Chapter 69 Thursday, June 9th

After arranging the mass production of the Fully-Automatic Back-Stabbing Machine on Monday, Pei Qian had been living a relatively leisurely life for the past two days.

He occasionally inquired about the situations at Tenda Games, Managed Fitness Gym, and Lazy Delivery, and everything seemed calm and fine on the surface.

At noon, Pei Qian ate at Lazy Cafe as usual, sipping his coffee while organizing the mind maps of each department.

"Ding."

His phone rang, and Pei Qian picked it up. His brows furrowed instantly.

It was the message from the Loss-Bearing Prodigy at Ming Yun Private Kitchen.

"Boss Pei, there has been a noticeable increase in the number of foreigners dining and making reservations these past two days."

A noticeable increase in foreigners?

Something seemed off!

Pei Qian was instantly vigilant.

He had previously instructed in a meeting that all Loss-Bearing Prodigies should report any obvious "abnormalities" to him at any time, without waiting for the regular Loss-Bearing Prodigy meeting. This would minimize the problem of "delayed back-stabbing."

After all, discovering a danger one day earlier versus one day later could make a world of difference.

Clearly, this particular Loss-Bearing Prodigy at Ming Yun Private Kitchen had done well.

"Do you know the reason?" Pei Qian immediately replied.

Loss-Bearing Prodigy: "Not clear yet. My guess is that an influential foreign friend came here to eat and promoted it to their friends."

"Recently, Store Manager Lin has put a lot of effort into service, and the dining experience of foreign friends in the restaurant has improved significantly. In particular, the all-English explanation of the dishes combined with the cultural connotations of traditional Chinese cuisine seems to be very effective."

Pei Qian was silent for a moment before replying, "You did well. Thank you for your hard work."

Pei Qian was very satisfied with this Loss-Bearing Prodigy's report.

See? This is what a professional double agent looks like!

At the next Loss-Bearing Prodigy meeting, he must specifically commend this Loss-Bearing Prodigy and make all the others learn from them!

After grasping this important information, Pei Qian began to analyze it seriously.

He hadn't expected Lin Canrong's decision to have the waiters learn English to actually work?

However, based on the current situation, it didn't seem like a particularly serious matter.

Lin Canrong's training and foreign language classes for the waiters had greatly increased costs, but Ming Yun Private Kitchen's prices hadn't increased, and daily reservations were already fully booked. So what if more foreigners made reservations? It wouldn't make him more money, would it?

"Hmm... On the surface, it doesn't seem to be a big threat. But I can't be careless. What if there are some completely unforeseen possibilities hidden here?"

Pei Qian looked at the time.

"It's almost 1 o'clock. I should still go to Shang Yang Games first, according to the previous plan, and then try to figure out what's going on at Ming Yun Private Kitchen."

Pei Qian thought for a long time, but couldn't think of any imminent dangers that further increasing Ming Yun Private Kitchen's reputation would bring him, so he could only put it aside for now.

...

In the afternoon, Pei Qian arrived at Shang Yang Games.

On the way, Pei Qian took the time to search on his phone for online opinions on the "arms race" between GoG and IoI.

He could only say that the situation was not optimistic!

If the battle between these two games were divided into two stages, then both stages had ended with GoG's complete victory.

In the first stage, GoG swept away a large number of domestic players who were waiting to see what would happen by offering cross-platform play, smooth network performance, quick matchmaking, and generous end-of-season rewards. IoI only belatedly launched its domestic server after GoG's cash giveaway and did not offer a mobile version;

In the second stage, IoI took the lead in starting the arms race, updating at a super-high frequency of two heroes per month, hoping to steal GoG players. However, GoG countered with a crowdfunding campaign for heroes, and successively launched the popular heroes Traveler Bao Xu and Wind and Ink Painter Ruan, using the generous rewards of "crowdfunding" to keep players highly focused on GoG's new heroes.

In short, IoI updated quickly, but still didn't get much attention.

Although the "arms race" between these two games would continue, possibly for several months or even a year, from the current situation, the outcome of this battle had already been decided.

As long as Min Jingchao didn't have a brain fart, GoG could rely on the advantages of crowdfunding to maintain its quality of heroes and crush the competition in terms of player attention.

In short, the entire internet was extremely pessimistic about IoI.

Pei Qian was very worried.

Although he would miserably make money no matter which game, GoG or IoI, became popular, relatively speaking, Pei Qian was currently leaning more towards IoI.

After all, he had to get Lin Wan out of the way first.

His own games making money was controllable and could be alleviated by giving away money and giving benefits to players;

The back-stabbing from Lin Wan's siblings was completely unpredictable and posed too great a threat!

Speaking of this, Pei Qian's liver hurt with anger. *A Bright Tomorrow* won an award because of Lin Chang's submission and had its overseas screenings extended, already racking up millions of dollars in box office revenue, and there was still some time before it stopped showing.

Which threat was greater was obvious!

Pei Qian knew that everyone at Shang Yang Games must be very discouraged now, and that this was the time when Boss Pei needed to give them a little encouragement.

Arriving at Shang Yang Games, Pei Qian went straight to the conference room.

Pei Qian had notified them in advance, so the core members of Shang Yang Games were already waiting in the conference room.

"Boss Pei."

Everyone stood up to greet him, but the expressions on everyone's faces were a little lost.

Lin Wan's expression was especially so.

Pei Qian couldn't help but feel a "thump" in his heart.

What's with those expressions? Don't give up!

Pei Qian cleared his throat and said, "The promotion of IoI's domestic server hasn't been very smooth recently, has it? It's okay, everyone, don't be so down. If you have anything to say, feel free to speak your mind."

Everyone looked at each other, and finally Lin Wan spoke first.

"I can understand how Tenda's opponents feel now."

"There's no way around it. The most difficult opponent is always your own people, especially when we have an idiot teammate."

Pei Qian's heart sank: "Idiot teammate?"

Could she be talking about me?

Could it be that they know that I was behind Wind and Ink Painter?

Pei Qian felt a little flustered for no reason.

Wang Xiaobin explained, "He's referring to Head Company, Boss Pei. We realized long ago that we couldn't beat GoG this way, so we wrote several emails to Head Company, giving them some suggestions, but their wording was almost the same. They just wouldn't accept it."

"And, they seemed to be blaming us a little."

"The implication seemed to be, IoI is doing well in other regions around the world, and the response is good, so why doesn't it work on your side? They obviously think there's a problem with our operating strategy."

Pei Qian breathed a sigh of relief. Oh, it's not me, then it's fine.

You scared me. I thought I'd been exposed.

Lin Wan spread her hands: "We can't blame them for this. After all, people who haven't really fought against Tenda can't understand how terrifying Tenda is."

"I've learned my lesson this time."

She sighed softly: "What's more... Boss Pei can turn things around with just a few pointers."

"Uh..." Pei Qian cleared his throat, "What are you talking about? I'm very objective and fair."

Ye Zhizhou said with some meaning, "Didn't Min Jingchao want to recruit people and speed up the development of new heroes, but Boss Pei, you rejected him? If it weren't for your hint, how could he have thought of the idea of crowdfunding heroes with the players?"

Pei Qian: "...That's completely a misunderstanding."

Everyone immediately put on a "I understand" expression.

Pei Qian was speechless. It really was a misunderstanding!

My heart really is with you!

What's more, even if I secretly helped them, it wouldn't be with the idea of crowdfunding heroes...

There was no way to explain it.

Pei Qian decided not to dwell on this topic anymore. Anyway, he was used to everyone's attitude.

Now that Head Company didn't agree to make changes to IoI, Shang Yang Games could only continue to think of other ways.

"So, does anyone have any good ideas for the next operating strategy?" Pei Qian asked.

Everyone looked at each other again, and no one spoke.

Lin Wan sighed: "Boss Pei, we're still working hard to think."

Pei Qian secretly thought it was bad.

He could clearly see that everyone had lost a bit of their fighting spirit. They probably felt that GoG's lead was already too great, and if Head Company wasn't willing to cooperate with the game changes, how could they win with just marketing?

Since it was a task assigned by Boss Pei, everyone certainly couldn't say discouraging words like "we can't win," but they really didn't have a better way.

Pei Qian felt that Lin Wan was about to say something like, "I think I'm not capable enough and need to continue learning at Tenda."

Quick, use your little brain to help Shang Yang Games think of a solution.

Pei Qian thought hard for a moment, and suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

When in doubt, just throw money at it!

Wasn't it the money that made GoG popular in the first place?

Then give IoI money too!

Since the game couldn't be changed, they could only try to overwhelm GoG with an overwhelming amount of marketing.

Pei Qian cleared his throat: "According to the last regulation, 50% of the profits of all departments can be freely used for various departmental expenses. Take out this money, and at the same time, I will allocate a special fund for you."

"This fund is mainly used for two things: streamer promotion and internet cafe promotion!"

"Find some streamers and up-loaders, sponsor them, and continuously produce content about IoI, including new hero introductions, instructional videos, etc., especially to create the impression for the audience that this game is very popular abroad."

"Then there's cooperation with various internet cafes. Playing IoI allows you to use most skins for free, and playing IoI allows you to get a certain reduction in internet fees, etc."

"Forcefully grab the popularity!"

Pei Qian had the impression that LoL was promoted in this way, and it would definitely be useful.

You can't go wrong by copying your homework, right?

During the first Loss-Bearing Prodigy meeting, the Loss-Bearing Prodigies reported an important piece of information to Pei Qian, which was that various departments were formulating large-scale spending plans, including supplementing salaries and purchasing office supplies, etc.

Pei Qian judged that all departments had grasped the meaning of the Tenda Cornerstone Award, and while being jealous of Upwind Logistics, they had also started large-scale spending plans.

In that case, of course, he had to help them!

Therefore, Pei Qian decided that 50% of the profits generated by all departments could be freely used for various departmental expenses, improving the efficiency of spending money in each department.

Of course, for his beloved departments that were losing money, such as Upwind Logistics and Lazy Delivery, Pei Qian would also allocate additional funds to increase the speed of their losses.

And Shang Yang Games currently had games like *Blood Song of War* and *BeQuiet* that were making profits, and IoI's domestic server also had revenue. Taking out 50% of this money, plus Boss Pei's special funds, they could directly pave the way with money, forcefully promote the game, and crush the competition!

Ye Zhizhou thought carefully for a moment, and then suddenly understood.

"So that's how it is. I've learned another trick from Boss Pei."

"When there are no special ideas, it's better to use brute force to break through!"

"Is this the way to win without using any moves?" (Wu Zhao Sheng You Zhao)

Pei Qian: "...Sort of."

Although he hadn't thought about it so complicatedly, Ye Zhizhou's bootlicking didn't seem to be too wrong.

However, Lin Wan frowned slightly and asked, "Then... Boss Pei, what if GoG also blindly follows suit and burns money with us? What should we do?"