Losing Money to Become a Tycoon: Starting with Games
Chapter 498: Building a Loyal Inner Circle That Follows Orders Without Question
As everyone was quietly chatting among themselves, they heard Tang Yishu's voice from outside:
"Senior... e-everyone's here. They're all in the conference room."
The students immediately straightened their posture.
Sure enough, the conference room door was soon pushed open.
Pei Qian entered the room and took the seat at the head of the conference table. Tang Yishu sat in the empty seat to his left, notebook in hand, ready to take notes.
The reactions upon seeing President Pei in person varied from person to person.
Most of them had already asked Tang Yishu about him beforehand and knew that President Pei was an upperclassman who hadn't even graduated from university yet. They had mentally prepared themselves.
Even so, when they saw him in person, his youthfulness still exceeded everyone's expectations.
He was basically the same age as they were!
At the same time, everyone could sense a unique aura emanating from President Pei. Every gesture seemed to radiate confidence and an air of casual indifference, as though everything was already under his control.
In reality, this aura came from two factors.
First, this was his own company. He was more familiar with the place than with his own home.
Second, he felt absolutely no pressure to generate profits for the company, which naturally gave him a calm and relaxed demeanor.
As a result, this aura consistently managed to deceive everyone around him.
Some of the students initially looked confused before suddenly realizing something.
Isn't this the actor from President Pei's Daily Life ?
Although President Pei's Daily Life had been filmed over a year ago and Feihuang Studio had never produced a sequel, causing its popularity to gradually fade, President Pei's image from the show remained deeply ingrained in people's minds.
Whenever Pei Qian happened to run into classmates on campus, they usually regarded him as a guest actor from the series.
But today, after seeing Pei Qian in person, these management trainees finally realized that the person who played President Pei in the short drama was actually President Pei himself.
The moment he saw their expressions, Pei Qian immediately understood what they were thinking.
He raised a finger to his lips in a "shh" gesture.
Then he smiled and said:
"Keeping my identity confidential is the responsibility of every Tengda Group employee. I trust that you can do that as well, right?"
Everyone hurriedly nodded.
Pei Qian knew that his identity might eventually be exposed, but for the moment it was still reasonably well hidden.
On one hand, everyone who knew who he really was also knew that he preferred to keep it secret. Since they all had some degree of shared interest with him, they actively helped maintain the deception.
For example, his teachers, Ma Yang, and the employees of Tengda Group.
On the other hand, Pei Qian's identities—as a company owner and game designer—weren't the sort that naturally inspired intense curiosity.
Even if people became interested in a company founder or game developer, at most they might search online. If they couldn't find a photo, they'd usually give up. Very few people would go digging obsessively just to find out what he looked like.
Besides, even if someone learned his identity, it wasn't exactly earth-shattering news. There wasn't much gossip value in it.
In short, Pei Qian currently had only two objectives:
1, Not to be surrounded by crowds while walking around campus.
2, Not to let people close to him—especially his parents—discover his financial difficulties and start drawing unnecessary conclusions.
As things stood, Pei Qian was quite satisfied with the situation.
These management trainees should be capable of keeping the secret.
According to Tang Yishu, all of them were students from various departments in the same year as her. They had been selected from among the university's financially disadvantaged students, and they all shared one thing in common:
They had previously received the living allowance that Pei Qian had provided for impoverished students.
Apart from their financial difficulties, these students were generally introverted. Their social circles were simple, and they rarely attracted attention.
That was perfectly normal.
For children from poor families, those characteristics were statistically common.
Pei Qian was extremely pleased.
In his eyes, these people were ideal candidates to become his personal "Imperial Guards."
Sweeping his gaze across the room, Pei Qian began, "First, I have three requirements."
"Number one: Keep my identity confidential. If you see me on campus, a simple greeting is enough."
"Number two: Just call me 'Senior.'"
"Number three: Place my instructions above the interests of any department, unconditionally."
"Can you do that?"
Everyone immediately nodded and answered in unison:
"Yes!"
Pei Qian smiled slightly.
"Very good. No one asked any questions."
"Keep it that way in the future as well."
"Your job is very simple. As management trainees, you will be assigned to different departments throughout the company. Your task is to understand how your department operates and to stay informed about its activities and future plans."
"I will call regular meetings from time to time. They will always be held on Saturdays, roughly once every two to three weeks."
"Before each meeting, everyone must prepare a brief report summarizing the department's recent work. I may become interested in a particular project, and if I ask about it, you'd better be able to explain the details."
"One thing you should pay special attention to: your status as management trainees is completely public. However, the fact that you report directly to me and Tang Yishu is confidential."
"That includes these periodic Saturday meetings. Do not mention them to anyone—not your department head, not your coworkers, nobody."
"You'll need to sign an internship agreement and a confidentiality agreement. Don't worry, we'll provide internship compensation far above what other companies offer. In addition, if your performance is outstanding, you'll be able to join Tengda Group directly after graduation without going through the normal hiring process."
"I'll give you a few minutes to think it over. Tang Yishu, please bring the agreements so everyone can review them."
Tang Yishu left the conference room and returned with the internship and confidentiality agreements that had been prepared beforehand, distributing them to everyone.
A few minutes later, after reading through both documents, no one had any objections. One after another, they signed.
For them, this was obviously a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Not only would they receive generous internship pay, but they would also gain firsthand experience inside Tengda Group and learn how a major company operated. After graduation, they could potentially join Tengda Group directly without taking part in the usual recruitment process.
Most importantly, they would have the opportunity to report directly to President Pei during regular meetings.
Where else could they possibly find an opportunity like this?
If they turned it down now, the company would simply find someone else. Regretting it afterward would be pointless.
Pei Qian was extremely satisfied with their reaction.
No one asked any questions.
That was exactly what he wanted—a group of subordinates whose loyalty belonged solely to him.
If any department tried to pull tricks behind his back in the future, none of it would escape his eyes and ears.
The reason Pei Qian had specifically selected lower-year students, instructed them to call him "Senior" rather than "President Pei," and arranged for them to report directly to him was simple:
He wanted them to recognize the special nature of their positions while simultaneously building a closer relationship with him.
His ultimate goal was to turn them into a trusted inner circle that would faithfully carry out his orders.
So far, everything was proceeding perfectly.
After everyone finished signing the agreements, Pei Qian began assigning departments.
"Next, we'll assign departments. Consider your academic background, personal interests, and abilities. If you think you're suitable for a department, raise your hand."
"If multiple people volunteer for the same department, Tang Yishu will make the final decision."
"Tengda Games."
"Shangyang Games."
"Moyu Internet Café."
"Moyu Delivery."
"..."
Each time Pei Qian named a department, someone raised a hand.
Whenever multiple candidates wanted the same department, Tang Yishu selected one based on their academic specialization.
She had already considered this issue when recruiting candidates and had deliberately chosen students from different majors, making the allocation process relatively straightforward.
Soon, every department had been assigned.
A total of seventeen management trainees were placed into seventeen different departments.
Together with Tang Yishu, the newly established "Tengda Group Imperial Guard" consisted of eighteen members—just the right number.
Of course, if new business divisions were created in the future, additional management trainees would need to be recruited.
"Alright, that's everything."
"Make your preparations. Next Monday, report to your assigned department heads and officially begin work."
"I've already asked Human Resources to notify all department heads. If anyone refuses to cooperate with your work, report it to Tang Yishu immediately."
As the trainees gradually filed out of the conference room, Pei Qian felt deeply satisfied.
These younger schoolmates had no workplace experience. Their thinking was relatively simple, and they followed his instructions completely.
With a bit of training, they would likely become his right-hand men and women in the future.
At the same time, Pei Qian found himself looking forward to the first management trainee meeting.
. . .
April 24th, Sunday
Pei Qian strolled toward Managed Fitness.
Sunday was typically the gym's busiest day of the week.
If nobody was there, then the fitness project would already be halfway to success.
If the gym was crowded, that would indicate a serious hidden danger, and he would need to come up with a solution as quickly as possible.
As he walked, he pulled out his phone and checked on the status of the Top Student, Come Quickly app.
For now, things seemed to be under control.
Previously, the series of aggressive maneuvers carried out by Dream Fulfillment Ventures on the Top Student, Come Quickly project had earned Pei Qian so much money that it gave him a headache. Yu Ping'an, whom he had poached from Moral Education and initially regarded as a trusted lieutenant, had ended up stabbing him in the back less than a month after joining.
Now, as an educational app, Top Student, Come Quickly was quietly making money.
Although its popularity had cooled somewhat recently, the content promoted through the app continued funneling traffic to other departments within Tengda Group. At the same time, the app itself maintained a certain degree of profitability.
Pei Qian could only resort to his old strategy:
Whoever makes money must spend money.
He instructed Yu Ping'an to spend all of the profits—running advertisements, developing new features, subsidizing users, and so on.
In short, the goal was simply to maintain a balance between income and expenses.
Turning profit into loss was out of the question.
Pei Qian was terrified that if they started burning money recklessly, they might accidentally create another success story.
So they could only burn a little money at a time, carefully controlling the intensity.
Even so, two or three major education groups had already approached them with proposals to invest in or acquire Top Student, Come Quickly at a high valuation.
Naturally, Pei Qian's response was firm:
Rejected.
For most people, selling off a profitable project would be like killing the goose that lays golden eggs.
Pei Qian, however, had no objection to killing the goose.
In fact, he would have loved to.
The problem was that the golden egg produced afterward would be far too large.
He wouldn't be able to swallow it.
Based on the app's current valuation, if he actually sold it, achieving losses during this settlement cycle would become nearly impossible.
Since getting rid of it wasn't an option, he could only leave things as they were and take things one step at a time.
Putting away his phone, Pei Qian arrived at the entrance of Managed Fitness.
Outside stood exactly what he had hoped for: an attractive signboard displaying the gym's countless detailed regulations and rules.
This pleased him greatly.
However, the moment he pushed open the door, he realized something seemed wrong.
There were actually quite a few customers inside?!
It wasn't packed wall-to-wall with people, but the number of customers had clearly increased. It was nothing like the previous days when the place had been completely deserted.
Many customers were examining the exercise equipment, others were sitting in the lounge area asking about the gym's rules and membership policies, while some had already begun working out.
Meanwhile, coaches such as Guo Licheng and Li Yaling were providing attentive one-on-one service, helping customers correct their form and educating them about proper fitness concepts.
Pei Qian's heart immediately sank.
Don't tell me something has already gone wrong this quickly?
No.
Absolutely impossible!