Losing Money to Become a Tycoon: Starting with Games
Chapter 462: This Also Happens to Match Our Country's Legal Retirement Age
Sunday, March 20.
Mingyun Private Kitchen.
The weather had gradually begun warming up, and today was a bright, sunny day.
The courtyard of Mingyun Private Kitchen had already been arranged with tables, chairs, and parasols. Compared to before, more than a dozen extra seats had been added, allowing even more people to gather there.
With the sky clear and the breeze gentle and refreshing, dining outdoors carried a unique charm of its own.
At this moment, core members from all of Tengda Group's departments had gathered together, raising glasses, drinking freely, and reminiscing. Waiters moved busily among the crowd pouring wine and serving dishes, while the entire Mingyun Private Kitchen was immersed in an atmosphere of joy and harmony.
The heads of various departments took turns welcoming Ruan Guangjian, allowing everyone from Halo Studio to truly feel the warmth of home.
Taking advantage of the occasion, many department heads also expressed gratitude toward other departments.
For example, Chang You from OTTO Technology.
The success of the OTTO E1 phone could not have happened without the early support and concessions provided by all the other departments. Although this arrangement itself had been secured by Director Lin as part of Tengda Group's broader strategic development plan—and although all profits from the phone would eventually be returned in full—Chang You naturally did not take that help for granted.
Together with the core members of OTTO Technology, he personally expressed thanks to each department one by one, laying a strong foundation for even deeper cooperation in the future.
Another example was Huang Sibo from Feihuang Studio.
The various advertisement concepts and logos in the movie had all been created through collaborative brainstorming from multiple departments. Although the film's tremendous success had benefited everyone involved, Huang Sibo still made sure to thank everyone sincerely for their full support.
Besides that, several new faces also received an enthusiastic welcome.
For example, the three new leaders of Tengda Group's gaming department: Hu Xianbin, Min Jingchao, and Zhang Nan.
After taking over from Li Yada and Bao Xu, the three of them had performed exceptionally well. The explosive success of the mobile version of GOG had earned them recognition from everyone.
Many old friends also used this opportunity to catch up and discuss the recent developments in their respective businesses.
As for Pei Qian, he did not come today.
Clearly, Pei Qian had already predicted exactly what kind of atmosphere today's celebration banquet would have. If he forced himself to attend, the result could be summarized in only four words:
Pouring salt onto wounds.
Just imagining all the department heads taking turns raising toasts to him and saying things like "Without President Pei's wise guidance, this project never would have succeeded" was enough to make Pei Qian feel stabbing pain in his heart.
So he simply chose not to come.
As the saying goes, "What the eye doesn't see, the heart doesn't grieve over." There would be plenty of future opportunities to enjoy grand meals at Mingyun Private Kitchen. There was no need to specifically attend this particular one.
The department heads already knew this information beforehand, but the ordinary core employees attending the banquet did not.
As a result, shortly after the celebration banquet began, many people raised the same question.
"Huh? Director Lin, why didn't President Pei come?"
"Yeah, I remember President Pei always attended previous gatherings."
"Does President Pei have something to do today?"
"Wait… today's Sunday. Could it be President Pei is still busy working? He repeatedly tells us not to work overtime, yet he himself is still running around for company matters on the weekend?"
Expressions of concern and shame gradually appeared in many people's eyes.
Concern—over whether President Pei's body could endure such high-intensity work.
Shame—because President Pei worked so hard while they themselves sat here comfortably feasting and drinking, which felt somewhat inappropriate.
Lin Wan raised a glass of red wine and smiled.
"Everyone, don't worry. I think President Pei not coming today probably isn't entirely because of work. There are likely some other considerations involved as well."
The noisy banquet hall instantly quieted down a little as everyone turned toward Lin Wan.
"Director Lin, do you know some inside information?"
Lin Wan shook her head.
"I don't know the inside details. But… I can infer them!"
"In my opinion, there are at least two motives and reasons why President Pei didn't come today."
Everyone listened attentively.
"First, President Pei wanted to leave enough personal space for all of our departments."
"Perhaps President Pei felt that, as the boss, his presence at an occasion like this would prevent some employees from truly relaxing. Everyone would subconsciously keep themselves restrained because the boss was present, making the atmosphere more serious."
"So President Pei deliberately chose not to come in order to create a more natural, pressure-free environment for all of us, allowing everyone to properly enjoy the relaxation and happiness that comes after success."
Everyone nodded repeatedly, feeling that this made perfect sense.
Although President Pei was extremely approachable and completely lacking in any boss-like airs, a boss was still a boss after all.
Not to mention that President Pei was farsighted and seemingly never made mistakes in judgment. Among all department heads, he possessed an almost dazzling aura. Even if everyone wanted to treat him like an ordinary person, it was basically impossible.
Under those circumstances, President Pei's presence would definitely create some subtle changes in the atmosphere.
And so, President Pei intentionally skipping one banquet so everyone could relax more freely, enjoy the food, and better strengthen their relationships truly did seem meaningful!
Smiling, Lin Wan continued:
"Second, President Pei is definitely working right now. There's no doubt about that. It's just probably not the kind of work everyone is imagining."
"After all this time, have you all noticed a special phenomenon?"
"It seems that President Pei only becomes busiest after every project has already been completed!"
Everyone thought carefully about it, and it really did seem to be true.
At the start of every project, President Pei merely provided a few broad directions before allowing each department to freely develop things on their own without further interference.
During development, although President Pei occasionally checked in, he neither pressured people about progress nor nitpicked details excessively. Instead, he severely punished behaviors like blindly rushing schedules or forcing overtime whenever they violated the spirit of Tengda Group.
Ironically, it was only after projects had already become huge successes and everyone else was resting that President Pei suddenly became incredibly busy, constantly appearing and disappearing mysteriously while nobody knew what he was working on.
And during every one of these periods, President Pei always seemed deeply troubled, perpetually wearing the expression of someone contemplating difficult problems.
"Why is that?" someone asked.
Lin Wan took a sip of red wine and spoke with some emotion.
"There's no such thing as peaceful years without a reason. Someone is always carrying the burden for everyone else."
"As the saying goes, 'A man without foresight will soon find trouble at his doorstep.'"
"All these projects achieving massive success… do you really think that's just coincidence?"
The question immediately stumped everyone.
Why had the projects succeeded?
Was it because everyone worked seriously and diligently?
Certainly, that was part of the reason.
But there were countless hardworking companies in the world. Not every single one of them became successful.
Yet inside Tengda Group, it seemed that the success rate after putting in effort was dramatically higher—much higher.
Take this cycle for example.
Two games, a smartphone, a movie, Shared Phone Booth, Top Student, Come Quickly… all these projects that originally seemed extremely risky had ultimately succeeded.
That absolutely could not be explained by mere "hard work" and "luck."
Lin Wan continued:
"Everyone should also have noticed that the reason these projects succeeded was first because the right direction had been chosen, and second because all the different industries and departments supported each other. That's what dramatically increased the chances of success."
"Imagine if last year we had invested huge amounts of money into making movies and developing smartphones without help from the other departments. The chances of success naturally would have been greatly reduced!"
"Clearly, President Pei had already planned out all these details from the very beginning. Which projects could be done, which projects shouldn't be done—he had obviously thought all of this through very carefully."
"So why is he always busiest after projects are completed?"
"Because once a project is completed, he immediately begins planning the next stage of projects."
"Think about it. Not only does he have to determine the overall direction of future projects, but he also has to consider the synergy between all the different departments. The number of interconnected details and complexities involved is enormous—it's impossible to sort everything out in just a day or two."
"And yet President Pei always manages to devise perfect plans within one or two weeks and hand them to us for execution. He even casually gives us guidance while assigning the tasks. The difficulty of accomplishing this is simply unimaginable!"
"President Pei achieved such incredible accomplishments at such a young age and always seems able to predict everything flawlessly. Talent is certainly part of it, but it's absolutely inseparable from his hard work as well."
"In places we cannot see, President Pei is probably constantly thinking about things beyond our imagination!"
"I think we should all learn more from President Pei. After completing projects, instead of focusing only on celebration, we should also spend more time thinking about future planning. That would greatly help improve our own abilities!"
Everyone nodded repeatedly, deeply convinced.
"That's right, it must be exactly like that!"
"No wonder 'President Pei during prosperous times' always looks so thoughtful!"
Lin Wan continued:
"Of course, I don't think everyone needs to worry too much about President Pei's health either."
"As the creator of the Tengda Group spirit, President Pei undoubtedly understands the relationship between work, rest, and health better than anyone else. The reason he repeatedly advocates resting more and enjoying more entertainment is precisely because he fully understands the importance of maintaining good health and staying in peak condition."
"So everyone can rest assured. With President Pei's current condition, he can definitely continue leading us for at least another forty years!"
"And that also just so happens to align perfectly with our country's legal retirement age."
Everyone's faces became filled with happiness.
"Wonderful!"
Someone shouted first, and then everyone burst into applause.
That was right.
President Pei had only just turned twenty this year. Many famous entrepreneurs remained active in the business world even in their seventies or eighties.
Even if President Pei eventually developed thoughts of retiring after achieving overwhelming success, surely he would at least continue working until sixty, right?
That still left another forty years!
Just thinking about the incredible accomplishments Tengda Group had already achieved under President Pei's leadership over the past two years—if they continued for another forty years, what kind of colossal empire would Tengda Group become?
And to what heights would everyone present rise in their own careers?
Just imagining it was enough to make people excited beyond words!
With a boss like this, forget working hard for another forty years—they'd willingly dedicate their entire lives!
Everyone became extremely energized, and the atmosphere at the banquet once again grew lively and enthusiastic.
…
Meanwhile, Pei Qian, who had been catching up on sleep because of his GOG addiction, suddenly jolted awake from a nightmare.
Only after seeing the gentle afternoon sunlight outside his window did he gradually calm down.
"How am I having nightmares in broad daylight?"
"That was terrifying. I actually dreamed that I kept working hard all the way until retirement and still failed to lose enough money to become the richest loser. I was still working at sixty years old while continuously getting backstabbed by countless employees!"
"That's way too miserable!"
"If something like that really happened, I'd rather smash my head into a block of tofu and die right now!"
"It's fine. Dreams are always the opposite of reality. Something like that could never possibly happen…"
Pei Qian yawned, rolled over, and went back to sleep.
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