Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

Pei Qian knew that they should start filming the next episode.

 Three episodes had been prepared before the New Year; they have all been released.

 If they wanted to release episode four within the next three days, they had to make good use of the next two days.

 However, for something like Boss Pei’s Daily Life, once the script was out; shooting, editing, dubbing, etc. could all be done within a few hours. It was very suitable for high-speed production!

 Hence, time was not an issue; they even had ample of it.

 Pei Qian also didn’t have a choice. Having signed a contract—since he couldn’t afford to pay the penalty, he had to obediently shoot as contracted.

 Since there was no way out, he’d rather look at this proactively so that it would be less painful for him.

Soon, the fourth episode finished shooting successfully.

 Zhu Xiaoce held onto his DSLR and took a look as he raised his hand and formed an ‘okay’ sign.

 “Perfect! Boss Pei’s acting is very on-point; it’s great. Indeed, a game producer that didn’t want to be a movie king wouldn’t be a good boss! Right, Boss Pei, as for collaborating with the video industry, Brother Huang asked me to ask for your opinion…”

Zhu Xiaoce took a look at the guest room nearby. Pei Qian immediately understood that Zhu Xiaoce wanted this conversation to be private. If it was anything else, Pei Qian would have most likely gestured and just asked Zhu Xiaoce and Huang Sibo to make a decision.

 However, hearing that it was related to business collaboration, Pei Qian perked up. “Let’s go to the guest room.”

 Collaborating with the video industry… that meant sponsored partnerships.

Pei Qian was very concerned with this!

 If Huang Sibo and Zhu Xiaoce had not raised this up, Pei Qian would have been quite embarrassed to ask about this.

 After all, Pei Qian had given this one million yuan as capital and had said that he was not going to interfere in anything. Now that the episodes had been released and had gained in popularity—if he suddenly started to give directions and butt-in, that would not be appropriate.

 That would easily spoil relations.

 If morale was lost, it would be hard to lead the team anymore!

 Now, since Zhu Xiaoce had proactively raised this matter, Pei Qian had the bandwidth to maneuver.

After entering the guest room, Pei Qian started to listen intently.

 Zhu Xiaoce grew slightly excited, “Boss Pei, we had actually received our first commercial two days ago! Ahem, that meant that we can start receiving sponsored partnerships!”

 “…”

 Damn, that was a little too fast!

 Pei Qian had thought that sponsored partnerships would only come after another two or three weeks—or even a month. However, after only a few days, a sponsored partnership offer had come already?!

 Pei Qian kept his expression calm, “En, what’s the offer?”

 Zhu Xiaoce said, “It’s an e-commerce clothing commercial. They want us to market their new t-shirt model.”

 “The deal is to arrange to appear with a supporting actor and say a line about this commercial while wearing their clothing. However, I feel that our viewers would understand this, and it wouldn’t be a big problem.”

 Pei Qian paused for a moment and then asked, “What’s the offer rate?”

 “Five thousand yuan! It’s actually not a lot; however, this is just the beginning, the first step,” Zhu Xiaoce said.

 What the f*ck!

 Just the first sponsored partnership, and they were offering five thousand?

 Pei Qian was stumped.

 So much?

 Although Pei Qian didn’t know for sure how UP Master’s sponsored partnerships were like, he still had a certain level of understanding. In the year 2010, the majority of people looked down on video creators; they even viewed video creators as a disgrace.

 Most popular UP Masters all had their own full-time, primary jobs.

 Pei Qian still remembered he had once seen a Hawk Ao’s video in 2019 recalling when he had first started out doing sponsored partnerships. In 2011, he only had a hundred thousand viewers for his short videos. However, his journey doing sponsored partnerships started after he clinched the ‘League of Legends’s partnership.

How much did Hawk Ao get for sponsored partnerships back then?

 A thousand yuan.

 Yes, for such a highly-rated game, for such a huge company; it was only one thousand!

 Although Boss Pei’s Daily Life’s average episode viewership was around five hundred thousand, it had after all only gained popularity a few days ago! Who could be sure whether this series’ creator would not run dry and would come to an end?

 Hence, to say that this five thousand yuan was considered a reasonable price; it was more than a liberal use of the word.

 Of course, this was considering an ordinary UP Master’s sponsored partnerships. If intellectual property, exclusivity, and other factors were considered; it would be a completely different matter.

 Pei Qian sighed for a moment. “My recommendation is… to reject the offer.”

 Zhu Xiaoce was rather surprised.

The money was Boss Pei’s.

 Shouldn’t Boss Pei be even more eager and hopeful than anyone else to get back his capital and earn profits?

 “I don’t really understand; please elaborate, Boss Pei.” Zhu Xiaoce said very humbly. After all, no matter how outstanding he was, he was still but a year four student. He still had to listen to Boss Pei and his recommendation.

 Pei Qian considered for a moment and said, “To start a business, the most important thing is to set one’s sights far!

 “Indeed, five thousand for a sponsored partnership seems rather lucrative. As long as we market it a little in the next episode, we would get five thousand; where else could we get such a good deal in the world?

 “However, you have to consider that to embed this t-shirt into the video, we either have to do it forcefully or adjust the script. Would it still have the original intended impact?

 “This would be sullying our reputation.”

 Pei Qian’s expression looked a little pained as if he could foresee such a thing happening.

 “Next time, what if the sponsored partnership was about a cosmetic product, a body wash, or a shampoo? If the production revolved around sponsored partnerships, how could we show your best work?

 “A huge intellectual property project like yours… if it failed because of five thousand yuan, wouldn’t the losses outweigh the gains?”

Zhu Xiaoce was shaken. Indeed, once Boss Pei spoke, his perspective shifted! Zhu Xiaoce had been fixated on the five thousand. However, Boss Pei had focused on this series’ intellectual property value!

 This… could this be the difference between a boss and a student with no real-life experience?

 Pei Qian paused as he continued speaking earnestly, “I don’t want you or Huang Sibo to be pressured! It’s only a million yuan; so what if it’s all lost? That’s a small problem!

 “To achieve great things, quality should be before quantity. We either go big or lose everything and gain a reputation. We shouldn’t end up not making money and having our reputation suffer as well. That would be really stupid, understand?”

 Zhu Xiaoce nodded furiously. “Alright, Boss Pei, I understand!”

 Pei Qian calmly sipped his tea as he continued, “How about this? If you guys are willing to listen, we can set a standard or benchmark for sponsored partnerships for this series. To embed a commercial directly? That’s too forced; we shouldn’t do that. If we are going to take on any, we want some custom-made and classy ones!

 “One sponsored partnership, a hundred thousand yuan! However, we shouldn’t set too exorbitant a price. If for other videos, creators are forcibly embedding these commercials, you guys can do custom-made, classy ones.

 “For each short video, from start to end—while maintaining quality and quantity; it will all unfold around the sponsored partnership.

 “This way, we can guarantee our viewers watching experience while we can guarantee the effect of the commercial. We can also ensure the reputation of the videos. This is a triple-win scenario.”

 Zhu Xiaoce looked a little troubled. “However, Boss Pei, isn’t this requirement a little high? It’s already not easy that people are looking for us to do sponsored partnerships; if we have to complete our video while retaining quality and quantity and still revolve around the sponsored item, this…”

 Pei Qian shook his head slightly as he sipped his tea. He looked at Zhu Xiaoce with his eyes full of confidence, “I believe in your talents; you have to trust in yourself.”

 Zhu Xiaoce’s mouth opened and closed, but he didn’t say anything.

 Boss Pei’s expression had said everything!

 “Alright, Boss Pei; I understand!” Zhu Xiaoce nodded vigorously.