At a point as such, outfit played an important role.
For example, in certain state enterprises, the older leaders could approach others with ease while the younger ones had to put on a stoic face forever.
Why?
That was because they would not look persuasive without that expression and it would be hard for them to command authority from their underlings.
If their underlings took them as a joke, how were they going to progress with work?
Pei Qian was young to begin with – a student – while his interviewees were mostly foxes who had been in the working world for a couple of years now and were older than him by 6-7 years old.
If Pei Qian were to turn up in a t-shirt and shorts costing tens of yuan, would those people take him seriously?
Even though Pei Qian’s true intention was to create a mess out of things, there was an art to doing it!
The game had to pass through the vetting process at the very least and be listed successfully or the system would view it as a violation.
In order to achieve that target, Pei Qian had to control his employees and have them obey him.
That meant that he would still have to craft an image for himself.
Even if he couldn’t come across as a young, talented designer, he had to look like a rich second-generation heir who would keep to his words.
For that, there was a need for an extremely expensive outfit.
After all, in theory, rich second-generation heirs wouldn’t be wearing t-shirts and shorts worth tens of yuan on a day to day basis.
Yes, the odd person might do it, but that wouldn’t be the norm.
Xin Hailu smiled gently. “If you think that there’s a need, I can accompany you to the nearby mall to pick an outfit.”
Pei Qian couldn’t wish for anything more.
…
…
The Cayenne was parked at the underground carpark of the largest mall in Jingzhou City.
Pei Qian opened his door and got down.
“This way please.”
Assistant Xin led the way and had Pei Qian fully enjoying the treatment a president would receive.
This was Jingzhou’s largest and most luxurious mall which Pei Qian had not visited before.
However, none of that mattered to him. He was just here for an outfit. Anything that Assistant Xin picked out, he would just wear it.
Men and women were different when it came to shopping.
Women truly encompassed the meaning of shopping where they would go floor by floor all over the place to check out if anything suited their taste – they enjoyed the process of shopping.
However, men would just head over to what they wanted and leave right after getting it without spending a single second more – they enjoyed the outcome of shopping.
Pei Qian was the typical man and naturally had no interest in shopping. He wanted to just grab an outfit as quickly as possible before leaving.
Assistant Xin clearly understood him as she did not bring him to roam around, instead leading him straight to a luxurious suit shop.
“Jesse is a luxury fashion brand from Italy and has a history of over a hundred years. They are known for being flawless custom-made cuts.”
“This is Jesse’s only outlet in Handong.”
“If you’re not satisfied with it, we can look for even more high-end suits. However, it will a longer time for the sizing and custom-making.”
Xin Hailu gave Pei Qian a brief introduction of the shop’s background before they entered.
“It’s fine, this will do.”
Pei Qian decided on the spot.
To him, custom-made suits were almost the same.
People who conducted interviews could easily tell the difference between a custom-made suit and one that is not. The former would be fitting and classy while the latter would be loose and budget-looking.
The former would make one seem like a Wall Street elite while the latter would make one seem like an insurance seller.
However, it would be hard to distinguish between two custom-made suits.
To put it bluntly, even if they were to top up money, the difference would be minimal.
Therefore, the suits there were perfect for Pei Qian’s demands. Most importantly, time was of the essence – Pei Qian did not like to wait.
Even though he was wearing a t-shirt and shorts that were only worth tens of yuan, Pei Qian walked in with his chest puffed and did not feel out of place at all.
It was the same old reason – he had Xin Hailu with him.
“Even though it would be easy to mix and match with your size, I recommend these three sets.”
Xin Hailu left the attendant of the shop at one side as she herself was extremely familiar with the shop.
“Of these three, the first one is more formal and could be worn at important events such as business meetings with other bosses or any award ceremonies. The other two are more casual and are more suitable for daily use.”
Reading between the lines, it meant that the other two were meant to mislead the interviewees.
He naturally did not have to wear anything extremely formal to interview others but he must not appear unpresentable as well.
That was inclusive of a daily working life. Pei Qian had to give his employees the impression of a rich second-generation heir who would keep to his words – that would help him with work.
The system did not ring any warnings.
Pei Qian nodded his head. “Alright.”
Xin Hailu then turned to the attendant. “We’ll take two sets of each. The design and accessories must be distinct. You can start the measurements now. Hurry.”
Two sets of each?
Well done!
Pei Qian almost blurted out but he held it in.
The system did not indicate anything – that meant that it wasn’t a violation!
The attendant then rushed over to help Pei Qian with the measurements.
The suits here were not custom-made by hand or each set would take several weeks and that would be overly troublesome.
Based on dozens of size figures and the customer’s personal measurements, the shop would select the most suitable cutting.
That way, they could deliver the end product in a really short time.
While the attendant was taking his measurements, Pei Qian was too embarrassed to shift around as he merely snuck a glance at the price tag of a nearby shirt.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
The cost was in the ballpark of five digits and the first number wasn’t even a 1.
Buying six sets of these outfits…
Tss…!
Pei Qian could feel the deterioration of his calculation skills.
Once they had Pei Qian’s measurements, Xin Hailu smiled. “Your work is hectic, do you want to end things here for today? I’ll help you purchase some day to day clothes later on as well so you don’t have to pick them out yourself.”
What a good relationship!
Pei Qian was delighted.
Take a look, this was true professionalism!
“Assistant Xin, I’ll leave everything up to you.”
Chapter 33
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The Cayenne was parked at the south entrance of the school.
Pei Qian was prepared to open the door to get down.
From the driver seat, Xin Hailu reached over with a slim hand and extended an intricate card holder.
“Previously, you asked to rent a two bedroom apartment near the school. This is the access card and key.”
Pei Qian did not retrieve it immediately and was waiting for a response from the system.
‘Yes! No response! That means that this is viable!’
Even though the purchase of clothes and rental of apartment did not seem as though it had anything to do with company operations, it had a relation to the image of the boss.
He couldn’t possibly toss all the clothes he had bought into the d
ormitory, right?
What if he had to work overtime or go on business trips in the future? What would he do if it was after lights out for the dormitory and he wasn’t allowed to head out?
Therefore, it was perfectly logical for him to rent an apartment.
Besides, the rental wasn’t really expensive. He could even afford suits that cost tens of thousands of yuan so he naturally could afford an apartment rental.
The year was 2009. Given Handong’s property market, even an intricately designed two bedroom apartment in a high-end neighborhood would cost less than 2,000.
This was unlike 10 years into the future where even a single bedroom apartment would run in the ballpark of 7-8,000 in Beijing.
Since the system did not give out any warnings, Pei Qian received over the card holder without any stress.
Flipping through it, he found a key, access card and a small little note that had the address of the apartment written with Xin Hailu’s dainty handwriting.
The neighborhood was not too far from the school’s south entrance – a couple tens of metres.
“Alright, have a good rest then. I’ll send the newly purchased clothes to your address within a couple of days.”
The Cayenne then drove off.
Pei Qian felt extremely pleased.
The fact that the system did not ask for a stop to his behavior meant that he was still rather righteous in his actions!
Scanning the access card, he entered the high-end neighborhood near the school.
When he was still schooling, Pei Qian had only seen this place from the outside and had never entered it before.
Following the written address, Pei Qian found his two bedroom apartment.
Opening the door, he was stunned.
Even though it was two bedrooms, the size was closer to that of a three bedroom as he estimated it to be around 140 square metres.
The furniture were all fully stocked.
Even the bedsheets, blankets and toiletries were prepared thoroughly.
This was truly a place that was ready for immediate living as long as he brought his luggage.
In fact, he could live properly without a luggage even.
The moment Pei Qian sat on the sofa, his butt felt like it never wanted to leave it ever again.
Compared to this place, the dormitory was like a bird cage!
No, even a bird cage was more spacious and cooling than that place!
After he dazed for awhile on the sofa, Pei Qian reinvigorated himself and began to start work.
He must not get lost in the comfort! He had dreams!
He still had money to lose!
Pei Qian summoned the system and checked on the current System Funds.
His income for the first week was 500,000+ and the second week was 700,000+. Even though the third week’s income was yet to be credited, it was estimated to be around 7-800,000.
With that, Pei Qian’s estimate of a monthly gross of 5,000,000 was rather accurate – the actual amount was only slightly less.
He had spent 700,000+ through renting the office space and he would have to fork out an additional 300,000+ per month thereafter as well.
The purchase of office equipment ranged around 800,000+ and he intended to spend that amount right away the moment he received next week’s income.
As for the purchase of clothes, renting of a car and apartment, they added up to around 100,000+. It was so little that Pei Qian was barely bothered.
Even though there was still remaining money in the System Funds, based on the initial consideration of 500,000, he had already lost 200,000+!
This was a surprising result!
But of course, there were still things he had to get busy with.
Now that he had rented an office space, he had to get some new hires. Otherwise, he would definitely be warned by the system for leaving such a huge space empty.
“Time to think about the type of people to hire.”
“I can’t hire those that are too exceptional or it would affect my plan.”
“I can’t hire those that are too lousy either since I have to make a game or I can’t fulfill the requirements of the system.”
“Hmms… this is a technical job. I’ve got to think this through.”
The more Pei Qian thought about it, the more difficult things seemed.
However, for the sake of his present and future happiness, he had to give it a shot even if it was difficult.
After contemplating back and forth, Pei Qian came to a conclusion about one thing at least.
That is, he had to scout for his own employees rather than hire them online!
If he posted a hiring notice online, those people who applied for it would be those who thought that they could fit the criteria.
The type of people that Pei Qian wanted to hire would back off without daring to try for the position.
Simply put, the lower limit wasn’t low enough.
Hiring notices online had to be written properly.
If Pei Qian were to declare on the notice that these people were just here to waste time, the system would definitely give him a warning.
Truly, it wasn’t enough for just a single ‘trusted aide’ like Ma Yang.
Where else could he find a talent such as Ma Yang?
After much pondering, Pei Qian thought of someone.
If he could get that person, everything would be perfect!
…
After searching through three internet cafes near the school, Pei Qian found the person he wanted.
This was someone who wasn’t fixed at a single location. However, he could still be found at either nearby internet cafes. If he wasn’t at any of them, he would be on the way to one of them.
The reason for that may be due to fatigue stemming from being at the same internet cafe for a long time. That was why this person would go for a change of environment every now and then to stay for a couple of weeks at another internet cafe.
This godly being’s name was Bao Xu and everyone in the internet cafes loved to call him Bao Su.
The term Liver Emperor1 only became popular a couple of years later.
However, given Bao Xu’s performance, calling him Liver Emperor would even be looking down on him.
He should be called a Super Liver Emperor!
The current Bao Xu wasn’t someone that everyone was familiar with just yet.
However, it wouldn’t be long before his name was spread across the entire school.
The reason for that came from two incidents.
The first incident was him spending his entire first year of school from spring to summer grinding games in internet cafes.
When the scorching summer approached and everyone else were wearing short sleeved shirts and shorts, he was still wearing his sweater from autumn with a coat hanging behind his chair.
That was because he had not returned to the dormitory at all and had no time to change his clothes.
When he was tired, he would just tilt the chair back flat and sleep.
When he woke up, he would wash up in the toilet before continuing to grind games.
Just like that, he was oblivious to the four seasons of the year.
After that incident, he was termed ‘Autumn Pants Brother’.
The second incident happened during his second year of school. Because he had truly skipped too many classes, the school advised him to drop out.
Despite that, he continued grinding in internet cafes.
His family could not get into contact with him and thought that something had happened to him and he had died.
For sustenance money, Bao Xu sold in-game equipment, boosting and grinding services and just like that, he resided in the internet cafes for the next 2-3 years.
Of course, to most people, this would be someone who was at the final stage of internet addiction and would require electrolysis treatment.
However, Pei Qian could see his merits.
A person like that was a true elite gamer.
He would know most of the games in the market like the back of his hands while answering any queries towards details in designing.
Wouldn’t it be logical to have an elite gamer like that hired as an employee?
But of course, the prerequisite was that he had to clean himself up first.
Besides, Pei Qian also admired his other uniqueness – the fact that he was good at games but knew nothing about design!
Someone like that was the easiest to lead them the wrong way.
For example, if someone wanted to become an amazing chef, he would have to be able to distinguish between whether food tasted good or bad.
But conversely, even if someone had particular taste buds pertaining to food, did that guarantee that they would be brilliant chefs?
Not necessarily.
In fact, the pickier one was over food, the harder it would be for them to be a chef.
Extremists are bad on both sides of the scales.
While it was true that game creators must have passion for games, too much passion wasn’t a good thing either.
If someone had too much passion for games, they would not be able to retain their logical rationality and may mistake their own understanding of games as what the majority of gamers had as well.
Therefore, Pei Qian felt that Bao Xu was someone who fit his requirements.
On the one hand, he was a fanatic for games. Hiring a god of games as an employee while paying him a higher salary wasn’t something the system would object to.
On the other hand, this was a person who did not know design and had a high chance of nitpicking while causing things to screw up.
What a perfect employee he would make!
However, Pei Qian wasn’t confident that he would be able to persuade Bao Xu on his own.
After all, this was someone who had his family assuming that he was dead two years down the road.
It was hard to imagine the type of circumstances that would persuade him to leave the internet cafes.
Chapter 34
Losing Money to Be a Tycoon c1-883 Page 19