Chapter 200 – Satisfy the Full – Timers!

As he was thinking about this, a knock on his door rang out. Pei Qian looked up and saw that it was Ma Yiqun.

Ever since they began preparing to create Zhongdian Chinese Network, Ma Yiqun had been very busy. Although arrangements for the administrative, finance, and legal staff had been made and the company's framework was complete; Ma Yiqun still had to decide how the website would be run.

Ma Yiqun had already bought a website template and authors' platform on the website for resources according to Pei Qian's requirements. They bought the domain name 'www.zhongdian.com' for three hundred thousand yuan as well.

Since Qidian had not yet been created in this world, the person who created the domain name 'zhongdian' could not sell the domain for too high of a price. What's more, it was 2010. Domain names had not become expensive. One could say they got quite a good deal.

Apart from this, they had hired staff to maintain the website and bought a cloud server. They had also applied for authorization from the relevant authorities.

After doing all these things and spending hundreds of thousands of yuan, the initial preparations were more or less complete.

After that, it was time for Ma Yiqun to get busy.

First, he had to gather all his employees, in order to assign tasks to each of them. All of these people were seniors whom Zhang Wei recommended to Pei Qian. All of them graduated with majors in humanities. That meant they had a passable grasp on language.

Ma Yiqun's first impression of them was that they all seemed a bit autistic. Most of them also looked like nerds. This was expected; none of them could find jobs until now. If all of them had the gift of the gab, they would not remain unemployed after graduation until

now.

Fortunately, they had good attitudes. Ma Yiqun was not that fussy.

He knew very well that it was not meaningful to discuss whether someone was suited to be in the online literature industry. It also did not matter whether one did well in school or not. Anyone who entered this industry had to start from scratch.

This was a good thing and a bad thing.

At least, to Ma Yiqun, these people met the fundamental requirements.

After this, Ma Yiqun assigned tasks to each of them. Once the website was set up, the first thing to do was to fill the library up. A website for web novels had to have content. Otherwise, it would be an empty shell. Thus, they had to hire a batch of authors as soon as possible.

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Especially wealthy web novel sites would surely hire famous authors. They might even hire them by the batch. Doing this could cost them millions of yuan.

However, this was not the path Pei Qian chose.

Although this would allow him to spend more money, the chances of the website failing would decrease greatly. These authors were novel gods after all. If Pei Qian hired them, the website would draw people's attention very quickly.

He could either spend money to buy novel gods over or attract failures. After some consideration, Pei Qian decided that the latter would allow him to lose more money.

After all, most novel gods who had become famous were genuine talents. To make gods out of failures, on the other hand, would be extremely difficult

Any author with aspirations would choose to chase their dreams on an established website like Infinite Chinese Network even if they were failing currently. All of them hope for their novels to rise to fame one day.

They would not write for a small website with a dim future for the sake of earning a few hundred yuan more.

Thus, after pondering over this for a while, Pei Qian decided not to pull novel gods over but work on attracting failing authors instead. This would probably be the more reliable way to incur losses.

Ma Yiqun's job in these early stages was to train his staff and filter manuscripts. These people knew little about online literature. Even those who had read online literature had never read in depth about it.

Ma Yiqun still had to teach them the basic principles such as writing satisfying plots, finding rhythm, and developing the theme. These people could only become editors after Ma Yiqun was more or less done. Then, they could help Ma Yiqun with choosing manuscripts, guiding authors, and the like.

Now, Ma Yiqun was probably here to report their progress to Boss Pei.

"Boss Pei, this is the current situation…"

He briefly explained what they had achieved so far before changing the topic. "We have two main problems at the moment.

"First, our current editors are below standard. Their understanding of online literature is not quite there. They choose manuscripts based on authors' writing styles. Most manuscripts they chose are not suited to be online literature. I think it'll be quite difficult to change this habit of theirs in the short-term. I need more time to teach them.

"Second, most manuscripts we receive are low-quality. I'm not even talking about premium work. Infinite Chinese Network might not so much as try these manuscripts out, much less put them up on its shelves.

"A few of the manuscripts are very good, but even if you submitted them to Infinite Chinese Network, they would get five hundred subscriptions at the most. Of course, I'm not looking down on that number of subscriptions. I'm objectively assessing the facts…"

Ma Yiqun was beginning to feel guilty. After all, he had written web novels before. As an author with only thirty subscriptions, he did not feel like he had the right to look down on others if they could get five hundred.

Yet, he had to be logical. If the best author on a web novel site could only get five hundred subscriptions, the entire website was basically a failure.

After all, authors like that would be able to get five hundred subscriptions on Infinite Chinese Network because many readers visited that site. That number would probably shrink by ten times if the book were published on Zhongdian Chinese Network.

Ma Yiqun's problems were not contradictory. All in all, the authors sucked at writing, and the editors sucked at vetting manuscripts. There was no way that the manuscripts they accepted would be readable.

The website had not started officially. Ma Yiqun was still browsing various forums and contacting failed authors. Once he had accepted sufficient manuscripts to fill the website up, he would officially open it.

Even after listening to Ma Yiqun's description, Pei Qian's expression remained calm. It seemed to say 'everything is under control'.

"Do you have a manuscript? Let me see it."

Ma Yiqun retrieved a thumb drive from his pocket and handed it to Pei Qian. It contained all the manuscripts he accepted. He had contracted some authors but not others. Pei Qian randomly opened several manuscripts and read them.

Once he finished, he had only one feeling: disgust!

For most of them, he did not want to read on after roughly scanning through the first chapter.

Satisfactory plots and rhythm aside, many people seemed to be having difficulty with forming basic sentences. They were using the wrong words, the wrong punctuations, and the wrong sentence structures. The logic of the first three chapters was a mess, and the theme was unclear.

All in all, there were problems everywhere.

Pei Qian briefly looked through the manuscripts. Looking through those written by authors whom Ma Yiqun had contracted, Pei Qian felt like they were choosing generals from among shorties. If these were published on other websites, they would fail miserably.

Although Ma Yiqun only had thirty subscriptions initially, he had a good understanding of how online literature worked.

This was within Pei Qian's expectations. Although Ma Yiqun did not have many subscriptions, the novels that he had released to the public were quite good. He even had a loyal following

Ma Yiqun observed Pei Qian's expression as the latter scanned through the manuscripts. He could not help but feel moved.

Boss Pei is so patient. I can't believe he can stand to read these.

After randomly reading a few manuscripts, Pei Qian felt completely relieved. If all the manuscripts they accepted were of this standard, it would be a surprise if the web novel site could succeed!

Not bad, keep up the good work!

Calmly, Pei Qian plucked out the thumb drive and handed it back to Ma Yiqun.

"It's not a big problem. As for the two things you mentioned…

"It's alright if our editors are below standard. Ease the review criteria. In any case, our aim is to fill up our libraries for now. These people are just writing to fulfill the contract and earn money. There's no need for us to be so strict."

Ma Yiqun hesitated. "But… Boss Pei, back then, the remuneration you offered to full-timers was a thousand yuan. Infinite Chinese Network only offers five hundred yuan to their full-time authors. Other small sites offer a thousand yuan, but that's only if authors produce ten thousand words a day.

"We're offering them a thousand yuan for three thousand words a day. If we ease the criteria, we would be giving out money for free. That's like burning all that money every single month."

Pei Qian shook his head. "That's alright. If we have five hundred authors, it would only cost us five hundred thousand yuan a month. That's not a lot of money.

"Our website is new. If we don't pay our full-time authors more, why would people want to write for us? What's more, for newbies, three thousand words a day is not an easy target to hit.

"Don't worry. Accept more manuscripts. An outstanding author will appear one day."

Ma Yiqun pondered for a while and decided that there was logic to what Boss Pei was saying. However, the chances of this happening were low.

After thinking for a moment, Ma Yiqun spoke again. "Boss Pei, there is another problem. Most of our employees have little to do.

"Since few authors are submitting manuscripts, there is not a lot of reviewing to be done. Even if our editors make time to guide the authors in their writing, they will still have time to idle."

Pei Qian waved his hand. "That's even less of a problem. If they have nothing to do, ask them to work on their hobbies. Take you for example. If you find that you have nothing to do, write a novel or two to entertain yourself. Isn't that good?"

Pei Qian stood up and patted Ma Yiqun on the shoulder.

"Yiqun, don't stress yourself out too much.

"Tengda's mantra has always been to be happy at work. If you have work to do, get busy. If you don't, work on your interests and hobbies. If you have too much work to do, hire more people. How difficult is that?

"Don't try to devour too much at one go. Take it slow."

Ma Yiqun nodded and replied, "Yes, Boss Pei! I understand!"

At first, he felt anxious and panicked. Boss Pei had given him such an important task, and yet he had made no progress. Instead, he was spending more money by the day. It felt like he just could not catch his breath.

However, seeing that Boss Pei had everything under control, Ma Yiqun immediately felt relieved. Indeed, following a good leader could make one feel secure!

Chapter 201 Ma Yiqun Wears Two Hats

Ma Yiqun returned from Boss Pei's office, feeling less confused than he was before.

When he went back upstairs, he passed by the editors' department and saw all the young editors vetting and editing manuscripts seriously. These young people seemed to cherish this job opportunity.

As a second-tier city, Jingzhou did not have many tech ventures. There weren't many internet businesses either. The main source of jobs was in traditional industries. These traditional industries were known for torturing fresh graduates. They were worldly, hierarchical, and boring; most fresh graduates could not adapt to working in traditional industries.

At first, these people lacked direction for their own futures. They could not get recommendations for post-graduate studies, and their academic results did not qualify them either. Yet, they could not find jobs that they were passionate about.

Companies in traditional industries looked down on them, and they looked down on traditional jobs in return. They practically despised each other.

They watched as their own classmates became carefree after securing jobs and post-graduate positions. Some of them had even been offered high starting pays and had become the envy of many.

On the other hand, they did not have a single offer. They faced as many rejections as they did interviews, and they felt like they had already thrown their resumes into the deep sea. One could only imagine the immense pressure they were under.

Initially, some of them were prepared to retake their examinations. Others decided to go back to their hometown. None of them expected the tables to turn!

Coincidentally, a new website was set up. All of them were recruited. What's more, they landed editing jobs that were slightly related to their majors. Their luck was extremely good!

In the beginning, some of them were unhappy with the job and even despised web novels. However, after interacting with other classmates who were already working, they realized that the job was extremely good!

In Jingzhou, the salaries they were earning were considered high for sure.

In terms of job content, reviewing manuscripts could be dull and tedious at times. However, it was much more interesting than working as an administrative staff in most offices.

On top of this, their boss was young and easy to talk to. The atmosphere in the company was relaxed and harmonious. Everyone very quickly took a liking toward their new job and decided to work hard to transition from being a student to being part of the working class.

When Ma Yiqun entered the office, a small-sized, skinny boy stood up suddenly. "Brother Ma, we have finished reviewing the manuscripts for today."

Ma Yiqun nodded and said, "Good. Do whatever you want for now. I'll gather everyone for a meeting later on."

This boy's name was Zhu Anxing. He was the liveliest person in the batch of fresh graduates. He was not as autistic as the rest, and he was much smarter as well. He was one of the few editors Ma Yiqun was happy with.

Zhu Anxing's academic results were horrible. Even when he was about to graduate, he failed three subjects. That was why he proudly delayed graduation.

Considering the difficulty of examinations for humanities majors, he still managed to fail three subjects before graduation. It was obvious how much he hated learning.

Delayed graduation meant that Zhu Anxing would only get his graduation certificate at the end of the year. However, Ma Yiqun did not care too much about this. After all, to him, academic results were not important for determining whether one would be good at editing or not. The correlation was not strong.

This Zhu Anxing read online literature and played games while he was at university. He had a wide variety of interests. That was why he was learning the ropes of this editing job relatively quickly.

Ma Yiqun decided that once Zhu Anxing's skills were satisfactory, he would promote the latter to become the editor-in-chief of a popular channel. This would take some burden off Ma Yiqun as well.

Ma Yiqun returned to his desk and made some minor arrangements. Then, he invited the good seedlings, who had chances of becoming editors-in-chief, to attend a meeting. There, he briefly explained what Boss Pei had instructed.

In the future, they would ease the criteria for accepting manuscripts. They would also attract authors to write for them with full-time benefits. Their main goal would be to fill the library up.

After that, Ma Yiqun addressed the problem of them not having enough work to do.

People like Zhu Anxing, who were learning quickly about online literature, could start working as editors if they were really needed to. What's more, since there were very few manuscripts being submitted, they could quickly finish their reviewing work.

If they had no other work to do during the remaining time, they could learn from Infinite Chinese Network's popular online literature.

Ma Yiqun scanned the group and said, "If you feel like you do not have enough work to doapart from reading popular online literature, you could also try to write something.

"You might all be editors, but who knows if you would be able to write a hot-selling novel? You must still have dreams.

"What's more, we don't have many manuscripts on our website at the moment. The standard of the manuscripts we are receiving is not great as well. I'm sure we could recommend any book you write in good positions on the website. You could take this opportunity to give it a shot."

There was nothing wrong with what Ma Yiqun was saying, but it had no practical significance. If no one visited the website, it would not matter even if he recommended their books there.

Ma Yiqun paused before adding, "If you really have nothing to do, I will give you something to do: think about the theme and plot for Repent and be Saved."

Initially, thinking about the theme for Repent and be Saved was Ma Yiqun's job as the plot planner.

However, life was full of twists and turns. Ma Yiqun had unexpectedly been promoted. Logically, Ma Yiqun should have handed this task over to someone. However, Lu Mingliang was stunned. He said to Ma Yiqun, "If you don't do this, no one else would be able to."

The only other person who was fit to do the job was Boss Pei. However, Boss Pei was extremely busy. How could he personally work on the plot?

Ma Yiqun thought about it and decided that it was not a big deal. He could afford to write the theme for the game.

Thus, Ma Yiqun put on two hats. He thought about the theme for Repent and be Saved while he worked on Zhongdian Chinese Network.

Now that the initial preparation for the website was more or less complete and Boss Pei was fully supportive, Ma Yiqun felt a lot less stressed.

All of a sudden, Ma Yiqun realized a problem. He had brothers around him. He did not need to fight the battle alone. They could work on Repent and be Saved's plot together!

When the twenty-odd people found that they had nothing to do, they could think of a plot for Repent and be Saved. The few of them who majored in Chinese, like Zhu Anxing, had a good foundation in ancient Chinese anyway.

According to Boss Pei's request, Repent and be Saved had to have a huge amount of ancient Chinese riddles and puzzles. Ma Yiqun had to work on all of these on his own. He would be able to complete it, but if he worked on it by himself, the quality would be compromised for sure.

Now that there were so many people there to help him, he could split the workload. Wouldn't they be acting as a plot team, then?

Ma Yiqun briefly explained the direction for Repent and be Saved's theme to everybody.

The initial design for the theme was already complete. There would be traditional Chinese scenes and elements of Buddhism, Taoism, and ancient mythology. They would not emphasize any one element over others. Instead, there would be sprinkles of everything.

It was possible for the game to only have Buddhist-themed scenery. They could even make Sanskrit part of the art resources in the game. However, after some discussion, Ma Yiqun and Lu Mingliang decided that it would not be appropriate.

Having purely Buddhist-themed scenery would make the entire game cohesive. The style would also be very clear. However, it might not be able to accurately portray the characteristics of ancient China.

In other words, the main point of the game might be obscured.

Buddhism was a foreign religion after all. It was no indigenous enough. It did not bring out traditional China's style.

That was why Ma Yiqun and Lu Mingliang decided that they would include elements of Buddhism, Taoism, and ancient mythology. They would come together to express a unique, traditional Chinese style.

As for whether it would look like a mess of different styles or not…

They did not have to worry. Big Boss Ruan Guangjian would be in charge of curating the style of the game. He would use the epic ink oil painting style to create art resources. Ma Yiqun trusted that the effect would be beautiful.

Chapter 202 Write Repent and be Saved's Plot Together!

Repent and be Saved's story was supposed to take place in an unknown age in ancient China. What used to be a peaceful, harmonious village was suddenly wrecked when more and more people began to lose their souls and become wandering ghouls.

These people slowly lost their memories and sanity. They wandered around subconsciously and attacked the souls of complete humans. On top of this, they were unknowingly drawn towards a faraway place.

In the words of lucky survivors, the road to this faraway place was called the 'Road to the Underworld'.

According to the elderly in the village, dead people would be captured by the Black and White Impermanence. After that, they would be brought to the netherworld to be judged and punished by Yama, who would then decide if these people could reincarnate and become humans again, soon sending them into the six realms of rebirth and existence or to the Eighteen Levels of Hell.

However, for some reason, the Black and White Impermanence stopped receiving dead people. Thus, regardless of whether they died naturally or were murdered, everyone found themselves on the Road to the Underworld, unable to get to the netherworld.

Instinctively, these wandering ghouls could sense a calling towards the netherworld. Yet, none of them could find the right path to get there. As time went by, they became increasingly tyrannical.

Thus, the mortal world slowly turned into hell.

Players would play the role of the protagonist who was a normal human facing death. The protagonist's soul was already incomplete. However, mysteriously and inexorably, he felt something in a faraway place faintly calling out to him.

In order to avoid becoming a mindless, wandering ghost; he embarked on a journey to seek out the truth. The protagonist began his journey on the Road to the Underworld and entered the netherworld with his mortal body.

The game's flow could generally be split into several parts:

The beginning, which was situated in the mortal village; a town which had been completely overtaken by wandering ghouls; a strategically-placed gate to the netherworld; The Road to the Underworld, which was crowded with wandering, malicious spirits; The River of Three Crossings, which was covered in red spider lilies; The end of the Road to the Underworld, where players would arrive at the River of Forgetfulness and the Bridge of Forgetfulness;

The Home-Viewing Pavilion and the Three-Life-Stone, which were situated by the side of the Bridge of Forgetfulness; Yama's majestic palace; the unbelievably messy six realms of rebirth and existence; and the bottom-most level of hell…

Apart from these, the bosses in the game would take on characters in Chinese mythology. These would include Mengpo on the Bridge of Forgetfulness, the four great magistrates of hell— Lu Zhidao, Magistrate of 'Examination and Research'; Zhong Kui, Magistrate of 'Punishment of Evil'; Wei Zheng, Magistrate of 'Rewarding Goodness'; and Cui Yu, Magistrate of 'Implicit Law' (each was to have purple, green, blue, and orange as their theme colors respectively)—and the ten Yama kings in hell.

According to Boss Pei's request-each time players died, all the monsters would refresh. Thus, one could find statues of Buddha at regular intervals along the journey to guide them.

Worn-down temples, statues of Buddha, Tudi's[1] temples, and Tudi's statues would also be distributed throughout the journey.

Buddha would not appear in the game, but there would be dilapidated statues of Buddha to hint at the legendary Degenerate Age.

The Buddha statues would act as save points, where players could restore previous states and refresh the surroundings beasts. Tudi statues, on the other hand, could be used to collect wandering ghouls from the surroundings. These would increase the character's skills.

There was not much content to the game because they had a limited budget. The entire game would probably last twelve to thirteen hours. Of course, this was only if players were familiar with battle and could make consistent progress.

If they were newbies, it would take them much longer to complete the game; they might end up playing for tens of hours or forever.

The game was not linear. From time to time, players would be required to turn back mid-way in order to advance to the next location.

For example, at the start of the game, players would have to go to the town which was completely overtaken by wandering ghouls. After defeating the grievous spirits gathered there, they would receive an initial boost in powers. Then, they had to collect several special props which would help them defeat wandering ghosts (such as Buddhist beads, amulets, and the like). After that, they had to turn around and head back to the village. From there, they could only enter the Road to the Underworld after killing an old man and following his soul.

If players did not go to that town and killed the old man immediately to follow his soul onto the Road to the Underworld instead, the entire journey would be extremely difficult.

Players would face a similar choice in Yama's palace. They could choose to go deep into Yama's palace, kill the magistrates and Yama himself, and then turn into a true malicious spirit. They could also choose to enter the messy six realms of rebirth and existence and reincarnate as a human. Then, they could escape far away from this world.

Otherwise, they could choose to go into the bottom-most level of hell and kill the crazed ruler of the place. This way, they would be sacrificing themselves in order to suppress the grievous spirits.

There would be three to five different outcomes. The outcome players got would depend on critical decisions that they made during the game. The clues to guide players in making each of these decisions would be hidden within the game's plot.

Throughout the game, players would get to talk to a few NPCs. They could also kill bosses or wandering ghouls and obtain their souls in order to access their memories. From there, they would be able to listen to narrations and fragments of memories.

There would also be clues hidden in key props or scenes (such as at the Three-Life Stone). These would hint at players where the more obscure clues could be found.

Scenes like the Three-Life Stone could be counterproductive as well. Depending on players' choices throughout the game, the hint that appeared on the Three-Life Stone could be different. This, in turn, would affect key events in the plot.

Of course, as players went down different paths, they would also meet with different monsters on their journey. Giving the same scene multiple different uses would be a good use of their money.

These hints would be the main tool Pei Qian would use to dissuade foreign players from trying the game out.

Pei Qian did not ask for these games to be written in poetry; this would make the game far too difficult.

All he had to do was ensure that the hints were written in obscure and complicated ancient Chinese. Anyone who had been through nine years of mandatory education would be able to roughly guess the hint's meaning.

It was not that Pei Qian did not enjoy poetry. However, even if he made a request like that, Lu Mingliang and the others would not be able to achieve it.

All of these were part of the game's initial design.

In the initial stages of researching and developing the game, they just needed to decide on the scenes, bosses, and story progression. Once they confirmed that the preparatory work (such as requesting for art resources) could be completed smoothly, they would be more or less done.

The details of the game could be perfected during the actual research and development process. Some designs and content could also be edited along the way.

Ma Yiqun explained the game's theme in detail to everyone. He also briefed them on their tasks. Compared to thinking about the plot for Repent and be Saved, everyone was relatively uninterested in reviewing manuscripts.

Up until now, the quality of the manuscripts that had been sent to Zhongdian Chinese Network was dismal. If there were more interesting introductions, quicker rhythm, fresh plots, and engaging storylines, everyone would probably feel much more excited about their work.

However, there weren't.

In other words, no matter how much time they spent reviewing manuscripts, they would not find one that would be extremely popular and help the website rise to fame.

As for guiding authors, it was even more unnecessary. After all, they had little understanding of their current editing job scope. What if they caused more trouble by attempting to guide authors as well?

Working on Repent and be Saved would be a different story altogether.

It was Tengda Games' newest product! They were investing tens of millions of yuan in it! Boss Pei was working on it himself!

From any angle, this game looked like it would become extremely popular. Even if it would not make as much profit as Ocean Stronghold, it would at least have as good a reputation as Game Designer.

If they took part in the research and development of this game and even had a hand in writing its plot, they would be able to boast to their friends!

After listening to Ma Yiqun's briefing, Zhu Anxing's eyes lit up.

"Brother Ma, I want to write! Can we post the content we write onto our website directly? They can be taken as the game's official novel.

"We can split the tasks. Each person can take charge of one part of the plot, including the game's chronicles and the background stories of every boss and NPC in the game. These can supplement the game.

"Although they might not be used in the end, it'll be much better than sitting around aimlessly and building a cart behind closed doors."

Ma Yiqun pondered for a while and decided that it was true.

In any case, they had nothing to do. Even if they had to write their own novels, many people would not have anything to write about. Since that was so, he could just make everybody write Repent and be Saved's plot. Once they were down, he could pick the best ones to be part of the game.

Ma Yiqun nodded and said, "That'll do. While you're reviewing manuscripts, think about Repent and be Saved's plot as well, then. We'll hold a meeting every week from now, especially to talk about the plot design. I'll update the project team accordingly."

[1] "Tudi' is an Earth Deity in Chinese mythology.

Chapter 203 What Plan does He Have for Ming Yun Villas?

July 13th, afternoon…

At Fish-Catching Internet Cafe's flagship store…

Li Shi sat in the corner, quietly sipping his coffee.

"This place is much livelier, but… I still prefer the way it was before."

Li Shi breathed out gently. He did not know that he and Boss Pei had similar thoughts in this area.

His negotiations with Boss Pei had completely fallen through back then. Li Shi felt absolutely defeated, and because of that, he avoided Fish-Catching Internet Cafe for more than a week. However, he remained indignant; and he harbored hopes of making a comeback in the future.

What's more, when he had nothing to do, he used to come to Fish-Catching Internet Cafe to sit around and have a drink or two. He had already developed a sort of habit.

That was why Li Shi came to Fish-Catching Internet Cafe's flagship store today. He wanted to see what things were like here.

The first thing he realized was that there were indeed more customers.

He knew that the place would probably be much more crowded at night. Thus, he purposely picked a Tuesday afternoon to visit. He did not expect that there would be this many customers, even on a workday afternoon. Some were reading and sipping their coffees quietly in the coffee area, some were taking photos, and some were surfing the net.

It looked like business was booming.

They earned revenue in the day and profited from customers' alcohol tips for the singers at night.

Li Shi guessed that Fish-Catching Internet Cafe's flagship store was probably making a profit now. It was not easy to determine if they were earning a lot or a little, but they were definitely earning profits.

Yet, personally, he liked what Fish-Catching Internet Cafe was like before. It was quiet, and nobody was there to disturb him.

Of course, the current Fish-Catching Internet Cafe was not so crowded that people would feel frustrated just being there. Still, there was no peace like there was before.

Li Shi took another sip of coffee. He could not help but feel like something was missing.

Boss Pei was not here. This was normal.

Yet, where was the man with the big, long face and the regional manager who always followed the former around?

Li Shi used to always come to Fish-Catching Internet Cafe's flagship store. Each time, he would bump into those two people. It was almost as if they lived in the flagship store. Today, none of them were there.

"Strange. If the business is doing so well, shouldn't they remain here to keep an eye on things?"

Li Shi had been observing the changes to Fish-Catching Internet Cafe over these few days.

The flagship store had indeed been made popular by Chen Lei. It was now famous on the internet. Many people came here to check in and purchase things. Traffic flow was high.

However, the other Fish-Catching Internet Cafe branches had not changed much. Although there were more customers and they earned more income, they were a far cry from the flagship store.

It was logical to guess that these branches could reduce their losses, but they would not be able to turn the losses into profits.

Shouldn't the two men remain in the flagship store and apply the lessons they learned here to the other branches? Why were they nowhere to be found?

Li Shi raised his hand slightly. The waiter beside him immediately noticed and walked to his table.

"May I help you with anything?" The waiter asked, smiling subtly.

Li Shi was a regular customer in Fish-Catching Internet Cafe after all. He had spent a considerable amount of money here. Of course, the waiters recognized this major customer and ensured that they served him well.

Li Shi put on a nonchalant expression and asked, "Boss Ma isn't here today?"

dIISI

The waiter maintained his smile and answered, "Yes, Boss Ma hasn't come to visit for a while. It's been about a week, I think."

Li Shi paused.

A week?

In other words, from the time Fish-Catching Internet Cafe became extremely popular and saw the most customers it ever had until the traffic flow stabilized, the man with the big, long face had not visited.

Logically, since the flagship store had a branch manager, the long-faced man could fold his hands and sit back. However, he was part of the management team above the branch managers after all. If he was not in this branch, he was likely in another branch. What was he doing there?

There was something fishy going on here.

Li Shi smiled at the waiter and said, "It's alright; I'm just asking."

Two hours later, Li Shi glanced at his handset. A subordinate had sent him a message: "Boss Li, I've found out that he's at Ming Yun Villas."

When he saw this message, Li Shi was shocked. However, after some consideration, he finally understood. Obviously, the long-faced man and his companion had turned their focus to the other branches now that the flagship store was doing well!

Although Li Shi looked down on the long-faced Ma Yang for being stupid, he did not dare to underestimate him. After all, Ma Yang's every action harbored Boss Pei's deeper intentions!

With what happened the last time, Li Shi no longer dared to belittle the younger and less-experienced Boss Pei. He knew that this Boss Pei seemed young and acted illogically, but he had a clear, far vision. What's more, he always had a back-up plan!

Li Shi had incurred a great loss the last time precisely because he belittled Boss Pei.

He gently rubbed his chin, thinking about everything going on behind the scenes.

"Boss Pei must have had some clue about what I had been doing earlier. He must have been the one who instructed the long-faced man to give me false information. Indeed, the long-faced man may be stupid, but he is extremely loyal to Boss Pei. It was a mistake for me to begin executing my plan from there.

"This is logical. If the long-faced man were not loyal to Boss Pei, how could he earn his favor and be placed in such a high position?

"I must not make the same mistake this time.

"The long-faced man can no longer be found in the flagship store. Instead, he's staying at the branch in Ming Yun. There's a high chance that Boss Pei has laid down a new plan for that region!"

Li Shi no longer engaged in wishful thinking like he did before. He did not even dream about buying Fish-Catching Internet Cafe over. He knew very well that Fish-Catching Internet Cafe was excelling now. Its reputation and quality were good. It would already be very difficult for Li Shi to invest in it.

Li Shi's interest in Fish-Catching Internet Cafe was dissipating, but his interest in Boss Pei was not.

After what happened the last time, Li Shi's comments about Boss Pei kept improving. He even felt like the latter was one of the top entrepreneurs in Jingzhou City. With someone so awesome within reach, Li Shi naturally had to keep a close eye on his every move.

What if a business opportunity presented itself?

The same thing was happening this time. Li Shi was looking into Fish-Catching Internet Cafe's Ming Yun Villas branch not because he wanted to invest in it or buy it over… but because he was very curious about Boss Pei's next move.

He opened the map on his phone and roughly scanned it. Then, Li Shi frowned. He did not understand what was promising about this place.

The so-called 'Ming Yun Villas' was a high-end residential area in Jingzhou. It was mainly filled with free-standing villas.

However, there was a problem with the layout of this place.

Ming Yun Villas was located in the south-east region of Jingzhou City along mountains and waters. The views there were not bad.

Then again, there were two big problems with a place like that.

First, the surrounding facilities were not good. The villas were good as holiday homes for a day or two but not as long-term accommodation. It would be extremely inconvenient.

Second, the developer's strategy was problematic. They filled the entire place with high-end villas. The average price of a villa in this place was considerably higher than other villas in Jingzhou City. Yet, marketing was not done well; and the place was not very popular.

Thus, almost a year after the villas were completed, there were still few people living inside.

The location that Fish-Catching Internet Cafe chose was even more confusing to Li Shi. The internet cafe was not built near Ming Yun Villas. In fact, it was built a distance away from Ming Yun Villas, as well as the East Campus of Handong Jiaotong University. If people wanted to go to Fish-Catching Internet Cafe from either of these places, they would have to travel a good distance.

Chapter 204 Was there a Need to Plant Spies Given the Circumstances?!

If Li Shi were allowed to choose, he would have considered opening a branch at the entrance of Handong Jiaotong University's East Campus or nearer to Ming Yun Villas. He would not have opened it at such an awkward position between both places.

According to his initial research, Fish-Catching Internet Cafe's branch at Ming Yun Villas was indeed doing the worst out of all the branches. This was a direct consequence of the branch's location.

Thus, Li Shi was confused.

The fact that the long-faced man was visiting the branch at Ming Yun Villas frequently showed that Boss Pei took this branch as an important part of his plan.

Yet, from any angle, it did not look like this branch had much potential. If Li Shi had been the boss, he would have given up on this branch very early on in order to cut his losses.

All of this made him extremely curious.

After pondering for a long time, Li Shi left Fish-Catching Internet Cafe's flagship store and prepared to drive to the branch at Ming Yun Villas in order to find out more.

At Fish-Catching Internet Cafe's branch in Ming Yun Villas…

There was a vast plain outside the cafe. After all, this was Jingzhou City's outskirts. Naturally, it was not very crowded. Li Shi parked his car outside and walked into the internet cafe. Although the two branch's set-ups were not completely the same, their styles were similar. This place felt familiar to Li Shi.

What's more, this branch was a lot less crowded than the flagship store. To Li Shi, this was a huge plus point!

He walked to the coffee area, sat down, and then ordered a cup of tea.

The clean environment made him very happy.

However, Li Shi did not forget what he had come here for. He scanned the first floor of the internet cafe and found that Ma Yang and Zhang Yuan were here indeed.

However, both of them were happily playing games in the internet cafe. They had headphones on, and they looked very focused.

Ma Yang was completely engrossed. However, Zhang Yuan looked like he was in unspeakable pain. One could only imagine how torturous it was to play games with a boss who was rubbish at it and who had no self-awareness whatsoever!

However, in the eyes of an outsider like Li Shi, both of them looked like they were enjoying themselves and were on very good terms.

"Indeed, they have shifted their focus onto this branch, but… Why? It is purely because this place is doing horribly, and they want to convert the losses to profits?

"No, I don't think that's it. Boss Pei is very far-sighted. Would he be so hung up on the losses that one branch is incurring? There must be more to it.

"For all I know, there's a deeper, complex plan behind this branch."

Once again, Li Shi was careful not to be negligent.

Earlier, he had not expected Pei Qian to use a singer to turn the tables around. Once bitten, twice shy. He now knew that behind every ordinary-looking plan, Boss Pei had deeper intentions.

This time would be no exception.

Li Shi did not want Ma Yang to spot him. After what happened the last time, he understood that this long-faced man's relationship with Pei Qian was too good. There was no way he would be able to rely on him.

However…

The other lower-level employees were a different story.

Li Shi scanned the internet cafe and saw several waiters. The internet cafe was too deserted, and the waiters looked listless. It was obvious that they were only trying to maintain a high standard of professionalism because of their professional training. Li Shi guessed that these waiters were not paid very much.

Fish-Catching Internet Cafe might treat their workers much better than the average industry standard, but these waiters did physical labor after all. They were just not worth paying that much.

If that were true, Li Shi could spend some money to bribe them and understand more about this branch at Ming Yun Villas.

At that thought, Li Shi quietly noted down the names and faces of several waiters. He took two more sips of his coffee, paid the bill, and then left.

Bribing two or three waiters did not seem significant, but it could give Li Shi something very important: updates. Any money he spent would be well worth it as long as these workers continuously provided Li Shi with updates about the branch and allowed him to figure out the direction in which Boss Pei was going!

If he prioritized stability, bribing just one waiter would minimize the risks of him being exposed.

However, Li Shi was worried that one waiter would provide him with fake updates. What would he do then? If he bribed a few waiters, at least he could verify the updates against one another. This would increase the reliability of the updates he received.

Of course, this would increase the risk of his plan being exposed. However, Li Shi was not that worried.

He would ask his subordinates to contact these waiters. Pei Qian would not be able to trace these things back to Fu Hui Investments.

It would not be a problem even if these waiters reported the matter to Pei Qian. At most, the plan would fall through at no loss to Li Shi.

The only thing he had to worry about was that these waiters would collude to provide fake information. However, the waiters would probably only do so if they were absolutely loyal to Boss Pei. What's more, they must be able to resist the temptation of money.

How could they?

Thus, Li Shi felt quite confident. He believed in the power of money.

The next day…

Coincidentally, Pei Qian had nothing much to do in the afternoon. He thought about walking around in Fish-Catching Internet Cafe's branch at Ming Yun Villas.

He also wanted to take the chance to ask Ma Yang and the others about their progress in planning for Headwind Courier stations.

The initial preparations for Headwind Courier stations would not be complicated. They mainly had to rent spaces, renovate them, purchase shelves and office supplies, recruit delivery men, and contact express delivery companies and discuss collaborating.

Ma Yang and Zhang Yuan were in charge of all of these things for now.

After all, Fish-Catching Internet Cafe and Fish-Catching Take-Out were all incurring losses for now. Pei Qian was quite satisfied with this, and he trusted both of them.

Once Headwind Logistics' business expanded and Ma Yang and Zhang Yuan were unable to cope, Pei Qian would consider handing this business over to other people to manage.

When they saw Boss Pei walk in, the waiters in the internet cafe became slightly nervous. Everyone knew that Fish-Catching Internet Cafe's branch at Ming Yun Villas was doing the worst out of all the branches. It was practically at rock-bottom! The waiters were worried that the branch would be closed all of a sudden, and they would lose their jobs.

The initial situation had been better. All the branches were incurring losses, and the branch at Ming Yun Villas was quite deserted. Boss Pei hardly visited them.

However, once Fish-Catching Internet Cafe's flagship store began making profits, everything changed. It seemed like Boss Pei had suddenly turned his attention to the branch at Ming Yun Villas!

The internet cafe's manager, Ma Yang, and the regional manager, Zhang Yuan, seemed to be permanently stationed at this branch. What's more, Boss Pei began visiting the branch more frequently as well. All the waiters were under immense pressure, and they were getting increasingly nervous.

It was obvious that the higher management had noticed that the branch at Ming Yun Villas was at rock bottom. For all they knew, huge changes were going to take place. Although everything seemed calm for now, nobody knew when the storm was going to come.

All the waiters understood their own situation. They received high salaries and good welfare here, but who knew how long more they could keep their jobs?

Thus, some of them began to work on back-up plans. Although they were treated very well here, everybody was selfish. They had to think for themselves.

"Brother Qian, you're here!"

Ma Yang and Zhang Yuan welcomed Pei Qian warmly and led him to a table to sit.

A few waiters stood by the side, waiting for instructions.

Pei Qian sipped his coffee and said to Ma Yang, "Give our brothers an additional one thousand yuan for their salary this month."

Ma Yang was shocked, and so were a few waiters.

Pei Qian explained, "This is an incentive! The branch at Ming Yun Villas is not doing well. I'll need everyone to keep working hard! Don't feel too stressed about our current results either. Relax, our Fish-Catching Internet Cafe will not give any of you brothers up!"

Pei Qian had not thought too much about it. He just wanted to spend more money because he felt like it.

There was reason to give out this sum of money, and it was not much to begin with. There was no reason for the System to deny it.

What's more, the branch at Ming Yun Villas had been steadily incurring losses and showed no signs of improving. Pei Qian felt that this was the gold-standard business of his dreams. It directly contrasted what the flagship store had become. Naturally, he had to spend more money here to pad his expenses.

Once he finished speaking, Pei Qian noticed that three or four waiters had weird expressions on their faces.

They looked overjoyed but hesitant as well.

Finally, one of the waiters plucked up the courage to speak. "Boss Pei, there is something I want to report to you! Someone tried to bribe me and told me to give them updates about what happens in this branch!"

Another waiter nodded and said, "Me, too!"

Yet, another waiter looked hesitant. It was obvious he was guilty.

Actually, none of these waiters needed to report this secret to Pei Qian. After all, they were low-level workers in the internet cafe. They were not close to Pei Qian, and they might not have profited from blurting the secret.

However, after Boss Pei distributed one thousand yuan to each of them as incentives, the waiters felt moved.

They thought about the excellent treatment and welfare they had been receiving in Fish-Catching Internet Cafe and began to feel their conscience prick them.

Thus, although they were being offered more money by the other party, someone took a firm stand!

Pei Qian paused.

He was quite shocked… not because his subordinates had been bribed but because… he did not expect someone to spend money on such useless updates.

The branch at Ming Yun Villas was doing so horribly. Why was there a need to plant spies?

Do you have too much money and nowhere to spend it? Just give it to me, then!

Pei Qian casually asked, "How much is he paying you?"

One of the waiters hesitated for a second, and then said, "Five hundred yuan for normal updates, and three thousand yuan for important updates."

To Li Shi, the waiters would definitely not be able to resist this sum of money. However, he had underestimated the exceptional welfare that employees of Fish-Catching Internet Cafe enjoyed.

Pei Qian began cursing in his heart.

Why the hell do things like that not happen to me?

These are just updates about Fish-Catching Internet Cafe's branch at Ming Yun Villas. Three thousand yuan for some updates? I can sell so many updates to you that you go bankrupt, do you believe that?