Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

June 27th, Sunday, at night…

Fish-Catching Internet Cafe…

Li Shi sat at a window seat as he drank his wine, very relaxed.

Pei Qian sat in another corner as he used his cell phone.

Although the two actually knew each other-as they both had an ax to grind, they were pretending not to recognize one another. Pei Qian did not intend to act rashly. As long as he continued to act splendidly and confused Li Shi, everything would be good.

These few days, the few shops nearby kept on continuing with their promotions. It was very clear that the street Fish-Catching Internet Cafe was on had become much more bustling.

The small commercial district nearby didn’t have much human traffic normally. Recently, the area had suddenly started to become congested with cars.

Many people had heard that the shops here were all having promotions and had come after hearing the news. Many people that actually didn’t intend to leave their houses had all come to take a spin.

As such, a rather beautiful sight could be seen in this area. All the neighboring shops were all full of customers, and considerable human traffic was patronizing them. Fish-Catching Internet Cafe, however, was deserted. A stark comparison had formed.

Many people who did not know better had thought that Fish-Catching Internet Cafe was also having promotions. However, after entering and realizing the prices here were many folds higher than the shops nearby, they had all fled the cafe.

Pei Qian was a little puzzled. Hadn’t I placed a signboard on the door? Why are so many people still coming in to ask?

After thinking about this for a while, that was probably because these people had a fluke mentality. As all the neighboring shops were all doing promotions, Fish-Catching Internet Cafe must have forgotten to write its own offering on the sign; and so they wanted to come in and ask to confirm.

Pei Qian then asked Ma Yang to write a few huge words ‘No Discounts!’ on the signboard. As such, before long, no one came to ask about prices anymore.

Fish-Catching Internet Cafe’s predicament could be said to be ‘everyone else was enjoying and benefiting while I had nothing’.

This was precisely what Pei Qian had pined for.

After making sure that Tengda’s games were not going to be much of a problem-whenever Pei Qian had nothing better to do, he would come here.

Whenever he occasionally met Li Shi, Pei Qian would pretend to be brooding and anxious as if he was very conflicted inside.

As long as he managed to keep Li Shi on the hook and the neighboring shops kept on continuing with their promotions-resulting in a blockage of Fish-Catching Internet Cafe’s customer traffic, Pei Qian would have very high hopes of making a loss this cycle!

Li Shi kept on quietly drinking his wine as he furtively shot looks at Pei Qian. Previously, Pei Qian had not come to the internet cafe much, and Li Shi had not many opportunities to observe him.

Now, Li Shi could use this time to really take a good look at Pei Qian.

To become a boss at such a young age; he evidently was not ordinary.

Although he was evidently very anxious internally, he could still remain calm and composed, only revealing an inkling of his true feelings. This kind of temperament is admirable and surpasses that of normal people.

“Not bad; this affirms my desire to invest.”

Li Shi’s attitude was also experiencing a slight change. To him, investments were mainly about investing in people. For any company, encountering investment opportunities was not something rare. When such an opportunity came knocking, most companies would crash and burn; a minority would fly.

This had something to do with the company’s boss.

Li Shi indeed had a lot of money on hand. However, having money didn’t mean that he had to personally take the field.

Li Shi was not good at managing internet cafes. While he could provide the capital and connections, the management and operations of an internet cafe still needed someone with the expertise.

Li Shi was very clear about this. Not only did he look favorably upon Fish-Catching Internet Cafe’s operating model, but he was also very certain of Pei Qian as a leader.

Hence, Li Shi wanted to invest in Fish-Catching Internet Cafe even more and not to create a fake version on his own. To create a fake Fish-Catching Internet Cafe required time, effort, and money; Li Shi would also need to find a manager. This was not very cost-effective.

For an investor like Li Shi, he was definitely not going to roll up his sleeves and do this tiring and dirty work.

Furthermore, he believed that he was on the cusp of victory.

Li Shi sipped his wine as he savored it.

Why do I still feel a little uneasy?

Did I miss something out?

Li Shi considered deeply; there was still one inexplicable thing.

Logically speaking, that Boss Pei could achieve such great things at such a young age; he should be someone rather capable. However, he seemed to not have suspected me at all? At least he hadn’t shown it.

This is not very logical.

This Boss Pei had not acted or done anything to prevent the nearby shops from snatching his customers; he had not asked his Fish-Catching Internet Cafe to make any changes at all.

He didn’t offer discounts or didn’t do any sales promotion; he had even hung a sign saying ‘no discounts’ on the door to dissuade customers from coming to ask about prices.

Is he overly confident about Fish-Catching Internet Cafe?

Has he given up? Or perhaps… he had something planned up his sleeves?

Li Shi considered this for a long time. Finally, he still shook his head.

Ah, I must be overthinking. Under these circumstances, most people would indeed be at a loss as well. He can’t lower his prices as that would hurt Fish-Catching Internet Cafe’s high-class image. That would not be good in the long-term. This situation is indeed hard to get out of.

Or perhaps, he is doing this on purpose?

No, no, no; that is a little illogical.

While the other shops are burning money, at least they can raise their visibility. Fish-Catching Internet Cafe, however, is purely burning money. Only if he is crazy would he continue to struggle while earning no income at all.

Unless he has some other plans that even I cannot fathom…

Forget it, I must be thinking too much. He is but a youngster; what card could he have up his sleeves?

Thinking about this, Li Shi started to laugh.

As this Boss Pei didn’t seem to do things based on logic, Li Shi couldn’t get a read on him; and so he had overestimated Boss Pei.

Li Shi thought for a while. He had entered the investment circle for so many years already; what storm had he not weathered? Even if this Boss Pei was a genius, he is lacking in experience after all. There was no point in overestimating him.

After finishing his glass of wine, Li Shi got ready to leave.

Today was a Sunday night. Fish-Catching Internet Cafe was as deserted as ever. The outcome was a foregone conclusion, and Li Shi didn’t need to keep an eye on things anymore.

I’ll go and relax for a few days and wait patiently. Who knows? I might be able to pop the champagne and celebrate soon.

At this moment, Pei Qian’s cell phone rang.

Li Shi had just wanted to stand up as he stopped himself. Although he didn’t think that he could hear any secret message or code from this phone conversation, trying to eavesdrop wouldn’t harm him.

Pei Qian was a little surprised as well. It was so late; who would call him?

He looked and saw that it was Huang Sibo.

Thinking about how Huang Sibo’s Coming Out of the Cocoon as a Butterfly had almost caused him grief, Pei Qian instinctively wanted to reject the call. However, after thinking that at least on the surface, Huang Sibo had successfully made a loss this time and had even gotten into debt; Huang Sibo had actually done well this time.

I’ll take the call.

“Boss Pei!”

“Do you have a TV near you? Hurry up and turn on Shanghai TV channel!’

Pei Qian was very confused. “What’s up?”

Huang Sibo, “Don’t ask so much. You’ll know once you switch to Shanghai TV! I’ll offer my congratulations in advance, Boss Pei!”