Chapter 71 The Hard Life

July 13th, Friday.

In his office, Pei Qian looked over the work summaries sent by each department, sighing.

So difficult!

This week had been exceptionally challenging.

The subway incident on Monday was a heavy blow, forcing Pei Qian to stay home for two days just to recover.

Then came the Summer Sale, which ended on Wednesday.

Pei Qian could only describe this Summer Sale with four words: utterly boring!

He had planned a good fight with Finger Company, but they unexpectedly refused to engage.

This made Tengda appear rather one-sided.

To make matters worse, he received bad news from that side as well. Eric had come by to say goodbye and should now be back at the Dayak Group headquarters, his future uncertain.

Pei Qian couldn't help but feel a sense of shared misfortune.

What troubled him most was that he still hadn't used the mysterious reward from the system!

During the last settlement, the system granted him a reward allowing him to spend up to 100,000 of his personal wealth to generate 100 times that amount in rebates, a permanent option available each cycle.

In other words, when necessary, Pei Qian could directly spend 100,000 yuan from his own pocket to unconditionally give away 10 million yuan to users.

Pei Qian had intended to use this reward during the key moment of the money-burning war with Finger Company.

Imagine Finger Company attacking fiercely, both sides desperately lowering discount rates, locked in a stalemate.

Then, Tengda suddenly throws out ten million, giving it away for free. What grandeur that would be!

It would definitely scare Finger Company.

But now there was no opportunity. His opponent had already decided to withdraw from the battlefield. Who could he even give this allowance to?

Of course, it couldn't be wasted. If he really couldn't find a way to spend the money, he could use this method to forcefully spend ten million yuan at the end.

But it still felt a little underwhelming.

After that, bad news came from Qidian Chinese Network.

Since the development plan for *Eternal Reincarnation* was announced, the copyright development plan for the Inspiration Class had inevitably spread.

Recently, a large number of authors had joined Qidian Chinese Network, bringing in a surge of new writers, and even many authors who had done well on other novel websites had also jumped ship.

This copyright development plan inadvertently created a "thousand gold to buy a horse's bone" effect!

What was most important to authors?

First and foremost, of course, were readers, subscriptions, and royalties. They needed to be able to support themselves so they could continue writing.

But there was another point not to be underestimated: the higher, seemingly illusory copyright development!

For a book, copyright development transcended subscription data because it allowed a story to transform, turning words into images.

Whether it was a web series, anime, film, or game, the expressiveness and visibility would be much greater than simple text.

For an author, the opportunity to have their work adapted for copyright was extremely rare, regardless of whether it was successful or not.

Many classic works were excellent but never had the chance for copyright development, which was a pity.

And seeing that a work of the level of *Eternal Reincarnation* could be officially developed by Tengda and become a DLC for the classic game *Repent and Be Saved*, many authors were envious.

Writing a fan fiction that becomes the officially appointed canonical sequel was too fortunate!

Many authors thought, "With that level, I could probably do it too, right?"

Moreover, even if it wasn't successful, the buyout fee given by Qidian Chinese Network's Inspiration Class was not low, guaranteeing a comfortable life.

As a result, Qidian Chinese Network's position in the online literature circle was further enhanced!

Pei Qian was worried again.

It seemed he would have to find a way to make the copyright adaptations of these three works fail next cycle.

On the one hand, it was to lose money, and on the other hand, it was to dissuade authors from other sites!

Otherwise, if authors kept running to his site, and there were more and more good works, readers would naturally come too. This was self-evident.

In addition, there was the matter of the VR glasses at Chixing Studio.

On Thursday, yesterday, Pei Qian checked the online sentiment again and felt that the time was ripe.

So, he contacted Chixing Studio and officially started selling DoubtVR glasses.

But he placed strict restrictions on the number of sales, selling only twice a week, with only 1000 units each time.

Although VR was a niche product, and not many players were willing to spend money to buy it, this number was clearly far from meeting market demand.

And this was exactly the effect Pei Qian wanted to achieve.

Currently, the mainstream opinion online about DoubtVR glasses was very unfavorable. Regardless of the actual quality of the glasses, most people's negative evaluations focused on "marketing," "hype," and "buying water armies."

Moreover, due to the special nature of VR glasses, *Animal Island* wasn't released, and streamers couldn't let the audience understand the awesomeness of these glasses through live broadcasts.

Many streamers had a previous history, so when they praised the VR glasses, they were thought to be paid.

This sale still strictly limited the quantity, so that only a small portion of netizens who were paying attention to the glasses could buy the real thing.

That way, even if many netizens who bought the real thing changed their minds about the glasses and went online to say that the glasses were very good, others still wouldn't believe it.

In this way, he could maximize the duration of this negative publicity, while also using hunger marketing to further stimulate netizens' resentment, making the reverse publicity effect even better.

Of course, he couldn't keep dragging it on like this.

The settlement was at the end of this month. He had to officially release these products a month in advance, and *Animal Island VR* also had to be launched.

After all, Chixing Studio had already completed the game development. If he delayed the launch for a week, Pei Qian could explain that he wanted them to test more and fix bugs, but delaying it any longer wouldn't be appropriate.

In short, Pei Qian's goal was to drag it out until the 18th, which was next Wednesday, so that Meng Chang could get his base commission.

Life, why is it so difficult!

Pei Qian leaned back in his chair, his mind blank, not knowing what to say.

After a few minutes, there was a knock on the office door.

"Come in."

Pei Qian looked up and was stunned.

It was Lu Zhi Yao who had come.

Although Lu Zhi Yao was wearing a baseball cap and a mask, completely covering his face, Pei Qian recognized him at first glance, after so many collaborations.

Lu Zhi Yao took off his hat and glasses, his face radiant. "President Pei!"

Pei Qian was a little surprised. "What brings you here?"

Lu Zhi Yao smiled. "Oh, it's just that my schedule recently freed up, and there's nothing going on."

"I was thinking, the movie *Mission and Choice* will be off the screens tomorrow, and it's a Saturday. Next Friday will be the 20th…"

"I thought I'd invite Uncle Zhang and some other old friends to Jingzhou to play, and freeload a meal!"

"I heard that Jingzhou has added a snack market and Tengda experience stores, and the subway is going to be built there too? President Pei, congratulations!"

Pei Qian: "…"

Coming to freeload a meal so confidently was simply shameless!

After all, they had collaborated for so long, and Lu Zhi Yao had already figured out the routine.

He discovered that President Pei always treated them to a meal when the movie was finished and wrapped, and he also treated them to a meal when they gathered after the movie was taken off the screens.

Moreover, President Pei usually arranged private rooms on Saturdays and Sundays every month, and he arranged a full-service meal on the 20th.

Counting the days, it was the right time!

The movie was taken off the screens on the weekend, so they could have a meal. They could play in Jingzhou for a week, and then have another meal on the 20th.

Perfect!

At the thought of the food at the nameless restaurant, Lu Zhi Yao couldn't help but drool.

And there was nothing to be embarrassed about.

Lu Zhi Yao felt that he was the lead actor in *Mission and Choice*, and the movie's box office had been squeezed to 1.6 billion at the last moment, breaking a record. President Pei must have earned at least 500 million, right?

What was wrong with freeloading a meal from President Pei!

Wasn't that reasonable and confident?

Hearing the five words *Mission and Choice*, Pei Qian felt a headache again.

It was taken off the screens. It was finally over!

Although the key extension of two months had slightly increased the box office, it was a necessary choice for Pei Qian.

Because after the extension, the movie's box office revenue would definitely be returned in the next cycle.

If it wasn't extended, with the extremely fast revenue collection speed of this world, what if an extra 500 million suddenly appeared before the settlement?

He would probably have to accept the 500,000 yuan profit conversion with tears in his eyes.

Not only was the amount 400,000 yuan less than the 800,000 or 900,000 yuan of loss conversion, but the important mystery reward that could be obtained with a wealth conversion value of over 800,000 would also be gone.

That would be a huge loss!

In any case, that was that.

This nightmare was finally over.

Lu Zhi Yao sat down on the sofa very familiarly and poured himself a cup of tea. "President Pei, what are you filming next? I can't wait!"

Pei Qian almost rolled his eyes in anger.

Film your head!

Are you addicted to it!

You are the ones who earn me the most money and cause the most trouble!

Lu Zhi Yao was indeed addicted. Where could he find such a good thing that became popular with every film he made?

If he knew that the film would definitely be a hit before filming, then the whole crew would probably be eager to start work immediately. Who could be patient?

And filming with President Pei was that kind of feeling.

No matter how they filmed, it was a win-win situation in terms of both box office and word-of-mouth!

Pei Qian said, "There won't be any in the short term. Flying Huang Workshop's next work is a web series, and it will be filmed abroad. There are no suitable roles for you."

Lu Zhi Yao was immediately unhappy. He put down his teacup. "How can there be no suitable roles for me? My foreign language is also very good. Just arrange a Chinese role for me, right?"

Pei Qian patiently advised, "The main characters have already been decided. They are all foreigners. Even if I arrange a Chinese role for you, it can only be a small supporting role, running errands."

Pei Qian felt that Lu Zhi Yao was only one heavyweight award away from becoming an actor. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that he was the most popular actor in the country now. The crews that invited you to be the lead actor should be lined up, right?

Leaving so many films unmade and following Flying Huang Workshop to film a web series? And only playing a supporting role?

If you were to do that, wouldn't your brain be flooded?

However, Lu Zhi Yao said seriously, "What's wrong with a supporting role? I have never looked down on supporting roles!"

"I won't say anything else. No matter what the subject of this web series is, no matter what kind of supporting role it is, I'm playing it!"

"President Pei, don't be embarrassed to ask. I'm not an ungrateful person!"

Lu Zhi Yao had obviously misunderstood.

He felt that President Pei didn't ask because he must have felt that his status was too high to let him play a supporting role in a web series. He was a little embarrassed.

So Lu Zhi Yao had to make it clear. With his relationship with Flying Huang Workshop, what did a supporting role matter? He had to help with this!

Without hesitation!

Pei Qian looked at Lu Zhi Yao, speechless.

What a mess!

He really wanted to post online now.

The actor has to run errands for me, even if I drive him away, what should I do? Online waiting, very urgent!