Losing Money to Become a Tycoon: Starting with Games
Chapter 413: New Year's Blessings
February 2nd, Lunar New Year's Eve.
Pei Qian lay sprawled on the sofa, boredly playing with his phone.
His parents were also staring at their phone screens—snatching red envelopes and sending voice messages to exchange New Year greetings.
The smartphone technology in this world had advanced very quickly, far beyond what Pei Qian remembered. A few years ago, people still relied on phone calls and text messages to send holiday greetings. But in the past couple of years, everything had shifted to sending red envelopes through mobile phones.
The red envelopes sent by the elderly were usually just a few yuan, rarely exceeding fifty—more about the gesture than the amount.
After Pei Qian came home, the new clothes and new computer had indeed raised his parents' suspicions. Fortunately, he had already prepared an explanation in advance.
Although the explanation wasn't perfect, there had been some groundwork laid earlier. His parents already knew that he worked at Feihuang Studio, and the studio had indeed been doing quite well recently, so he managed to muddle through the questioning.
After all, most people tend to exaggerate their positions and income when bragging. His parents would never imagine that he was deliberately underreporting his…
So his parents didn't dwell much on the money issue. Instead, they were more concerned about the apartment.
Even though Pei Qian had repeatedly emphasized that the apartment was bought for them, his parents clearly had no intention of accepting it as their own. Instead, they wanted to turn the place into their son's future wedding home.
Pei Qian had no choice but to give up arguing.
Whatever.
It seemed like buying just one apartment wasn't enough. He'd probably have to buy another one before his parents would feel comfortable living in it…
What a mess.
"Forget it. I'll just keep working harder and lose more money this cycle!"
With that thought in mind, Pei Qian played on his phone while half-heartedly watching the Spring Festival Gala.
He had already forgotten what the 2011 Spring Festival Gala programs were, but after watching a few performances, he was fairly certain he had never seen these ones before.
The programs were different, the celebrities were different, but the boredom felt exactly the same!
Sure enough, people in the group chats had already started complaining that this year's gala was boring.
Pei Qian, however, was long used to it. Because he knew that it wasn't just the 2011 gala that was boring—every future gala would only get more boring year after year…
While he was idly scrolling through his phone, a message suddenly popped up. It was from Chang You of OTTO Technology.
"President Pei, thank you for your support over the past year. In the new year, I hope Tengda Group will flourish, make more and more money! I also hope OTTO Technology's phones will sell like crazy—soon surpass Shenhua and acquire Pineapple!"
When Pei Qian read this message, his expression immediately darkened.
What does this mean?!
Chang You—are you cursing me during the New Year?
But immediately afterward, his phone made a "clatter" sound.
A red envelope!
Pei Qian's eyes lit up, and he quickly tapped to open it.
1,000 yuan!
"President Chang is generous!"
"Hiring him back then was definitely the right decision!"
Pei Qian was delighted and instantly forgot his earlier displeasure. He quickly replied:
"Happy New Year, President Chang!"
Just as he finished replying, the sounds of incoming red envelopes kept popping up one after another.
"Happy New Year, President Pei!"
"Wishing President Pei to become even more handsome in the new year!"
"Happy New Year! May everything go smoothly!"
"Wishing President Pei a successful career and great wealth in the coming year!"
Some of the blessings were pleasant to hear, while others weren't quite so pleasing. But President Pei wasn't a petty person—he wouldn't judge employees based on how good their New Year wishes were.
Of course, he judged them based on how big their red envelopes were.
Pei Qian noticed that the older employees clearly understood the rules better. People like Chang You, Zhang Yuan, and Wu Bin all sent red envelopes—some with 500 yuan, some with 1,000.
Meanwhile, the younger employees—like Lu Mingliang and Ma Yiqun—basically sent symbolic amounts like 188 yuan, just for the lucky number.
Maybe they thought that no matter how much they sent, President Pei wouldn't care anyway…
But the most infuriating New Year message came from Huang Sibo:
"President Pei doesn't lack money, so I won't follow the cliché of sending a red envelope! Next year I'll keep working hard and continue contributing my light and heat to Tengda Group!"
After reading this message, Pei Qian almost wanted to fire Huang Sibo on the spot.
Just listen to that—does that even sound like something a human would say?!
He actually said "President Pei doesn't lack money," and even added "I'll keep working hard next year"!
A provocation! This was blatant provocation!
But after thinking about it again, it was New Year's after all, so Pei Qian decided to forgive him.
Just as he was typing a reply, another New Year message arrived.
Lin Wan:
"In the new year, I'll continue to rely on President Pei's guidance! Although the progress of both the games and the phones isn't going very smoothly right now, please rest assured, President Pei—I'll do everything in my power to complete the tasks! In the new year, under President Pei's wise leadership, I will definitely keep working hard!"
Clatter! — Transfer: 8,888 yuan.
Immediately afterward, Lin Chang's message arrived as well.
Compared to Lin Wan's long message, Lin Chang's was much simpler:
"President Pei, just a little tea money!"
Clatter! — Transfer: 18,888 yuan.
Pei Qian grinned from ear to ear.
What do you call brothers? What do you call friends?
This is it!
President Lin was incredibly generous!
At that moment, Pei Qian almost didn't want Lin Wan to leave anymore.
If she went back, would she still send red envelopes like this during holidays?
But then he thought again—no, wait. Lin Chang sent even more.
Pei Qian accepted the transfers at lightning speed and replied to them one by one.
To Lin Wan:
"Happy New Year! You worked too hard last year. Next year you must get some proper rest—don't push yourself so much! I'm approving another ten days of paid leave for you. You must take every single day of it!"
To Lin Chang:
"Don't worry, President Lin. Once the New Year passes, I'll definitely arrange that matter for you perfectly!"
Send red envelopes back?
Impossible.
A red envelope is just a gesture of goodwill. If we keep sending them back and forth, it'd feel like those endless polite refusals between aunts and uncles during visits.
Is that something young people in the new century do?
Besides, President Pei already gives out tons of bonuses and benefits normally. The amount of money he gives away is enormous—so what's wrong with receiving a few hundred or a few thousand from them now?
Of course, the real reason was that the system wouldn't reimburse red envelope expenses…
With the pitiful amount of personal money President Pei had on hand, if he sent red envelopes at Lin Chang's level, he'd go bankrupt after just a few people.
And if he only sent 100 or 200 yuan, it wouldn't match President Pei's status.
So it was simpler not to send any at all.
Anyway, no one would think President Pei was stingy.
Soon, messages from others arrived as well.
Assistant Xin:
"Wishing President Pei family happiness and peace! In the new year, I hope the brilliance of the Tengda Group spirit can spread to every department!" (Red envelope: 666 yuan)
Tang Yishu:
"Senior, in the new year I hope the new foods you try always taste better than you imagined. I hope you never forget the wonderful dreams you've had. I hope your mood is always like a Friday afternoon. And I hope you can always stay as innocent and happy as a child!" (Red envelope: 999 yuan)
Pei Qian was delighted.
Just look at Assistant Xin's awareness!
She clearly understood that what he cared about most was not whether Tengda Group made money—but whether everyone could better appreciate the Tengda Group spirit!
And that 666-yuan red envelope was quite generous too.
As for Little Tang, the blessing was really thoughtful. Considering her situation, 999 yuan was already a very big gesture.
For once, Pei Qian made an exception and sent Tang Yishu a 999-yuan red envelope in return, replying:
"Thank you! Just a small token—take it and use it to help with household expenses."
Red envelopes kept pouring in one after another—so many that Pei Qian could barely keep up with opening them.
Along with his happiness, he also felt a sense of relief.
All the care he'd shown these employees hadn't been for nothing!
After giving them so many benefits throughout the year, they finally remembered President Pei's kindness when the New Year arrived!
President Pei had handed out so many perks—now he was finally seeing some of that money come back!
There were also red envelopes from many other people: Ma Yang, Ruan Guangjian, Qiao Liang, Zhu Xiaoce, Lin Canrong, Li Shi—
There were simply too many, with different amounts.
Among them, the biggest one came from President Li—he sent 10,000 yuan in a single shot. Others sent amounts ranging from a few dozen to a few hundred.
But President Pei didn't mind.
Anyone who sent a red envelope was a good comrade!
After collecting all of them and counting, he realized that just from New Year red envelopes alone, he had received more than 60,000 yuan.
He was busy replying to wave after wave of New Year greetings until after ten at night before he finally managed to respond to them all.
Rubbing his slightly sore shoulders, Pei Qian couldn't help sighing—how nice it would be if Assistant Xin could help him reply to all these messages at times like this.
But when he turned his head, he saw his parents still busy grabbing red envelopes.
"Hurry, hurry! Your second uncle just sent another 200-yuan red envelope—I grabbed five yuan!"
"I'll send a 50-yuan one now. Watch carefully—grab it quickly."
"I got one yuan!"
"That little? Your luck is terrible!"
"One yuan is still money, okay?"
Pei Qian silently shook his head.
Ah… the elderly have their own kind of happiness too.
After most of the red envelopes were opened, Pei Qian lay back on the sofa with nothing much to do. He opened the Terminal Chinese Web app, planning to randomly pick a novel to pass the time.
After scrolling casually, he happened to see the final author's note that Cui Geng had just posted a few hours ago.
"Hm?"
"Isn't this the book by that 'promising youngster'?"
"Well, it really is time for it to end!"
Pei Qian was delighted.
That Cui Geng had announced the completion of the novel right after receiving Tengda Group spirit education. A little over a week later, the book was officially finished.
Calling it "finished" was a bit generous, though—the novel only reached a little over 800,000 words.
It could also be said that he might have hesitated before, but after receiving the position of "Special Observer," he decisively wrapped it up!
Look at that—what decisiveness!
Pei Qian opened the author's note and glanced at the comments below.
"The Pigeon Spirit strikes again! Ending at 800k words—if this isn't a rushed ending, what is?!"
"Please be accurate. It's 830k words, thank you."
"Remove all the filler and it's barely 400k!"
"I think it's okay. Most of the earlier plot holes were filled and the story feels complete."
"The reason authors keep getting away with rushed endings is because readers like you have such low standards! I propose we permanently boycott this Pigeon Spirit. I'm never reading his new book!"
"Exactly! And what's this new book even called? 'The Butterfly Game'? Sounds like a flop already! Definitely not reading it!"
New book?
Pei Qian immediately became alert.
Looking closer, there really was a new book announcement beneath the author's note!
It was titled "The Butterfly Game," and it was an urban/modern setting novel.
But almost none of the readers were paying attention to the new book announcement. Everyone was busy criticizing Cui Geng for the rushed ending.
That made sense.
After all, Cui Geng's current novel was a fantasy story, so naturally most of his readers were fantasy fans. They had little interest in an urban-themed new book.
Not only had it failed to bring many readers to the new novel, but quite a few people had even gone to the new book's comment section just to warn others away—saying the author was unreliable and that no one should fall into the trap.
Pei Qian had originally been a little worried, but seeing readers scolding the author everywhere instantly reassured him.
"Looks like I was worrying too much."
"A leopard can't change its spots. This promising youngster used to be a famous pigeon on Terminal Chinese Web. Now that he has a fixed salary and benefits, do you think he'll suddenly settle down and write seriously?"
"Absolutely impossible!"
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