPL league spots become more and more valuable, then by selling them all now, won’t we, the earliest entrants, be the ones who benefit later?”

“By then, even if more and more large capitals flow in and our clubs can’t sustain themselves, we can still transfer at a high price. We won’t lose either way!”

“Finally, I think Mr. Pei probably also has marketing considerations in mind.”

“Selling only three spots would fetch at most fifty or sixty million, and might not even reach that. But selling this way, it will easily approach one hundred million!”

“The unit price may be lower, but the total is higher!”

“Fifty million versus breaking one hundred million—these are incomparable in terms of publicity. Just the concept of ‘breaking one hundred million’ can be hyped up well!”

“This would attract a lot of attention, making GPL famous before it even begins. How much promotional expense does this save?”

“As for whether there are other reasons, I’m sure there are.”

“But with my limited knowledge, I can’t guess anymore.”

The investors had a sudden realization: “I understand now. Actually, Mr. Pei is giving us benefits! He hopes we can contribute more and together make GPL bigger?”

Li Shi nodded: “Yes, that’s it!”

“So, we’ll stick with our previous strategy and try to buy two GPL spots! No matter what, let’s buy first and talk later!”

The investors thought about it and agreed.

If this bidding were to happen three months later, they would indeed have plenty of time to consider carefully.

But now, they only had three days!

What was there to consider?

It was like a limited-time sale for certain products, only available for three days. If you missed these three days, you wouldn’t have such an opportunity for several years.

Wouldn’t you go all out for this?