Losing Money to Become a Tycoon: Starting with Games
Chapter 409: The Spiritual Wealth Contained in the Tengda Group Spirit
After hanging up the phone, He Desheng looked at Pei Qian with a bitter expression.
"President Pei… there are still three investment companies left. Should we keep calling?"
"In such a short time, we've already talked over two million yuan worth of investment out of it…"
He Desheng felt this was simply unbelievable. Other people would scramble to accept investors rushing in with money, yet here they were turning the money away.
Just what exactly was President Pei trying to do?
Two or three million yuan had just vanished like smoke, yet Pei Qian remained expressionless. He calmly sipped his tea, and there was even a faint smile at the corner of his mouth.
"Keep calling!" Pei Qian felt that his strategy had worked.
Convince everyone to back out so they'd stop coming to cause trouble!
He Desheng had no choice but to call the next investment company.
"President Chen! Yes, this is He Desheng. I'd like to talk with you about the Top Student, Come Quickly app—"
He Desheng followed the same routine as before. First he briefly asked about the other party's opinion of the project, then he began extensively discussing the project's current problems and the risks that might exist in this round of investment.
President Chen on the other end listened silently, occasionally responding with "Mm," or "Ah."
After finishing everything, He Desheng quietly waited for the response.
After hearing all that, this President Chen would probably react like the previous bosses from other investment firms—saying they would "think about it again."
Finally, after a moment of contemplation, President Chen spoke.
"Alright, since that's the case… I'll increase my investment. Originally I planned to invest one million, but now I've decided to invest three million!"
"Pfft—!"
Pei Qian had just taken a sip of tea and nearly choked.
What the hell?!
Was this President Chen out of his mind?
After explaining so many problems, why would he want to add more money?
He Desheng was also stunned and didn't speak for a moment.
President Chen laughed on the other end of the phone.
"What? You're not happy that I'm increasing the investment?"
He Desheng quickly replied, "No, no, of course we're happy! It's just… why?"
President Chen laughed heartily.
"I've long heard President Li say that the boss of Tengda Group, President Pei, is a very interesting person. Many times he's able to put aside his own interests when doing things. I must say, that's admirable."
"This time is the same. Other companies looking for investment always exaggerate their projects to the skies. With even the tiniest bit of achievement, they brag as if they've reached heaven itself. As for the potential risks and problems? They keep silent—just trying to trick as much investment money as possible."
"But your company is completely different. Before accepting investment, you clearly explain all the pros and cons, the benefits and risks."
"It has the feeling of 'Jiang Taigong fishing—those willing will take the bait.'"
"Just based on this attitude alone, I think the management team behind this project is very responsible! They truly carry the style of President Pei!"
"So I'll invest three million. To be honest, what I'm optimistic about isn't your project, but you people. With a group of people like you who work so earnestly, any project you do can succeed!"
"And even if it doesn't succeed, that's fine. Venture investment always carries risks anyway, haha~"
He Desheng was deeply moved.
"Thank you, President Chen! When President Pei hears what you said, he'll certainly be very gratified!"
Pei Qian held his teacup and stared at the sky, momentarily speechless.
Great. The investments he had finally managed to scare away earlier had all been recovered from President Chen alone.
Encouraged, He Desheng continued calling the next investment company.
Among the remaining ones, one company remained unmoved and kept its original investment amount, while another also increased its investment.
In the end, after calculating everything, not only had the investment not decreased, it had actually increased by another 800,000 yuan.
After finishing the calls, He Desheng excitedly gave a thumbs-up.
"President Pei, this tactic of feigning capture while actually letting them take the bait—only those willing will bite—has truly opened my eyes!"
Pei Qian: "..."
He waved his hand weakly and asked, "So… how much investment has this project received now?"
He Desheng did a quick calculation.
"About seven million yuan, President Pei!"
Pei Qian stared blankly at the sky, completely speechless.
What kind of situation is this?!
I kindly tried to persuade you all to back out, and yet every single one of you refuses to take the hint!
Some of you even increased your investment? This is absolutely insane!
There's a road to heaven you refuse to take, yet you rush headlong into the gates of hell…
Since that's the case, don't blame me for being ruthless!
Pei Qian slammed his empty teacup onto the table and said through clenched teeth:
"Fine. If they all want to invest so badly, then let them!"
"We'll keep burning money until there isn't a single cent left!"
. . .
On the way back to the company, Pei Qian was still sulking.
Nothing was going smoothly!
The Shared Phone Booth project had already backfired.
The Shared Top Student looked uncertain at best.
During this time, Ma Yang had been busy with exams just like Pei Qian and had only recently finished.
But considering the current explosive popularity of IOI in Europe and America, along with the 35 million yuan that was practically given away for free, all thanks to Ma Yang's actions, Pei Qian felt he couldn't restore his trust in Old Ma just yet.
Thinking that Tengda Group was such a large company with thousands of employees, yet he couldn't find a single person he could truly trust… Pei Qian felt as if his heart were being cut by knives.
"Hmm? Right… how is Cui Geng doing now?"
Pei Qian suddenly thought of this notorious slacker of an author, like a drowning man grabbing onto a life-saving straw!
Pei Qian immediately took out his phone, opened the Terminal Chinese Web APP, and checked the update status of the authors in the training program.
After scrolling through it briefly, he noticed something.
The authors in the training class had a clear downward trend in their update volumes!
The most obvious decline was from Ming Yu, the so-called "model worker." Yesterday he only updated a little over 4,000 words, which was just one-third of his usual daily output!
The other authors' updates had also decreased to varying degrees, generally dropping by one to two thousand words.
As for Cui Geng himself, his output had fallen from 8,000–10,000 words per day to about 7,000.
A thousand fewer words per day might not seem like much, but online fiction accumulates over time!
A thousand less today, a thousand less tomorrow—how much less would that be over a year?
Not to mention that all the authors were locked in the "little black room" environment, with no entertainment activities at all. All they could do was write.
Under those circumstances, being able to reduce output by a thousand words, and even making a workaholic like Ming Yu cut his updates in half, was enough to show that Cui Geng's work had been extremely effective!
Pei Qian couldn't help but feel delighted.
He had indeed not misjudged this person!
As soon as Cui Geng returned to the training class, he brought with him the seed known as "slacking off," and it quickly spread to the other authors in the program.
The effect could be described as immediate and dramatic!
"A talent like this must be heavily utilized!"
Pei Qian could hardly wait to have Cui Geng spread this spirit to every department of Tengda Group!
. . .
Terminal Chinese Web Author Training Class
"So, Ming Yu, what insights did you gain from studying the Tengda Group spirit?" one of the authors asked curiously at the dining table.
The other authors also turned their heads, clearly interested.
Over the past two days, Ming Yu had paid quite a price in order to go to Tengda Group headquarters to study the Tengda spirit.
He had spent less than two hours writing 4,000 words of updates, and then used the remaining six hours to organize his outline and improve the world-building of his story.
Hard work paid off. In the end, Ming Yu successfully obtained the qualification to go to Tengda Group headquarters to study.
Most of the authors who had never been there before were very curious about this mysterious "Tengda Group Spirit Study Activity."
Ming Yu temporarily put down his chopsticks. His eyes were filled with a look of longing.
"How should I put it… it was completely different from what I imagined."
"After I arrived, a guy from the Human Resources Department personally led me to a game room and told me to play games there."
"In the game room, all kinds of entertainment facilities were available—high-end PCs, game consoles, comics, novels…"
The authors looked confused.
"That's it?"
Ming Yu shook his head.
"Of course not! The game room isn't the key point!"
"At first I didn't understand it, but now I get it. The game room is basically a mirror, a test."
"They use that test to roughly figure out your personality and the root of your problems first, and then guide you in a targeted way so you can understand the Tengda Group spirit in your own way."
The authors felt it sounded unbelievable.
"Seriously? I thought it would just be some kind of theoretical lecture…"
"So the Tengda Group spirit is actually pretty profound if it can even tailor its teaching to individuals?"
"Ming Yu, tell us—what did you do at the time?"
Ming Yu sighed emotionally.
"To be honest, I didn't think too much about it at the time. I just sat on the sofa, picked up a couple of books, and read for a bit. After about ten minutes, I realized something felt wrong."
"So I immediately went out and found the guy from HR."
"After that, the two of us had a long heart-to-heart conversation. He pointed out many of my problems and said that I 'seem hardworking on the surface, but in reality I'm not working hard at all.' He said I urgently needed to undergo the transformation brought by the Tengda Group spirit!"
Ming Yu fell into thought, as if recalling the moment.
"At that time, it felt like a bolt of lightning splitting through dark clouds—like suddenly waking from a dream!"
"Thinking about it carefully, it really is true. I update a huge number of words every day, more than most authors, but my results have never improved much. That's because I placed too much emphasis on quantity while neglecting quality!"
"These past few days, I deliberately slowed down my pace. I'm writing more slowly and producing fewer words, but the plot has received unanimous praise from readers!"
"All of this is the influence of the Tengda Group spirit!"
The authors had mixed expressions.
"Is it really that magical?"
"Both Brother Cui and Ming Yu had moments of enlightenment during this Tengda Group spirit training. Maybe it really does work!"
"I feel like it's probably just psychological suggestion. Tengda Group is a game company, and their corporate spirit is meant to push employees to work harder, right? How could it help with our novel writing?"
Some people remained skeptical.
Ming Yu shook his head with a serious expression.
"At first I also thought it was psychological suggestion, like maybe I was overthinking things. But after thinking it through carefully—it's not!"
"The Tengda Group spirit is completely different from the so-called corporate spirits promoted by other companies. For most companies, it's just a slogan—big, empty words meant to brainwash employees and squeeze as much labor out of them as possible."
"But the Tengda Group spirit is completely different!"
"The Tengda Group spirit encourages rest and entertainment, believing that rest and entertainment are even more important than work. They even enforce mandatory rest policies for employees who overwork themselves."
"And the Tengda Group spirit doesn't have clearly defined content. It won't be forcefully drilled into you. It's more like philosophy or Zen meditation—the main point is to guide people to reach their own understanding!"
"This approach can strengthen the correct ideas you already have while correcting the biased or mistaken ones. It can genuinely change the way you think!"
"That's because the Tengda Group spirit focuses more on discovering and cultivating employees' potential, rather than exhausting that potential through exploitation."
"This principle is actually consistent with the rules of online novel writing—or you could even say it applies universally everywhere!"
"It can even serve as a methodology to guide work in all kinds of industries. It can rise to the level of philosophy!"
After hearing Ming Yu's explanation, the authors all lowered their heads, deep in thought.
A moment later, someone let out a long sigh.
"That makes sense!"
"Alright, I'm going to see it myself and find out whether it's really that mysterious!"
"I'm going too!"
<+>
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