Losing Money to Be a Tycoon c1-883

by Inebriation-seeking Blue Shirt, 青衫取醉

  “Everyone please place your bids.”

  Several club managers had already raised their hands as soon as Zhang Yuan’s voice fell.

  “Three million yuan transfer and signing fee and 1.2 million yuan annual salary!”

  “3.5 million yuan transfer fee, signing fee 1.2 million yuan, and 1.5 million yuan annual salary!”

  “F*ck, Old Zhang, you’re paying so much for the first player? Are you not keeping any money for the other players?”

  “Hehe, don’t try to fool me. I’m here for Jiang Huan; you can keep your money for the others!”

  “Four million yuan transfer fee, same for signing fee, and 1.6 million yuan annual salary!”

  Barely two minutes had passed, and these club managers were already snatching fervently.

  Who knew that Zhang Yuan would play such cards? Who would know that the first one he threw out was Jiang Huan?

  Pei Qian realized that the situation was very bad. He did not know if Zhang Yuan’s method was accidental or intentional, but it was too sinister!

  The clubs would definitely save their money to the end if they were to sell the weaker players and leave Jiang Huan to the end. Moreover, no one knew how much money the other party prepared. In the end, only the highest bidder would get it.

  However, putting Jiang Huan in front sparked the gunfire directly. Many people squeezed their good money out and increased the prices directly!

  That was a bit like buying vegetables. If the good vegetables were left to the end, everyone would definitely wait and see before finally rushing to grab them. However, if the good vegetables were in the front, then everyone would grab it from start to finish.

  Pei Qian felt faint. Zhang Yuan, eh, Zhang Yuan, you’re playing psychological games even though you look so honest!

  Seeing that the bids were getting more and more outrageous—they were already at five million transfer fees, Pei Qian felt that he must really stop them now.

  It would really be too difficult for me if we’re really sold!

  You could pay more in salary for the players, but the transfer fees really should not be increased no matter what!

  However, these clubs did not increase the signing fee and annual salaries too high. They instead kept increasing the transfer fees.

  They probably felt that the salaries were basically near the peak. If they wanted to grab the players, they would have to pay more for the transfer fee to make the DGE Club happy!

  How could Pei Qian take this?

  He quickly raised his hand to interrupt the bidding process.

  “Stop! Such a bidding method isn’t appropriate.”

  Zhang Yuan was stunned for a moment. Why was this bidding method inappropriate? Wasn’t it normal for the highest bidder to win?

  “Boss Pei, what do you have in mind?” Zhang Yuan asked.

  Pei Qian thought for a while. “Bring a few pieces of paper. Managers, please write down the amount you have prepared and the most urgent need you have for reinforcements on the paper and give it to me. Don’t worry, I will not disclose them to others.”

  The managers exchanged baffled glances.

  Zhang Yuan quickly distributed the pen and paper. The managers secretly wrote their club names, the amount, the positions they needed reinforcements in and handed them in.

  “Brief me simply about the results of these clubs,” Pei Qian said to Zhang Yuan.

  Zhang Yuan took out the results of the mock competition and reported based on the results of every club.

  Pei Qian checked the amounts given by these clubs while he listened.

  The gap was really huge!

  The club with the highest bid prepared 25 million yuan, and Pei Qian almost thought that his eyes were playing tricks on him. It seemed like this club was not short of money. They were probably here to buy three or four players, determined to win the World Invitation Championship.

  The club with the lowest bid only prepared six million yuan which was comparable to the H4 Club’s bid when they bought Huang Wang. They probably could not wait until they raised more money.

  Pei Qian took the pen and paper and quickly assigned the players to the clubs. At the same time, he wrote the transfer fees, signing fees, and annual salary at the back of the paper.

  All the transfer fees were three million yuan of which 2.2 million yuan were used to improve the club’s environment—that was the same as H4 Club.

  The signing fee and annual salaries were determined according to the strength of the players but also taking into account the financial resources of each club.

  The distribution of players was not entirely based on the highest bidder… but based on the position of each club that required reinforcement.

  Like the highest bidder SUG club, which had won the last GOG championship, with the best strength. They had prepared another 25 million yuan this time, wanting to buy three players at once. They were very strong in their top lane, but they were still determined to buy Jiang Huan.

  Pei Qian gave them a jungler after checking with Zhang Yuan.

  Pei Qian’s goal was very clear. It was to ensure that the DGE players could go to these teams and become their main force.

  The DGE Club’s players might be stronger than the original players of these clubs. If the original players were very strong, if the club lost the game, or if the DGE Club players did not fit very well with the team; then they might consider rotation.

  Therefore, Pei Qian quickly divided the players, and the price was basically not much different from Huang Wang’s offer by then. The positions most needed by each club were reinforced, and each club did not finish their budgets.

  The SUG club, especially, only spent seven million yuan out of the 25 million yuan.

  Pei Qian had only received 800,000 yuan x 7 = 5.6 million yuan for transfer fees.

  Pei Qian handed over the final distribution method and contract amount to the club managers. “Just do it according to this.”

  The club managers were all dumbfounded, looking at the amounts.

  What did that mean? Why was the final price set by Boss Pei much cheaper than what we expected?

  What is Boss Pei doing?

  We were all prepared for heavy bleed out, and yet that was all Boss Pei had to it?

  Many clubs were not particularly satisfied with the result of this distribution. For example, SUG was determined to obtain Jiang Huan at first, but now they could not buy him even if they had the money.

  However, these managers accepted this result in no time.

  That was because it was not necessarily the best for every club, but it was not the worst result as well.

  Every club strengthened its positions without spending too much money. Everyone had prepared a lot of money, but it did not mean they had to spend it all. It was best to save some.

  They could not force the case since Boss Pei had spoken. They would only accept this result.

  Boss Pei was not only the owner of the DGE Club but also the owner of GOG after all. The right to host all future events—including transfer rules of various clubs, etc.—would all be from Boss Pei.

  Going up against Boss Pei would mean an early death, wouldn’t it?

  Pei Qian felt drained having it all arranged. He stood up. “Everyone, please sign the contract. However, there is one thing I have to say. All our players are treasures. I don’t want to hear that they have been bullied at your clubs.”

  “Alright, I’ll leave it at that.”

  Pei Qian waved his hand dismissively, prepared to leave.

  However, at this moment, the manager of a club said, “Boss Pei, thank you so much! Our club will definitely ensure the training environment of our players is good! We’ve decided to move to Jingzhou immediately like the H4 Club!”

  “Yes, our GOG division has also decided to move to Jingzhou to thank Boss Pei!” the other manager said.

  “Us, too!”

  This statement received immediate responses. Only two veteran clubs did not immed
iately express their views, but they said that they would go back to discuss it with the management.

  These veteran clubs had big businesses, and it was not so flexible. However, if so many clubs were to get together in Jingzhou, these two veteran clubs would definitely consider moving their GOG branch as well.

  Pei Qian looked at these extremely moved club managers, with a question mark slowly floating over his head.

  ?

  Chapter 636 - Struggle, a Breakthrough in the Expression of Thought

  The people in charge of the various clubs seemed to have misunderstood.

  Those who spoke up first, saying that they wanted to come to Jingzhou, were small clubs with minimal funds prepared.

  They had thought that they would not be able to raise enough funds to buy a core player even if they sold everything. At the most, they expected to get a support that also played the commander. They never would have expected that Boss Pei would give them a core player to make up for their shortcomings!

  What’s more, Boss Pei was not asking for much. He was giving all the clubs roughly the same price: a transfer of membership fee of three million yuan with a return of 2.2 million yuan for the clubs to improve their environment.

  To the clubs that were lacking money, Boss Pei was showing them additional grace and care! They were so grateful that they did not know how to repay his kindness.

  Boss Pei’s Tengda Corporation was huge and not lacking in money. How could the clubs repay him?

  They could only move to Jingzhou and support him with their actions!

  What’s more, ever since the H4 Club moved to Jingzhou, it seemed to be getting better and better. That made them wonder if Jingzhou was that magical to begin with.

  If they had to spend the 2.2 million yuan that Boss Pei returned to them, it would be best if they spent it on Tengda’s related businesses in Jingzhou.

  What’s more, they would be very close to Tengda if they moved to Jingzhou. The DGE Club was under Tengda as well, and Manager Zhang was Boss Pei’s right-hand man. The clubs in Jingzhou would definitely be the first to receive news of any policy changes Tengda would make to GOG’s gameplay.

  The clubs in Jingzhou would also be able to gather and organize offline mock competitions more frequently. Playing games offline would be more effective than playing online after all.

  After considering all those factors, the small clubs decided that moving to Jingzhou would be a good choice.

  Now that the small clubs had expressed their views, the bigger clubs began to hesitate.

  If the small clubs moved to Jingzhou and they chose not to, would they run into any problems? Would they fall behind in participating in mock competitions and receiving news about updates?

  Would they fail to get Boss Pei’s approval or the officials’ attention?

  At the moment, the esports industry was still at the beginning stages of development. They were still a long way from having one club in every city. For the clubs that had already been established, it was best to gather in places with the richest resources.

  With the cluster effect, all the clubs would stand to benefit. Thus, those clubs quickly made a unanimous decision to move to Jingzhou!

  Pei Qian was confused, but he could not put his worries into words.

  What was the meaning of this?!

  The H4 Club had moved to Jingzhou because they had been cheated by Huang Wang. What was everyone else doing?! They had not even signed the contract, but everyone was already rushing to move to Jingzhou?

  That’s crazy!

  Pei Qian looked frustrated as he said, “Nevermind. I think that Shanghai is not bad as well. It’s the same no matter where you are; you don’t have to move to Jingzhou.”

  Moved, the managers of the clubs began to express their resolution.

  “Don’t worry, Boss Pei! This is our own choice!”

  “That’s right. We’ve already thought about this very carefully. Nobody can chase us away from Jingzhou now!”

  “Boss Pei, we will deal with the moving on our own. You don’t have to trouble yourself!”

  Pei Qian: “…”

  He was finished. The misunderstanding had deepened. They were all getting excited.

  Looking at the managers’ determined expressions, Pei Qian knew that he couldn’t say anything to change their minds now. He helplessly sighed inwardly.

  Alright, you can all come.

  Jingzhou is so big. I can’t possibly keep them away.

  Pei Qian could not do anything else. He turned to Zhang Yuan and said, “You can settle the signing of contracts. I have to leave to attend to something else.”

  Zhang Yuan nodded. “Rest assured, Boss Pei. I’ll arrange it!”

  …

  In the evening…

  Zhang Yuan had already signed the contracts with the various clubs. According to Boss Pei’s requests, he also had arranged accommodations for the other nine members. This time, however, none of the members had to leave Jingzhou.

  The two major clubs also spoke to their bosses. After detailed discussions, the bosses were moved by Boss Pei’s sincerity as well. At last, all seven clubs unanimously decided to move their GOG teams to Jingzhou!

  Thus, the DGE Club’s nine old members could stay in Jingzhou and wait for the rest of the clubs to move before claiming them.

  After learning that everyone was to go their separate ways, Jiang Huan and the others felt sad.

  However, after Zhang Yuan counseled them, the sadness quickly became diluted by their excitement. They could finally take part in the international invitational tournament!

  Before this, only Huang Wang had been bought over by H4 and could take part in the international invitational tournament. The other members had felt slightly envious of him.

  As professional esports athletes, who did not want to prove themselves on the biggest stage?

  Thus, although everyone could not bear to leave the DGE Club, they were simultaneously hopeful about becoming like Huang Wang and being able to stand in the global arena.

  The current outcome was already the best one.

  All the team members had found new teams whose shortcomings they could make up for. When they got there, they could sit firmly as the main members. At the same time, all their teams would move to Jingzhou.

  In the future, it would be convenient for them to meet frequently or even return to the DGE Club for a visit. Everyone’s living and training habits would also remain largely the same.

  They had the best of both worlds!

  As Zhang Yuan comforted the team members, he had mixed feelings inside. He had just finished interviewing new members for one position, and he had not thought that he would need to find nine more replacements so soon.

  After the huge ‘clearance sale’ this time, there would be a complete change in DGE’s ten members. Zhang Yuan feared that they would lose their stronghold for a long time to come.

  Actually, the best solution would be to sell a few of the members and keep the rest. The old members would then be able to teach the new ones. Once the latter became mature enough, the older members could be sold, thus forming a cycle that could carry on forever.

  However, Boss Pei had been adamant about selling all of them at one go.

  Zhang Yuan pondered about it and realized that it made sense as well.

  Even if they wanted to keep old members to teach the new ones, who would they have picked? All the old members were like family; who could they stop from taking part in the international invitational tournament?

  It didn’t seem like there would have been a correct choice.

  Thus, Zhang Yuan gave up his original beliefs, put his members’ futures first, and decided to transfer all of them to other teams.

  As for the shortfall in talents… he could figure things out as he went along.

  Zhang Yuan walked out of the villa, intending to smoke a cigarette to ease his mind. Just as he put a cigarette in his mouth, he saw Team Leader Su from H4 Club rushing t
owards him.

  “Boss Zhang, is this a convenient time? Can we have a chat?” Team Leader Su looked very anxious.

  Zhang Yuan could guess what he was going to say. He kept his cigarette back in its box and nodded. “Alright.”

  Both men walked towards the small garden in the villa.

  Team Leader Su looked embarrassed, but after hesitating for a moment, he still spoke up. “Manager Zhang, the other clubs formed a group to buy your members, right? How did that go?”

  Obviously, the H4 Club would be the most nervous about other clubs buying DGE’s members. They had given up everything to buy Huang Wang over, thinking that they would have the best chance of winning the championship title.

  Yet, what if the other clubs bought two or three members from DGE simultaneously?

  That would be the end of it.

  Thus, in a sense, how GOG’s international invitational tournament would turn out depended on how the purchase of DGE’s members had gone.

  After the transactions were complete, the power balance among the various clubs would change significantly. In fact, any training that the clubs could go through before the competition might even be meaningless.

  Zhang Yuan smiled. “Team Leader Su, don’t worry.”

  He briefly explained Boss Pei’s plan to Team Leader Su. Simply put, everyone paid the same transfer fee for a member from DGE. Price-wise, there was no difference between the clubs. Every team was also sold a member based on their own shortcomings. No team became overwhelmingly stronger compared to the other teams after the transaction.

  After hearing this, Team Leader Su was both surprised and thankful.

  He was surprised because the clubs’ strengths still remained largely the same on paper, even after the transaction. The H4 Club also had a strong foundation. If they could work harder on their teamwork during this period, they could still stand a good chance to win the championship.

  He was also grateful because Boss Pei had not sold stronger members in a package just because the other parties had offered higher prices!