Losing Money to Be a Tycoon c1-883

by Inebriation-seeking Blue Shirt, 青衫取醉

  It was precisely because these things seemed worthless and common that such a serious quality problem had been allowed to fester. Naturally, people felt indignant that children’s health was being put at risk!

  Pei Qian had a bad feeling about this.

  From the looks of it, Old Ma’s live-stream was going to be a success!

  “Could Old Ma really become an internet celebrity?

  “Wouldn’t that stray too far from reality?

  “No, calm down. Things shouldn’t be that bad yet…”

  After careful consideration, Pei Qian decided to wait and see.

  That was because this was just the beginning. The further they went, the greater the resistance and problems would become.

  This was only the first episode; the manufacturers that Ma Yang had exposed were not prepared at all.

  However, as Ma Yang exposed more and more problematic manufacturers, they would surely work together to think of ways to take revenge and play some tricks.

  What’s more, most people’s anger came and went quickly.

  For ordinary people, the desire to spend money was endless. Real live streamers who endorsed products had very loyal fans as well. Their audience would view their live-streams and try to understand their content for no reason, even if had no intentions of buying the products.

  Most people would not watch exposés every day either. They would only pay attention when they really needed the products.

  Ma Yang was starting off well, but his success might not be sustainable. What if he suddenly stopped live-streaming after a month or two?

  That was very possible!

  That was because it was easy for people to get tired of Ma Yang’s content. It would feel fresh the first time they saw it, but the more they watched, the more boring it would become.

  What’s more, Ma Yang was doing the right thing.

  Pei Qian had always hated toxic and harmful products like houses with formaldehyde. Since what Old Ma was doing now could protect the interests and health of ordinary consumers, it was meaningful.

  Even if he earned some money from it, Pei Qian could tolerate it.

  Moreover, the possibility of earning money from it was not high at the moment.

  Pei Qian had already warned the team not to accept any money from manufacturers.

  Regardless of whether the manufacturer was offering money for them to say good things, bad things, or nothing about their product, they could not accept the money.

  From the looks of the current situation, Ma Yang’s live-stream had gained a certain amount of popularity and traffic, but there was no possibility of generating profits yet.

  Thus, although Ma Yang’s ‘reverse endorsing’ live-stream was off to a good start, Pei Qian had no intention of stopping him. Instead, he decided to let Ma Yang continue for a while longer and observe the situation.

  Soon, the live-stream ended.

  Ma Yang finally finished reading his script. A wide grin split his long face. “Alright, that’s all for today’s live-stream. See you next time!”

  After the live-stream ended, Ma Yang received a glass of water from Chen Yufeng. He took two sips. Then, he impatiently asked, “How was it, Brother Qian? My performance was not bad, right?”

  Pei Qian nodded. “Yes, continue working hard!”

  …

  At the same time, in a hotel in Jingzhou City…

  Half a year had passed in the blink of an eye. It was a new recruitment season for Tengda.

  Wu Bin and his colleagues from the HR department helped to maintain order at the examination venue.

  The biggest feeling Wu Bin had was that more and more people were taking Tengda’s entrance examination!

  As more and more people signed up, more exam venues had to be arranged. The expenses for the entire recruitment season were also increasing.

  Tengda’s recruitment season, which took place twice a year, became one of the most important responsibilities for the HR and administrative departments. They always had to start preparing one or two months in advance.

  This time, Tengda had booked more than ten large banquet halls in Jingzhou as examination venues. Wu Bin was in charge of maintaining order in one of the examination venues.

  At noon, many foreign candidates returned to their rooms to rest. However, some other candidates remained in the examination hall, reading seriously and answering questions.

  Many young men from Fish-Catching Take-Out rushed over to deliver the lunch that the candidates had ordered.

  Many foreign candidates took this opportunity to taste the famous Fish-Catching Take-Out.

  Wu Bin had been walking around the examination hall aimlessly when he suddenly noticed a few books on one of the candidates’ table.

  ‘Detailed Answers for Tengda’s Entrance Examination’.

  ‘Encyclopedia for Tengda’s Entrance Examination:’

  ‘Prediction of Various Professional Knowledge Questions in the Tengda Entrance Examination’.

  Wu Bin was stunned.

  “Guide books for Tengda’s entrance examinations?”

  Chapter 717 - Guide Books for Tengda's Entrance Examinations

  Wu Bin almost thought that he was seeing things.

  These books were not big or thick, but the words ‘Tengda Entertainment Examination’ were written on the cover!

  In fact, candidates had started bringing their own guide books to the exam a while ago. Although they could not copy the answers, they could read them during the lunch break and revise their knowledge. That served to boost their confidence at the last minute.

  However, the guide books that the previous candidates had brought with them were guide books for government officials’ recruitment tests, and that was because the administrative aptitude portion could be applied universally.

  Now, there were guide books for Tengda’s entrance exam?

  Wu Bin felt amazed.

  To the candidate who was revising, he asked, “Can I take a look at this book?”

  He pointed at the ‘Detailed Answers for Tengda’s Entrance Examination’.

  The candidate saw Wu Bin’s staff badge and knew that he was a staff of Tengda. He could not help but feel nervous as he nodded quickly and handed the book over.

  Wu Bin reached out and took it. Then, he flipped through it briefly and scanned a few sets of questions.

  They were real questions?

  Wu Bin instinctively frowned. Could someone in the company have leaked the questions?

  Tengda’s recruitment examinations were as strict as government officials’. Once the examinations were over, not only would the exam papers be taken away, but any draft answers would also be taken away. The questions for the examinations would not be publicized through any channels either.

  Logically speaking, the outside world should not be able to obtain these questions.

  Wu Bin immediately became cautious. He could not afford to be careless about this.

  He flipped to the answers portion and read the standard answer for the question.

  This time, Wu Bin heaved a sigh of relief.

  The standard answer was different from the standard answer set by Tengda.

  When he flipped back to take a closer look at the questions in front, he realized that the descriptions of some of the questions were not accurate. This was especially so for longer questions – there seemed to be slight errors in them.

  Although it did not affect the content and answers, it showed that the information had not been leaked from within Tengda.

  “It’s alright. I don’t think it was an insider.”

  It seemed like the questions had been collated by training organizations in society.

  The same happened for government officials’ recruitment examinations. They were much stricter than Tengda’s, and some questions contained classified information belonging to the country. Yet, the real questions could still be found online every year.

  That was because many training organizations res
orted to stupid methods like assigning their own trainers to take the examinations. Some would memorize the questions while others would copy the questions on their admission tickets. Even netizens would remember the questions and share them online.

  All in all, there were too many ways to reproduce a set of questions, and these methods were all perfectly legal.

  With these questions, training organization would then engage experts to decipher the answers. Finally, they would analyze the learning points contained in the questions and break them down to their students.

  These answers were not necessarily correct or consistent with Tengda’s standard answers. However, since they had been written by professionals, they were definitely better than ordinary candidates’. Thus, the books still offered some guidance.

  Wu Bin heaved another long sigh.

  It was impossible to keep the real questions a secret.

  It was good enough to be able to confirm that it was not his own company that had leaked the information and that there were no spies invigilating.

  The current situation only proved how popular Tengda’s recruitment examinations were.

  Wu Bin thanked the candidate and returned the book to him. Then, he made a mental note of the matter.

  Specialized training organizations were already producing teaching materials for Tengda’s recruitment examinations. What’s more, they had even replicated the real questions.

  Wu Bin had thought that something like this might happen, but he had not expected it to happen so quickly.

  This made Wu Bin a little uncomfortable.

  That was because Tengda had introduced the recruitment examinations to create a fair and just environment for all applicants.

  Candidates could not be blamed for testing their administrative skills and improving their professional knowledge to increase their chances of passing the examinations.

  However, many training organizations were in it for the money. By selling the real questions for Tengda’s recruitment examinations, they had caused a stir among the candidates and profited from it.

  As one could imagine, more and more people would be sitting for Tengda’s recruitment examinations. The more candidates there were, the more benefits those training organizations would reap.

  Then, if candidates did not buy the real questions from those training organizations, they would be at a disadvantage in the examinations. A vicious cycle would form.

  This made Wu Bin a little unhappy.

  However, Wu Bin could do nothing about it.

  After all, training organizations had cast their shadow over most examinations in the world. They were not doing anything illegal. How could Wu Bin stop them from reproducing and attempting to decipher Tengda’s real questions?

  That was unrealistic.

  Therefore, Wu Bin only made a mental note of the matter and prepared to send a report to Hao Yun when he returned to the office. Then, Hao Yun would report the matter to Boss Pei and let him decide what to do.

  …

  It was afternoon and almost time to knock off.

  After finishing his work for the day, Wu Bin looked at his watch. It was about time for him to go home and rest.

  At that moment, his cell phone rang. It was an unknown number.

  “Hello?” Wu Bin picked up the phone.

  A very polite voice fawned through the phone.

  “Hello! Are you Mr. Wu from Tengda? Is it convenient for you to speak now?”

  Wu Bin frowned slightly and did not answer the question directly. “What’s the matter?”

  The person on the phone smiled. “Oh, Mr. Wu, I’m calling from a professional training organization. We would like to discuss a partnership with you.”

  Wu Bin was stunned. “A partnership?”

  The person on the phone replied, “Yes, Mr Wu, it’s like this. We have long heard that there is a very important segment in Tengda’s recruitment exam called the Tengda Spirit Test. Is that true?

  “We’ve thought about supplementary material related to the Tengda spirit test that we can produce.

  “To be honest, the demand for this material is huge. Many of our students want to buy it. However, we really don’t have the means to obtain it.”

  “That’s why I’m approaching you.

  “If you can provide relevant channels to us and partner us in coming up with a guide book for the Tengda Spirit test, we can discuss how to split the profits later on.

  “It would be even better if there are real questions! Even if you can’t provide real questions, as long as the information is mostly accurate and no one would be able to see through it, that would be enough…

  “Do you understand what I mean?”

  Wu Bin frowned. After a moment of silence, he asked, “Where did you get my contact information?”

  The other party seemed to sense that Wu Bin was angry. He quickly explained, “Don’t think too much, Mr. Wu. We definitely had no intention to invade your privacy. We just wanted to form a connection so that we can strike it rich together. No, I should say we want to make a career out of it.”

  In a low voice, Wu Bin said, “Only a small number of candidates would get to the Tengda Spirit compatibility test. Most would be rejected after the written tests. Not everyone would need the guide book, right?”

  The person on the other end of the line said, “Mr. Wu, there are things you don’t know about this. We can make the sales.

  “The guide books for the written examinations, interviews, and Tengda Spirit test would be tied together for sale. Each book would be sold for about twenty yuan, and that would add up to sixty yuan. Most people would not mind spending another twenty yuan just to save time and energy.

  “Indeed, very few people would find a use for it. However, that doesn’t matter as long as everyone is a willing party.”

  Wu Bin understood.

  The training organization that called knew very well that the guide book for the Tengda Spirit test would be useless to 99% of people who planned to take the Tengda recruitment examinations.

  If one started studying for the Tengda Spirit test despite not being able to pass the written test, wouldn’t that be akin to trying to fly before learning to walk?

  What’s more, those who were ultimately hired would be subtly influenced by their departments. Most of them would be able to pass the Tengda Spirit compatibility test successfully. Thus, they would not need the guide books.

  That was why this training organization did not insist on having real questions for the Tengda Spirit test.

  As long as they could fool their customers and not be exposed, they would be happy.

  To put it bluntly, they wanted to collect as much IQ tax as possible.

  If they sold the guide books for the written tests, interviews, and Tengda Spirit test as a set, everyone who walked by would think all three books were equally useful. Then, they would buy them all at once.

  That twenty yuan would be pure IQ tax, but most people would not even realize that.

  Wu Bin kept quiet for a moment, and then said, “This is Tengda’s top secret. I advise you not to think about this anymore. Otherwise, nothing good will come of it!”

  With that, Wu Bin hung up.

  That was ridiculous.

  The Tengda spirit was Tengda’s top secret. It was the spiritual wealth that all employees of Tengda possessed. Wu Bin had only come up with guidelines to describe it after painstakingly summarizing Boss Pei’s words and actions.

  How could he use it to do business and earn money?

  He could not tolerate being used by these training organizations to collect IQ tax from their students!

  Wu Bin felt the need to take this matter seriously.

  Since these training organizations could find his contact details, they could definitely find other employees’ contact details as well.

  Wu Bin was an employee of the HR department. He had the deepest understanding of the Tengda spirit and was the most determined. That was why he could res
ist such temptation.

  However, what about other ordinary employees?

  They might not understand the seriousness of this matter, or they might be bought over by money.

  If these training organizations managed to produce a guide book for the Tengda Spirit test, they would form an industrial chain. Although they might not be able to make much money from it now, as Tengda grew in size, more and more people would take part in its entrance examinations. Then, the training organizations would reap more and more benefits.

  This was obviously not in line with the Tengda spirit.

  He had to report this to Boss Pei as soon as possible and deal with the hidden threat!

  He looked at the time. It was time to knock off.

  Wu Bin thought for a while and decided to report a summary of these things to Hao Yun tomorrow morning. Then, he would ask Hao Yun to report them to Boss Pei so that he could decide what to do.

  Chapter 718 - Modified Tengda Spirit Test

  November 4th, Friday…

  Pei Qian finished his breakfast at Fish-Catching Internet Cafe and walked towards the office.

  Ma Yang’s live-stream yesterday was rather successful.

  Although it had not been particularly popular, the response had been very good. What’s more, the live-stream had been uploaded to Aili Island and other major platforms.

  Those toxic stationery brands were completely exposed overnight. Some of the more famous stationery manufacturers even released urgent notices saying that they would investigate the allegations thoroughly.

  Although they had not given satisfactory answers or compensation, at least the matter had been exposed. Many people knew about it now, and that was a good thing.

  However, for Ma Yang’s live-stream, that was as far as its popularity went.

  It had caused a wave of discussion within a small group of people, but it had not become popular on a large scale. It gained a little boost in reputation, but it did not earn much profit or traffic.

  Pei Qian found this acceptable.

  As Old Ma offended more manufacturers and released all sorts of exposés, Pei Qian would be able to see if this model could really incur losses.