Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

Chapter 171: Yesterday, You Ignored Me. Tomorrow…

At night…

During a cohesion at Swan Lake Restaurant…

For Pei Qian, this had already become a habitual method of spending a huge sum of money. For the employees, it had also become a tradition to gather for a celebratory meal after research and development of a new game.

Now, Boss Pei had almost two hundred employees directly under him. He decided to book the whole Swan Lake Restaurant.

Among these employees were the new employees of the various Fish-Catching Internet Cafes and the employees of Fei Huang Workspace who just returned.

The employees of Shang Yang Games were temporarily not included. From the next settlement cycle, Pei Qian planned to incorporate the employees of Shang Yang Games slowly. That was why he did not invite them for the cohesion this time.

However, he needed to spend what he needed to spend.

Pei Qian allowed Ye Zhizhou and Wang Xiaobin to organize a meal for the company on their own, fully paid for by the company. They would have their meal at this restaurant as well—just at a different day and time.

He was beginning to feel like this most expensive buffet restaurant in Jingzhou City was failing to meet his expectations.

If he could fly to Beijing to have better food, Pei Qian would not hold back. However, the System would not allow for it.

“According to the rate at which we are expanding, Swan Lake Restaurant would probably not be able to accommodate all the employees at one shot. I have to think of another way.

“…I have a life full of worries.”

As others continued to stuff themselves with food, Pei Qian sat quietly, thinking about how to organize cohesions in the future.

Swan Lake Restaurant could not accommodate many people. After all, this was a high-class restaurant. Its target customer base was the rich and famous in Jingzhou City. The seats were extremely spacious, and the decorations were beautiful. That was why it could not accommodate that many people.

There were only Tengda’s immediate employees here now, and yet Pei Qian had to book the entire venue. If their numbers were to increase the next time they had a cohesion, there would surely not be enough space.

“Alright, we can have separate cohesions in the future. I will bring all the core members of various departments for a meal first, and then the various departments can go out and have meals separately.

“That would allow me to spend more money, too. Perfect!

“Unfortunately, there isn’t a more expensive restaurant in Jingzhou. Wait. I could open a restaurant more high-class than Swan Lake Restaurant, couldn’t I?!”

Pei Qian very naturally thought of another good idea.

He had already taken the first step into the food industry with Fish-Catching Internet Cafe and Fish-Catching Take-Out. One could say he had tested the waters. Up till now, they were performing according to Pei Qian’s expectations.

On one hand, he could provide good meals for his employees. On the other hand, he could continue to incur losses. Both of these businesses made huge contributions to Pei Qian’s loss-making career!

It had been a successful experience so far!

However, the only problem was that Fish-Catching Take-Out was not high-class enough.

The main purpose of Fish-Catching Take-Out was to provide healthy, home-cooked meals for the employees. Although it was slightly more expensive than ordinary restaurants, it was far from the money-spending machine that Pei Qian could imagine it to be.

After all, they were all ordinary dishes. The System had limitations on the pricing of the food. He could not increase it as much as he wanted.

No matter how delicious a serving of scrambled eggs with tomatoes was, it could not be priced that high unless the chef was a cheat.

Pei Qian did not have a chef like that just yet.

He could start up a high-class restaurant; that would solve his problems.

Then, he could look for a secluded place to set up this restaurant. He would select the best-quality ingredients and charge the highest prices he possibly could. Although his own employees would get a discount when they ate there—as long as the ingredients were expensive enough, this would not be a problem.

They would go there for a meal before each settlement. Apart from that, he would maintain the business and allow it to continue incurring losses. That was quite a good idea.

At that thought, Pei Qian roughly knew what had to be done.

Next week, the games would continue to reap profits. Pei Qian did not have to worry about where to spend this money. He could pour them all into setting up a high-class restaurant. For all he knew, it would require much more money than the three Fish-Catching Internet Cafes.

Of course, a few whales would fancy this high-class restaurant. It would have at least a few customers.

However, Jingzhou was a second-tier city. There weren’t many whales here. Pei Qian guessed that the restaurant would still incur losses. It was not likely that it would become popular.

Pei Qian pondered for several moments and then glanced at Lin Wan who was seated two tables away. Lin Wan thought that Pei Qian had not figured out her real identity. However, Pei Qian already had a good idea of who she was. He even made arrangements for her quietly.

Of course, Pei Qian would not act rashly and alert her yet. He had to wait until the next settlement cycle before arranging for Lin Wan to be transferred over to Shang Yang Games so that she could quickly ruin several games. Then, his job would be complete.

At that moment, Lin Wan was typing away on her phone, replying to messages.

On the screen was a message from Chen Sha.

“Beautiful Lin, little lass, please… think of a way to get me a Barrett Doom from inside there! Aren’t you in charge of this? You should have control over the internal quota, right?”

“I really cannot. I would love to help, but my hands are tied. Why not look for a scalper?” Lin Wan replied quickly. “Me aside; even the outstanding employee in my team whom Boss Pei completely trusts—Bao Xu—had to buy a Barrett Doom from a scalper.”

Chen Sha, “…”

Ever since Chen Sha was hooked onto Ocean Stronghold thanks to Lin Wan, he became a dedicated player of the game.

Initially, Chen Sha often played Counter Strike. After all, Counter Strike was a competitive game, and he could play for a longer time. Ocean Stronghold, on the other hand, was an FPS game for newer players. It was worse off than Counter Strike in many aspects.

However, slowly, Chen Sha became a turncoat.

This was because Ocean Stronghold became more and more popular. As more and more people played the game, Chen Sha got sucked in as well. He never thought that the game he had spent so much time and effort dissing in the beginning would replace Counter Strike’s place in his heart one day…

The moment the Barrett Doom was released, Chen Sha desired it as much as other players did. After all, which player of FPS games did not enjoy sniping?

However, there was a limit of five hundred rifles. Chen Sha stood no chance.

Look for a scalper? Even if he offered two or three thousand, he probably would not be able to get one.

Yet, this was not all about money. The problem was that Chen Sha had a Red Kilin in his account. He also had a bunch of guns he worked hard for. Of course, he could not give them up so easily.

Chen Sha did not give up. “But I helped Tengda out once! Didn’t I have a part to play in Ocean Stronghold’s rise to success?

“I was one of the leading gamers; an elite gamer of FPS games. I am a well-respected character in many other domestically-produced games. Why is it so difficult for me to get just one weapon in this game…?”

Lin Wan replied, “Em… I recall when I first introduced the game to you and gave you a Red Kilin, you looked down on them. You even said that this was just some data in a game and questioned which idiot would spend 888 yuan on it. What do some people call this? Yesterday, you ignored me. Tomorrow—”

Chen Sha quickly interrupted, “Hehe, I’m an idiot! The idiot really wants a Barrett Doom now. Please, I’m begging you!”

“Hehe.” Seeing Chen Sha lower himself made Lin Wan embarrassed. “Alright. Since you’re so sincere, I’ll ask Boss Pei for you. I can’t promise that I’ll be able to obtain one.”

Chen Sha, “Thank you very much!”

Lin Wan looked at Pei Qian who seemed to be in deep thought. She began to feel perturbed and wondered if he had figured out her identity yet.

Frankly, she had reduced the rent a bit too much this time. Four yuan was reduced to 1.5 yuan immediately. This might have made Boss Pei suspicious.

If she had reduced it slightly, she could have hidden it from Boss Pei. However, to Lin Wan, that would be meaningless. It would not have been enough to repay the care and concern that Boss Pei had shown his employees. It would also have looked stingy.

Lin Wan never saw herself as a stingy person.

Now, Lin Wan was not sure if Pei Qian was suspicious of her. Logically, if he was suspicious of her, he would have questioned her, right?

However, Boss Pei was acting like nothing had happened. He did not even pay her special attention.

“Maybe Boss Pei is too busy. Rent is such a small matter. Perhaps he hadn’t noticed? En, that’s very likely. Then, I should act like nothing has happened for now.”

Lin Wan would not take the initiative to talk to Pei Qian about this. She was never one to take credit for doing good. She wanted to interact with everyone else as if she were just another ordinary person.

Lin Wan made up her mind and walked up to Pei Qian.

The two of them harbored ill intentions inside but smiled on the surface. Both acted as if they did not know the other’s true thoughts.