Losing Money to Become a Tycoon: Starting with Games
Chapter 402: How to Thank President Pei
January 22nd, Saturday.
Pei Qian was in a good mood last night. He had also drunk a little with Cui Geng at Mingfu Family Banquet, so he slept very well.
He woke up naturally at 9:30 in the morning.
After waking up, he glanced at his phone. The memo on it read: Go check on the Shared Phone Booth at Huanyu Sky Street.
Pei Qian strolled out, planning to eat breakfast at the bun shop downstairs before heading over.
Just as the buns were served, Pei Qian received a new message.
Huang Sibo: "President Pei, the rough cut of the film is ready. Would you like to come take a look?"
Hmm? A rough cut?
When the film crew had their wrap-up dinner at Mingyun Private Kitchen, Zhu Xiaoce had indeed mentioned this.
A rough cut meant a simple edit made from the filmed material. The editing wasn't very polished yet, and there were no special effects. Many parts required some imagination from the viewer.
But at the very least, it was already a complete version of the movie, and one could roughly see how it looked.
Pei Qian thought about it for a moment. This seemed more important. The phone booth could wait until the afternoon.
So he replied: "Alright, I'll head over shortly."
Just as he was about to put his phone away, he suddenly realized something was off.
"Today is Saturday. You're working overtime?"
Huang Sibo quickly replied: "Uh, President Pei, overtime pay has been given."
Pei Qian responded sternly: "Even if overtime pay is given, you shouldn't act so confidently about working overtime! Don't let this happen again. Try to avoid it in the future!"
Huang Sibo: "Understood, President Pei."
Feihuang Studio was a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tengda Group, not just a department within Tengda. Because of that, Pei Qian couldn't strictly control their overtime situation. He could only scold Huang Sibo a bit and let him reflect on it.
Although Pei Qian had rarely interfered with Feihuang Studio's affairs, now that the rough cut of the film was finished, he definitely had to go take a look and give himself some peace of mind.
…
At the same time, Moyu Internet Café – Handong University Branch.
Lin Chang ordered a cup of hot coffee. He warmed his hands while drinking it, still looking somewhat travel-worn.
He had just come from the airport and had barely sat down.
After arriving in Jingzhou, he immediately went to the Moyu Internet Café near Handong University. He wanted to meet President Pei and discuss the progress of their earlier plan.
Unfortunately, the timing wasn't great. After sending a message, he learned that President Pei had already gone to Feihuang Studio to watch the newly completed rough cut.
Including the time spent watching the film and traveling, it would take nearly three hours.
Moreover, President Pei said that he still had something he had delayed for a long time to deal with in the afternoon, which might take another hour or so.
Lin Chang quickly calculated that he might not see President Pei until around three or four in the afternoon.
That was a bit awkward.
Lin Chang knew that President Pei was very busy with work and fully understood the situation. However, he didn't plan to just sit there waiting.
He decided to call Lin Wan out first and observe how things were progressing.
Previously, Lin Chang and President Pei had carefully planned things out. The idea was for Lin Wan to be responsible for both the horror game project at Shangyang Games and the mobile phone business at the same time.
Both sides involved many complicated and demanding tasks. With so much on her plate, the probability of Lin Wan's projects failing would greatly increase.
Originally, the two of them had even prepared a backup plan.
To better suppress the phone business, they planned that once Lin Wan's side released a phone, the Shenhua mobile division led by Lin Yu would release a competing model. That phone would be slightly better in quality, slightly cheaper in price, and slightly stronger in marketing.
By directly competing head-to-head like that, they could eliminate potential risks while the project was still in its infancy and ensure they remained in an unbeatable position.
However, halfway through the phone's development, President Pei sent Lin Chang a message: the backup plan was no longer necessary.
This phone was going to be sold for 8,000 yuan. Shenhua's flagship phones already satisfied the conditions of being a little better in quality, a little cheaper in price, and a little better in marketing. There was no need to design a special competing model.
Thus, the backup plan was naturally abandoned.
Just as he was thinking about this, Lin Wan arrived.
She sat down across from Lin Chang, ordered a coffee as well, and asked with a frown, "Brother, why are you here again?"
Lin Chang's mouth twitched slightly.
"What do you mean 'again'? Can't I come visit my own sister?"
Lin Wan looked unconvinced.
"I just feel like you've been coming here very frequently lately. Do you have some kind of ulterior motive?"
"How could that be! I just happened to fall in love with the livable environment of Jingzhou!" Lin Chang laughed awkwardly, clearly lacking confidence. "Besides, I should come visit you from time to time. So how's work lately? Everything going smoothly?"
Lin Wan swirled her coffee cup.
"It's okay. So-so."
Seeing Lin Wan's lack of enthusiasm, Lin Chang couldn't help but feel secretly delighted.
Looks promising!
If these two projects were progressing smoothly, given Lin Wan's personality, she would definitely already be bragging about it to him.
Since she wasn't bragging, it meant that neither project was going particularly well!
Although he was happy inside, he couldn't show it on his face.
Lin Chang put on a concerned expression, frowning slightly.
"What's wrong? Did you run into any difficulties? Is there anything your big brother can help with? Just say the word!"
Lin Wan glanced at him.
"Come on. One of my projects is a horror game and the other is a phone. Which one could you possibly help with?"
"For both projects, the current state can only be described as so-so. There's been some progress, but I still don't feel confident."
"As for the horror game project, the overall framework is basically fine, but there are still many small details that need to be revised. And even if those details are fixed, it's still hard to say whether players will accept this new type of horror game. So I'm a little worried."
"Fortunately, a very skilled art expert has been helping us adjust the game's visual style and enrich the details. Recently it's finally starting to look somewhat decent."
"As for the phone… sigh. To be honest, I really can't manage it anymore."
"Just the horror game alone already has me overwhelmed. I've barely had time to deal with the phone project. The last time I went over there, the team handed me a prototype that was as heavy as a brick. I immediately felt something was seriously wrong, but since the prototype was already made—and I hadn't really participated in the development—I couldn't possibly make them start all over again."
"So now all we can do is wait until the phone is finished and then try to ask some other departments in Tengda Group for a few perks. At least that way we'll have contributed something."
"But even so, I still feel like this phone project is probably doomed."
Lin Wan had always had a good relationship with Lin Chang. She didn't think too much about it during this meeting and frankly poured out all of her recent confusion and frustrations.
On the surface, Lin Chang looked worried and deeply concerned, as if he were very anxious for his sister. However, inside he was already bursting with joy.
Not bad, President Pei. This plan really is flawless!
Ah Wan still hasn't noticed anything at all.
If things continue like this, when both the horror game and the phone flop together, the blow to Ah Wan will definitely be significant!
Thinking of this, Lin Chang couldn't help feeling a little carried away. He muttered softly,
"Looks like I really need to find a way to properly thank President Pei."
Lin Wan frowned slightly.
"Hm? What did you say? Why would you need to thank President Pei?"
Lin Chang was startled. You heard me even when I muttered that quietly?
Seeing that Lin Wan's gaze carried a hint of suspicion, Lin Chang quickly explained, "I mean, President Pei trusts you so much and has entrusted you with such important responsibilities. As your brother, of course I should find a chance to properly thank President Pei!"
Lin Wan's expression softened a little.
"That's true."
Lin Chang thought for a moment.
"But President Pei doesn't seem to lack anything."
"How about asking Second Brother to waive his rent again?"
"Or I could go spend more money at Moyu Internet Café?"
Lin Wan shook her head.
"That doesn't feel very sincere. With that little bit of money, President Pei wouldn't care at all."
Lin Chang nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, that's true. Those small favors aren't enough to repay President Pei's goodwill. So… does President Pei urgently need anything? Preferably something I could actually help with."
Lin Wan frowned and thought for two minutes.
"Got it!"
"You know that Feihuang Studio has recently been producing a movie, and it's already finished filming, right?"
Lin Chang thought about it. Earlier, President Pei had indeed mentioned that he was going to watch the rough cut of the film, so he nodded.
Lin Wan continued, "This movie was President Pei's idea. He even wrote the entire story outline himself. That shows he must value this movie a lot, because it contains a lot of his effort."
Lin Chang looked confused.
"So what? If you had told me earlier, I could've helped find a good director or a few award-winning actors. But the movie's already finished filming now, isn't it?"
He paused for a moment before suddenly realizing.
"Oh, I get it! You want me to help contact distributors and theater chains, right?"
Lin Wan nodded.
"Yes. That's something very easy for you, but for President Pei, it's something he urgently needs."
Even the best wine is afraid of deep alleys—meaning good things can still go unnoticed without promotion.
After thinking about it, Lin Chang realized she was right.
Although President Pei's Tengda Group was huge and powerful, Feihuang Studio was entering the film industry seriously for the first time. They probably didn't have many resources or connections in that field yet.
But Lin Chang was different. He was in charge of the Shenhua Group's entertainment and film-media business and had plenty of industry connections.
"Alright, that's a small matter!"
"I'll tell President Pei right away!" Lin Chang said happily, feeling that this thank-you gift was quite sincere.
Lin Wan waved her hand.
"Uh… actually, I think there's no need to tell President Pei."
"President Pei has been very busy with official matters lately. It doesn't seem appropriate to trouble him with something this minor."
"I'll just give you the phone number of the person in charge at Feihuang Studio, and you can contact them directly."
"When the movie finally premieres, we can give President Pei a surprise. Wouldn't that be even better?"
Lin Chang thought about it and felt that made sense.
President Pei had to visit at least three places today alone, and he still had a long-delayed task to deal with. Clearly, his schedule was packed.
Thinking about it that way, things like finding distributors and negotiating screening schedules with theater chains must already be handled by people at Feihuang Studio. There was no way President Pei would personally take care of such small matters.
In that case, if he directly contacted the people at Feihuang Studio and handled everything perfectly, then when President Pei attended the premiere and discovered it, it would be an even better surprise.
With that thought, Lin Chang nodded.
"Alright. Then give me the contact information for the person in charge at Feihuang Studio, and I'll talk to them."
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