Losing Money to Become a Tycoon: Starting with Games
Chapter 466: Whenever President Pei Thinks, Things Start to Change
Pei Qian was speechless. He directly waved at Chen Kangtuo:
"Come on, briefly introduce the project to everyone."
When he said the word "briefly," he deliberately emphasized it slightly.
Chen Kangtuo immediately understood.
He had already compiled the materials on the Fright Hostel project, originally preparing to report them to President Pei—but President Pei hadn't listened at the time.
Now presenting them was the same thing.
However, since President Pei had specifically requested a "brief" introduction, it had to be kept extremely simple. After all, "strictly executing any of President Pei's instructions" was a well-known Tengda Group principle.
Chen Kangtuo began introducing the Fright Hostel project.
Five minutes later, he finished.
He had compressed the entire presentation to the bare minimum. Many data points and details were omitted entirely, and even some internal details of the three major haunted house components were only mentioned in passing.
He only presented the overall framework.
After finishing, Chen Kangtuo looked at President Pei.
Pei Qian immediately gave him a secret thumbs-up, clearly very satisfied.
The investors were completely confused.
That's it?
A few sips of tea and a moment of distraction—and it was already over?
They hadn't heard anything at all!
Everyone once again looked at Li Shi, while Li Shi remained expressionless, eyes focused, nose centered, lips closed, as if deep in thought.
After a moment, Li Shi nodded thoughtfully.
"Hmm… as expected, this is a reliable project!"
Everyone froze for a moment, then quickly reacted.
So that's how it was. President Pei's tests were truly everywhere!
They almost fell for it again!
Thinking carefully, although Chen Kangtuo's explanation had been extremely brief, it still contained several key details.
For example: this site was personally selected by President Pei; President Pei had injected additional funding twice; and it had some connection to a previous horror game developed by Tengda Group…
A project personally decided by President Pei—that alone was already enough to prove its reliability! What more could you possibly ask for?
So everyone immediately reacted and began praising it enthusiastically.
"Great project, truly reliable!"
"In just a few words, he managed to convey the core strengths of the project. Mr. Chen is indeed capable! Truly worthy of being chosen by President Pei!"
Pei Qian: "..."
It seemed like things had fallen into yet another vicious cycle.
"Alright, the introduction is done. You can all leave now."
Pei Qian prepared to see them off.
The investors immediately panicked.
"No, no, we still haven't heard anything properly!"
Li Shi quickly stood up.
"President Pei! Please, just a moment."
"Now that we've understood the general situation of the project, there are still some execution details we need to discuss with Mr. Chen."
"President Pei, since we've already come all the way here, it wouldn't feel appropriate to just leave so abruptly, would it?"
His tone was sincere and earnest.
After thinking about it, Pei Qian felt that this modest request didn't seem unreasonable.
"Fine, then you guys discuss it."
He signaled to Chen Kangtuo, who immediately understood and nodded slightly.
President Pei had already messaged him: only explain the current situation, don't say a single extra word.
Chen Kangtuo decided to strictly follow the instruction—state only facts, give no suggestions.
Meanwhile, President Li signaled to the others and said in a low voice:
"No one leaves until the plan is finalized!"
The investors all nodded, looking as if they were prepared to die on the spot if necessary.
When too many stakeholders are involved in a project, they tend to endlessly debate and stall one another.
When faced with a situation like this, the most important thing is not to drag it out. Since they had finally managed to gather everyone together, anything that needed to be decided had to be settled quickly.
If it dragged on even slightly, nothing would get done.
So, no matter what method they used, they had to extract something from President Pei and finalize the plan!
Even if it meant enduring it, they had to endure until they got an answer.
They said they didn't care about losing money, but in reality, who truly didn't care? Saying they didn't care was just for President Pei's benefit. These investors were all extremely shrewd—they would never blindly throw money into a project they didn't understand.
Even if this was President Pei's project, they still wouldn't completely ignore due diligence or details. They might not obsess over formality, but proper investigation was still necessary.
Chen Kangtuo spread out the project's floor plan on the table.
After a brief silence, Li Shi stood up and said:
"Let me start things off. First, I'm planning to open a restaurant to solve the visitors' dining needs. As for the location… hmm… here. Mr. Chen, do you think this is suitable?"
He pointed to a spot on the map and looked at Chen Kangtuo.
Chen Kangtuo gave a polite smile.
"This is entirely your own decision. I'm very sorry, but I cannot offer you any suggestions."
Pei Qian quietly gave him a thumbs-up again.
Good. Reliable!
Worth the effort!
If he kept this up, this group would eventually collapse on their own!
The investors were a bit stunned.
So refusing to answer could be this straightforward?
Even if he refused to give advice, shouldn't he at least check with President Pei first?
But Chen Kangtuo didn't even glance at President Pei—he directly refused!
Clearly, this must have been instructed in advance. President Pei must have told him beforehand not to provide any guidance at all.
Hmm… was this also part of the test?
Wasn't this a bit too much?
The clever investors quickly spun their minds and gradually pieced together part of the truth.
The room fell into an awkward stalemate.
Another investor cleared his throat.
"I plan to build a hotel here. How about this location?"
He pointed at another spot on the map and looked at Chen Kangtuo. But this time, Chen Kangtuo simply stopped speaking altogether and just smiled silently, pretending it had nothing to do with him.
Pei Qian praised him again in his heart.
Well done!
The situation became awkward again.
Li Shi couldn't take it anymore and said:
"This doesn't seem appropriate. This area is too central—there's no need for a hotel to be so deep inside."
Another investor said:
"Then the northwest corner."
"No, no, the southeast corner seems better."
Soon, the investors started debating among themselves.
Pei Qian listened quietly and finally felt reassured.
Clearly, each of them had their own agenda. In order to maximize their own benefit, they all wanted the best possible position—or rather, the least bad "best" position they could find in this barren land.
At this rate, with everyone pulling in different directions and no one making a final decision, they probably wouldn't reach a conclusion even after a week.
Just as it looked like no consensus could be reached, President Li once again turned to Pei Qian.
"President Pei, what do you think?"
Pei Qian: "..."
At this point, anything he said seemed problematic.
If he casually said, "just choose this spot," ended the argument, and that spot later turned out to be the best location—what then?
Based on past experience, that wasn't just possible—it was highly likely.
But if he said, "don't choose that spot," they would just switch to another one and ask again. The cycle would never end.
Not answering didn't seem like an option either. They would keep asking, and might even start interpreting his facial expressions into strange meanings, potentially inventing some "insightful" plan out of nothing.
His own employees were especially good at that sort of thing, and it had already caused him plenty of losses.
Answering was no good. Not answering was also no good.
In that case… he might as well just leave.
Let them argue among themselves. As long as Chen Kangtuo strictly followed instructions and kept his mouth shut, nothing should go wrong!
Thinking of this, Pei Qian quickly pulled out his phone.
"Oh no, I just remembered I have a meeting. Sorry everyone, I'll take my leave first!"
"No need to see me off—just continue your discussion!"
"Kangtuo, Hao Qiong, the two of you take good care of President Li and the others. And don't forget what I told you!"
Pei Qian emphasized once more to Chen Kangtuo, then hurriedly made his escape.
Li Shi opened his mouth, wanting to stop President Pei, but in the end, he couldn't bring himself to speak.
"Vrrr—"
The driver stepped on the accelerator, and President Pei's car sped off in an instant, as if there really was something urgent going on.
Everyone looked at each other, somewhat dejected.
It was over.
President Pei had left directly and given no advice at all—what were they supposed to do now?
Li Shi and the others were very clear: although they were all professional investors with experience in many industries, decisions like this still required professionals to set the direction.
At the very least, someone who fully understood the Fright Hostel project was needed to ensure reasonable planning and that every penny was spent effectively.
If everyone just relied on guesswork while investing money, it would surely end in disaster.
For a moment, no one spoke. Everyone felt discouraged.
Bang!
Everyone was startled. It was Li Shi slapping the table.
"What's going on? Are we giving up just because of this small setback?"
"President Pei may have left, but didn't he leave us a professional here?"
"You mean… Mr. Chen?"
Everyone turned their gaze toward Chen Kangtuo.
Chen Kangtuo could only respond with a polite smile.
One investor sighed:
"It's useless, President Li. Mr. Chen is indeed professional, but President Pei clearly instructed him not to give us any advice. What's the point of being professional then?"
Now that President Pei was gone, everyone naturally spoke more freely.
Li Shi fell into thought, deep in contemplation.
Then he looked at Chen Kangtuo.
"Mr. Chen, to be honest, we are here to help President Pei build this project."
"All supporting facilities around the Fright Hostel will be handled by us."
"So we are in this together—we rise and fall together!"
"Can you at least give us a hint about what President Pei really means? Just loosen up a bit?"
Chen Kangtuo still wore a polite smile and said nothing.
In fact, he had already noticed this point.
President Pei had directly poured 40 million into the haunted house project, not allocating a single cent to surrounding infrastructure—without hesitation.
Why?
Did President Pei not understand the importance of supporting facilities?
Of course he did.
And after seeing President Li and the others, Chen Kangtuo became even more certain of President Pei's deeper intention.
Use the best steel on the blade—pour all the money into the Fright Hostel itself to create the most perfect, top-tier visitor experience!
As for surrounding infrastructure, of course that would be left to others.
Monopolizing everything is not a good habit. Even if the project succeeds, it would create too many enemies.
On the other hand, if these people were given a share of the benefits, they would use their own networks and resources to fully support the development of the haunted house. With everyone contributing, the project would flourish.
So President Pei must still support them developing surrounding facilities.
But… why was he not allowing him to give any advice?
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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