Losing Money to Become a Tycoon: Starting with Games
Chapter 469: Interpretation Success
It was obvious that President Pei did not seem to want everyone to publicly discuss this award—at least not in this setting.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have left so decisively and even told everyone to disperse quickly.
Combined with the many suspicious aspects of the award itself…
"When things are abnormal, there must be something strange going on!"
Everyone frowned, carefully pondering the deeper meaning behind President Pei's actions. The meeting room fell into complete silence.
Suddenly, Huang Sibo raised his head.
Then Lin Wan, Lu Mingliang, Zhang Yuan, Chang You… one after another.
Everyone exchanged glances, as if they all had something to say.
But discussing it here didn't seem appropriate—this was still under President Pei's watch.
Clearly, President Pei wanted them to "understand on their own" and avoid openly discussing it.
So Lu Mingliang was the first to stand up. He left holding the trophy, but before leaving, he subtly shook his phone toward the others.
Huang Sibo and Lin Wan also stood up, similarly pointing at their phones before leaving.
...
The department heads returned to their respective posts.
On the way back, Lu Mingliang added all the department heads into a group chat named "Tengda Group Senior Internal Group."
Of course, President Pei was not added.
Strictly speaking, President Pei is the boss of Tengda Group and not technically a "senior executive," so it made sense.
But the main reason was that although President Pei often posed puzzles for them to solve, he did not seem to want the "standard answers" to be widely circulated. Instead, he preferred everyone to independently figure things out and quietly reflect in private.
Whenever signs of spreading "standard answers" were detected, it often seemed to displease President Pei.
But not discussing it was impossible.
President Pei's riddles were too difficult—figuring them out alone would take forever.
Creating a group chat to discuss it was at most "open-book collaboration," not cheating.
They were all familiar colleagues anyway, so there was no need for formalities—they could go straight to the point.
Lu Mingliang: "What do you all think President Pei is mainly trying to express through this award?"
"Especially the two lines of text."
"[Image]"
Although everyone had different interpretations of the Tengda Group spirit, each department had different experiences and held information others did not.
The only person who truly understood everything from a macro perspective was President Pei himself.
So the true meaning behind his actions had to be collectively pieced together using each department's unique information.
Only then could the answer be fully understood.
Huang Sibo: "You're the one who received the award, so you should go first."
Zhang Yuan: "Yeah, you first."
Lu Mingliang: "Alright then. Everyone knows that Against the Wind Logistics has been operating at a loss since its establishment. But after I joined, I realized it actually makes a significant contribution to Tengda Group."
"Whether it's ROF PC assembly, OTTO phones, or delivery services, it all represents how Against the Wind Logistics is reshaping Jingzhou residents' logistics habits and lifestyle."
"Door-to-door delivery is not just a service—it also represents our close relationship with users. Now our long-term users only recognize us when receiving parcels, not other couriers. Although we are losing money financially, we have secured the end users, which is the most important resource."
"More than that, through user profiling, we can also conduct market analysis that helps research for other industries. Its influence is far-reaching."
"Perhaps President Pei also believes that Against the Wind Logistics plays a critical foundational role in these areas, which is why he specifically awarded us the 'Tengda Group Cornerstone Award.'"
Zhang Yuan: "Hmm, that makes sense. Without Against the Wind Logistics, the ROF PC assembly business wouldn't have gone so smoothly in the beginning, and after-sales service would have been very troublesome."
Chang You: "I agree. In President Pei's mind, logistics is clearly a lifeline department of Tengda Group. This award is called the Tengda Group Cornerstone Award, so it can be said to be well deserved."
Lu Mingliang: "Does anyone else have anything to add?"
Lin Wan: "President Pei specifically emphasized that the award is given for high losses, and in the future other departments may also receive it. This means that being a 'lifeline department' is not a necessary or sufficient condition for winning."
"The meaning behind losses themselves is also very important."
"Shangyang Games started by losing money and then became profitable. The reason it was able to turn things around was because it learned lessons and accumulated experience during its losses."
"If 'failure is the mother of success,' then we can also say 'loss is the mother of profit.' President Pei is probably telling us: if you want to run, first learn how to fall; if you want to earn, first learn how to lose."
Zhang Yuan: "Completely agree! Moyu Internet Café is exactly like this too."
"If not for President Pei's insistence on losses before, there wouldn't have been later success."
Ma Yiqun: "Terminal Chinese Web gives a like."
"Also, I think we can analyze the two lines of text as well."
"Though the golden mountain has gaps, its height remains undiminished;
The sea of wealth has no end, and its erosion only deepens."
"What profound philosophy!"
"Especially the second line. It means that the sea of wealth is endless; throughout one's lifetime, one may never reach its boundary. Yet even when the total scale is already so vast, wealth can still grow."
"When the seabed is continuously eroded, the ocean can hold even more water."
"'Erosion' here means losses—on the surface we are burning money and incurring losses, but the capacity for wealth actually increases."
"This shows that President Pei is encouraging us to burn money and expand boundaries. Just like Against the Wind Logistics, burning money is not simply wasting money, but continuously expanding scale!"
Zhang Yuan: "1024 Digital Festival gives a like."
He Desheng: "Uh… everyone, I also thought of something, not sure if I should say it."
Lin Wan: "This is a private group, stop wasting time. Just say it."
He Desheng: "Alright… I was thinking about the word 'cornerstone,' and I feel Against the Wind Logistics is not only a cornerstone within Tengda Group, but also a cornerstone in society."
"In fact, one of Tengda Group's missions may be to become the cornerstone of society as a whole."
"Because I'm in the investment department, I feel this more strongly. When President Pei personally managed Dream Fulfillment Ventures, he only invested in two projects: Shared Phone Booth and Top Student, Come Quickly. He didn't even look at other seemingly profitable projects."
"And both of these projects have very strong public welfare characteristics."
"Shared Phone Booth provides ordinary consumers with a private rest space while shopping in malls and has also become a cultural landmark of the city. Top Student, Come Quickly focuses on education for the general public, aiming to achieve the grand goal of breaking barriers and sharing knowledge."
"And compared to the achievements of Dream Fulfillment Ventures, Against the Wind Logistics is clearly even more solid and outstanding."
"So becoming a cornerstone of society is also likely one of President Pei's goals. Whether a department contributes sufficiently to society is naturally an important factor in evaluating the 'Tengda Group Cornerstone Award.'"
Lin Wan: "That makes perfect sense!"
Hu Xianbin: "You guys are talking too fast. I just clicked in and saw 99+ new messages—I'm totally lost. Can someone summarize so I can copy the homework?"
Lin Wan: "I'll do it."
"The criteria for the 'Tengda Group Cornerstone Award' mainly consist of four purposes."
"First, to recognize departments that serve as foundational pillars; second, to encourage us to learn to lose first before earning, to boldly experiment and gain experience from failure; third, to burn money to expand market share with a long-term vision; and fourth, to take on as much social responsibility as possible."
Huang Sibo: "666666!"
Lu Mingliang: "Nice, this should basically be President Pei's full intention."
Zhang Yuan: "So it looks like Against the Wind Logistics winning the award is well deserved—they satisfy all of these points. I think I already have an idea for how to win the next Tengda Group Cornerstone Award!"
He Desheng: "Then our two departments can compete to see who gets it first."
Zhang Yuan: "…Damn, I forgot I'm no longer the manager of Moyu Internet Café and ROF PC assembly. I'm roleplaying myself again. Xiao Peng, DM me."
Xiao Peng was the original manager of Moyu Internet Café in Lin City.
After Zhang Yuan was "retired," and after repeated consideration, Xiao Peng—who had performed excellently in Lin City—was promoted among the veteran employees to become the current manager of both Moyu Internet Café and ROF PC assembly.
Lin Wan: "Successful interpretation. Meeting adjourned!"
Li Yada: "Wait!!"
Ma Yiqun: "?"
Hu Xianbin: "Sister Li, aren't you abroad?"
Lin Wan: "Huh? What time is it over there, Yada?"
Li Yada: "The time doesn't matter. I got up in the middle of the night to drink water and happened to see your discussion. I still have something to add!"
"I think the word 'cornerstone' has another layer of meaning."
"Ma Yiqun only analyzed the second half of the phrase. He didn't analyze the first half—'Though the golden mountain has gaps, its height remains undiminished.'"
"In my understanding, why does a golden mountain remain tall even if it has gaps? Precisely because its foundation is deep and solid—so small damage won't cause it to collapse."
"And this award is called the 'Tengda Group Cornerstone Award,' which is also implying that we must strengthen our foundation."
"'Golden mountain has gaps' comes before 'sea of wealth has no end,' which means building a strong foundation is the prerequisite. Only after strengthening the foundation can we burn money to expand the market while maintaining stability."
Ma Yiqun: "Makes sense! Ah, how did I not think of that? I'm ashamed."
Li Yada: "No no, I only thought of this after reading your interpretation of the second half. You humanities people are really impressive."
Hao Yun: "Yes, everything you said makes so much sense!"
"I think these five points can be summarized as the 'Cornerstone Spirit' and added into Tengda Group's corporate spirit as one of its core components."
"This also gives our HR department clear guidance for future work!"
Soon, the chat group was flooded with "666" messages.
As the department heads scrolled through the chat history, the more they read, the more reasonable it seemed.
President Pei truly was a philosopher. Just 2 lines of words—and yet they contained so much wisdom?
This level of insight… must be something only ancient sages could achieve.
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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