Losing Money to Become a Tycoon: Starting with Games
Chapter 447: Carelessly Gained Another 5 Million
After a long while, He Desheng finally heard President Pei let out a long sigh on the other end of the phone. His emotions seemed rather complicated.
He couldn't help but feel puzzled.
What's going on with President Pei?
Oh, I get it—President Pei must be feeling gratified that Shared Phone Booth has expanded beyond Jingzhou and is going nationwide, like a fledgling bird leaving the nest!
Yes, that must be it!
On the other end of the line, Pei Qian felt only one thing: frustration.
A perfectly good 10 million had suddenly turned into 20 million.
The pressure just got even greater!
"I'll think about it and give you an answer in a bit."
After hanging up, Pei Qian helplessly began calculating in his notebook where he could possibly dump this money.
Time was tight. Opening a few more Moyu Internet Cafés in another city seemed unlikely, but Against the Wind Logistics could continue expanding—it was quick to set up and could keep opening branches right up until a week before settlement.
At the same time, stocking up on OTTO E1 phones could also be arranged, which would burn through money quickly.
If Pei Qian piled up 5,000 OTTO phones in the warehouse, the cost would be about 20 million.
Of course, if they all sold out… that would be a disaster.
Besides these, Pei Qian still had a final trump card: the Fright Hostel project!
The Fright Hostel project could be extended into the next cycle, and a place like that could burn money endlessly—absorbing 20 million would be no problem at all.
However, unless absolutely necessary, Pei Qian didn't want to pour too much money into the Fright Hostel.
Because the more money invested, the scarier and more stimulating the experience would become, and the surrounding facilities would also improve rapidly—none of which would be good for ensuring losses in the future.
So, he could allocate some funds to Lu Mingliang to continue expanding Against the Wind Logistics stations across Lin City, covering areas that the Moyu Internet Café complexes hadn't reached.
Then, he could give the remaining money to OTTO Technology, letting Chang You stockpile more inventory in the warehouse…
Just as Pei Qian was thinking, his phone rang again.
This time, it was Ma Yiqun calling.
Pei Qian frowned and quickly picked up.
"President Pei, Terminal Chinese Web just got another 5 million in the company account, and I've already transferred it to you!" Ma Yiqun's voice carried a hint of pride.
Pei Qian: "???"
He froze for two seconds before asking, "When did this happen?"
Ma Yiqun replied, "Just a couple of days ago."
"We've been settling last month's author payments recently, and February's revenue figures just came out not long ago. After handling the company's actual expenses, I had the finance department transfer the money to you right away!"
Pei Qian's expression darkened, and he couldn't help but frown. "Didn't I already tell you to spend that money yourself? The training program needs funds right now—what do you mean by transferring it to me?"
Ma Yiqun paused for a moment. "The training program has enough funds."
"Don't worry, President Pei. This 5 million isn't last month's profit. It's what remains after deducting the website's daily operating costs, marketing expenses, author subsidies, and training program expenses. I also set aside sufficient working capital before submitting the surplus."
"Besides, all the benefits for the training program have already been maximized. I really couldn't think of anything else to spend the money on for now, so I decided to hand it in."
"I heard that OTTO E1 phones are currently short on funds for inventory. If this money goes to them, it should create greater value!"
Pei Qian was completely speechless.
You don't know what to spend the money on—and I don't know either!
If you don't know how to spend it, you just dump it on me? How is that fair?
Without a word, you just threw another 5 million at me—this puts me in a really difficult position! I wasn't mentally prepared for this at all!
Wait… Ma Yiqun just said that the training program expenses have already been deducted from this money?
Doesn't that mean that the website's revenue has increased again???
The site had already started turning a profit before. Ma Yiqun had once tried to hand over the profits, but Pei Qian had firmly refused and told him to use the money to run an Author Training Class.
This training program was ongoing, held every month. As long as authors attended, their food and lodging were covered, they received a base salary, and even full social insurance. Logically, this should have spent all the money cleanly.
So how did there end up being an extra 5 million last month???
Pei Qian sharply sensed that something was wrong and quickly asked, "Did Terminal Chinese Web's revenue increase significantly again in February?"
After saying it, Pei Qian felt something odd—why did he say "again"?
Ma Yiqun smiled. "Of course, President Pei. This is inseparable from your decision back then!"
"Facts have proven that your decision to use the website's profits to establish the Author Training Class is absolutely a monumental move with lasting benefits!"
"Although we sacrificed some short-term profits, the benefits of the Author Training Class are tremendous!"
"First, it helped authors with irregular lifestyles and poor self-discipline maintain a proper schedule. With their worries resolved, they can fully devote themselves to writing, increasing their output."
"Second, authors exchange ideas and learn from each other, continuously improving. This has allowed mid-tier authors on Terminal Chinese Web to grow rapidly!"
"Finally, the Tengda Group spirit training you arranged was nothing short of brilliant. Authors shifted from blindly pursuing quantity to balancing quality and quantity, which has steered the overall direction of the platform toward high-quality works, making it easier to retain readers!"
"Most importantly, Cui Geng's The Butterfly Game was an unexpected windfall. Its record-breaking first subscription spread throughout the entire online literature community. Many authors saw the high ceiling of success on Terminal Chinese Web and flocked to publish there. Meanwhile, as the overall quality of content improved, reader loyalty and retention rates have also been steadily increasing!"
"In short, Terminal Chinese Web has undergone another complete transformation!"
Pei Qian was already on the verge of losing it halfway through.
"The Tengda Group spirit training was brilliant"? It made authors shift from pursuing sheer quantity to balancing quality and quantity?
That's not right! Weren't they supposed to become more and more lazy with updates?
Although Pei Qian was still confused and had no idea what went wrong during the Tengda Group spirit training, he was someone who accepted reality quickly.
"Stop the Tengda Group spirit training immediately!" Pei Qian said at once.
"Ah, alright, President Pei. I was thinking the same thing," Ma Yiqun replied, fully agreeing.
Pei Qian: "?"
Ma Yiqun continued, "Actually, the second batch of the Author Training Class has already adopted a mentorship model—each experienced author mentors a newcomer. And those experienced authors have already gone through the Tengda Group spirit training at headquarters."
"Now, through this generational passing-on among authors, the Tengda Group spirit can already be carried forward effectively. There's no need to trouble the HR department anymore."
"So I also think this step can be removed."
Pei Qian: "..."
This is bad. It's already too late!
Pei Qian's plan to spread the Tengda Group spirit throughout the entire training program had indeed succeeded, but the effect was completely different from what he had expected!
Could it be… the real problem lies within the HR department—and right beside him?
But after thinking it over, Pei Qian fell into confusion again.
After all, none of the departments had been working overtime recently!
At the end of last month, the second round of the Zero Overtime Competition had just been evaluated. This time, more than half of the departments won awards. Aside from departments like Feihuang Studio, which had been especially busy and did a bit of overtime, the rest had no overtime at all.
Even the Tengda Group's game department—once notorious for repeatedly ignoring instructions—had shown clear improvement, with zero overtime applications last month.
And according to Tang Yishu's regular reports, no one had been secretly working overtime anymore either…
It seemed that all departments at headquarters were implementing the Tengda Group spirit quite well.
So where exactly did the problem occur?
Did something go wrong from the very beginning, or did the issue arise when the Tengda Group spirit was passed on to the training program, affecting only those authors?
If it was the latter, then isolating those authors would be enough. But if it was the former…
Pei Qian felt a headache coming on.
Right now, he was extremely confused. On one hand, the sudden extra 25 million was shaking his already fragile mental defenses. On the other hand, he was deeply puzzled by the fact that "even though I've been encouraging employees to slack off, the performance of all departments seems to be getting better and better."
"President Pei, if there's nothing else, I'll hang up now. You can get back to work," Ma Yiqun said.
Pei Qian quickly stopped his train of thought and interrupted him. "Wait!"
"Uh… President Pei, do you have any other instructions?" Ma Yiqun asked.
After thinking for a long time, Pei Qian finally gritted his teeth. "Change the revenue split for Terminal Chinese Web. Make it a 30/70 split—30% for the platform, 70% for the authors. Apply it to all authors, effective this month!"
Pei Qian was really going all out.
In the long run, this move might further boost the site's traffic, but he couldn't worry about that right now.
He had to deal with this settlement cycle first!
Revenue in March would definitely continue to grow. By the end of the month, this money would hit him like another blow.
So right now, he had to urgently cut down Terminal Chinese Web's income!
With this change, the site's revenue would instantly drop by about 40%, reducing his burden by at least several million.
The maximum split allowed by the system was 20/80, but Pei Qian was worried that such an extreme ratio would attract too many authors at once and cause bigger problems later. So he settled for a 30/70 split.
Although Infinite Chinese Web used a 50/50 split, there were already some platforms on the market using a 30/70 model. This change would lower revenue without seeming too unusual.
Ma Yiqun hesitated for a moment. "Alright, President Pei, I understand."
Clearly, he thought President Pei was once again planning to burn money to attract authors.
Pei Qian had no energy to explain and let him think whatever he wanted.
After hanging up, Pei Qian felt even more troubled.
It was truly a case of misfortunes never coming alone!
Just two days ago, he was worrying about how to spend 10 million.
After two days of worrying, that amount had turned into 25 million!
At this point, Against the Wind Logistics could at most absorb about 5 million, since opening new stations takes time—they had to be completed before the final week of settlement, and opening too many at once could cause problems.
As for the remaining 20 million…
Pei Qian gritted his teeth.
He'd use it all to stockpile OTTO phones!
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