Losing Money to Become a Tycoon: Starting with Games
Chapter 384: What Are You Painting?
After hanging up the phone, Pei Qian found Ruan Guangjian's phone number.
But before calling, on a whim, Pei Qian searched the keyword "Shared Phone Booth" on Qiandu.
Very quickly, a lot of search results popped up, many of them from local forums, Tieba, and Weibo users in Jingzhou.
"Someone actually came up with a genius startup idea today—Shared Phone Booth! Just scan the code and you can go in and make a call!"
"Are you crazy? If you're using your phone to scan a code, why not just use your phone to make the call?"
"I'm dying of laughter. I even took a photo with it. Feels like performance art. [Photo]"
"This crappy phone booth is pretty big, but why does it look handmade? Is this really an industrial product? The details aren't very refined."
"So this is… paid imprisonment? And people can watch you through the glass?"
Pei Qian skimmed through the comments and felt much more at ease.
See? The public has sharp eyes!
Since this phone booth was so unpopular and so unprofitable, he'd just have Ruan Guangjian paint a few more and turn it into a purely public-interest cultural symbol.
Mm, wonderful!
With that thought, Pei Qian dialed Ruan Guangjian's number.
…
…
January 10th, Monday.
Ruan Guangjian temporarily wrapped up his work at Shangyang Games. After giving revision feedback to both the in-house art team and the outsourced art team, he went to a nearby art supply market to buy brushes, paints, and other essential materials, then headed to Huanyu Sky Street.
Since it was Monday, the mall wasn't too crowded.
Even so, quite a few people were still taking photos next to the Shared Phone Booth.
Probably because the ridiculous "Shared Phone Booth" news had spread yesterday, and many people had come specifically to see it.
As soon as Ruan Guangjian stepped off the escalator, a muscular man with long hair came up to greet him.
"Master! Hello, hello!"
"Master, you're so young! Very different from what I imagined."
Zhang Wang had been waiting there for a while. When he saw Ruan Guangjian carrying various painting supplies, he immediately knew this was the artist President Pei had invited.
However, judging by his appearance, Ruan Guangjian didn't look like the stereotypical artist Zhang Wang had imagined—no long hair, no beard, no earrings, piercings, or tattoos. He looked clean-cut, like an ordinary student.
On the contrary, Zhang Wang himself, with his flowing long hair, fit the public's image of an artist much better.
Ruan Guangjian looked at the Shared Phone Booth. It looked the same as in the photos, though seeing it in person made it feel bigger.
After examining the booth from top to bottom, Zhang Wang asked expectantly, "Master, about how long would a painting like this take?"
Ruan Guangjian thought for a moment. "That can't be generalized."
"Painting is a creative job, and the time varies greatly. If it's a simple oil painting, and the subject has already been conceptualized in advance, and the painter is skilled, it might take only ten hours or so."
"But if a master is creating a high-level oil painting, it could take one year, three years, five years—there's no upper limit."
"That includes the time for selecting the subject, creating, and revising. There's no ceiling."
Zhang Wang quickly said, "Three to five years? That definitely won't be necessary. Just paint something casually. Master, if it's too good, I'd even worry someone might steal it."
"After all, this phone booth can be dismantled."
"But the mall security will be keeping an eye on it, so that's unlikely, haha."
Zhang Wang made a dry joke, but Ruan Guangjian didn't quite catch the humor.
However, at least one thing was clear: this painting definitely didn't need to be extremely detailed. It didn't have to be treated as a top-tier masterpiece.
That said, he couldn't paint it too carelessly either. After all, President Pei was generous and a kindred spirit. How could he shortchange President Pei?
Ruan Guangjian thought for a moment. "I heard this is just the first one? There are twenty phone booths in total to be painted?"
Zhang Wang nodded. "That's right. The others are still in production."
Ruan Guangjian examined the dimensions of the area available for painting on the booth and asked, "Have you thought about what theme to paint?"
Zhang Wang shook his head vigorously, the very picture of having no opinion. "Nope! It's entirely up to you, Master!"
Ruan Guangjian considered carefully. "Hmm… There are twenty paintings to do, and each one won't be a small workload."
"This one is nearly two meters tall. The workload is at least three to four times that of an ordinary oil painting."
"Even if I use my own style and don't fuss too much over details, it'll still take at least three to four days to finish one."
"And that's assuming I'm very familiar and skilled with the subject I'm painting."
"Besides, this phone booth is a project invested in by President Pei. The theme should, more or less, have some connection to President Pei's company, right?"
"Looking at it that way, there don't seem to be many suitable subjects…"
"Got it!"
A flash of inspiration struck Ruan Guangjian.
He could paint the original character art of GOG's heroes!
As it happened, the first batch of GOG heroes numbered more than twenty, and all their original illustrations had already been completed.
Ruan Guangjian himself had designed and finalized those character artworks. They had gone through repeated revisions. Painting them again would be second nature.
Moreover, these illustrations belonged to Tengda Group's new game, and this phone booth was also an industry invested in by President Pei. The connection between the two was very close.
Compared to traditional oil painting subjects, hero illustrations would feel more relatable and interesting to the young people shopping at the mall.
The more Ruan Guangjian thought about it, the more suitable it seemed.
The only thing that needed adjustment was the specific style of presentation.
Originally, GOG's character illustrations were highly detailed and concrete, because the modelers needed to create in-game models based on them. If certain areas were painted vaguely, the modelers would have to fill in the details themselves.
But the paintings here could be treated more like concept art or promotional illustrations, so they could afford to be more artistic.
Ruan Guangjian planned to use his own style and apply a thick-paint technique. On one hand, this would blur out some of the finer details and save time; on the other hand, it would enhance the artistic quality and make the paintings more eye-catching.
With that decided, Ruan Guangjian prepared to get to work.
As for which GOG hero to paint for the first illustration…
Did that even require consideration?
…
In the office, Pei Qian let out a yawn.
There were less than three months left until settlement time.
Many projects were running simultaneously. By next week, the movie should officially wrap filming, and a rough cut would likely be ready before the end of the month. As for GOG, judging from the current progress, an internal beta version should be ready by the end of the month for a test run.
Over at the haunted house, finishing everything was definitely impossible. The two largest projects might not even be completed before this settlement. However, among the smaller subprojects of the second major project, one or two should be ready by the end of the month.
When the time came, he'd let Ruan Guangjian experience them first and dampen his enthusiasm a bit!
In short, after checking his schedule, Pei Qian realized this week should be relatively free compared to the upcoming weeks. He had to seize the time to read and review.
What if Old Ma managed to pass on his own merits, while he had to rely on spending money to pass? Wouldn't that be humiliating?
And then there was Tang Yishu. Apart from cleaning up after the cats, feeding them, and taking care of them, she spent her time quietly reading at her desk every day. Getting a scholarship would probably be effortless for her.
Pei Qian couldn't help but sigh. "If only I could pay someone to study on my behalf."
While lamenting, Pei Qian realized another half hour had passed. He hurriedly opened his notes and started reviewing.
He had studied for less than an hour when someone knocked on the door.
Pei Qian looked up—it was Ma Yiqun.
"Is something the matter?" Being interrupted during study time made Pei Qian slightly annoyed, but he also knew Ma Yiqun didn't come by often. If he came, it must be for something important, so he didn't say much more.
Ma Yiqun said, "Here's the situation, President Pei. Terminal Chinese Web has made another profit during this period."
Pei Qian: "???"
Can you stop secretly making money out of nowhere every time? Can't you at least give me some psychological preparation in advance?
Pei Qian had originally thought this week would be relatively relaxed, but now something else had cropped up.
Since its establishment, Terminal Chinese Web had gone through several stages of development and had now finally turned losses into profits.
At first, they increased the full-attendance bonus and protected the rights of lower-tier writers; Later, they provided subsidies to mid-tier authors, allowing them to earn income on par with premium authors on Infinite Chinese Web;
And after that, they collaborated with Turn Back Before It's Too Late, unified Tengda Group accounts, and redirected a large number of Tengda's game players to the website.
After this period of operation, the site's traffic had grown. Although the overall scale of the website and the income of its top authors still couldn't compare with Infinite Chinese Web, at least the mid- and lower-tier authors were living fairly comfortably.
Thus, how to spend the money they had earned became a question.
"No need to hand it over. Just spend it yourselves," Pei Qian said casually, following his principle of "whoever causes it, fixes it; whoever earns it, spends it," and gave a rather perfunctory instruction in response to Ma Yiqun's report.
"Ah, alright, President Pei." Ma Yiqun had already expected this reaction. But what President Pei said was one thing; how he actually acted was another.
Even knowing that President Pei would most likely allow the website to reinvest the money into its own development, the approval process still couldn't be skipped.
After all, this involved a sum of funds—unlike previous joint promotional events.
If it were something like the earlier collaboration with Turn Back Before It's Too Late, Ma Yiqun, as the person in charge of the website, could make the decision himself since it didn't cost much.
"Wait."
Just as Ma Yiqun was about to turn and leave, President Pei called him back.
Pei Qian asked casually, "What are you planning to spend the money on?"
Originally, he hadn't intended to interfere in these matters. But he suddenly realized that perhaps he couldn't afford not to…
If Ma Yiqun were allowed to spend freely, who could guarantee he'd waste the money on something useless?
So Pei Qian decided to ask a couple more questions.
Ma Yiqun smiled. "President Pei, I've thought it through."
"Right now, our website is quite attractive to mid- and lower-tier authors. We've also drawn in a number of loyal Tengda Group game players. The gaming section is very active, forming a kind of 'self-contained niche community.'"
"I think the key issue at the moment is that we lack top-tier authors!"
"So I'm thinking of using this money to poach a few top-tier authors from Infinite Chinese Web who aren't too satisfied with their current situation, especially those in niche categories who are capable but not highly valued."
"It might be hard to poach the true 'great gods,' but those making thirty to fifty thousand a month who can't quite break into that top tier—if we're willing to spend, we should still be able to bring a few over."
Pei Qian fell silent.
It sounded extremely reasonable!
Indeed, the biggest problem Terminal Chinese Web faced right now was its low ceiling. It didn't have a breakout hit that could generate buzz across the entire internet.
Lower- and mid-tier authors were doing fairly well, but the site's ability to create star authors was basically zero.
If they could strategically poach a few promising writers, pick the book with the best data, and then pour all their platform-wide resources into aggressively promoting it…
Terminal Chinese Web might actually take another step forward!
Thinking of this, Pei Qian cleared his throat lightly and said, "Not appropriate."
"True top-tier authors rely on solid strength and good works to gather readers, not on forcibly stacking platform resources to manufacture fame."
"If we poach authors from other sites, we'd definitely have to offer high-priced buyout contracts. For the authors, changes in environment and readership might prevent them from maintaining their previous popularity. And for the website, high-priced buyouts have poor cost-effectiveness, and the returns are hard to guarantee."
"If we sign them on a buyout and then demand their book's performance meet certain targets, that would be a bit rogue. From a moral standpoint, it wouldn't really hold up. And it wouldn't be very attractive to the authors either."
"In short, I'm not saying this approach is wrong, it just doesn't align with Terminal Chinese Web's development direction."
"In my opinion, it would be better to continue spending this money on mid- and lower-tier authors. If we want to create star writers, we can cultivate them from our own author base. Why insist on poaching from other platforms?"
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