Losing Money to Become a Tycoon: Starting with Games
Chapter 397: Different People, Different Fates
The "patch" that Pei Qian applied naturally had a deeper meaning.
The training camp had already been running for a week. During this time, the authors ate and lived together. Everyone already had a tendency to be workaholics, and now their thinking had become highly unified.
Pei Qian wanted to lighten their workload, yet these people rejected the idea outright. It was clear that this problem couldn't be solved overnight.
So Pei Qian came up with a method—first, open up a breach!
Give the person who writes the most words, the most diligent one, a day off. Let him enjoy a whole day of fun without pressure, interrupt his state of creative momentum, and let him experience how wonderful it is to slack off like a salted fish.
As for the person who writes the least, let him experience the spirit of Tengda Group. In reality, he would be immersed in Tengda Group's entertainment-oriented atmosphere, which would further erode his motivation to write and make him even more of a slacker!
The one who writes the least was undoubtedly the biggest slacker among the authors—and therefore the perfect breakthrough point.
Bring him to the Tengda Group headquarters, treat him to good food and hospitality. After he returns, he will definitely tell the other authors about it.
Once the other authors learn that writing the least words earns them a trip to Tengda Group headquarters to eat, drink, and have fun, they will surely start competing to slack off and write less.
Over time, a large number of authors will gradually write less and less. This solid alliance of workaholics will naturally collapse without needing to attack it directly!
The more Pei Qian thought about it, the more he felt the plan was excellent—practically flawless.
…
Evening.
The crew of "A Better Tomorrow" finished their wrap-up dinner at Mingyun Private Kitchen, and the production officially came to an end.
Outside the villa, everyone was reluctant to part.
"President Pei, thank you so much for taking care of us during this time! If you ever need anything in the future, just contact me—I'll go through fire and water for you!"
"Thank you for the hospitality! That was the most delicious meal I've ever had!"
"If we come to Jingzhou again in the future, will President Pei welcome us?"
"Wishing the film huge box-office success!"
"President Pei, I know a few good distributors and some people in the cinema chains. If you need it, I can help introduce you."
Pei Qian bid farewell to everyone one by one and sincerely invited them to come visit anytime. He promised to host them properly.
After all, every time he treated guests, he could lose a bit more money.
Only the last suggestion was firmly rejected by Pei Qian.
"There's no need to worry about the film's promotion. I'll make the arrangements myself!"
Finally, everyone was sent off.
Pei Qian let out a long breath. There had really been a lot going on lately—just as one matter finished, another appeared.
Of course, the movie had only finished filming. He wouldn't truly feel at ease until it was released.
But that would be at least a month later, still quite far away.
Better focus on the present first.
Pei Qian thought somewhat gloomily:
"One thing at a time. First I'll deal with the Terminal Chinese Web issue, then I'll go take a look at Shared Top Student…"
"Huh? Feels like there's something I've been forgetting…"
"Oh right—Shared Phone Booth!"
Thinking of Shared Top Student reminded Pei Qian of something he had been meaning to check out but kept forgetting about.
The Shared Phone Booth!
Originally he should have gone to look at it on Monday, but there had been too many things happening this week—exams, hosting dinners, President Li coming to stir things up, and the unexpected complications on Ma Yiqun's website side.
So it slipped his mind.
"Five days… that shouldn't cause any major problems, right?"
Pei Qian thought about it. In five days, Ruan Guangjian would at most have time to design two phone booths. Including the original one, there would probably only be three booths in total.
What trouble could three phone booths possibly cause?
There shouldn't be any major issues.
Of course, just to be safe, he definitely needed to go take a look this week.
Pei Qian was afraid he might forget again this time, so he quickly wrote it down in his little notebook.
…
…
Friday, January 21.
Cui Geng got out of the car in the underground parking garage somewhat nervously. Together with the driver, he took the elevator up to the 16th floor of Shenhua Prestige.
Last night, he and Ming Yu had both posted leave notices.
However, the style of the reader comments beneath their leave notices was completely different.
Ming Yu's notice said that because he had written the most words in the training camp, he was specially granted one day of free activity, so there would be no update today. Tomorrow, the day after, and the day after that, he would update 15,000 words each day to make up for it.
The comments below were basically all cheering.
"Boss is awesome!"
"Have a good rest! Waiting for your massive updates!"
"Bring those one-update-per-day beasts here to learn properly!"
As for Cui Geng's leave notice, it didn't mention the specific reason. It only said he had something important and would be taking a day off.
Originally he had hoped to muddle through, but the readers' comments instantly pierced his heart.
"Oh no, you worked hard for a week and now you're skipping already? Not very durable!"
"You didn't even mention making up the updates! Truly living up to your reputation!"
"Did the kidnappers already receive the ransom and release you? Don't! Keep him tied up—we'll crowdfund whatever they ask!"
"Insider news from other author groups! Apparently the Pigeon King wrote the least words, so he's been taken away for ideological education, hahaha!"
"The one who wrote the least in the whole training camp? Sounds well-deserved!"
Feeling the starkly different treatment, Cui Geng let out a long sigh.
Ah… same people, different fates. Such unequal treatment!
When he takes a day off, he relaxes happily and the readers cheer.
But me? I'm being dragged to headquarters for ideological education—and getting mocked by readers on top of that.
This is unbearable!
Just as Cui Geng was thinking this, he heard a ding. The 17th floor had arrived.
He walked out of the elevator and came to the reception desk. After explaining his purpose to a pair of beautiful twin receptionists, someone soon came out to greet him and led him inside.
"Hello, my name is Wu Bin, from the Human Resources Department."
Wu Bin had a smile on his face, yet Cui Geng still felt a chill in his heart.
Human Resources Department!
As far as Cui Geng knew, many large companies nowadays treated their HR departments like the Eastern Depot or Jinyiwei—essentially internal secret police.
Today's "learning session" probably wouldn't be easy…
As a professional pigeon (a chronic update-skipper), Cui Geng felt immense pressure.
However, Wu Bin simply opened the door to an entertainment room.
"Please."
Cui Geng: "?"
He peeked inside and found a large TV, game consoles, piles of game discs, high-end computers, and even several large arcade machines.
Novels, comics, magazines… filled an entire wall.
It was hard to describe his first impression, but if he had to summarize it in one word, it would probably be…
Heaven.
Cui Geng looked at Wu Bin in confusion, a question mark practically appearing above his head.
What does this mean?
Give him a good meal before sending him on his way?
Just as he was about to ask, Wu Bin smiled and said:
"Please go in. This is President Pei's arrangement."
Hearing that it was President Pei's arrangement, Cui Geng relaxed a little.
As a well-known web novel author, Cui Geng had a very vivid imagination.
Just a moment ago, a scene from "Lu Zhishen accidentally entering the White Tiger Hall" had flashed through his mind.
But after thinking it over, the idea seemed ridiculous. The probability that President Pei would use such tricks to set him up was about the same as the probability that the guy in front of him was falsely conveying an imperial decree—both essentially zero.
Although he was still puzzled, no slacker could resist the temptation of this entertainment room.
So Cui Geng walked in without hesitation, sat down on the sofa, and picked up a controller.
Wu Bin thoughtfully helped close the door behind him.
Cui Geng: "…"
"Well… I have no idea what they're planning, but since I'm here, I might as well make the best of it…"
Cui Geng didn't bother thinking too much about it. He simply picked a game he liked and started playing.
After closing the door, Wu Bin returned to his workstation.
Today's task had been specifically assigned by President Pei.
As for the purpose behind it, Wu Bin didn't quite understand either.
President Pei had only instructed him to bring Cui Geng to the entertainment room, make sure lunch was provided at noon, and then leave everything else alone. Whether Cui Geng wanted to stay or leave, he was not to interfere at all.
He had only added one more instruction:
"If Cui Geng asks about the Tengda Group spirit, just give him a tiny hint."
…
10:00 a.m.
Pei Qian woke up naturally, sat up, and yawned.
Checking the time, Cui Geng should have already arrived at the company and be in the middle of receiving the influence of the Tengda Group spirit, right?
Yesterday Pei Qian had already arranged everything and asked Wu Bin to be responsible for receiving him.
In Pei Qian's opinion, Wu Bin had passed the Tengda Spirit Compatibility Test on his second attempt. Presumably, he must have considerable experience in slacking off and coasting.
Having Wu Bin bring Cui Geng to the game room to play games for the entire day—wasn't that hint obvious enough?
If Cui Geng still didn't understand, then Wu Bin could give him a slight nudge and subtly pass along some wisdom on how to slack off.
A double layer of insurance to ensure nothing could go wrong.
In short, when Cui Geng returned to the training camp, he would bring back a seed called "slacking off."
This seed would take root and sprout among all the authors.
It would make them compete with each other to set new lows in productivity, eventually dismantling the entire training camp from within…
Thinking of this, Pei Qian got out of bed and went to brush his teeth, feeling extremely pleased.
<+>
Tn: I updated the story daily, but if you want to see more chapter of this story ahead of time, please go to my Patreon.
Latest Chapter in Patreon: Chapter 468: Tengda Group Cornerstone Award[1]
Link to the latest chapter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/157991757?collection=1399284[2]
https://www.patreon.com/collection/1399284?view=expanded[3]
[1] https://www.patreon.com/posts/157991757?collection=1399284
[2] https://www.patreon.com/posts/157991757?collection=1399284
[3] https://www.patreon.com/collection/1399284?view=expanded