Losing Money to Become a Tycoon: Starting with Games
Chapter 431: Lu Zhiyao's Interview — Help from a Benefactor
After racking his brains—and having a "friendly and harmonious" exchange with the system—Pei Qian finally settled on two directions:
Housing, and fitness.
In fact, Tengda Group already had benefits in both areas. There were rental subsidies, and for fitness, the company reimbursed gym memberships along with a certain number of personal training sessions.
However, the current level of benefits no longer seemed sufficient for his needs.
Pei Qian now had only one feeling: making money was like a landslide, but spending it was like pulling silk threads—painfully slow.
Of course, letting all employees share in this "burden" wasn't a bad idea—but such sharing had its limits.
Pei Qian would have loved to buy large numbers of properties and let all employees live in luxury apartments, but that clearly wouldn't pass the system's restrictions.
That was why he had previously settled for housing subsidies instead.
Now, as Tengda Group continued to grow and earn more money, the system had gradually begun to loosen its restrictions on employee benefits.
The idea of giving every employee a luxury home was still restricted, but it seemed possible to achieve something similar through indirect means.
Pei Qian had realized that the system imposed different levels of restriction depending on how the money was spent.
"Charity" had the strictest limits—only a tiny quota per cycle.
"Benefits" were a bit more flexible, increasing as the company grew, and could cover all employees.
"Reimbursements" were even looser, but they required a reasonable justification and had to appear work-related.
"Investments" had the loosest restrictions. There seemed to be no upper limit on funding, with the main requirement being that the project must theoretically have the potential to make money.
In some special cases, even if profitability was extremely unlikely, the system wouldn't interfere—as long as the project could generate excellent reputation or social impact. Examples included the documentary Huang Sibo and his team had previously produced, as well as the perpetually loss-making Against the Wind Logistics.
So if he tried to provide housing purely as a "benefit" or "reimbursement," there would be many limitations.
Even if it worked, it would probably only result in four-person or two-person dormitories, with limited standards.
But if he changed his approach and framed it as an "investment," the system's restrictions would be much looser.
For example, Pei Qian could invest in an apartment project, spend money renovating it, and then set rental prices for the public.
If he allocated part of those units as employee housing, the system wouldn't interfere too much.
It was similar to the company meal issue: directly providing meals to employees was troublesome, but setting up Moyu Delivery first and then having it provide meals—reimbursed through company accounts—worked just fine.
If the apartments failed to attract tenants, that would be even better—he could take the opportunity to incur a big loss.
As for why he chose housing and fitness…
Because both involved physical locations, requiring renovation costs, rent, and high ongoing maintenance and operating expenses. Compared to other ways of spending money, these had a higher chance of losing money.
And, of course, Pei Qian himself could benefit—he could upgrade his own living conditions in the process!
Although his current place was decent, it was still just an ordinary two-bedroom apartment.
As a homebody, Pei Qian naturally wanted a larger, more comfortable place to live.
Given the current situation, hoping to lose money while buying a big house seemed a bit unrealistic.
Besides, after thinking it over, Pei Qian felt that if it was just for living purposes, there was no need to insist on buying property with his own money.
Even if the apartment belonged to the company, as long as he could live there long-term and modify it freely, what difference did ownership make?
After much consideration, Pei Qian added "apartments" and "gyms" to the plan for the next cycle.
This cycle, however, was already too late to make it happen.
On one hand, there was only a little over a month left before settlement. Starting these projects now would be too late. Even the Fright Hostel project couldn't be completed within this cycle—adding another unfinished project would affect the settlement.
On the other hand, the film's box office revenue wouldn't arrive that quickly.
Typically, a movie runs in theaters for about a month before being taken down. Only then is the total box office finalized. After that, the revenue flows from theaters to distributors, then through multiple stages and processes—altogether taking about 3 to 6 months.
However, in this world's film industry, there were also companies offering "fast settlement payments." Essentially similar to bank factoring services, they would advance payments based on the agreed box office revenue split, charging a handling fee.
In simple terms, it worked much like the "instant refund" feature on many shopping platforms.
Even so, the money would only arrive in the next cycle.
For Pei Qian, this was actually good news—he wouldn't have to deal with the pressure of spending tens of millions within less than a month in this cycle.
But in the next cycle, the pressure would be enormous.
So Pei Qian decided that as soon as the next cycle began, he would pour this "unexpected windfall" from the film into the apartment and gym projects.
As for the extra profits generated by other businesses due to the film…
Aside from regular expenses, it seemed the only option was to dump it all into the Fright Hostel project.
While ensuring that Fright Hostel could be completed and opened in the next settlement cycle, he would absorb as much surplus funding as possible…
Pei Qian tossed his notebook aside, feeling utterly lifeless.
…
…
February 25th, Friday.
The fourth day since he decided to "disappear."
As Pei Qian browsed the internet, he felt as if the sun was setting on his fortunes—like everything was slipping beyond his control.
The activities of the paid commentators were clearly declining.
Because not only had they failed to achieve their intended effect, they had actually made A Better Tomorrow even more popular!
It seemed that the competitor who hired them had also backed off, unwilling to keep wasting money.
Pei Qian glanced at the Gouyan app.
It looked like… the screening rate had increased again!
What a tragic story.
At this moment, Pei Qian and his competitor were probably feeling exactly the same.
Silently, Pei Qian uninstalled the Gouyan app, adopting an "out of sight, out of mind" mentality.
As long as I don't see the box office numbers, they don't exist!
These past few days, Pei Qian had been cooped up in his rented apartment, feeling bored. Out of habit, he opened Weibo, hoping to find some trending topics or humorous posts to lift his gloomy mood.
But the moment he opened it, he saw three trending hashtags:
A Better Tomorrow (movie)Lu Zhiyao actingA Better Tomorrow real-world brands
Pei Qian: "…"
It just won't go away!
The latter two topics weren't even trending yesterday!
He casually tapped on "Lu Zhiyao acting" and found an interview.
…
"Exclusive Interview with Lu Zhiyao: My Breakthrough in Acting Came Thanks to a Benefactor"
"On February 22, A Better Tomorrow premiered. This futuristic sci-fi satire shattered audiences' preconceived notions about domestic sci-fi films. Within four days, it surpassed 80 million at the box office and sparked widespread discussion online."
"Lu Zhiyao delivered an outstanding performance in the film, portraying the complex emotions of a future human with remarkable depth. His scenes opposite veteran actor Zhang Zuting were especially thrilling for audiences."
"During promotional tours, he heard a viewer comment: 'By the end of the movie, I completely forgot that the person on screen was Lu Zhiyao.' He considers this the highest praise he has received so far."
"[Poster of A Better Tomorrow featuring Lu Zhiyao]"
"Lu Zhiyao's reputation as 'box office poison' has long been a topic of discussion. Audiences have even come up with various 'curses,' claiming that any film he stars in—regardless of director or production scale—is doomed to flop at the box office…"
"Comments such as 'overacting,' 'he always plays himself,' and 'breaks immersion' constantly plagued Lu Zhiyao, tormenting him after the release of every film."
"But the massive success of A Better Tomorrow has completely 'cleansed his toxicity.' Its box office performance so far has already shattered the notion that he is 'box office poison'!"
"[Scene from the film: Lu Zhiyao drinking beer]"
"In response, Lu Zhiyao remarked that at many stages in an actor's life, they encounter roles that are extremely important to them, as well as benefactors who greatly influence their careers."
"During the filming of A Better Tomorrow, his scenes with veteran actor Zhang Zuting allowed Lu Zhiyao to benefit immensely. He learned deeper acting techniques, such as how to analyze a character's psychology and how to fully immerse himself in a role."
"More importantly, there was a benefactor on set who pinpointed the problems in his acting with remarkable precision, leading to a sudden realization: an actor shouldn't force themselves to act a role, but should instead become the role."
"Lu Zhiyao stated that this benefactor not only brought him a breakthrough in acting but also gave him a new understanding of life planning and even life philosophy."
"The transition from an idol star to a mature, skilled actor is not an easy path, but he has been working hard at it. Now, Lu Zhiyao says he prefers complex roles that reflect human nature—portraying characters' weaknesses and flaws. Correspondingly, his acting style has shifted from flamboyant to restrained."
"As for his life planning, Lu Zhiyao said he intends to slow down and take each step steadily. Just as that benefactor once told him: 'Normal acting is the hardest,' and 'Play the character exactly as they are.'"
"Extending that to life philosophy, it means focusing on one's core profession—continuously honing acting skills instead of wasting energy on things unrelated to the craft."
"With guidance from this benefactor, Lu Zhiyao has finally found his own path as an actor."
<+>
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