Although there were still a few comments stubbornly resisting, it was already too late. They were quickly downvoted to very low positions, drowning in the vast sea of comments.

On one hand, this was because the solid evidence provided by Qiao Liang was too convincing, and public opinion had shifted. The trolls no longer had any room to maneuver. On the other hand, it was because Pei Qian wasn’t willing to spend more money.

The original agreement was only to control the comments section of that video. The fact that many trolls had come to help attack this update article was already like getting a free bonus—they had gone above and beyond. The trolls were just doing their job for pay, and they’d already given an 80% discount. How could they possibly force themselves to continue fighting in such an overwhelmingly negative situation?

Pei Qian was utterly dumbfounded.

“What the hell…”

“I’ve been deliberately helping Tenda Group cultivate talent since ‘Sea Fortress’? How the hell did I not know about this?!”

Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine that Huang Sibo would pull such a move!

Originally, Pei Qian had hoped that Huang Sibo would tell the truth and dispel Qiao Liang’s delusions, but instead, those delusions had only intensified.

As for where Huang Sibo’s own delusions came from, that wasn’t something to dwell on—the more he thought about it, the bigger the problem became…

Just then, Hu Xiao sent a message.

“Bro, what should we do about this new update? The guys are struggling to keep up. If you still want to suppress it, our current manpower isn’t enough—we’ll need more money!”

The corner of Pei Qian’s mouth twitched slightly.

More money? Yeah, right!

Things had already gone this far. Continuing to add money would just be like throwing his private stash into the water.

Pei Qian replied, “Leave it as is. Don’t worry about it anymore.”

Hu Xiao on the other end couldn’t help but feel puzzled.

“Something’s not right. Based on this guy’s previous behavior, shouldn’t he be getting more fired up the more resistance he faces? Why is he giving up so easily?”

“Maybe the person operating this account really has changed.”

But he didn’t think too much about it. Such things were commonplace. Although the money earned this time wasn’t much, every little bit counts.

“Alright then, you carry on. Feel free to contact me if you need anything else.”

…

Just after Pei Qian closed the AiLiDao website, there was a knock at his office door.

Looking up, he saw it was Chen Yufeng from Rabbit Tail Livestreaming.

“Mr. Pei, all the functions you previously requested have been developed and tested. They’re working fine. But… are you sure you want to implement this ‘mandatory one hour’ feature?”

Clearly, Chen Yufeng had opposed this feature from the very beginning, but Mr. Pei’s attitude had been quite firm at the time, so his opposition was futile.

Now that the feature had been fully developed, Chen Yufeng had made a special trip over to test the waters again, to confirm whether this feature should really be implemented.

What if Mr. Pei had come to his senses and changed his mind?

Chen Yufeng genuinely wanted the best for Rabbit Tail Livestreaming. If there was any way at all, he didn’t want to implement this feature.

Pei Qian understood Chen Yufeng’s little concerns perfectly.

The more you oppose it, the more convinced I am that I’m right!

However, being a rather democratic person, Pei Qian didn’t directly order Chen Yufeng to execute the plan. Instead, he took a slight detour: “What does Mr. Ma say about it?”

Chen Yufeng was momentarily at a loss for words. After a pause, he said, “Uh… Mr. Ma thinks this feature is quite good. It could even help our users set aside one hour each day to do something meaningful…”

Pei Qian chuckled: “Then what are you worried about?”

As expected of Old Ma, he’s truly in sync with my thinking!

Chen Yufeng scratched his head, at a loss for words.

To an outsider, if both Mr. Pei and Mr. Ma strongly insisted on implementing a certain feature, it would certainly seem like a safe and foolproof decision.

But from Chen Yufeng’s perspective, this feature seemed like an insult to his intelligence no matter how he looked at it.

They might as well put the words “User Deterrent” right on the front page of the website.

Pei Qian said confidently, “Don’t worry. Even if this feature gets some criticism initially and drives away some users, I have plans for the future. Put your mind at ease and just focus on implementing it.”

Chen Yufeng seemed to want to say something but held back. After wrestling with his thoughts for a few seconds, he very reluctantly nodded: “Alright, Mr. Pei. I’ll take care of it right away.”

…

Not long after Chen Yufeng left unwillingly, there was another knock at the door.

This time, it was Assistant Xin.

“Mr. Pei, here are several candidates I’ve found who would be suitable as heads of the sales department. Please take a look.”

Assistant Xin handed over a file containing several resumes.

As she handed over the file, she added, “Your previous requirements were quite vague, without a very clear direction, so I found people of various types.”

“If you’re not satisfied with any of them, we can refine the selection criteria a bit more, and I’ll look again.”

Pei Qian didn’t respond immediately. Instead, he took the resumes and briefly looked through them.

When he had asked Assistant Xin to find someone earlier, Pei Qian indeed hadn’t given very clear criteria.

There were actually standards, but he couldn’t state them explicitly.

These resumes were all from excellent salespeople. Some had extensive experience, others less so; some had good verbal skills, others had personalities well-suited for sales work…

Pei Qian went through all of them and wasn’t satisfied with any.

Because these people all seemed a bit too excellent!

Even the ones with the most mediocre backgrounds and weakest abilities that Assistant Xin had found had already exceeded what Pei Qian felt he could tolerate.

Moreover, given Assistant Xin’s judgment, those with relatively ordinary backgrounds were mostly young people who had just begun to show promise, and young people often had drive and unlimited potential.

Pei Qian set the resumes aside and pondered for a moment.

“Never mind, you can attend to other matters first. I’ll think about it some more.”

Assistant Xin didn’t ask further, just nodded: “Very well, Mr. Pei. If you change your mind, feel free to contact me anytime.”

After Assistant Xin left, Pei Qian picked up the resumes and looked through them again.

Yes, these still wouldn’t do!

Where could he find the right talent for this sales department?

The normal recruitment process wouldn’t work, and the candidates Assistant Xin had selected were all too excellent. Even the worst candidates exceeded what Pei Qian could tolerate.

“It seems I’ll have to take matters into my own hands.”

Pei Qian felt he couldn’t rely on others for this kind of thing.

He briefly flipped through the recent work reports from various departments, then got up from his office, preparing to go out and try his luck.

…

Leaving Shenhua Luxury View, Pei Qian walked toward a nearby intersection with heavy foot traffic.

As noon approached, the flow of people in the area gradually increased.

Pei Qian’s gaze swept across the shops on both sides of the street, and he quickly spotted a Zhujia Group storefront.

“Should I try my luck in there?”

“But most of the agents in these kinds of storefronts have probably been assimilated already, so the chances of finding suitable candidates might not be high.”

“Moreover, Zhujia Group’s values are problematic from top to bottom, so I’d better not.”

Pei Qian still remembered the “formaldehyde apartment” incident and had no good feelings toward this company. He couldn’t even be bothered to go in and ask, “Who’s your worst-performing agent?”

He continued strolling around.

“Interested in swimming and fitness?”

Pei Qian looked up and saw that it seemed a new gym had opened nearby and was handing out flyers.

Although there was Tuoguan Fitness nearby, it was unrealistic to expect it to capture all the fitness customers in the area, so other gyms continued to open one after another.

Pei Qian took two flyers to show his support, hoping that these gyms would flourish and eventually put Tuoguan Fitness out of business.

As he was walking, Pei Qian’s eyes suddenly lit up.

Because he noticed a young man in the crowd holding flyers, looking completely at a loss. He wanted to hand them out but didn’t dare, and when he finally mustered the courage, pedestrians quickly brushed past him.

He stood rooted to the spot like a wooden stake, while the people passing by moved as nimbly as Messi and Ronaldo.

“What a coincidence!”

Pei Qian immediately took a liking to this young man.

Wasn’t this exactly the kind of talent he was looking for?

The young man was plain-looking, with questionable fashion sense, and his every gesture exuded a strong lack of confidence. Pei Qian even wondered if he might have social anxiety.

Why would someone like this be handing out flyers on the street? Pei Qian really couldn’t understand, except to say that life must be tough.

Perhaps it was because he couldn’t do any other job that he ended up handing out flyers.

Pei Qian observed him while approaching.

The guy seemed to have just psyched himself up. While others hurried past, seemingly eager to avoid him, only Pei Qian walked by slowly, with his eyes glancing in his direction, seemingly showing a bit of interest. The young man immediately gathered his courage, picked up a flyer, and handed it over.

“Hello, would you like to learn about our newly opened gym? New members get a 15% discount for memberships…”

Before he could finish, Pei Qian had already reached out to take a flyer, then said, “I’m not interested in the new gym, but I am interested in you.”

“How old are you? What’s your education level?”

The young man was taken aback: “I’m… 18, high school graduate.”

Pei Qian nodded slightly, then asked, “I notice you seem quite introverted. Why did you choose to hand out flyers?”

The young man scratched his head: “My family’s financial situation isn’t very good, so I need to earn money. With my education, I can’t do much else…”

It was clear that this guy was not only very introverted but also lacked wariness—he answered whatever Pei Qian asked.

But Pei Qian could basically determine this guy’s situation: his family’s conditions were relatively difficult, so he had to start working right after high school graduation, with no further education. But his physique wasn’t good enough for manual labor, and his introverted personality and lack of verbal skills meant he couldn’t rely on sales-type work either. He could only reluctantly hand out flyers, doing a job that required no technical skills.

And unexpectedly, even at handing out flyers, he was the slowest.

Pei Qian nodded with great satisfaction: “Hmm, not bad, young man. You have a lot of potential. I’m quite impressed!”

“What’s your name?”

The guy finally sensed something was off and showed a guarded expression: “What… what do you want?”

If Pei Qian were a few decades older, the guy might have thought he was trying to arrange a blind date.

But now…

Could he have run into a human trafficker?

He was very aware of his own objective conditions. The harsh reality of life over the past decade or so had made him face reality, otherwise he wouldn’t have developed such an introverted personality.

Yet the other person said he had “a lot of potential”?

This was most likely a scammer!

Pei Qian smiled slightly: “Stop handing out flyers. Come work for me. The salary I’ll offer will definitely be much higher than what you get for handing out flyers.”