Losing Money to Become a Tycoon: Starting with Games
Chapter 464: President Pei Is Testing You
Wednesday, March 23.
The Fright Hostel project is currently under intense construction.
Every day, aside from supervising the work on-site, Chen Kangtuo and Hao Qiong spent their time gathering horror novels, videos, movies, and all kinds of reference materials, desperately trying to come up with creative ideas for how to make the Fright Hostel project even better.
They also had a small team of employees handling various ghost house-related tasks, though the number wasn't large.
When the ghost house neared completion, they would still need to recruit a large number of staff responsible for ticket sales, acting roles, cleaning, and so on.
But judging conservatively, it would still take at least another three months before the three major ghost house projects were fully completed.
As usual, Chen Kangtuo was staring at the design blueprints on his computer screen, carefully considering some details of the design.
Suddenly, his phone vibrated with a new message.
Chen Kangtuo jolted in surprise and hurriedly called out to Hao Qiong.
"Quick, get ready! President Pei is coming!"
Hao Qiong had been lying there reading enthusiastically on his phone—it was a recently popular horror novel from Terminal Chinese Web.
Hearing Chen Kangtuo's words, he immediately asked,
"When?"
Chen Kangtuo had already stood up and begun organizing materials.
"He'll be here in ten minutes!"
The two of them immediately started frantically cleaning up the clutter on the tables.
Their office was a temporary workspace converted from one corner of the factory building. It had been renovated strictly according to Tengda Group principles: spacious desks, sofas, refrigerators—overall, the working environment was extremely comfortable.
But comfort also tended to create messiness.
The sofas and desks were piled with drink bottles, horror novels, horror art collections, and various miscellaneous items. Chen Kangtuo felt that if President Pei saw the office in its current state, it would definitely leave a bad impression.
So the two hurriedly cleaned everything up, restoring the office to at least a generally tidy state.
Not long after they finished, President Pei arrived.
Chen Kangtuo greeted him while holding a folder in his hand.
"Hello, President Pei! Please come in!"
The folder contained all kinds of information about the Fright Hostel project: floor plans, detailed designs for each section, concept art, inspiration references, construction costs, contracts with the engineering teams, and so on.
Chen Kangtuo believed President Pei had definitely come to inspect the project's construction progress and details, so he had hurriedly prepared everything in advance.
Although he had already memorized much of the information, having the documents ready to immediately show President Pei could never be wrong.
After seating President Pei on the sofa, Chen Kangtuo prepared himself to begin the work report.
"President Pei, let me first report on Fright Hostel's recent construction progress."
After Hao Qiong served President Pei a cup of hot tea, Chen Kangtuo spoke.
Pei Qian accepted the tea and took a sip. Hearing Chen Kangtuo's words, he shook his head.
"No need. I have something important for you two."
Seeing President Pei's unusually serious expression, Chen Kangtuo instantly became somewhat nervous.
What important matter was President Pei about to discuss?
Anything serious enough to make even President Pei look this solemn had to be an extremely complicated and difficult assignment!
Neither Chen Kangtuo nor Hao Qiong dared ask questions. They could only listen carefully.
Pei Qian took another sip of tea and asked,
"According to the current plan, how much longer until the ghost house is completed?"
Chen Kangtuo replied, "At the absolute fastest, a little over three months. Under normal scheduling, around four months."
Pei Qian nodded. Four months was still within an acceptable range.
"I'll give you another forty million yuan. Pour all of it into the Fright Hostel project. If there are any difficulties, speak up now."
Chen Kangtuo waited for a moment. Seeing that President Pei apparently had nothing further to add, he cautiously asked, "Uh... President Pei, what about the other matters?"
Pei Qian replied, "There are no other matters."
Chen Kangtuo paused.
"...The important thing you mentioned was just spending money?"
Pei Qian nodded.
"That's right."
The confusion on Chen Kangtuo's face lasted for several seconds before he suddenly came to a realization.
"Oh! I understand now!"
"President Pei, is this forty million for constructing supporting facilities around the area? I've wanted to bring this up for a long time!"
In Chen Kangtuo's opinion, the previous budget had been enough to build the main body of Fright Hostel, but there had been absolutely no supporting infrastructure around it.
No shops, no hotels, no restaurants—food, clothing, and lodging were all lacking.
Transportation was even worse. Forget the subway; there wasn't even a bus route that came here.
How could this possibly attract tourists?
Were all visitors supposed to drive themselves here and then just stand around doing nothing while waiting in line?
That was obviously unreasonable.
Now that President Pei had allocated another forty million, finally the surrounding facilities could catch up!
Pei Qian shook his head somewhat speechlessly.
"Wrong. The entire forty million is for the Fright Hostel project itself."
"Pour every cent into the project. Don't spend a single yuan on surrounding facilities, and don't delay the construction schedule."
"Let me emphasize again: this is very important. You must handle it properly. Understood?"
Chen Kangtuo was completely dumbfounded.
Great... every single guess had been wrong.
As expected of President Pei, ordinary people simply could not understand his line of thinking...
Forty million entirely poured into Fright Hostel itself, while not affecting the timeline... that meant they couldn't randomly add new projects. They could only continue polishing details within the existing plans.
But... this was far too extravagant!
Clearly, investing in supporting facilities would have been much more cost-effective!
Could there be some deeper meaning behind this too?
Chen Kangtuo instinctively felt it was wasteful, but he didn't dare ask further questions. He could only faithfully obey.
"Understood, President Pei. I'll make sure it's done properly!"
Pei Qian nodded in satisfaction, then stood up.
"You two continue with your work. In a while, a group of people will come to inspect the surrounding area. I'll personally receive them. You don't need to concern yourselves with anything, and if you see anything confusing, don't ask questions. Understood?"
Chen Kangtuo and Hao Qiong nodded together.
"Understood!"
Satisfied, Pei Qian left the office and went to wait in his car.
Earlier, President Li had mentioned bringing other investors to inspect the area around the project today, so Pei Qian naturally had to personally receive them.
Although he could have handed the reception work over to Chen Kangtuo, Pei Qian didn't trust him with it.
If Chen Kangtuo accidentally let something slip and President Li's group discovered just how much money Pei Qian had invested into this project, it would only further strengthen their determination to "get a share of the soup."
At that point, shaking them off would become even harder.
Pei Qian had already made up his mind. Once President Li and the others arrived, he would directly lead them around the desolate old industrial district, letting them see with their own eyes just how barren the place really was!
If he could scare off even a few investors on the spot, that would be ideal.
And if he couldn't scare them off, then he'd think of another solution later.
...
Less than half an hour later, several luxury business vehicles stopped at the entrance to the old industrial district.
Pei Qian immediately stepped forward and warmly welcomed President Li and the others.
"President Pei! Sorry to keep you waiting. We're not very familiar with the roads around here, so we got delayed a bit. My apologies."
As he got out of the car, Li Shi was the first to apologize to Pei Qian.
The other investors also stepped out one after another and greeted President Pei.
Some had driven themselves, while others had brought chauffeurs, though the drivers all stayed in the cars instead of following along.
Clearly, what President Li said wasn't an excuse—it was the truth.
The roads in this place really were unfamiliar!
The moment two of the investors got out of their cars, they instinctively frowned.
This place was way too desolate, wasn't it?
Although everyone had heard about Jingzhou's old industrial district before, many of them had never actually visited. After all, they had no direct business here, so why would they come?
But now that they had finally arrived, they were utterly disappointed. The situation was even worse than the bleakest scenario they had imagined.
Earlier, Li Shi had indeed mentioned that President Pei was building a haunted-house project in some barren, godforsaken corner of the old industrial district.
At the time, they had assumed President Li was exaggerating for effect.
Now they realized he hadn't exaggerated in the slightest.
Calling this place "so deserted even birds wouldn't shit here" almost felt insulting to the birds.
In short, their morale instantly took a hit, and it showed clearly on their faces.
Pei Qian saw all of this and felt delighted inside.
Excellent. This was exactly the reaction he wanted!
I already told you this place was too desolate and impossible to develop, but you refused to believe me.
Now you believe it, right?
Of course, only two people were openly showing dissatisfaction so far. Pei Qian felt he needed to keep pushing harder.
He would take this group of investors on a full tour around the old industrial district and let them see the whole area properly.
Then they would realize that the entrance area could only be described as "relatively desolate."
Further inside, it was even worse!
Since facts and logic alone couldn't scare these people away, surely seeing the actual conditions with their own eyes would make them back off.
"Everyone, please follow me. I'll give you a brief introduction to the current state of the old industrial district and the latest progress on the Fright Hostel project."
Pei Qian led the investors deeper into the old industrial district.
…
Thirty minutes later, the group returned from the depths of the industrial district and stopped outside one of the factory buildings currently being renovated as part of the Fright Hostel project.
Two of the older investors were already panting heavily from the walk.
Li Shi was rubbing his legs as well, beads of sweat covering his forehead.
Pei Qian was only in his early twenties, so walking this distance was nothing to him. But these wealthy investors, who were used to lives of comfort, were already exhausted after just half an hour.
Even so, all of the investors had followed the entire way. No one had fallen behind, and no one had angrily turned around and left on the spot, which surprised Pei Qian a little.
That said, none of them looked particularly happy.
Because after taking the tour, they realized their earlier impression—that the entrance to the industrial district was overly desolate—had been completely mistaken.
Only after seeing the inside did they understand what true desolation looked like.
The entrance might have been barren, but at least the ground there was relatively clean. Once they got deeper into the district, however, piles of construction debris, meaningless graffiti covering the walls, and weeds stubbornly growing everywhere all pointed to one undeniable fact:
That barren entrance area was actually the most presentable part of the entire old industrial district…
Pei Qian smiled slightly, feeling that his objective was already halfway accomplished.
As long as these investors saw the true state of the old industrial district and imagined what would happen after pouring their money into it, someone would definitely back out on the spot!
Pei Qian cleared his throat lightly.
"Everyone, let me emphasize this once again."
"This investment really will lose money."
He tried his best to make his expression look as sincere as possible.
It was obvious that two or three investors were already beginning to waver.
Previously, they had wanted to invest purely because of President Pei's halo of success. But now that they had seen the true condition of the old industrial district, they suddenly felt that no matter how miraculous President Pei supposedly was, even he couldn't save a place like this.
Trying to make this area successful was practically equivalent to turning stone into gold!
However, nobody wanted to be the first to openly say they were backing out. They glanced at one another, each waiting for someone else to take the lead.
Pei Qian wasn't worried.
As long as he waited patiently and gave everyone enough time to seriously think about their money, surely someone would step forward.
But Li Shi seemed to notice this as well.
Without hesitation, he stepped forward and looked around at the group.
"What's this? We all agreed on this before—don't tell me someone's already getting cold feet?"
His voice was full of conviction.
Pei Qian: "…?"
He looked at Li Shi with complete confusion written across his face.
Li Shi gave Pei Qian a firm nod before turning back to the others.
"Ridiculous! President Pei is testing your determination!"
"Earlier, every single one of you said you'd invest in any project President Pei touched. But after walking a couple of steps and seeing a few superficial problems, you're already changing your minds? Even grass swaying in the wind is more steadfast than you people!"
"Think carefully about those investors who doubted President Pei during the Moral Education project. Look at them now!"
"Are you also going to miss out on a great project just like they did?"
As soon as Li Shi finished speaking, the few investors who had seemed ready to back out suddenly regained their resolve.
They exchanged looks with one another and fell into deep thought.
Meanwhile, Li Shi looked at Pei Qian with a smile, as though saying:
"Don't worry. As long as I'm here, none of these people are escaping."
Pei Qian: "..."
His heart felt a little tired.
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Tn: I updated the story once a day, but if you want to see more chapter of this story ahead of time, please go to my Patreon.
Latest Chapter: Chapter 536: Still Going with the "Bare Walls" Style[1]
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[1] https://www.patreon.com/HannibalNotBarca/posts/losing-money-to-164800513?collection=1399284
[2] https://www.patreon.com/HannibalNotBarca/posts/losing-money-to-164800513?collection=1399284