Losing Money to Become a Tycoon: Starting with Games
Chapter 399: A Student Worth Teaching
Cui Geng stayed silent for a moment. After a while, he sighed with emotion.
"Tengda Group really is quite a special company."
"Other companies can't wait to plaster their slogans on the walls, write them into the employee handbook, or even make every employee memorize them."
"But Tengda Group hides its corporate spirit and lets employees understand it on their own, almost like achieving 'enlightenment'…"
"Now I'm suddenly very interested. Could you tell me a little about the company?"
…
That afternoon, Pei Qian did not go to Tengda Group. Instead, he went to Dream Fulfillment Ventures to listen to He Desheng's report about "Top Student, Come Quickly."
Over the past few days, the promotional campaign for Top Student, Come Quickly had already begun—and it looked rather impressive.
While preparing for his exams during the past few days, Pei Qian frequently saw posters for Top Student, Come Quickly around campus, as well as students handing out various flyers. Even some of his classmates were discussing it.
He didn't know the specific numbers, but the first impression was that it seemed quite popular.
So after weighing the pros and cons, Pei Qian decided to come over first and ask about the situation of Top Student, Come Quickly.
He Desheng began introducing the project's progress. Although he sounded enthusiastic, one could vaguely tell that he didn't have much confidence.
"President Pei, at the moment our promotional campaign has already begun. Of course, for now it's mainly concentrated within Jingzhou—"
In the early stage, the promotion methods for Top Student, Come Quickly were rather simple and direct.
Over the past two days, promotional posters for the app had appeared at many bus stops in Jingzhou City. There were also people distributing flyers near university and high school campuses around noon and in the evening.
They had also purchased some advertisements on Jingzhou's local TV station, though rather conservatively—and all in fairly poor time slots.
They signed contracts with several outstanding students from Handong University and other universities, inviting them to become the first batch of "contracted top students" for the app.
He Desheng paid them salaries, while they had to guarantee a certain number of completed tutoring orders and hours each week. Any falsification would be strictly investigated.
In addition, there was a reserved fund intended for user subsidies during the early stage of the app's operation, commonly known as burning money.
The money was being spent rapidly.
However, throwing all that cash into the water wasn't entirely pointless—it did at least create some splash: it produced data.
But He Desheng didn't feel comfortable mentioning the specific numbers, because they were rather embarrassing.
At present, the project was only being tested within Jingzhou and hadn't been launched nationwide yet. Naturally, the number of active users couldn't be very high.
Revenue figures were also quite miserable. They were burning money now, and would definitely continue burning money in the future—only burning even more.
As for public opinion, pessimistic voices still dominated, since the app's functions were currently quite limited.
In short, after He Desheng finished his introduction, aside from some vague statements like "the prospects are promising," he didn't really have much concrete to say.
But for Pei Qian, this was undoubtedly good news—because no good news was the best possible news.
If even He Desheng couldn't find anything to brag about, it meant the project had truly gotten off to a terrible start.
However, Pei Qian kept his guard up. He felt he couldn't become complacent.
His subordinates always liked to hide small pieces of good news when they first appeared, waiting until the success was practically guaranteed before reporting it to President Pei.
This kind of situation had to be guarded against.
Pei Qian looked at He Desheng and said, "The start isn't bad, but I want to ask you a question… Where do you think the breakthrough point for this app will be next?"
He Desheng thought for a moment. "If we're talking about a breakthrough… I think it's the social aspect!"
"Hm?" Pei Qian frowned slightly, instantly becoming alert.
He Desheng didn't notice the change in President Pei's expression and continued:
"The social aspect is undoubtedly the fundamental guarantee for us to rapidly grow this app!"
"Although the current data for our app is average, and the response among high school students and parents is fairly lukewarm, the reaction among university students has actually been quite enthusiastic!"
"Whether they're poor students or top students, they've all carefully filled out their profiles and uploaded photos. And the probability of arranging meetings with someone of the opposite sex is far greater than meeting someone of the same sex."
"This shows that our app has a certain social attribute. If we can make good use of this…"
Pei Qian frowned again. Something felt wrong.
This was a huge hidden danger!!!
Pei Qian had no doubt that many people were very interested in "top-student heartthrobs" or "goddess scholars." And those academically obsessed male and female top students who spent their lives studying might not be able to resist handsome juniors or pretty underclassmen either…
If things continued like this, wouldn't the software eventually turn into the education world's version of Jiayuan (a matchmaking platform)?
Thinking of this, Pei Qian immediately stopped him.
"You're right."
He Desheng's eyes lit up, thinking his idea had gained President Pei's approval.
Pei Qian continued, "This is indeed a major hidden danger!"
He Desheng's eyes widened slightly. "?"
Ignoring his confusion, Pei Qian said seriously:
"This unhealthy trend absolutely cannot be encouraged!"
He Desheng felt a little dizzy. "Ah? Why?"
Pei Qian spoke earnestly:
"The risks are too great!"
"In the short term, it could indeed generate good hype using this gimmick."
"But in the long run, it would create safety risks for our platform. It would also attract users with impure motives, damage the atmosphere of the entire platform, harm its reputation, and drive away our core users!"
"So we must avoid this situation."
"Immediately arrange a software update. The next version should add several new features:
Redesign the personal profile page: users cannot upload personal photos and cannot display their gender.
When leaving reviews, users cannot freely write comments. They can only select descriptive tags that we prepare in advance."
"In other words, they can only apply labels, not leave free-form messages. Naturally, they won't be able to hint at the other person's gender or appearance."
"Add a one-click emergency alarm button, along with location tracking, so users can share their real-time location with friends."
"Display a prominent reminder on the page: when meeting someone, always choose crowded locations such as school study rooms or cafés."
"At the same time, strengthen the review process. Whether they're poor students or top students, not only must they complete real-name verification, but we must also check their criminal records and school disciplinary records through connected databases. Anyone suspected of having problems must not be approved."
He Desheng felt slightly dizzy.
If the original "Top Student, Come Quickly" app contained even the tiniest spark that might allow romance between users, then President Pei's combination of measures had not only stamped out the spark—it had also eliminated all the flammable materials underneath it.
Originally, He Desheng thought they could use this gimmick to quickly generate hype and attract investors or buyers.
Now, that entire path had been completely blocked by President Pei.
Still, He Desheng didn't ask further questions. He simply nodded.
"Alright, President Pei. I'll arrange it immediately."
Seeing President Pei's serious expression, He Desheng knew this was definitely not a joke.
Having casually eliminated yet another hidden danger, Pei Qian felt very pleased.
Things on this side could finally be put at ease for the time being!
At that moment, Pei Qian received a message on his phone. It was from Wu Bin of the Human Resources Department.
"President Pei, the matter you assigned to me has been completed!"
Pei Qian nodded in satisfaction.
Nice, good things come in pairs.
As for how far the Tengda Group spirit would spread in the web-novel author training camp after Cui Geng understood it and went back, that was something for the future.
He could observe it after some time.
"Oh right, do you know the situation over at Shared Phone Booth?" Pei Qian asked casually.
He Desheng was still thinking about the earlier discussion regarding changes to the "Top Student, Come Quickly" app. After a couple of seconds, he replied:
"Ah, I'm not too sure. Ever since you put me in charge of the Top Student, Come Quickly project, I haven't asked about it anymore. I assume things over there are going smoothly as well?"
Pei Qian nodded. Although he didn't get any useful information, at least it proved that He Desheng was obedient.
Looks like he would have to go take a look himself.
Today was Friday. The shopping mall probably wouldn't have as much foot traffic as on Saturday or Sunday, but it shouldn't be too quiet either.
Pei Qian went outside, got into the car, and said to Xiao Sun, "Let's go to Huanyu Sky Street."
…
"There are actually many stories about President Pei. What I just told you was only a small portion of them."
"If you're interested, you can ask President Ma from the website to help collect more. He's familiar with many of the people involved," Wu Bin said with a smile.
Cui Geng still seemed a bit reluctant to stop the conversation.
"I never expected President Pei and Tengda Group to have such a legendary story."
"A unique boss creating a unique company…"
"If this story were written into a book, it would definitely be fascinating."
"But…"
Cui Geng frowned slightly, as if he had encountered a difficult problem.
"President Pei as a character probably wouldn't be suitable to serve as the protagonist."
Wu Bin was taken aback. "Why?"
Cui Geng explained:
"He's too perfect and idealized."
"In reality, there are indeed people like that—great figures throughout history, saints, reformers…"
"Successful people inevitably have very outstanding qualities and shining traits."
"But if the protagonist of a novel is someone like that, it ends up feeling disconnected from ordinary life. It feels somewhat hollow and unrealistic, making it hard for readers to believe."
"After all, reality doesn't need logic, but novels do."
"If someone like President Pei exists in reality, people would just think he's rare, exceptional, and lucky to encounter."
"But if he existed in a story, readers would think it's fake, hypocritical, and impossible to relate to."
"So the story would definitely need some changes to better fit readers' tastes…"
"Anyway, thank you very much for today! Today's Tengda Group spirit training was very meaningful for me!"
Cui Geng shook Wu Bin's hand.
Wu Bin smiled. "It was all arranged by President Pei. For me, it was just a small effort."
Cui Geng checked the time. It was a little after 4 p.m., and the workday hadn't ended yet.
Wu Bin reminded him, "This place was always meant to be free to come and go."
Cui Geng thought for a moment. "Can I borrow the computer in the entertainment room for a while?"
Wu Bin nodded. "Of course."
Cui Geng returned to the game room again. This time, he didn't start another game. Instead, he sat down in front of the computer—one powerful enough to run almost any large game on the market—and tried to sort through the new ideas forming in his mind.
Inspiration comes and goes quickly; it must be captured immediately.
But before that, Cui Geng first logged into the author's backend and typed in a new chapter title:
"Notice of Completion."
After writing the content, Cui Geng hesitated a little.
He knew very well that once this chapter was posted, he would probably be roasted mercilessly by readers.
But after five minutes of hesitation, he still pressed the "Publish" button.
…
In the car.
Pei Qian, feeling a bit bored, took out his phone, opened the Terminal Chinese Web app, and casually refreshed the page.
It wasn't even six o'clock yet, so it wasn't time for the training camp authors to update.
That was why the "Notice of Completion" on one particular book stood out so conspicuously.
Pei Qian: "???"
He quickly tapped into it and skimmed through the contents.
A moment later, the confusion on Pei Qian's face disappeared, replaced by a satisfied smile.
"A student worth teaching! Truly a student worth teaching!"
He immediately said to Xiao Sun, who was driving:
"Let's go to Huanyu Sky Street tomorrow morning instead. Turn back to the company first!"
"I want to meet this Cui Geng!"
<+>
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