She still remembered the first time she went to Ming House for dinner, even Boss Li’s high-end restaurant had been affected. A lot of problems occured in the kitchen.
The Cold-Faced Lady was just an ordinary fast food restaurant. The kitchen would definitely not be as good as Ming House’s. How could it hold up?
Tang Yishu felt a little guilty. She had come to visit in secret today, but looking at the current situation, she was a little worried that she might accidentally ruin Senior’s plans.
Tang Yishu took out a tissue and wiped her mouth. “Boss Qiu, let’s go.”
Qiu Hong was stunned. “Huh? You’re not going to watch anymore?”
Tang Yishu shook her head. “No.”
She knew that Pei Qian was the one who had invested in the Cold-Faced Lady. If she were to sit here and the situation in the kitchen continued, the consequences would be dire.
It was better to leave as soon as possible before causing more harm.
Qiu Hong did not say much. Tang Yishu was the one who came to visit in secret after all. He was only in charge of accompanying her. The two of them stood up and left.
Meng Chang continued to explain things to the investors, but he could clearly feel that the investors were no longer as interested as before.
There was no other way. The unexpected mishaps today had been too damaging. Many investors who had been tempted returned to the wait-and-see state.
“Alright, Boss Meng, let’s call it a day. We’ll discuss the investment when we get back. I’ll give you an answer in two days.”
The investors were still very polite, but their attitudes were obviously slightly different from when they first arrived.
Meng Chang was well aware of this, but he had no choice. He could only bite the bullet and continue to act nonchalant as he sent the investors away with a smile.
Meng Chang sighed silently and found an empty seat to sulk after returning to the Cold-Faced Lady.
The waiter walked over quickly and said in a low voice, “Boss Meng! There are no more problems with the kitchen. The few customers who were delayed have also been exempted from paying. We will definitely be able to ensure that the peak lunch period will not be affected!”
Meng Chang glared at her, not knowing what to say.
How tiring.
Chapter 776 - Did Something Went Wrong?
Friday afternoon.
Pei Qian was reading the latest report from Shang Yang Games in his office.
This weekend, the IOI Qualification Competition and the GPL pre-season competition would start at the same time. The timing clashed.
There was no need to talk about the pre-season GPL competition. The players had been paying close attention and could not wait ever since the news had been released.
Apart from the fixed number of shares left for the company the rest of the tickets for the GPL season’s pre-season competitions had long been sold out. Those who did not manage to get tickets could only watch the live-stream or go to Fish-Catching Internet Cafe to experience the atmosphere.
Long Yu Corporation had also spent a lot of resources in promoting IOI’s qualifiers, including the official website of IOI’s local server, some video game websites, clubs, and media platforms.
During the publicity process, Long Yu Corporation tied the IOI Qualification Competition to a few established clubs and IOI World Competition. The publicity effect was not bad.
On one hand, the words ‘Challenge the Summit of the World’ sounded more classy. On the other hand, the reputation of several old clubs like the SUG were well-known. They were considered familiar faces to E-Sports enthusiasts. The qualifiers’ value and recognition were increased objectively.
Long Yu Corporation’s publicity was out later than the FV Club, but they obviously spent more money than the FV Club.
FV Club had spent three million yuan on publicity. According to this standard, Long Yu Corporation probably spent at least ten million yuan on publicity.
Pei Qian was not sure if it was because FV Club’s publicity had stimulated Long Yu Corporation or because Long Yu Corporation had already decided on a publicity plan, but it was just two days late.
However, none of that mattered. The IOI Qualification Competition had gained a lot of attention. It’s heat would not be robbed away by the GPL season. That was a good thing for Pei Qian.
Pei Qian looked at the time. It was four in the afternoon. He could get off work soon to welcome the wonderful weekend.
He closed Shang Yang Games’ report, turned off his computer, and prepared to go home to sleep.
At that moment, someone knocked on the office door.
Knock, knock.
Pei Qian was stunned. Why were there people reporting their work on Friday afternoon?
“Enter.”
Just as Pei Qian finished speaking, Tang Yishu pushed the door open and entered.
She looked travel-worn. She must have rushed back to the office as soon as she arrived in Jingzhou.
“Senior, it’s a rest day tomorrow. I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to make it in time, so I came to report directly.” Tang Yishu’s chest heaved slightly. Obviously, she ran a little on the way.
Pei Qian poured her a cup of tea. “Don’t worry, it’s not something important. We can talk about it on Monday. Come, have some tea.”
Tang Yishu sipped from her teacup and began to narrate her experience in the capital.
“Senior, there are many bugs in the incubation base. The completion rate looks bad. However, their efficiency is not bad. I’ve already forced them to play ten hours a week as per your instructions.”
“As for the Cold-Faced Lady, I… I couldn’t tell anything. Everything seemed to be going well. The renovations and services were fine, and business was booming. However, there was a small problem in the kitchen when I was there. The food was served a little slower.”
“Oh, and I happened to meet some people when I went there. The boss of the Cold-Faced Lady seemed to be doing some sort of introduction to some people, but I… I didn’t hear what exactly was said.”
Tang Yishu followed Pei Qian’s instructions and observed the incubation base and Cold-Faced Lady from her own perspective. She reported the details that she had tried her best to recall to him.
Pei Qian rubbed his chin and frowned.
Little Tang’s report was mixed with joy and worry for him.
There were many bugs in the incubation base? Yes, that was to be expected. There were many bugs in independent games to begin with. In addition to Little Tang’s halo, just fixing the bugs would be enough to make these independent game producers anxious.
That way, bugs would greatly affect their energy. The development of the game would definitely be greatly delayed. That was good news.
These producers had high productivity. That was not a good sign. However, if they were forced to play the game for ten hours a week, they should be able to divert their attention from developing the game like a bug in itself.
In other words, there were only a few minor problems with the incubation base. They were all within his expectations, and they had more or less been resolved.
However, things were not looking good for the Cold-Faced Lady.
As an ordinary consumer, Tang Yishu did not find anything wrong with the dining environment, service attitude, taste, and other aspects. This meant that Meng Chang had done well!
It was enough for a fast-food brand to achieve this.
Take those large chain fast food brands for example. How was their food? Not that delicious.
The essence of fast food was speed. It was a standardized process that allowed all dishes to maintain their taste and quality as high as possible.
According to Tang Yishu, the Cold-Faced Lady would undoubtedly pass if she were to judge it by fast food standards.
The only problem was the speed at which the dishes were served. However, that was probably due to Little Tang’s influence and not a problem with the Cold-Faced L
ady’s kitchen.
How could an ordinary fast food restaurant like the Cold-Faced Lady be able to withstand it if even Boss Li’s Ming House could not withstand it?
Everything should be back to normal once Little Tang left the shop.
Wouldn’t that mean… that there was nothing bad about the Cold-Faced Lady in the eyes of ordinary consumers?
The passable food and service, Meng Chang’s incredible marketing skills, and Dream Realization Ventures’ endless funds…
Something was bound to happen to this project sooner or later!
Even if the shop did not make money, with Meng Chang’s active fund seeking, the value of the Cold-Faced Lady would definitely skyrocket. On the other hand, Dream Realization Ventures held a lot of shares in the Cold-Faced Lady. This was equivalent to holding a hot potato, and the longer one held it, the hotter it became!
Little Tang also said that Meng Chang was receiving some guests and introducing the various details of the Cold-Faced Lady to them.
Who were these people? If they were ordinary friends, would Meng Chang have to personally receive and introduce them in the store?
They were probably investors!
The Cold-Faced Lady was doing quite well. Meng Chang was also very eloquent. It was only a matter of time before he lured other investors in.
Cold-Faced Lady’s valuation would definitely skyrocket!
After making this deduction, Pei Qian suddenly realized that the situation was much more dangerous than he had imagined.
Of course, Pei Qian could not be sure if the Cold-Faced Lady would become popular. However, he did not dare to take the risk when he considered his character.
It looked like he had to be mentally prepared to leave to stop earning money.
However, given the current situation, it would be difficult to sell the eight million yuan worth of shares that he had obtained at a low price. He could only try his best to let it earn some money and cut his losses as soon as possible.
He would be able to earn more if he continued to take more shares.
Pei Qian silently noted this down and prepared to look for He Desheng next week. He wanted him to find a suitable time to sell all of the shares of the Cold-Faced Lady. He could not hold on to them anymore.
After asking a few more details, Pei Qian was even more convinced of his own views.
“You’ve worked hard for the past two days. You don’t have to attend the Manage Loss Trainees conference tomorrow. Have a good rest and revision.”
…
…
December 10th, Saturday…
GOG’s GPL and IOI qualifiers began at the same time!
They might have started at the same time but there was a huge difference in their schedule.
The pre-season competition for the GPL would last until the end of the month. Thus, only two to three ‘best-of-three’ matches were arranged every day. The longest day would start at one in the afternoon and would end at nine at night.
On the other hand, IOI’s qualifiers were different. There were very few participating teams, and they were basically just going through the motions. They had to quickly decide the spots for the international competition, so the competition schedule was very packed.
There were competitions throughout both Saturday and Sunday. They would play from morning to night. In two days, they would finish all the qualifiers and decide the three spots for the world competitions.
This seemingly unscientific schedule was specially arranged by Long Yu Corporation’s Zhao Xuming, mainly because of the following considerations.
First, he had to create a drainage effect.
IOI qualifiers would start in the morning even though the competition started on the same day as GPL. Many players who were waiting to watch GPL would definitely come to watch the IOI qualifiers since they had nothing to do in the morning. Objectively, they would have achieved the goal of attracting traffic.
Secondly, it was to squeeze out some time for the teams to prepare for the international competition.
Zhao Xuming had already received insider news from Chrétien that the game would be updated with a new version for the international competition. There would be an appropriate adjustment to the gameplay to display IOI’s new style.
IOI’s new version was gradually gaining the recognition of some players around the world. What’s more, Finger Games had discovered through research that the new version would indeed speed up the pace of the game, increase the competitiveness, and increase the viewing pleasure of the competition.
Thus, the new version of the World Series could show the interesting aspects of IOI’s new version to the 'stubborn” old players. It could also better attract new players.
However, the changes in the version would have a huge impact on the various teams. That was why Zhao Xuming hoped that the qualifiers would be completed as soon as possible. That way, the three teams participating in the world tournament would be able to undergo training for IOI’s new version earlier.
In the end, he had to make use of the time to go through the motions to prevent any unforeseen events from happening.
E-Sports was different from traditional competitions. The difference in strength between teams was not that big. Many times, there could be a shake up in the strength of teams if the game version was changed slightly.
If there was an extended period of time, he could not rule out the possibility that certain teams would be substituting the competition as training. The more they played, the better.
Zhao Xuming wanted these three veteran clubs to qualify. Naturally, he wanted to avoid this situation as much as possible.
The shortened competition schedule would be completed within two days. The weaker teams would not be able to substitute the competition for training. There would be no suspense in the outcome.
…
Zhao Xuming was supervising the battle at the backstage of the recording studio.
The staff were getting ready in an orderly manner. The director was adjusting the equipment, and the contestants were making tactical arrangements in the lounge backstage. The audience had also begun to enter the venue.
While the studio the qualifiers were held could not be compared to the GPL venue, it did look quite decent now after the sudden set-up two days ago.
Apart from the smaller venue and the smaller audience size, there was nothing wrong with it.
Zhao Xuming was in a difficult position as well. He had not intended to spend so much money at first, but the publicity by FV Club had indeed brought about a lot of popularity. Long Yu Corporation was the organizer of the competition. It would not be right if he did not do anything about it.
He could only pray silently and hope that the qualifiers would be exciting. That way, money would not be wasted and he would be able to buy popularity. The cooperation between Finger Games and Long Yu Corporation would also be more stable.
Zhao Xuming heaved a sigh of relief after checking his work and ensuring that there were no problems. He relaxed a bit.
At that moment, he heard hurried footsteps.
Zhao Xuming turned around and saw the boss of SUG Club, Ding Gan, walking over with a livid expression. He was holding a piece of paper in his hand and looked very angry.
Zhao Xuming was stunned. “Boss Ding? Why are you so angry? Shouldn’t you be preparing for battle in the lounge of the SUG Club?”
Ding Gan was indeed very angry, but he did not dare to lose his temper at Zhao Xuming. He reached out and handed the paper over. “Boss Zhao! Why didn’t you tell me about this earlier?”
Zhao Xuming was confused. He reached out to take the piece of paper from Ding Gan and realized that it was FV Club’s name list.
The preparations for the qualifiers had been rushed, and they did not have the time to confirm the list of members of many small clubs. They only managed to finalise it yesterday.
Zhao Xuming was not very familiar with these players and did not realize that there was a problem wi
th FV’s name list. What’s more, it was already very late, so he did not have the time to look it up.
The competition between FV Club and SUG Club was this afternoon. Ding Gan had just received FV Club’s name list and came storming for Zhao Xuming.
Zhao Xuming still did not understand what was going on. He scanned FV Club’s name list but did not find anything amiss. He asked, “What’s wrong with this name list?”
Ding Gan was speechless. “Boss Zhao, all five members of FV Club were celebrities from the IOI branches of our established clubs. They were all bought over by the GPL clubs previously!”
“These five players are all very strong individually. Now, all of them have gone to FV Club. This is a dream team!”
“Boss Zhao, what do you think this means?”
Zhao Xuming was shocked and immediately realized the seriousness of the problem.
This meant that one of the veteran clubs, including SUG, might be squeezed out of one spot!
Zhao Xuming frowned and said in confusion, “How can that be? Where did FV Club get the money to buy so many celebrities?”
Ding Gan was speechless as well. “How would I know?! I only just saw the name list. Boss Zhao, you have to take care of this. Our three clubs spent a huge sum of money to buy people to make up for our weakness in order to get a place in the international competition. If someone were to pick our fruits, t-then…”
Zhao Xuming was frustrated. “How am I supposed to take care of this?”
“Are we going to disqualify FV Club directly? How is that possible! They are going to participate in the competition according to the official process and bought players to make up for their weakness. If we were to disqualify them by force, wouldn’t all the players in the country laugh at Long Yu Corporation?”
“Let’s not even talk about disqualifying the company. Any small action would ruin the reputation of the Long Yu Corporation once it was exposed. It might even affect the reputation of Finger Games and the upcoming world finals.”
Losing Money to Be a Tycoon c1-883 Page 510