Pei Qian asked about the other aspects in more detail and finally drew a conclusion: ‘Top Student, Come Quick’ was safe for now.
“Phew… I must have been overthinking.
“Shared projects like that should continue to burn money for a long time in the beginning. How could it start generating profits so soon? That’s impossible.
“I have to let it burn more money during this period, so that I can break the capital chain as soon as possible!”
Pei Qian heaved a sigh of relief.
He felt like he was racing against time. Mainly, he had to see which of them would come first: the Shared Top Student project becoming popular or him spending all his money.
Once the capital chain broke and they ran out of funds to plug the gaps, the entire project would collapse very quickly. For all he knew, they might even incur huge debts. That would be a beautiful outcome.
Pei Qian stood up and prepared to leave.
At that moment, He Desheng’s cell phone rang. He Desheng looked hesitant. Logically, he should walk Boss Pei out first. However, after seeing the number, he felt the urge to pick up the call immediately.
Pei Qian glanced at him and said, “Go ahead and answer the call; don’t worry about me.”
He Desheng nodded and did as he was told. “Hello? Boss Li?”
Pei Qian was speechless. A bad feeling washed over him.
He Desheng’s expression turned somber as he listened. Then, he nodded profusely and said, “Alright, Boss Li! No problem, Boss Li! Thank you, Boss Li!” Pei Qian, “?”
An even worse feeling washed over him. He Desheng hung up and said, “Boss Pei, there’s good news! Boss Li thinks that “Top Student, Come Quick’ is becoming very popular, and its fanbase is rapidly expanding. He sees a lot of potential in the project and has decided to invest another three million
yuan!
“What’s more, under his leadership, the other investors became more confident as well. We don’t have to worry about not having enough funds in the short term!”
Pei Qian looked at He Desheng, confused. His mind was filled with question marks.
What the f*ck…?
Every time the situation improves slightly, Boss Li would appear! Pei Qian hated him to the core. However, on further thought, that seemed reasonable. Boss Li had only invested a million yuan to begin with.
Pei Qian had known that the project was bound to fail. Not wanting Boss Li to waste too much money, Pei Qian had good-heartedly persuaded him to only invest that amount.
However, Boss Li had been holding himself back!
He, who had only invested a million yuan, had been observing the current situation and thinking that he was losing out by stepping back. Thus, he had decided to invest more money and generate more profit. Pei Qian felt very tired.
All of you are creating problems for me again and again. When will all of this end?!
Pei Qian felt like he was in charge of a furnace. He had been filling it with charcoal, wanting to finish up all the charcoal, so he could knock off work and go home.
However, all of those people were bringing more charcoal to him by the truckload. No matter how hard he tried, he could not finish up all the charcoal!
That was not it. The more charcoal he put into the furnace, the faster they burned and the larger the fire got…
Pei Qian, who had gotten up to leave at first, quickly sat down again. His expression darkened, and the pressure mounted. He was at a loss as to what to do next.
He Desheng looked at Boss Pei’s somber expression, and his eyes lit up.
He’s here! ‘Boss Pei in Good Times’!
Everyone knew that, during bad times, Boss Pei would automatically infect the people around him with his positive attitude. That would motivate everyone to overcome the difficulty together.
However, during good times, Boss Pei would look somber and occupied. That signified that Boss Pei was thinking about possible dangers. He was coming up with a long-term plan for the future, which would deal with threats that could surface during the good times.
Obviously, Boss Pei was now in the ‘good times’ mode!
Not daring to disturb him, He Desheng stepped back and waited in silence.
Perhaps a single word from ‘Boss Pei in Good Times’ after brainstorming would teach He Desheng a lot! Pei Qian felt hopeless and conflicted. Should he carry on and burn more money? Yet, what if the project became more and more successful? Should he retreat and sell all of his shares?
Yet, given the current situation, the profits he would reap could reduce him to tears immediately.
‘Top Student, Come Quick’ had undergone two rounds of financing. Dream Realization Ventures had already invested close to ten million yuan in the project. In reality, the amount of shares that Pei Qian held (including those from the entrepreneurial team and Dream Realization Ventures) had fallen from ninety percent to about sixty percent.
However, that also meant that ‘Top Student, Come Quick’s company value had ballooned to about 25 million yuan.
Of course, that was just a number. Whether it would change or not depended on if people would buy his shares.
Still, looking at the investors’ confidence in the project, Pei Qian was sure that people would want to buy his shares as long as he was willing to put them up for sale. What should I do?! It’s too dangerous.
Pei Qian felt like he was walking a tightrope. A single misstep could send him into a bottomless pit.
Calm down. Let me think. What’s the most important thing for investors?
Confidence!
At the moment, ‘Top Student, Come Quick’s value is increasing rapidly because its investors think that Tengda is backing the project. That’s why they have unrealistic confidence in it.
I have to think of a way to get rid of this confidence to get out of this predicament!
As long as everyone’s confidence collapses, they’ll start thinking about selling their shares and escaping. Once people lose confidence in the project, its value will crumble.
Yes, that’s the only way.
After some consideration, Pei Qian found his
goal.
Yet, how could he shatter everyone’s confidence? Should he conjure negative news?
However, the System’s regulations would restrict him from using underhanded means like that.
What’s more, everyone had invested a considerable sum. That symbolized their unflinching confidence in this project. Pei Qian could try and tell them that the project was unreliable, but nobody would believe him.
What a fix!
Pei Qian had found the right direction, but he had no idea how to go about achieving the
goal.
He had no other choice but to ask He Desheng. After all, he was the professional.
Pei Qian remained silent for a moment and asked, “What would you do to make the other investors lose confidence in ‘Top Student, Come Quick’?”
He Desheng was stunned. Had Boss Pei been thinking about this while he remained silent for so long?
Why did he want to cause the other investors to lose confidence in “Top Student, Come Quick’? Shouldn’t their competitors be thinking about that instead?
He Desheng looked at Boss Pei’s expression. It looks like… he’s testing me.
He Desheng immediately looked more serious. He thought that there must have been a hidden meaning behind this deceivingly simple question.
After two minutes, He Desheng still could not figure out the deeper meaning. Thus, he had no choice but to give a safe answer. “If it were me, I would keep trying to sell my shares.
“Increasing my shareholding shows my belief in this project. However, trying to reduce my shareholding would have the opposite effect. That’s why trying to sell my shares would affect other investors’ confidence.”
Pei Qian nodded. That’s right! Trying to reduce my shareholding would be a very clear expression of my confidence level: I think this is the most that this project would give me, and I want to run now!
On the other hand, if I keep holding onto my shares, no matter how hard I try to tell others that I don’t believe in the project; no one would believe me!
However… doesn’t that mean that I would have to reap profits?
Even if I don’t sell all of my shares at once but sell them bit by bit, I would still reap profits for sure.
Of course, if I sell a bit at a time, the money I earn would still be considered acceptable.
More importantly, I would be able to shatter the others’ confidence and cause the project to become less popular. In the end, I would be able to burn more money and incur more losses.
At that thought, Pei Qian made up his mind. “We’ll sell, then!”
He Desheng was stunned. Sell now? The project’s doing well. We can try to earn more from it now, right?
However, seeing Boss Pei’s resolute gaze made He Desheng perk up at once. There was a wise saying in the investment circle: never try to earn the last cent.
Everyone was seeing a lot of potential in ‘Top Student, Come Quick’ now. If they sold their shares now, they might not sell at their peak price, but they would earn a lot.
If they continued to wait and the share prices started to fall, others might lose confidence in the project as well. Then, it would be too late!
He Desheng could not help but feel emotional. Boss Pei lived up to his name indeed. Even in such good times, he could think so clearly!
“Boss Pei, I understand! Leave it to me!” He Desheng patted his chest confidently.
February 11th, Friday…
At Zhongdian Chinese Network’s authors’ class…
It was lunchtime. The atmosphere here was slightly different from before. Everyone at the table normally spoke as they pleased about anything under the sun. Many of the topics they touched did not even have anything to do with online literature.
That was to be expected. Even in their own chat groups, authors only talked about writing occasionally. Most of the time, they talked about everything else.
However, today was different.
Everyone held onto their phones, seriously reading a novel as they ate their Fish-Catching Take-Out.
“I’ve caught up.”
“Brother Cui’s new novel is really awesome! Nothing can beat it; nothing can beat it.” “That’s right. Brother Cui’s new book has found the right path. He always wrote Xuanhuan novels in the past. Although he wrote well, many people wrote even better than he did. Now that he has found new material, he has immediately become superior! I’ve never seen anyone write a story set in the city like that!”
“He’s been listed on the new novels chart for a week now. Ever since he released his book on the eve of Chinese New Year, his figures have been jumping rapidly. He’s really awesome!”
“It’s a refreshing way of writing, and he’s pinned down the rhythm as well. We can learn from him!”
“I can tell that even the website is supporting him. I have a feeling that Brother Cui’s book is going to become very popular. For all we know, he might break many of the website’s records!”
“He’s been uploading ten thousand words a day. If he keeps this up, he can probably make the novel pay-to-read by the end of the month. Then, we’ll know how awesome he really is!”
“Speaking of which, Ming Yu’s book has been improving as well. I read a few of his readers’ comments. All of them were saying that his plot has become more well-written recently.”
The writers kept sharing their personal opinions.
Whenever a popular book that had the potential to start a new trend appeared on the website, the writers would study it, discuss it, and try drawing learning points from it.
Cui Geng was not around. He was in Tengda Games, gathering material.
On the other hand, Ming Yu was there. He was also reading Cui Geng’s new book, The Butterfly Game, with the others. When he heard them mention his name, Ming Yu felt emotional. “That’s right. I have to admit-learning about the Tengda spirit has really helped me a lot!
“It’s not just me. Little Chong, Long Ye, and Cong Xin have attended the class on the Tengda spirit as well, right? All of you have seen improvements in your figures, right?”
Little Chong nodded. “Yes, I’ve been getting more subscriptions.”
Long Ye stroked his beard and said, “My figures are improving, but I’ve also written a satisfying mini-plot recently. I don’t know if the improving figures can be attributed to the Tengda spirit class. As for the other aspects. I’ve been writing more smoothly for sure.”
Without looking up, Cong Xin said, “My figures haven’t changed much, but I think it’s because my plot hasn’t been very well arranged recently. I’ll make some changes, and then I should see some improvement.”
The other writers looked at them admiringly.
“The class sounds very useful!” “That’s right. Brother Cui was the first to go, and he was even made a ‘special observer’. He’s improving so quickly because he can look deep into the Tengda spirit. Ming Yu, Little Chong, Long Ye, and Cong Xin are all seeing improvements after learning about the Tengda spirit as well! The improvements are not huge, but at least they’re steady!
“It looks like the class is really effective!
“I’m starting to itch. I’m reserving Monday’s lesson on the Tengda spirit. Don’t fight me for it, everyone!”
“No way! I want to go, too! Let our skills do the choosing!”