Losing Money to Be a Tycoon c1-883

by Inebriation-seeking Blue Shirt, 青衫取醉

  Pei Qian was afraid that they would break the company up once he started looking into them. If that happens, he would have to find the employees back one by one. That would be so troublesome.

  A broken mirror would still have cracks on it; if he wanted to acquire the business, he should acquire it entirely!

  That was why he decided to leak some information to the boss of Shang Yang Games, that he was interested in acquiring the business. That would give him some hope of survival, so that he would not seek to dissolve the company so quickly.

  Assistant Xin was driving. She nodded and said, “Alright, Boss Pei. However, according to my understanding, I think it’s a company that is doing quite badly.”

  Assistant Xin was very tactful about it.

  “I’m not concerned about its situation now but its future potential,” Pei Qian answered confidently.

  “En, I believe in your foresight, Boss Pei,” Assistant Xin answered. “How long do you want me to look into them? The longer I have, the more I would understand. That would give us more advantage when conducting the negotiations.”

  Assistant Xin paused for a moment and then added, “What’s more, it seems like they are currently incurring losses. We can delay our acquisition for a while. That would make it easier for us to push the price down.”

  Push the price down?

  Why should we push the price down? The more expensive it is, the better!

  Pei Qian immediately shook his head. “We should not delay the matter on purpose. Finish it as soon as possible.”

  “Competition in the games industry is always tight. Instead of delaying the matter just to push the price down, it would be better if we quickly acquire it and focus on investing in its operations. We should not lose sight of the big picture for the sake of these small matters.”

  “Alright.” Assistant Xin asked again, “Then, are we acquiring the entire company this time or…?”

  One could acquire companies in many ways. One option was to acquire an empty shell without any original employee, purely for the sake of the IP rights of games belonging to the company. Another option was to acquire the whole company, but make adjustments to its structure by getting rid of a leader, changing the human resource system, or the like.

  As for how they were to conduct the acquisition this time depended on why Pei Qian was interested in Shang Yang Games. That would make it easier for Assistant Xin to negotiate the price.

  Pei Qian was not interested in the people working in Shang Yang Games; neither was he interested in any particular game under the company. Instead, he was interested in the loss-incurring potential of Shang Yang Games!

  Thus, Pei Qian had to acquire all of Shang Yang Games as it was. That was the only way he could maintain its ‘original flavor’. Pei Qian immediately answered, “Acquire the entire thing. Don’t make a single change to its original structure.”

  “Alright, Boss Pei. I understand.” Once she understood her superior’s intentions, Assistant Xin did not ask any further questions.

  This was not the most reasonable acquisition. This was because… nothing about Shang Yang Games was worth acquiring. If Pei Qian had been interested in hiring a particular talent, wouldn’t it have been much simpler to lure him over to Tengda?

  If he had been interested in a particular game, wouldn’t it have been much simpler to purchase the rights to that game? Shang Yang Games would have been overjoyed to know that another company would be taking over its games.

  Yet, Pei Qian was looking for a complete acquisition?

  It seemed unreasonable.

  However, Assistant Xin did not ask any questions. This was her job; she just had to do any task that her superior instructed her to do seriously. She should not ask questions if she did not need to know the answers.

  What’s more, Boss Pei must have had his own reasons for making such arrangements. He must have seen something of value in Shang Yang Games.

  Since it was the long Labor Day weekend, Jingzhou City was quite crowded. They took more time than usual to arrive at Fish-Catching Internet Cafe. Pei Qian alighted from the car and walked right into the cafe.

  En, it’s as cold and empty as it used to be. What a relief!

  Up until now, Fish-Catching Internet Cafe had gained some familiar customers. These were whales who were not at all concerned about prices. They were happy to come here, surf the internet, and sip their coffee. Some of them even brought their guests here to entertain them.

  Once in a while, a group of friends would come here and play games together as well. After all, the environment and service here were good, and there were very few people. To these whales, it was very worth it to spend more money in exchange for a good environment to play games in.

  Even so, Fish-Catching Internet Cafe could not recover its capital. There were too few whales in the vicinity!

  The cafe was situated one street down from a quiet commercial district. There were no huge signs directing people to the place; neither were there high-end residential areas. Given the cafe’s position and price, only a small group of whales could afford patronizing it. The amount of money they earned could not sustain the business.

  Thus, Pei Qian was not afraid at all.

  Seeing that Pei Qian was here, Ma Yang and Zhang Yuan immediately hosted him.

  “Boss Pei, you are here. What would you like to drink?” Zhang Yuan asked.

  Pei Qian scanned the menu and said, “A Margarita.”

  He looked around the cafe. There were no customers in the internet area or the coffee area. The place looked exceptionally cold today.

  “Are there no customers today?” Pei Qian asked casually.

  Ma Yang rubbed his hands together, looking ashamed. “Yes, Brother Qian. I don’t know what the matter today is, either. I guess it’s because the holiday is coming…”

  Before today, there would still be a few customers coming in to play games. However, not a single customer turned up today. It was quite ridiculous.

  Yet, Pei Qian did not mind a single bit. In fact, he was quite happy.

  “Alright, just close the door. We’ll just close the cafe early today. Zhang Yuan, make a cup for all our brothers here as well. Put it on the company’s account. Don’t work for nothing today. Everyone, come and take a seat.”

  Pei Qian sat down in the coffee area and gestured to everyone to join him. The few waiters immediately got moving. Some people went to pack up, and others went to arrange the tables and chairs. Zhang Yuan began to make cocktails for all of them.

  Very quickly, the waiters and three chefs (There was only one at first, but in order to provide meals to Tengda, they hired two more chefs.) all sat down at the coffee area. In front of each of them was a glass of cocktail.

  Zhang Yuan and Ma Yang sat right in front, on either side of Pei Qian. They all waited for him to speak. Pei Qian cleared his throat subtly, trying to build up the mood. “From next month onwards, Fish-Catching Internet Cafe will open four more branches. However, we will do this in order. That’s because we cannot get enough funds all at one shot.

  “Whoever is willing to manage a branch, please raise your hand.”

  Four waiters in the front immediately raised their hands. A chef, who was seated at the back, hesitated for a couple of seconds before he gingerly raised his hand up.

  Zhang Yuan raised his hand as well.

  Pei Qian gestured for Zhang Yuan to put his hand down. “You will be promoted to be part of the management in the future. You’ll overlook the rest of the branch managers, so don’t raise your hand.”

  Zhang Yuan put his hand down, looking pleased. What was going on? He was being promoted for no reason!

  Pei Qian looked at the five people with their hands raised. “Alright, it’ll be five of you then. Zhang Yuan, make a note of their names. The five of them will be branch managers of the new internet cafes.”

  The branch manager of this cafe was Ma Yang. However, after opening several more branches, Ma Yang and Zhang Yuan wo
uld naturally be promoted to be part of the management. That would leave the position of branch manager in this branch empty.

  That was why Pei Qian chose five new branch managers.

  Everyone felt stunned. Wasn’t that a little rash?

  A few waiters who did not raise their hands were dazed. Holy sh*t, if they had known earlier, they would have raised their hands!

  All of them were hesitant, afraid that they would not be good enough to fulfill the roles of a branch manager. If they found that they were incapable only after they were put through the test, that would be very shameful indeed.

  In the end, there was no test at all!

  The most confused of all was the chef who raised his hand. Logically, selecting branch managers for the new internet cafes had nothing to do with chefs. If there was to be a pool of candidates, they should be formed out of the waiters seated in front.

  Yet, he got selected even though he raised his hand subconsciously?! At that moment, he could not accept the almost 180-degree change from being a chef to a branch manager.

  Ma Yang tugged at Pei Qian’s sleeve and whispered, “Brother Qian, would that do? Why not hold open recruitment?”

  Pei Qian shook his head. “These are all people you recruited. I don’t believe in anyone else but you.”

  Ma Yang smiled shyly. “That’s true.”

  Chapter 138 - Desire to Incur Losses Intensified

  After selecting the new branch managers, Pei Qian turned to face Ma Yang. “Old Ma, Zhang Yuan, once I opened the branches, this branch would become the flagship store. Both of you need not work too hard on the management of the internet cafes, too.

  “Zhang Yuan, in the future, you will be the regional manager of the Fish-Catching Internet Cafes in Jingzhou City. You will take charge of all the internet cafes here. As for Ma Yang, you will become the general manager of all the Fish-Catching Internet Cafes. You will still do the same as before; answer and report directly to me.

  “Among the new branch managers I selected, choose one that you are most pleased with. He will be the branch manager of this internet cafe. This cafe is our first Fish-Catching Internet Cafe. It has a commemorative meaning. From now on, it will also be our flagship store.

  “As for the other brothers who were not selected to be branch managers, do not worry. In the future, if Fish-Catching Internet Cafe opens more branches, we will select the branch managers from the group of employees who have been with us the longest.

  “As for the gaps that will be left after you all are promoted, please fill them as soon as possible by hiring more people.

  “Ma Yang, Zhang Yuan, after the holiday, I will give both of you a week to do your observations. Choose ten suitable sites and then pick out the best four among them. We will open our new branches at these four sites.

  “Site selection, renovation, decorations… do everything as exactly we did for this cafe. Do you understand?”

  Ma Yang patted his chest and said, “Don’t worry, Brother Qian. Leave everything to me!”

  Everyone looked quite excited. Boss Pei was not uttering empty words. Everything that he said before was coming true; it was all coming true at the speed of light, at that!

  Some bosses were very good at making empty promises. Everything they said they would do would be delayed indefinitely for some reason. However, Boss Pei was different. He had only said a few days ago that he would open several more new branches. Immediately, the day for that had arrived!

  They had just poured about three million yuan into this shop not long ago. Opening four more shops would cost more than ten million yuan. Yet, Boss Pei was not even frowning at the thought of this. Indeed, he was made to achieve great things!

  The fact that they could work for a boss like that made a few waiters feel proud at once.

  Once he had finished giving instructions, Pei Qian left final words on a few details, and then left feeling relieved.

  Labor Day…

  The company was closed, and there was nothing to do for school. Pei Qian decided to make a trip back home. However, before he went home, he took his bank card—which had about eighty thousand yuan in Personal Wealth and went to a nearby home appliance store.

  Since it was a long weekend, there were many people in the store. In fact, everyone was rubbing shoulders with one another.

  At that time, buying home appliances online was not a popular practice. Warehousing and logistics were not that convenient to organize, and after-sales service was a pain. That was why most people preferred to go to physical stores to buy expensive items such as home appliances.

  A few years later-as e-commerce became more rampant, these physical stores became few and far between.

  Pei Qian walked around aimlessly. “Shopping is such a pain. It would be good if Assistant Xin were here…”

  Pei Qian missed Assistant Xin. If she were here, she would be able to give Pei Qian a report on the best shops to go to based on his preference. All Pei Qian would have to do was swipe his card.

  However, today was a holiday. Assistant Xin was off-work. What’s more strictly speaking, buying electronics for his household was not in her job scope. There would be no good reason to ask Assistant Xin to help him out with such matters. The System might even issue him a warning.

  Therefore, Pei Qian had no choice but to endure the exhaustion and walk around on his own.

  Television. Washing machine. Fridge. Air-conditioner.

  Pei Qian was very sure that all the home appliances in his house had to be changed. However, it was difficult for him to choose these appliances on his own.

  This was because everything looked quite bad…

  The brands of these household appliances were different from what Pei Qian remembered. Still, he could roughly remember which ones were good and which ones were bad.

  However, what made Pei Qian’s head hurt the most was that while cell phones and computer software developed very quickly in this world, home appliances were not that much different from what he remembered them to be like.

  Pei Qian was looking at appliances in the Year 2010 from the viewpoint of someone from the Year 2019. Of course, he would feel like none of these were suitable. In fact, many of these huge home appliances brands were going to be eliminated from the market. Pei Qian already knew they were bound to fail, and yet these appliances were being marketed as the most up-to-date products.

  Take the television, for example.

  At that time, forty-inch televisions of foreign brands—which were slightly better—were all priced at around five or six thousand yuan. To Pei Qian, this was daylight robbery. Since he was used to seeing these common forty-inch televisions being sold for a thousand-odd yuan, he had absolutely no desire to buy such televisions priced so ridiculously.

  It was normal for him to feel this way. As the saying went… if one bought something earlier, one got to enjoy it for longer; if one bought something later, one got to enjoy it for a lower price. There was also another saying: people who wait would never become slaves.

  Products like that would be developed and upgraded very quickly. Especially through the eyes of someone about ten years from the future, these things were going to be changed sooner or later. However, the earlier he bought them, the longer he would get to enjoy them.

  Pei Qian thought that if he bought his parents’ new home appliances—at the very least, the washing machine would not shake uncontrollably when drying the clothes, they would be able to store more things in the fridge, and watching the bigger television would be more comfortable to their eyes. All of these were day-to-day experiences. It was best to change these appliances as soon as possible.

  Pei Qian made two rounds around the store and quickly decided on the appliances that he wanted to buy. Right away, he swiped his card and completed the purchase.

  A 42-inch television, for over six thousand yuan. Double-door refrigerators were still quite new at that time—he paid over ten thousand yuan for that. An air-conditioner for over two thous
and yuan. Since Jingzhou got quite hot in the summer, it was just the right time to get an air-conditioner. In a few days, he would be able to make good use of it. A tumbling-box washing machine for over three thousand yuan. At the same time, he bought an electronic rice-cooker, a vacuum cleaner, and other home appliances. Added all together, these all cost him about two thousand yuan.

  All the appliances Pei Qian selected were fully-functional and of good-quality brands. There were domestic appliances and foreign appliances. That was why they cost more than ordinary appliances.

  Finally, everything added together cost about thirty thousand yuan. With that, he was done for the day.

  Once he finished purchasing these appliances, Pei Qian continued walking around the store for a bit more. He discovered a sweeping robot.

  People were already using sweeping robots before the year 2010. However, at the time, nobody really purchased such a thing. This was because it was completely not worth the price. What’s more, at the time, there were no applications that could control the robot. In one word, these things could be described as silly. They did not save as much time and effort for people as they would later on.

  Pei Qian looked at the sweeping robot and found that this model was not bad. Although he could not plan its route, there were many cleaning modes. It cost over three thousand yuan. He decided to buy it.

  He discussed with the store about the trade-in value of his old appliances, tied up the final loose ends, and then watched as the truck from the store carried his new appliances to his home.

  The store was not far from his house. Pei Qian followed behind the store’s truck into his home.

  “Come on, move them in.” Pei Qian began to instruct the men where to place the new appliances.

  His mother ran out of the kitchen, slightly confused. “Ay? What’s going on? Son, did you buy all of these things?”