June 9th, Thursday.
After arranging for the mass production of the Fully-Automated Bickering Machine on Monday, Pei Qian had been rather idle for the past two days.
Occasionally, he would ask about the situation of Tengda Games, Deposit Fitness, and Fish-Catching Take-Out. It seemed like everything was going well.
At noon, Pei Qian ate at Fish-Catching Internet Cafe as usual. As he sipped his coffee, he sorted out the mind maps of the various departments.
"Ding."
His cell phone rang. Pei Qian picked it up and frowned.
It was a message from the Manage Loss Trainee from Ming Yun Private Kitchen.
"Boss Pei, the number of foreigners eating and making reservations has increased significantly over the past two days.
An obvious increase in foreigners?
Something was wrong!
Pei Qian was instantly wary.
Previously, he had reminded them in the meeting that all the Manage Loss Trainees could report to him at any time if they discovered any obvious' abnormalities'. There was no need to wait for the Manage Loss Trainees' regular meeting. This way, they could avoid the problem of 'delayed backstabbing' to the greatest extent.
After all, for many dangers, the difference between discovering them a day earlier and a day later could make a world of difference.
Obviously, this Management Trainee from Ming Yun Private Kitchen was doing a good job.
"Do you know why?" Pei Qian replied immediately.
The Manage Loss Trainee: "I'm not sure yet. I guess it might be an influential foreign friend who came here for a meal and promoted it to his friends."
"Recently, Branch Manager Lin has put in a lot of effort in the service aspect. The foreign customers' dining experience in the restaurant has been greatly improved. The dishes are all in English, and the cultural connotations of our traditional cuisine seem to be very good."
After a moment of silence, Pei Qian replied, "You've done well. You've worked hard."
Pei Qian was very satisfied with the Manage Loss Trainee's report.
Look, what is called a professional snitch!
He had to praise this Manage Loss Trainee at the next Manage Loss Trainee meeting so that the other Manage Loss Trainees could learn from him!
After grasping this important information, Pei Qian began to analyze it seriously.
Who would have thought that Lin Canrong's idea of letting the waiters learn English would actually work?
However, judging from the current situation, it didn't seem to be a particularly serious matter.
Lin Canrong had trained the waiters and taught them foreign languages. This had increased the cost, but Ming Yun Private Kitchen's prices had not increased. What's more, the reservations were already full every day. So what if more foreigners made reservations? It wouldn't earn him much money, right?
"Hmm … On the surface, it doesn't seem to be very dangerous. But I can't let my guard down. What if there are some hidden possibilities that I can't predict? "
Pei Qian looked at the time.
"It's nearly one o 'clock. Let's stick to our original plan. We'll go to Shang Yang Games and take a look. Then, we'll start investigating Chu Ming Yun Private Kitchen. "
Pei Qian thought about it for a long time, but he could not think of any imminent danger that the rise in Ming Yun Private Kitchen's reputation would bring to him. Thus, he had no choice but to put it aside for now.
…
In the afternoon, Pei Qian arrived at Shang Yang Games.
On the way here, Pei Qian took some time to search for the internet's views on the 'arms race' between GOG and IOI.
It could only be said that the situation was not optimistic!
If the battle between the two games was divided into two stages, then both stages would have ended with GOG's complete victory.
In the first stage, GOG had swept away a large number of domestic players through the interoperability of both servers, smooth network connections, fast matchmaking, and a huge money-spamming campaign at the end of the season. On the other hand, IOI had only opened its local server after GOG's money-spamming campaign. What's more, it had not opened its mobile version yet.
In the second stage, IOI had taken the lead in the arms race. It had updated two heroes every month, hoping to snatch away GOG's players. However, GOG had used crowdfunding to create heroes. What's more, it had continuously released popular heroes such as Traveler Bao Xu and Literary Genius of the Winds, Ruan. It had also used the generous rewards of 'crowdfunding' to ensure that players maintained a high level of attention towards GOG's new heroes.
All in all, IOI had indeed updated quickly, but it still did not gain much popularity.
The 'arms race' between the two games would continue. It might even last for a few months or a year. However, from the current situation, the outcome of this battle had already been decided.
As long as Min Jingchao did not lose his mind, GOG could use the advantage of crowdfunding to not lose out in terms of the quality of its heroes and to maintain a crushing advantage in terms of players' attention.
All in all, the entire internet was now extremely pessimistic about IOI.
Pei Qian was very worried.
Although he would be making money miserably no matter which game GOG or IOI became popular, Pei Qian was still relatively on IOI's side.
After all, he had to make arrangements for Lin Wan to leave first.
No matter how much money his own game made, it was still controllable. He could ease the pressure by giving out large amounts of money and giving players profits.
The backstabbing of Lin Wan's siblings could not be predicted at all. The threat was too great!
Speaking of this, Pei Qian was so angry that his liver hurt. Tomorrow is Beautiful had won an award because of Lin Chang's negative reviews. The overseas screening had been extended, and it had already earned millions of US dollars at the box office. What's more, there was still some time before it stopped screening.
Which one was the bigger threat? It was obvious!
Pei Qian knew very well that everyone in Shang Yang Games must be very discouraged now. It was time for Boss Pei to give them some encouragement.
Pei Qian went straight to the conference room when he arrived at Shang Yang Games.
Pei Qian had informed them beforehand. Thus, the core members of Shang Yang Games were already waiting in the conference room.
"Boss Pei."
Everyone stood up to greet him. However, all of them looked a little disappointed.
Lin Wan's expression was especially so.
Pei Qian's heart skipped a beat.
What's with your expressions? Don't give up!
Pei Qian cleared his throat and said, "The promotion of IOI's local server doesn't seem to be going well recently. That's alright. Don't be so depressed. If you have anything to say, feel free to say it. "
Everyone looked at each other. Finally, Lin Wan spoke first.
"I can now understand how Tengda's opponents feel.
"We have no choice. The most difficult people to deal with are always our own people. What's more, we have a useless teammate."
Pei Qian's heart sank. "Useless teammate?"
Are they talking about me?
Do they know that I'm the one who created the Literary Genius of the Winds?
Pei Qian felt a little flustered for no reason.
Wang Xiaobin explained, "It's Finger Games, Boss Pei. We've long realized that we can't beat GOG if we continue like this. Thus, we wrote several emails to Finger Games and gave them some suggestions. In the end, their wording was similar. They refused to accept it.
"What's more, they seemed to be blaming us.
"They seemed to be saying that IOI is doing well in other regions around the world, and the response is not bad. Why can't you do the same here? Obviously, they think that there's something wrong with our operational strategy. "
Pei Qian heaved a sigh of relief. Oh, it's not me. Everything's fine, then.
You scared me. I thought I'd been exposed.
Lin Wan shrugged. "You can't blame them. After all, no one who has truly become Tengda's enemy would be able to understand how scary Tengda is.
"I've finally experienced it this time."
She sighed softly. "What's more … Boss Pei only needs to give them a few pointers, and they would be able to turn the situation around."
"Er …" Pei Qian cleared his throat. "Don't say that. I'm very objective and fair."
Ye Zhizhou said meaningfully, "Min Jingchao wanted to recruit people and speed up the development of new heroes. Didn't you reject him, Boss Pei? If not for your hint, he would not have thought of the idea of crowdfunding heroes. "
Pei Qian, "… this is all a misunderstanding."
Everyone immediately put on an 'I understand' expression.
Pei Qian was speechless. This was really a misunderstanding!
My heart is indeed on your side!
What's more, even if I secretly helped them, I would not have used the idea of crowdfunding heroes …
There was no other way. He could not explain it clearly.
Pei Qian decided not to dwell on this topic. In any case, he was already used to everyone's attitude.
Now that Finger Games did not agree to make changes to IOI, Shang Yang Games could only continue to think of other ways.
"So, does anyone have any good ideas for the future operation strategy?" Pei Qian asked.
Everyone looked at each other again, but no one spoke.
Lin Wan sighed. "Boss Pei, we're still thinking hard."
Pei Qian knew that this was not good.
It was obvious that everyone had lost their fighting spirit. They probably felt that GOG's lead was too big. How could they win with marketing alone when Finger Games was unwilling to cooperate with them in making changes to the game?
Since it was a task given by Boss Pei, everyone could not say discouraging words like 'we can't win'. However, there was really no better way.
Pei Qian felt that Lin Wan was about to say something like 'I think I'm not capable enough and want to continue learning in Tengda' at any moment.
Quick, use your little brain to think of a solution for Shang Yang Games.
Pei Qian thought hard for a moment and suddenly had a flash of inspiration. He had an idea.
If they could not solve anything, they could just scatter coins!
Didn't GOG's initial popularity depend on scattering coins?
Scatter coins to IOI, then!
Since the game could not be changed, they could only suppress GOG through overwhelming marketing.
Pei Qian cleared his throat. "According to the previous rules, 50% of the profits of all departments can be used for their various expenses. Take out this money. At the same time, I will allocate a special fund for you.
"This fund will be used for two areas: the promotion of live-streamers and the promotion of internet cafes!
"Find some live-streamers and UP Masters and sponsor them. Continue to produce content about IOI, including new hero introductions, teaching videos, and the like. Especially to create an impression that the game is very popular overseas.
"Then, work with the various internet cafes. Play IOI and use most of the skins for free. Play IOI and get a certain discount on network fees, and so on.
"Forcefully snatch the popularity!"
In Pei Qian's memory, that was how LOL was promoted. What's more, it would definitely be useful.
He could not possibly make a mistake in copying homework, right?
During the Management Trainees' first regular meeting, the Management Trainees reported an important piece of information to Pei Qian. All the departments were making large-scale spending plans, including compensating salaries, purchasing office supplies, and so on.
Pei Qian guessed that all the departments understood the meaning of the Tengda Cornerstone Award. While they were jealous of Upwind Logistics, they also started large-scale spending plans.
Since that was the case, of course, Pei Qian had to help them!
Thus, Pei Qian decided that 50% of the profits of all departments could be used for their various expenses. That would increase the efficiency of each department's spending.
Of course, Pei Qian would also allocate additional funds to departments like Upwind Logistics and Fish-Catching Take-Out that were incurring losses.
Until now, Shang Yang Games still had Bloody Battle Song, Be Quiet, and other games that were generating profits.
IOI's local server was also generating revenue. Pei Qian would take out 50% of the money. Together with Boss Pei's special funds, they could use the money to open up a path and forcefully promote it!
Ye Zhizhou thought about it carefully and then understood.
"So that's how it is. I've learned another trick from Boss Pei.
"When you don't have any special ideas, you might as well use force!
"Is this what it means to win with no tricks?"
Pei Qian, "… More or less."
Although he had not thought about it that complicated, Ye Zhizhou's bootlicking did not seem to be too wrong.
However, Lin Wan frowned slightly and asked, "Then … Boss Pei, what if GOG mindlessly follows suit and burns money with us?"
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