Chapter 118 ROF Gaming PC

Wednesday.

Pei Qian woke up hungry.

He opened his phone and ordered a Take-Out Moby.

Although President Pei's grand plan to lose money had been largely unsuccessful thus far, he had to admit that his tireless efforts had significantly improved the quality of life for himself and the people of Jingzhou.

If you wanted to buy something online, Reverse Logistics would deliver it right to your door.

If you wanted takeout, Take-Out Moby offered healthy and nutritious options.

Not to mention Moby Internet Cafe's outstanding contribution to improving the internet surfing environment.

Take-Out Moby had been operating steadily for over four months and remained consistently in the red.

Pei Qian was particularly pleased with this.

It was just a pity that Take-Out Moby wasn't big enough. Although it consistently lost money, it didn't lose enough.

The food arrived after about twenty minutes.

The Moby Internet Cafe branch at Handong University was quite close to Pei Qian's place, so delivery was relatively quick.

Pei Qian ate while pondering what to do next.

It seemed that the pressure to spend money was quite high. In addition to the usual expenses, Pei Qian had to find other ways to continue spending.

Looking at the exquisite tableware and familiar home-style dishes in front of him, Pei Qian suddenly wondered if he could make takeout bear more of the burden of spending money.

After all, Take-Out Moby had already earned President Pei's trust with its consistent losses.

"If I really have to, I'll just take a sip of poison to quench my thirst?"

Pei Qian thought, deciding to worry about next cycle's problems next cycle.

First, he had to ensure that he was in a loss-making state at the end of this month. After all, it wasn't just about the money, but also about the special rewards given by the system.

As for what to do if he made a profit, including the principal and interest, in the next cycle…

Then he would just have to develop more industries that burned money quickly in the next cycle.

In short, he would worry about the present first!

With that in mind, Pei Qian took out his phone and looked at the calendar.

Today was October 13th. He could continue investing money into Moby Internet Cafe and Reverse Logistics until October 24th, but not after that.

If he wanted to spend money in the last week, he would have to target his own employees.

Tengda could now be considered a large company. The game business, along with Qidian Chinese Website and TPDB website, had over a hundred employees. Shang Yang Games had over forty employees. Moby Internet Cafe had over a hundred employees. Reverse Logistics' delivery drivers and Take-Out Moby's delivery riders probably numbered six or seven hundred.

Of course, different industries had to be treated differently. It was impossible to give employees in core departments like Tengda Games the same benefits as delivery riders.

If he gave everyone a little more, President Pei's pressure would be reduced.

But these benefits were also limited. What if he still couldn't spend all the money?

Pei Qian thought, then he could only take a sip of poison to quench his thirst and hold a promotional event!

Pei Qian couldn't use this method last time because his only physical industry at that time was Moby Internet Cafe, and Moby Internet Cafe had inexplicably become popular before the settlement, catching him off guard and leaving him powerless to resist.

But this time, the money had come earlier, and Pei Qian had plenty of time to react.

Pei Qian looked at the time, his eyes fixed on October 24th.

1024 was Programmer's Day, although the term wasn't yet widespread.

Just like November 11th, which was still generally regarded as "Singles' Day" rather than a "shopping spree."

Pei Qian couldn't catch up with Double Eleven until the next cycle, but he could still make it for 1024.

By taking advantage of this day and holding a week-long promotional event, allowing certain industries to work harder and lose a little more money, wouldn't that greatly reduce President Pei's pressure?

With that in mind, Pei Qian felt that the future was a little brighter and quickly thought about the industries he had on hand.

He had to carefully consider which industries to choose.

Games couldn't be discounted, because games had no cost. Lowering the price would definitely lead to more profits, which would be suicidal.

The ultimate goal wasn't to promote sales or create hype, but to spend money suddenly.

So Pei Qian thought about it and decided that Moby Internet Cafe and Reverse Logistics were the most suitable for this.

Especially Reverse Logistics, which was already losing money due to labor costs. If each Reverse Logistics station delivered more packages during this period and gave the delivery drivers more performance-based pay, wouldn't that add up to a lot of money spent?

Moreover, even if it lost money, as long as it was controlled within a certain limit and could effectively improve its reputation, the system would tacitly approve of this behavior.

After conducting some simple tests on the system, Pei Qian quickly determined a subsidy plan for 1024 Programmer's Day.

First, a subsidy for Take-Out Moby, with a discount on all dishes and free delivery.

Second, a subsidy for Reverse Logistics.

Currently, Pei Qian had opened nearly 200 Reverse Logistics stations, and he expected to add another forty or fifty before the 24th, covering most areas of Jingzhou City.

At that time, using these Reverse Logistics stations to send packages would result in a reduction in shipping fees, all of which would be subsidized by Pei Qian himself.

At the same time, all door-to-door deliveries that were originally subject to a commission would be completely eliminated during the event period, attracting more couriers to hand over their packages to Reverse Logistics for delivery.

Purchasing some small gifts and delivering them along with the packages could also spend a sum of money.

Others were making a profit from the price difference as middlemen, but only Pei Qian was subsidizing the price difference.

He would start some simple publicity recently, with the event lasting from October 24th to October 31st.

Pei Qian didn't dare to promote it too loudly. Although this would spend more money, the risk was also high, and he couldn't mess around.

Pei Qian very cleverly set the date for paying wages at the end of each month, so that he could issue a large sum of employee funds before the settlement, minimizing the system funds as much as possible.

During the event, Pei Qian would also increase the performance-based pay for all takeout riders and delivery drivers. Each additional takeout order delivered or each additional package sent would earn an extra bonus.

Although it wouldn't be much for each person, there were so many Reverse Logistics stations and so many employees in Jingzhou, which would spend a lot of money all at once.

As for the consequences…

Obviously, during the 1024 Programmer's Day, Take-Out Moby and Reverse Logistics would experience a certain increase in users, but these two industries had always been losing money, and the larger the scale, the more they lost, so there was no need to worry too much.

Moreover, even if they made a profit, that would be a matter for the next cycle.

This was also the reason why Pei Qian didn't dare to act rashly with other industries. He couldn't drastically reduce prices for the internet cafe or offer free services, nor could he discount games, because the risks and side effects of doing so were too great.

Pei Qian made a rough plan and felt that this matter had potential, so he prepared to call Lu Mingliang and Ma Yang and ask them to come together to briefly discuss the matter.

Soon, Lu Mingliang's phone call went through.

"Do you have time today? Come to the Moby Internet Cafe branch at Handong University. I have a promotional event for Moby Internet Cafe and Reverse Logistics to discuss."

Lu Mingliang was stunned. "President Pei, I'm already at the Handong University branch."

Pei Qian: "Huh?"

"What are you doing there?"

Lu Mingliang: "President Ma asked me to come over. We're discussing the details of the PC assembly business."

Pei Qian: "???"

He was a little confused.

What was that? What was the PC assembly business?

"Then wait a moment, I'll be right there!"

Pei Qian quickly dressed, wrapped himself tightly in a thick coat and scarf, and prepared to go out.

Fortunately, his cold wasn't too serious. After resting for a day yesterday, he had improved. The weather was nice today, with plenty of sunshine and no wind, so going out shouldn't be a problem.

Besides, at this critical juncture, how could this minor illness stop President Pei's grand plan to spend money!

He made a phone call, and the company's car quickly came to pick him up.

…

Moby Internet Cafe branch at Handong University.

Pei Qian arrived not long after finishing the phone call with Lu Mingliang.

Looking at President Pei wrapped up so tightly, the three of them were a little confused.

"President Pei, what are you…" Lu Mingliang remembered that President Pei didn't look like this the last time he saw him.

Pei Qian lowered his scarf slightly, speaking with a nasal voice: "I have a bit of a cold."

"Brother Qian, you have a cold, you should take good care of yourself! I have to criticize you for this. You can't just be busy with work, you have to pay attention to your health!" Ma Yang beckoned to the waiter next to him, "Quickly pour Brother Qian a cup of hot water."

Pei Qian: "...No need, I'm about to throw up from drinking hot water, give me coffee."

Pei Qian looked at the computer case on the table and keenly noticed its difference from the previous Moby Internet Cafe computers.

There was a glowing logo on it!

Pei Qian instantly sensed that this matter was not simple.

Good, you three are secretly doing things behind my back again! Luckily, I discovered it in time!

Pei Qian was speechless. If he hadn't been thinking about the grand plan to lose money while dragging his sick body, he might have been fooled again!

Ma Yang smiled sheepishly: "Brother Qian, we were originally planning to give you a surprise, but we didn't expect you to find out."

"This time, Zhang Yuan and I were considering relying on Moby Internet Cafe and Reverse Logistics to launch a custom PC assembly business…"

Ma Yang briefly introduced the past and present life of the ROF brand.

In short, *Turning Back is the Shore* brought many *tuhao* (tycoons) with high requirements for computer configurations to the internet cafe. Objectively, these *tuhao* had a demand to buy the same high-end computers. Zhang Yuan, as a PC assembly enthusiast, saw this business opportunity and decided to launch a custom PC assembly business, coupled with Reverse Logistics' delivery and door-to-door service, to open up a new industry.

This matter didn't require a large investment. Each computer would earn about five hundred to a thousand yuan. Zhang Yuan and the internet cafe's staff only needed to buy the parts online, assemble them, deliver them to the customers, and provide after-sales service. It didn't require a large amount of capital investment.

Even if it didn't work out, there wouldn't be any losses, because Zhang Yuan and the others didn't plan to buy a lot of parts to stock up. They would only order when there was a demand from the *tuhao*.

After listening to Ma Yang's story, Pei Qian fell silent.

If they really did this, they would definitely make money!

Good you, Ma Yang, this honest-looking guy is also going to betray me!

But then he thought about it, the blame didn't seem to be on Ma Yang, after all, Ma Yang was too easily fooled.

The blame must be on Zhang Yuan!

It seemed that he had to transfer Zhang Yuan away from Ma Yang as soon as possible to eliminate the hidden danger!

Pei Qian looked at the "ROF first-generation prototype" on the table again.

To be honest, this matter sounded quite promising. If they continued like this, they might really make a small profit and give President Pei a surprise attack before the settlement.

Pei Qian couldn't help but feel secretly fortunate.

"I almost got tricked, that was close."

"Fortunately, I was prepared this time!"

Pei Qian wasn't angry, but rather a little glad.

Alright, since you like to start businesses so much, then help me and lose a little more!

This project was originally supposed to make money, but since Pei Qian had discovered it and was keeping an eye on it, there was no way he would let it make money!

Seeing President Pei smile without saying anything, Ma Yang didn't know whether he supported the project or not.

"Brother Qian, what do you think of this project? Does it have potential?" Ma Yang asked.

Pei Qian nodded: "I think it's good, but there's a problem."

"You're not spending enough money!"

"It's not interesting to do things on a small scale. If you're going to do it, do it big. It doesn't matter if you don't have money, I'll provide it!"

Zhang Yuan was stunned, not knowing whether to be happy or what.

"It's certainly good to have President Pei's support, but… there's nothing to spend money on…"

Zhang Yuan thought, wasn't it just selling assembled PCs with a brand attached? Many online stores were doing this, and it didn't require much startup capital.

Even if President Pei allocated a few million now, Zhang Yuan wouldn't know how to spend it.

Pei Qian shook his head: "You're just too conservative! You don't even have any imagination when it comes to spending money, how can that work?"