Wu Zhicheng was stunned for a moment: “Mr. Pei? Which Mr. Pei? Why should we thank him?”
Qiu Hong froze, his heart suddenly skipping a beat.
This is bad!
How did he let his inner thoughts slip out?
Previously, Mr. Pei had repeatedly emphasized that the “Poverty Aid Project” must not have any connection with Tenda, and that this matter should be kept confidential.
When Qiu Hong implemented the “Poverty Aid Project” and provided financial assistance to these independent game studios, he had always done so in his capacity, without mentioning Mr. Pei or Tenda’s name.
But this time, Qiu Hong was moved by emotion and momentarily lost control of his feelings.
In Qiu Hong’s view, the “Poverty Aid Project” was a plan that could greatly promote the development of the independent game industry, and Mr. Pei was truly making contributions to this industry.
Of course, “contribution” doesn’t necessarily mean not earning income or purely doing good deeds.
Sometimes, when one could earn more but chooses to earn less, giving more benefits to vulnerable groups in the industry, this could also be considered a form of contribution.
And what Mr. Pei was doing was maximizing the benefits he could give to others. Although the “Poverty Aid Project” itself was still a business plan with the possibility of making money, this was something that probably no one except Mr. Pei would do.
That’s why Qiu Hong sincerely expressed that he and all independent game developers, and even the entire domestic game industry, should thank Mr. Pei.
Because Mr. Pei was truly helping the entire industry.
But he accidentally let it slip, forgetting that Mr. Pei had asked him to keep it confidential.
Qiu Hong quickly coughed twice: “What I mean is, I was inspired and motivated after seeing the independent games made by Mr. Pei, which is why I decided to do this.”
“From this perspective, Mr. Pei is like the enlightening mentor and spiritual pillar of the ‘Poverty Aid Project.'”
“Although Mr. Pei hasn’t provided direct help to this project, he has provided spiritual support, which is also very important.”
“Of course, I’m just saying this casually, don’t take it too seriously.”
Wu Zhicheng nodded: “Oh, I understand. I also consider Mr. Pei as my idol.”
Seeing that Wu Zhicheng didn’t suspect anything, Qiu Hong wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
That was close! Nearly gave it away!
However, Qiu Hong was also very clear that Mr. Pei being the behind-the-scenes financier of the Poverty Aid Project would definitely be exposed sooner or later.
He could keep it a secret now because Qiu Hong hadn’t helped enough independent game studios yet, and hadn’t made such a big impact.
Later, as the operation expanded, providing funding and establishing incubation bases, with more and more business interactions, it would eventually be discovered.
He could only follow Mr. Pei’s requirements and keep it secret for as long as possible.
Qiu Hong stood up: “Keep working. I’ll go back and make preparations. Once the incubation base is ready, I’ll contact you again.”
“In short, you just need to focus all your energy on game development. I’ll find ways to solve all the other trivial matters!”
Wu Zhicheng quickly nodded: “Okay, Mr. Qiu!”
…
Afternoon.
After the banquet ended, Pei Qian exchanged pleasantries with these owners for a long time, finally seeing most of them off.
Now that the GPL matters had been settled, the next step was to wait for Zhang Yuan and the esports business department to carry out various preliminary preparations.
These newly entered owners had to build clubs from scratch, recruiting club staff including managers, team leaders, assistant coaches, analysts, and then recruiting players, organizing training, and waiting for the GPL matches to officially begin.
On Zhang Yuan’s side, he had to be responsible for the daily training of the DGE club while arranging for the esports business department staff to prepare for GPL, GDL, and internet café tournaments.
This was a long and complicated task, especially the internet café tournaments.
To ensure the fairness of these tournaments, they must ensure that all internet café tournaments are held in Slackin’ Internet Café 3.0.
But currently, the Slackin’ Internet Café 3.0 model has not been promoted nationwide.
So, Zhang Yuan also had to give Xiao Peng a heads up, asking him to expand Slackin’ Internet Café 3.0 as soon as possible. Even if it wasn’t possible to have one internet café per city right now, at least there should be one per province.
In some economically developed areas with many emerging esports talents, they would need to open more cafés accordingly.
Slackin’ Internet Café 3.0 was already a profitable model, but expanding these internet cafés would still require a large investment of funds and would take a long time to truly break even.
So Pei Qian welcomed this matter. It was always good to spend money now; earning money later was a concern for the future, and didn’t need to be considered yet.
Therefore, Pei Qian wouldn’t go into too much detail about these things anymore. Whether he inquired or not, the results wouldn’t be much different. If he did inquire, it might even lead to earning more money, so it was better to keep a distance from it.
Just as Pei Qian was about to leave, he saw Li Shi and Xue Zhebin saying goodbye to three other owners and walking towards him.
Today’s meal was hosted by Li Shi and Xue Zhebin. Pei Qian really wanted to grab the bill, but after some consideration, he resisted the urge.
Li Shi and Xue Zhebin approached Pei Qian, and the three chatted casually for a few moments.
Then, Li Shi changed the subject, seemingly asking casually: “Mr. Pei, I heard that Dream Realization Venture Capital has invested in new projects recently?”
Pei Qian was instantly on alert.
Hmm?
What does he mean?
Does Mr. Li and that group of investors want to invest alongside Dream Realization Venture Capital again?
Don’t mess around!
Pei Qian quickly said seriously: “Dream Realization Venture Capital is indeed investing in new projects, but I haven’t been involved in these projects and don’t even know exactly which companies they’ve invested in.”
“If you want to follow their investments, you must think carefully!”
Every word he said was true.
Because Pei Qian had already instructed He Desheng that regardless of who came for investment, the process was the same: first, conduct a basic audit, then allocate money according to the company’s size, and simultaneously dispatch financial personnel to supervise the company.
Up until now, Pei Qian himself didn’t know how many companies Dream Realization Venture Capital had invested in, nor did he care.
As for Mr. Li and these investors, Pei Qian couldn’t shake them off, which was very frustrating.
Pei Qian had also considered letting Mr. Li and others invest alongside them, thinking that once the investments failed and they lost everything, they would naturally leave. But the problem was that they simply wouldn’t lose money when they invested!
How many unreliable projects had been propped up by Mr. Li and others?
So Pei Qian spoke with extreme sincerity, fearing that Mr. Li would misunderstand and insist on following Dream Realization Venture Capital’s investments, turning potentially loss-making projects into profitable ones again.
He expected Mr. Li to continue probing, but surprisingly, Li Shi just nodded slightly, noncommittally: “Okay.”
Pei Qian couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief.
Thankfully, Mr. Li didn’t persist.
After exchanging a few more pleasantries with Li Shi and Xue Zhebin, Pei Qian got into his car and left, planning to go home and rest.
Watching Mr. Pei’s car drive away, Li Shi said to Xue Zhebin: “As expected, Mr. Pei is most likely unaware of the ‘Cold-faced Girl’ project.”
“That Meng Chang has been promoting under the banner of ‘Mr. Pei’s investment, which is probably just using the name to ride on its popularity.”
“If these were projects that Mr. Pei personally reviewed, we could indeed invest alongside them, but for projects like ‘Cold-faced Girl’… let’s wait and keep a close eye on it.”
Xue Zhebin frowned slightly and asked: “Then, Mr. Li, are you saying that this Meng Chang is a fraud? Is this project a scam?”
Li Shi shook his head: “We can’t jump to conclusions yet, after all, I can’t read minds, so I can’t know what Meng Chang is thinking.”
“Historically, many excellent entrepreneurs have had a kind of fervor, proposing overly grand and idealistic concepts, sometimes indeed appearing very much like con artists.”
“As for this Meng Chang’s behavior…”
“He uses the banner of ‘Mr. Pei’s investment to attract more resources, which isn’t exactly lying, because he did indeed receive investment from Dream Realization Venture Capital. However, he’s only telling part of the truth, deliberately misleading other investors.”
“But how to characterize this behavior specifically depends on the final result of this project.”
“If it fails, then he’s a morally bankrupt con artist, a clown; if it succeeds, then he’s a flexible, unconventional entrepreneur.”
“In many cases, the business world judges solely based on results, which is ridiculous, but that’s the reality.”
“I think, regarding this person, Meng Chang, we still need to observe further.”
“We shouldn’t rush to invest, but we also can’t define him as a con artist just yet.”
In the past two days, Li Shi had obtained quite a bit of news about “Cold-faced Girl.”
After receiving investment from Dream Realization Venture Capital, Meng Chang began spreading the news everywhere, saying that the “Cold-faced Girl” project had received investment from Dream Realization Venture Capital and was a very mature business plan, hoping to attract more investment with this.
Truth be told, Li Shi was somewhat tempted. If it was truly a project invested in by Mr. Pei, he would consider following the investment.
But after asking today, he discovered that this wasn’t a project invested in by Mr. Pei, but merely a regular investment from Dream Realization Venture Capital.
That made a huge difference.
Xue Zhebin thought for a moment and asked: “So, are we still going to the ‘Cold-faced Girl’ investment press conference that Meng Chang mentioned will be held in the capital the day after tomorrow? It’s said that this press conference will be quite grand, and they will explain the business model of ‘Cold-faced Girl,’ open only to a select few investors.”
Li Shi considered for a moment: “It wouldn’t hurt to take a look. But what I’m more concerned about is… will Mr. Pei attend?”
Xue Zhebin nodded: “Alright, then we’ll go together and see whether this Meng Chang really has the ability or is just scamming money.”
…
Pei Qian was dozing off in the car.
As they were about to arrive home, his phone rang.
Pei Qian took out his phone and saw it was He Desheng calling.
“Mr. Pei, uh… there’s a small matter I need to bother you with. A company we invested in, called ‘Cold-faced Girl,’ is holding an investment press conference in the capital the day after tomorrow, mainly to introduce their business model to investors and attract more investment. They’ve also sent us an invitation. Do you think it’s necessary to attend?”
He Desheng asked tentatively.
To be honest, he wasn’t sure whether this matter was worth reporting to Mr. Pei, but Meng Chang’s PowerPoint presentation was indeed good, and the business model was very clear, so he still reported it honestly to Mr. Pei, letting him decide whether to go or not.
Pei Qian yawned.
Just hearing it was in the capital, he instinctively didn’t want to make the trip back and forth, wasting time.
“This company… we’ve already invested in them?” Pei Qian asked.
He Desheng answered: “Yes, Mr. Pei. Actually, this company has already received a 2 million yuan investment from us. It’s precisely because of this that the company’s founder sincerely invites you to listen at the press conference.”
Pei Qian still showed no interest. He thought for a moment and said: “How about this, tell Ma Yang about it and let him attend on my behalf.”
He Desheng was stunned for a moment: “Ah? Mr. Ma? Oh, okay, Mr. Pei, I understand.”
He Desheng’s instinctive reaction was, how could Mr. Ma represent Mr. Pei?
But then he thought again, Mr. Ma actually could, considering that in terms of investment results, calling Mr. Ma an investment genius wouldn’t be an exaggeration.
Moreover, Mr. Ma was Mr. Pei’s good brother and comrade, a trusted aide, and an excellent employee of Tenda. He was fully qualified to represent Mr. Pei.
That being the case, he would pass the invitation from Meng Chang to Mr. Ma.