Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

Lu Mingliang was a little puzzled as to why Pei Qian was eating to his heart’s content. “This is weird. Boss Pei seems pretty happy today. He was completely different during the previous company dinner.”

This was a little strange. According to Bao Xu, Pei Qian should be very lonely. He shouldn’t be behaving this way.

Bao Xu shook his head and said, “You’ve got it wrong.”

“Huh? Brother Bao, what do you mean?” Lu Mingliang was very confused.

Bao Xu heaved a sigh and explained, “Currently, the only person who must not be in low spirits is Boss Pei himself. Think about it. Game Designer did not do well. Both its reputation and sales figures were not up to expectations. Everyone’s mood was already low.

“Boss Pei is our spiritual leader. If he appears to be worried and solemn as well, what will become of today’s company dinner?”

Lu Mingliang was enlightened. “So that was the reason! Boss Pei was trying to influence us with his positive outlook!”

“That’s right.” Bao Xu continued saying, “A true leader must have a natural influence on people. He must be powerful spiritually! When faced with obstacles, he must be the most optimistic person. When everything went smoothly, he must be the most vigilant person.

“Not only must he be the first to become concerned with the world’s troubles and last to rejoice in its happiness, but he must also maintain a positive mindset when facing adversity and encourage the others.

“Boss Pei is a person like that. He is a realist who would carefully predict and ensure that everything went according to his plans. At the same time, he is also an idealist who would do some things without regard for its consequences.

“Therefore, we cannot let Boss Pei down. We must quickly become optimistic again. I believe that Tengda will definitely be able to sail through this storm. Everything will turn for the better! Moreover, I have a feeling that given Boss Pei’s confidence, he definitely has a back-up plan.

“Boss Pei has yet to give up. It is too early to be talking about our failure now!”

Lu Mingliang slowly regained the sparks in his eyes. “That’s right. Boss Pei has not given up. How can we say that the game has failed? We will definitely be able to turn the tables in our favor. We must have faith in Boss Pei!”

…

On the other side, Huang Sibo, Zhu Xiaoce, and other employees from the Fei Huang Workspace were eating to their heart’s content. Huang Sibo seemed a little apprehensive.

“Is this an appropriate time to tell Boss Pei about this?”

Zhu Xiaoce contemplated for a while and said in a serious tone, “I think that now is the most appropriate time. The sales figures for Game Designer had come to a standstill. Although Boss Pei didn’t show it on his face, I believe that he must be a little disappointed internally.

“This good news could help lift the spirits of our co-workers and give Boss Pei some assurance. Although the game might have caused us to suffer a loss, there is still hope for us to have a comeback.”

“It’s still too early to say that we will have a comeback.” Huang Sibo shook his head. “After all, the other party is a newly established website. This can only be considered a piece of ordinary good news. Let’s not exaggerate about the good news.”

Zhu Xiaoce thought for a while and agreed with Huang Sibo’s opinions. “Let us just report the facts.”

They held their wine glasses and walked towards Pei Qian. “Boss Pei, we will like to offer you a toast.”

Pei Qian was in a good mood. He raised his wine glass, clicked it with their wine glasses, and drank it all in one gulp.

After he had drunk the wine, Huang Sibo hesitated for a while before saying, “Boss Pei, I have good news.”

Huh?

Good news?

Pei Qian became alert at once.

Don’t you guys upset me during such a happy occasion!

Pei Qian tried his best to keep calm. “Okay. Say it.”

“Boss Pei, this was what happened. There is a newly established video website that hopes to sign an exclusive broadcasting rights agreement for our video series. After signing the contract, Boss Pei’s Daily Life will only be aired on this website.

“Although this is only a new website, it has been developing well recently. Moreover, they had recently pushed out a stimulus plan to reward video producers based on the views they received.

“After signing this exclusive broadcasting rights agreement—as a high-quality video creator, we will be able to receive a considerable amount under that stimulus plan.

“To put it simply, we will attract viewers to their website with our Boss Pei’s Daily Life series, and they will split the profits with us based on the number of views!

“According to what you said, we must protect our company, value our reputation, and assert the value of our IP. We must not sacrifice those factors for money.”

Huang Sibo could not hide the excitement in his voice. They had been propelling themselves solely with their passion for so long. Now that they finally saw the opportunity to earn profits, how could they not be excited?

Although the amount may not be much, this profit would definitely not ruin the reputation of the video. It was not trying to earn money through bad partnerships that blatantly promoted the products. It had similar effects to the high-end, custom-made sponsored advertisements that Boss Pei wanted to include in the videos. Rather, its effect was much better!

Pei Qian was solemn for a while. He felt that something amiss was about to happen. “A newly established video website? This video website… does its name start with an A or a B?”

If the website was something like Bilibili¹, something terrible was about to happen!

However, Huang Sibo stoned for a while before saying, “Neither, Boss Pei. It is a small site called Aili Island. Some people call it the I-Site.”

Pei Qian was very confused.

I-Site? Aili Island?

Never heard of it…

As long as it’s not the A-Site (AcFun) or B-Site (Bilibili), all was well.

Pei Qian heaved a sigh of relief. He knew clearly that in the next few years, Tudou.com, which was the Potato Web in this universe, would slowly experience an irreversible downfall.

B-Site managed to attract most of the viewers from these traditional video websites using its bullet screen comments feature¹, its no-ads promise, and its high-quality original content. Several emerging live-stream platforms had also attracted some viewers from traditional video websites.

However, what kind of website was Aili Island? Never heard of it.

The name itself sounded like the website will fail in the future. It must be an insignificant website that would soon be lost in the river of history.

Since this website was about to fail…

He must sign the contract immediately. If he was any slower, he might not even have the chance to sign the contract anymore! Furthermore, the agreement was not one that gave them the money directly. It rewarded them based on the number of views. That assured him even more.

This small website had low viewership volume to begin with. The Boss Pei’s Daily Life series would definitely lose some crucial viewers when it moved its location to another platform. How much profit could he earn with that low viewership numbers?

Not only would he not profit, but the video series would also lose some of its popularity. The contract also made it impossible to be popularized on other video websites. That was simply killing many birds with one stone!

Pei Qian nodded his head immediately. “Great. Good job!”

Although it was just casual praise, Huang Sibo was still very happy. Boss Pei did not compliment others usually! Earning Boss Pei’s praise made him even happier than if he received a thirty thousand reward. Huang Sibo nodded his head vigorously. “Rest assured, Boss Pei. We will work even harder!”

Pei Qian continued enjoying his food.

He had received two pieces of good news today!

In the midst of his happiness, he heard cheers suddenly erupt from beside him!

“Amazing!”

“Is that true? We’re going to be invincible!”

“Hahahaha! The official platform pointed us out and complimented us. With the publicity on the home page, we are going to be popular!”

The Bluefin tuna that Pei Qian had just picked up with his chopsticks almost dropped on the floor.

What was going on?

Pei Qian became alert at once!

He could tell that although he tried to warm the atmosphere, most people were still pretty down. However, the cheers that he was hearing now seemed abnormal! He heard snippets of their conversation and felt that it emitted a warning for danger!

That made Pei Qian a little nervous!

Did… something bad happen?