The most popular domestically-produced cell phone model at the moment was Shenhua’s annual flagship product. However, that was a second-tier at best. Only Pineapple phones could be considered high-end and first-tier. Based on Pei Qian’s recollection, they had almost the same status as Apple phones would be in the future-or perhaps just slightly worse.
All in all, this cell phone hit a high volume of sales and was quite well-received. It would be fitting to work on this cell phone in his first episode.
Pei Qian had thought about it before. In fact, it did not matter what content he filled his short videos with. It also did not matter whether they succeeded or not. The most important thing was to allow Lin Chang to think that this entire project fitted Boss Pei’s character.
Before this, Pei Qian had told Lin Chang that he wanted to use this sum of money to conduct a test. That meant that this test had to be unique.
He had to do things his own way!
Take when Pei Qian played the role of ‘Boss Pei’ for example. Although he was playing himself, he still had to follow a script. It was only natural that he should receive remuneration.
This time was no different.
Pei Qian planned to act as a ‘professional’ reviewer of digital products. First, he took out a sheet of paper. On it, he wrote a brief plan for the episode. Then, he began filming.
In order to keep his face hidden, Pei Qian took a sheet of paper and wrote the words ‘Hardcore Reviews’ on it.
He retrieved a spectacle frame—which he bought with his own money-and put it on with the piece of paper. Thus, he successfully created a mask out of it.
After that, Pei Qian changed into more ordinary-looking clothes. After pondering for a couple of minutes, he wrote the plan for the beginning of the video.
“Hardcore Reviews…
“Day One of non-independent reviewing…
“Hardcore Reviews is a non-independent reviewer. The outcome of the review depends on how much manufacturers pay. Any reviewed product featured in the videos was probably paid for by the manufacturer. Please close this video immediately. If any manufacturers are interested in working with me, please contact me in private.”
He would create a scene filled with pure words and place it at the beginning of the video. This would dissuade a good number of people from watching it.
Once Pei Qian finished preparing, he accessed the camera on his cell phone and began recording.
“Welcome to the country’s strictest and most professional unboxing review show. I am a professional reviewer of digital products, Wa-Oh.
“The product that I’ll be reviewing for you today is called Pineapple 4. Let us open this box very carefully.”
Pei Qian was careful to speak emotionlessly so that nobody would recognize his voice.
After that, he grabbed a table knife next to him and cut a few holes in the package. Finally, he reached into the box and grabbed the cell phone.
He tore the film off in a callous manner and purposely rolled it up into a ball and tossed it aside. Then, he closed the box—which contained the charging cable, the head plug, and the stack of unnecessary instructionsand pushed it aside as well.
“The first thing we’ll do is a water-resistance test.”
He already had a small pail of water ready next to him. Pei Qian switched the Pineapple cell phone on and then tossed it into the pail.
A few minutes later, he took it out. It was quite water-resistant; no water managed to seep through the outer casing.
“The second thing to do is a crashproof test.”
Pei Qian held his own cell phone in his left hand while he picked up the Pineapple 4 with his right. Then, he began to drop the Pineapple 4 onto the ground from different heights and angles.
He started off by dropping it with the corner facing the ground, then he dropped it with the back of the phone facing the ground… then he dropped it with the screen facing the ground. He repeated the same movements from heights of one, two, and three meters.
Once he was done, he moved the camera closer to film a close-up of the cell phone.
After dropping the phone from a height of three meters, the entire cell phone looked damaged. Although it could still be switched on and operated, the screen was completely shattered, the corner looked dented, and paint had been scratched off the back cover.
“The third thing to do is a shockproof test.”
Pei Qian grabbed his table knife and stabbed the back cover several times.
At first, he started with little energy. Nothing much happened. However, as he stabbed at the cover with more energy, obvious cracks began to appear. What’s more, these cracks became increasingly defined.
“The fourth thing to do is to disassemble it.
“Everyone knows that disassembling the cell phone is the best way to tell if the internal structure and make-up of a cell phone was done by good-hearted manufacturers. Let us disassemble this cell phone in an extremely professional way.”
Pei Qian grabbed a #1 screwdriver, stuck it through a crack on the back cover, and pulled the entire cover off. Then, he successively removed the battery, camera, and motherboard from within.
By the time he was done removing everything from inside the phone, the cell phone looked unrecognizable.
“Alright. This is Pineapple 4’s internal structure. Everyone, take a look at the handiwork and material. I’m sure all of you are familiar with the various parts. I won’t have to introduce them to you.
“Next, let us re-assemble it.”
Pei Qian did not do this. In any case, when the time came, he would just rewind the video.
Finally, he had to record his conclusion.
“That was a review of the Pineapple 4 cell phone. I’m going to remind Pineapple 4 to transfer the payment to my personal bank account.
“This has been Hardcore Reviews. See you in the next episode!”
Once he finished filming everything, Pei Qian downloaded a random editing software. He used it to cut some raw footage out and then added the introduction at the start of the video. Finally, he added the rewound footage.
Pei Qian rendered the video and watched it once through.
There was a very big problem with it. Boss Pei was very happy.
Pei Qian logged onto Aili Island and registered for a new account named ‘Hardcore Reviews’. Then, he uploaded the video.
“Alright, pack up!”
Pei Qian put the piece of paper and spectacles away neatly so he could use them for the next recording
There were still nineteen episodes to go. He would unbox a digital product for each episode and do exactly what he did for the first episode. The twenty episodes would be easily completed. Finally, he would be able to relax and spend the two hundred thousand yuan!
Chapter 216 - Fixed Assets Calculation Method
The next morning-after Pei Qian woke up, he opened the creator platform in Aili Island and looked at the statistics of the video.
There were some views and a few comments and bullet screen comments. However, they did not add up too much. The video was still very unpopular.
Most comments and bullet screen comments were along the lines of ‘oh sh*t’, ‘baller’, ‘an explosion of funding’ and ‘they had too much money so they chose to burn them’.
Pei Qian’s account was new. After uploading the video at the electronics area, he did not receive publicity from the platform; and he did not have any subscribers to begin with. There was only some insignificant organic traffic. There was almost no exposure for the video throughout the night.
Pei Qian did not care about that. He did not expect the video to have many views.
If there was really someone who tipped his video or if he could join the incentive plans of the platform, he could just think of it as he had earned some pocket money. It seemed like a nice plan to him.
Pei Qian was eating snacks as he binge-watched some videos. All of a sudden, the system screen expanded in front of him.
<10% of the system’s valuation of the company’s fixed assets shall be recorded into the System Funds. That will affect the settlement results.>
The chips that Pei Qian held near his mouth stopped mid-air.
What was the meaning of this?!
He read the content on the system screen carefully. When he saw the ‘Fixed Assets’ column, he vaguely understood what happened.
Previously, most of the expensive resources he had were all rented, including the office building and cars. Therefore, the ‘Fixed Assets’ column was not triggered.
Of course, the tables and chairs, furniture and office products that he had bought for the company and the internet cafes should all be considered the company assets. However, they did not trigger the ‘Fixed Assets’ column.
It was likely because the system disregarded these things as their prices were too insignificant.
However, now that Pei Qian bought a 6-million yuan villa, the system could not disregard that anymore.
According to the rules of the system, such fixed assets in the form of commodities would undergo valuation by the system. 10% of its estimated worth would be converted into the System Funds and would affect the settlement results.
Pei Qian had just spent a large sum of money on the villa. The company’s current book balance was 2,430,000 yuan while the starting sum of the System Funds was 8,000,000 yuan. According to his previous calculations, he should suffer a loss of 5,570,000 yuan.
However, according to this new calculation method, if he converted and recorded 10% of the estimated worth of 6,220,000 yuan villa, he would only suffer a loss of 4,950,000 yuan! 8,000,000 – 2,430,000 + (6,220,000×10%) = 4,950,000
The newly indicated System Funds was 2,430,000+620,000. The first 2,430,000 was the working capital on the company’s ledger. That was the money they could spend. The following 620,000 was 10% of the villa’s estimated worth. Even though it was converted into a virtual number that could not be spent, it was still considered a part of the System Funds and would affect the settlement.
Pei Qian scratched his head. His first reaction was that he was actually unsure if that was a good deal for him.
Evidently, this rule that the system set reduced the restrictions Pei Qian had to when buying commodities as fixed assets.
For instance, if such commodities were not recorded under the System Funds, Pei Qian could totally buy anything he wanted. As long as he ensured that the capital chain would not break, he could buy as many properties as he liked to create a loss.
(Of course, a prerequisite was that he must justify his purpose when buying them. He was not allowed to do real estate speculation or live in those properties. He could only use them for production management like he did this time around.)
For example, if there was 10 million yuan left in the System Funds and Pei Qian took out 7 million to buy another villa (and found a random use for it), he was left with 3 million. He could easily create a loss of 5 million when compared to the initial 8 million System Funds in the beginning.
That evidently reduced the difficulty of creating a loss.
Therefore, Fixed Assets also needed to be recorded as the System Funds.
However, if the entire sum of the fixed assets was recorded under System Funds, another huge problem would arise.
The starting sum of the System Funds was only 8 million. If Pei Qian bought a 10-million villa and the entire 10 million was recorded into the System Funds, it was difficult for him to lose the starting sum of 8 million unless he mortgaged the property or sold it.
Therefore, the system chose this method to avoid both aforementioned situations.
Such commodities under one’s fixed assets would be recorded into the System Funds on a 10% basis. On one hand, that would give Pei Qian some room to purchase fixed assets when he wanted to create a loss. On the other hand, Pei Qian could not easily achieve a huge loss by purchasing fixed assets mindlessly.
“Ah… thinking about it from a pessimistic perspective, the system has yet again blocked off another path that I could have taken to earn fortunes. The system is always one step ahead of me…
“However, thinking from the positive side of things, if the system did not give me a reminder; I would not be able to come up with that idea easily…”
Pei Qian suddenly realized that although purchasing fixed assets could affect the settlement results, it was ultimately still a good way to spend money!
Assuming that Pei Qian had about 10 million yuan left in the System Funds, he could simply buy another villa or shop. If he spent 5 million yuan on that, the amount left in the System Funds would be:
10 million – 5 million + (5 million x 10%) = 5.5 million.
In that case, the system would conclude that he had suffered a loss of 8 million – 5.5 million = 2.5 million!
Of course, there were some risks involved in that. If Pei Qian had multiple fixed assets, the appreciation of a single fixed asset would result in the System Funds increasing rapidly as well.
If the value of the villa that Pei Qian had suddenly increased insanely and appreciated to 30 million yuan, the amount recorded into the System Funds would then increase to 3 million based on the stated 10% ratio.
10 million – 5 million + (30 million x 10%) = 8 million.
He would not be able to suffer a loss then!
If the situation worsened—when Pei Qian had too many fixed assets, their total value could surpass the starting sum even if only 10% of their estimated value was recorded in the System Funds. If that happened-even if Pei Qian spent all the money in the company’s book balance, he would still be unable to create a loss.
The only way out was if those fixed assets depreciated or if Pei Qian sold them all and spent the money he earned.
Anyways…
Opportunities and risks coexist.
After some calculation, Pei Qian felt that his head was throbbing.
“What is happening? Why do I have to use so many brain cells to find a way to lose money? Why are the rules getting more and more complicated…?”
Pei Qian decided that he was not going to think about that anymore.
In the future—when the amount of System Funds increased to about 20 or 30 million, he would then spend a few million yuan to purchase some shops. That would only add a few hundred thousand yuan to the System Funds and was a good deal for him.
Currently, he did not have much money in the System Funds. Buying too many shops could easily turn things against his intentions. He had to take it slow.
If he was cautious, he should only spend the money at the last moment.
During this cycle, it was sufficient for him to purchase the semi-commercial villa and open the high-end restaurant to lose money.
Since the system gave him a reminder, that showed that the villa had been purchased and the relevant procedures had been completed.
Pei Qian gave Assistant Xin a call and asked her to drive him to the Ming Yun Villas branch of the Fish-Catc
hing Internet Cafe.
He wanted to settle the interior design of the high-end restaurant and check if there were any unexpected changes to the business environment there.
Chapter 217 - Our Restaurant had a Diverse Style!
At Fish-Catching Internet Cafe’s branch at Ming Yun Villas…
On the way there, Pei Qian paid special attention to the shops that he noticed were renovating previously. Those included internet cafes, coffee shops, bars, and board game cafes.
The location of those shops had been carefully decided. For example, there was an internet cafe right outside the entrance of Handong Jiaotong University’s East Campus.
As compared to the Fish-Catching Internet Cafe which was a twenty-minute walk away, the new internet cafe located right at the school’s entrance was much nearer. Naturally, that internet cafe was more popular among students.
Moreover, Pei Qian looked at the interior design and layout of the new internet cafe and saw that it was deliberately copying the style of the Fish-Catching Internet Cafes.
The furnishing and equipment within the internet cafe appeared brand new, including computers, keyboards, mouses, and tables, and chairs. There was also a bar counter in the internet cafe that sold coffee and all types of drinks.
However, the layout there was not as lavish as the Fish-Catching Internet Cafe and appeared a little cramped. There were many computers available, but their configurations most probably could not reach the standard of those at the Fish-Catching Internet Cafes.
All the computers at the Fish-Catching Internet Cafes were all assembled by Zhang Yuan. They could run almost all the huge Triple-A games in the market with full special effects. They had an incredibly high configuration.
However, strictly speaking, such configurations were a little wasteful.
Comparatively, the computers at this new internet cafe were a little smarter. They used configurations that could run mainstream games smoothly, and yet their prices should be almost half the computers at the Fish-Catching Internet Cafes. The computers had similar peripherals and appeared similarly glamorous, and yet the difference in their prices was huge.
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