Chapter 1 A Yawn in the Office

Pei Qian yawned in his office.

The company's heater was cranked up high, making him drowsy.

Even though it wasn't quite appropriate to slack off on his first day back, Pei Qian really didn't have anything else to do.

He felt like he should be busy, as if countless bloody daggers were waiting to stab him in the back, but when he thought about it, he really couldn't figure out what he should be doing right now.

He opened the tpdb website to see which project needed "improvement."

His gaze immediately fell on the Moyu Internet Cafe.

That's right, he'd been wanting to open a Moyu Internet Cafe near his parents' house!

He needed to open one near his newly purchased house as well, just in case.

In short, no matter where he lived in the future, he had to be able to walk a few steps and find a Moyu Internet Cafe.

With that thought, Pei Qian immediately sent a message to Zhang Yuan, asking him to come over.

Zhang Yuan usually stayed at the Moyu Internet Cafe near Handong University, handling matters related to the internet cafe and ROF assembly. Today was no exception.

So, he arrived a few minutes later.

"How's the work handover going?"

No sooner had Zhang Yuan sat down than Pei Qian cut straight to the chase.

"President Pei, it's only the first day back…"

Zhang Yuan was a little speechless, and there was a hint of reluctance in his voice.

After being selected as an outstanding employee, Zhang Yuan had received a dream fund of one million, but that also meant he had to give up all his duties at Moyu Internet Cafe and ROF assembly.

Of course, Zhang Yuan wasn't happy about it.

Because he had been doing a great job with both Moyu Internet Cafe and ROF assembly, even if his salary and benefits remained unchanged, he wouldn't want to switch to another position.

But Pei Qian certainly wouldn't agree.

Because the initial intention of the last-place elimination system was to eliminate these people!

Being rated as an outstanding employee meant that he had performed exceptionally well in his position, so for President Pei, such an employee who had posed the greatest threat to him in the past six months would definitely be dealt with clearly.

Therefore, he had to get rid of Zhang Yuan as quickly as possible.

Pei Qian could see Zhang Yuan's reluctance, and his face darkened. "You're being too slow. I'm giving you three days to complete the work handover, put down all work related to Moyu Internet Cafe and ROF assembly, and submit the list of people to be promoted to the Human Resources Department."

Zhang Yuan had nothing to say and could only nod. "Yes, President Pei."

Pei Qian added, "Oh, right, while you're handing over, tell the new person in charge to open two more Moyu Internet Cafe 1.0s in each of those two locations."

Pei Qian pointed out his parents' residence and the location of his new house on the map.

Zhang Yuan looked at these two places, slightly puzzled.

One was in a small county town near Jingzhou, and the other was near a high-speed rail station that hadn't yet opened in Jingzhou.

What special location advantages did these two places have that made President Pei emphasize opening a Moyu Internet Cafe in each of them?

He knew that the last time President Pei inquired about Moyu Internet Cafe, it was to open the "Moyu Complex" in Lin City, an investment of tens of millions. Logically speaking, President Pei shouldn't need to ask about the location of these two small internet cafes.

However, Zhang Yuan had long been accustomed to President Pei's special location selection skills, so he naturally didn't ask much, but silently noted it down, preparing to tell his successor.

After arranging the matters of Moyu Internet Cafe, Pei Qian asked, "Have you thought about how to spend the dream fund? Don't worry, if one million isn't enough, we can add more."

The one million dream fund was a standard established in the early days of Tengda Group. At that time, Tengda didn't have such a large industry, and squeezing out one million was already very difficult.

But as Tengda's scale grew larger and it made more and more money, a mere one million could only be considered a drop in the bucket, unable to quench President Pei's thirst for spending money.

So, Pei Qian casually asked, and if Zhang Yuan's dream was too outrageous, he wouldn't mind giving him more money.

Of course, if Zhang Yuan's dream was too utilitarian, he would definitely not give him a single penny more.

Zhang Yuan thought for a while. "Uh… President Pei, I did think about it carefully during the vacation. My initial idea is to start a small esports club."

Esports club?

Pei Qian was slightly surprised.

He originally thought that Zhang Yuan would continue to tinker with his computer assembly business, but he didn't expect him to have come to his senses.

Pei Qian was very satisfied with this answer.

Because esports clubs burn money quite quickly, and only a small portion can actually make a profit.

What's more, in 2011, the esports industry was still very small, and there was a lack of large-scale events worldwide. Many professional players were still sleeping on the streets and eating instant noodles.

Basically, those who were involved in esports now were all rich second generations just playing around, which was very much to Pei Qian's liking.

Even if Zhang Yuan hadn't mentioned it, Pei Qian had been thinking about starting an esports club to play around with!

Pei Qian immediately smiled and gave a thumbs up. "Not bad, good idea!"

Zhang Yuan was stunned for a moment, feeling that President Pei's expression upon hearing this news was even happier than the time the memory stick prices rose?

"Is one million enough? The players work so hard in the matches, we can't let them suffer. The benefits must be in place! If it's not enough, ask me for money at any time!" Pei Qian immediately got excited.

Zhang Yuan quickly waved his hand. "No, no, no, President Pei, I have to test the waters first and explore the path, after all, I have no experience in this area at all."

"Well… okay, tell me at any time if you need money." Pei Qian reluctantly agreed.

Obviously, Zhang Yuan had some playful mentality, so he didn't dare to ask for more money.

If he really wanted to seriously build a large building, equip it with all kinds of supporting facilities, and spend a lot of money to poach a few star players, then one million wouldn't even be enough to fill the gaps between his teeth.

And now, most of the so-called esports clubs are not completely separated from the game studios. Having a few rooms and a few computers is enough for them to say that they are an esports club.

What Zhang Yuan wanted to do should also be this kind.

Of course, Pei Qian couldn't accept it and had to add money.

But he couldn't rush this matter. If he forced money on him now, it might put some pressure on Zhang Yuan, giving him the illusion that President Pei attached special importance to this project and that he must do his best to do it well.

In case Zhang Yuan got motivated and President Pei's "encouragement buff" took effect, the consequences would be disastrous.

So, Pei Qian didn't force it.

After the club was up and running, Pei Qian would definitely go to inspect it, then pick and choose some things, and add money under various pretexts.

"Okay, then go get busy, remember, complete the work handover within three days and quickly shift all your energy to the esports club."

Pei Qian gave a few more instructions and sent Zhang Yuan away.

After that, Pei Qian quickly went over the things he hadn't had time to finish before the New Year in his mind.

Right, the Xue Ba Kuai Lai App (Study God is Coming)!

Pei Qian immediately decided to take a trip to Yuanmeng Ventures.

Although the other projects were also dangerous, this one seemed to be the most dangerous.

Before the New Year, Pei Qian updated a version of the Xue Ba Kuai Lai App, completely cutting off the possibility of using it as a social software, causing the app's popularity and traffic to plummet, and the many promotional expenses spent before were all wasted.

He originally planned to take the opportunity to completely fail this project, but he never expected that telling the investors the truth would attract more than seven million in investment.

He couldn't persuade them, so Pei Qian had no choice but to find a way to continue burning money!

As for how exactly it was burned, Pei Qian didn't know too well. He had to ask He Desheng about it as soon as possible.

Soon, Pei Qian arrived at Yuanmeng Ventures and raised his questions to He Desheng.

He Desheng seemed to be prepared and answered President Pei's questions fluently.

"This money was mainly spent in three aspects."

"The first is the development of other functions of the App. Currently, the App only supports offline meetings. After developing new functions, it will allow study gods and study scum to open camera video to explain questions. It can also embed a question bank to search for correct answers and explanations by taking pictures, making the function richer and the target audience wider."

"The second is publicity."

"The last is subsidies, so that study scum spend less money and study gods earn more."

"The good news is that under our promotion, the Shared Study God App has taken root in first-tier cities with abundant educational resources such as the Imperial Capital, the Magic Capital, and the City of Goats, and the daily active users are rising steadily!"

Pei Qian interrupted decisively: "I don't want to hear good news, just tell me the bad news."

"Uh…" He Desheng originally had a series of good news to say later, but President Pei's words blocked him, and he felt a little uncomfortable.

"The bad news is that the current model may be a bit unsustainable. I'm afraid that after the heat passes, it will not be sustainable and there will only be a mess left."

"In fact, the current model of the Xue Ba Kuai Lai App has aroused widespread discussion, and there are many voices that are not optimistic about it."

Huh?

Voices that are not optimistic?

Then I definitely have to listen!

While listening, Pei Qian searched for relevant discussions about the Xue Ba Kuai Lai App on his mobile phone.

As a result, after a little search, he found that there were indeed many discussions, but there were not many "voices that were not optimistic"!

"Xue Ba Kuai Lai: A New Direction for Educational Software!"

"Xue Ba Kuai Lai Revamp, Eliminating Possible Security Risks, This Move Must Be Praised!"

"Xue Ba Kuai Lai, Knowledge Sharing is on the Way!"

Pei Qian glanced at it and felt his heart beat faster and cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

"Where are the voices that are not optimistic? This is clearly a rave review?" Pei Qian asked in confusion.

He Desheng quickly explained: "Oh, President Pei, most of the reports you see have been paid for, and some of the discussions are also from water armies we hired. Part of the seven million was spent on this…"

"President Pei, this idea was not mine! It was requested by other investors…"

He Desheng knew that President Pei didn't like this kind of publicity, so he decisively shifted the blame.

Pei Qian breathed a sigh of relief. It turned out that so many people were praising it because they were bought with water armies, which scared me.

I thought so many people really gave this project a good review!

Since this heat is all a false image hyped up by spending money, there is no need to worry so much.