Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

Boss Pei’s Daily Life’s first season’s first episode’s script:

 “I looked at my Rolex, not to look at the time, but to subconsciously let you know that I’m a whale.

 “Today, I am going out on a whim. I want to make a new game; a game that would make all the players pay as much as they can.

 “I casually sold off a Rolex and had an initial two hundred thousand yuan in the development fund.

 “One hour later… when this task was handed to the new intern, this amount shrunk by three-quarters. Looking at the website for resources and the prices listed, I was quite happy. My subordinates were quite honest. Like that, fifty thousand yuan was left out of the funds I had given the intern.

 “Hearing that he was supposed to develop a game with fifty thousand yuan, his expression changed from shock to doubt, to surprise, to anguish… and finally, resignation to his fate. Looking at his expression changing was rather amusing.

 “I grew quite happy. The me that had come to conquer this industry was finally going to taste defeat.

 “Never did I expect that a game had managed to be produced; one that made gamers go crazy. The intern had made a boring eight-hour drive game that had actually grown in popularity. Within a mere two weeks, sales had broken through two hundred thousand.

 “As such, I was so happy that I gave him a month of paid leave, for him to take in all the sights in the country and to continue to gain inspiration for future game designs.

 “Looking at a future star designer rising, I was satisfied and comforted. I had once again achieved one of my little, inconsequential targets.

 “Sigh, the life of a master game designer was also this simple… and boring.”

…

Like the wind that puffed away the clouds in one short, Zhu Xiaoce had completed the script for the first episode; he still had much left to write.

“Brother Huang, what do you think?”

 Huang Sibo read it once, “Not bad! There’s a story, a twist, and dark humor as well. This script is feasible! Furthermore, anecdotes from Boss Pei’s real life had been used as well!”

 “We can film directly in the office, and the actors and the setting are all ready-made. At most, we would need half an hour or a full one for one episode. When we reach the later stage, we can release one episode every two days; it would be more than enough.

 “However… the only problem is… this game’s success had been within Boss Pei’s plans. If we made it seem like something unexpected, would that be appropriate?

 “Would it actually damage Boss Pei’s image?”

 Zhu Xiaoce shook his head. “Aye, the arts originate from life but surpass life! The arts is something that has to be worked on or manipulated. I believe that Boss Pei would not care about this as he is so magnanimous.”

 1Huang Sibo thought about it and said, “En, that’s right!”

 The two grew excited instantly.

 Zhu Xiaoce continued to write the next episode’s script as he occasionally asked Huang Sibo details about Boss Pei’s daily life at work, as well as some interesting trivia while developing games.

 Huang Sibo also started to purchase equipment and to hire producers, editors, etc. for the late-stage production.

Following this pace, within two to three days, they could start filming officially!

 …

February 9th…

 Three days till the spring holidays…

 Pei Qian was actually slightly busy these days.

 Game Designer’s final design manuscript had to be finalized. Once the new-year holidays were over, development would officially start.

 As for the internet cafe, some preliminary preparations had to be made as well. Decoration and refurbishment works were going to start once the holidays ended. The idea was for the renovations to be complete in one month, for the setup to be ready and for the place to be officially launched.

 As for the internet cafe’s name, Pei Qian had already decided on one.

 Fish-Catching Internet Cafe!

 Basically, he hoped that all the employees in this internet cafe would skive daily, so that he can incur losses sooner. Just like ‘Tengda’, this name carried Pei Qian’s desire and wishes.

 The last thing he had to settle was the ‘Boss Pei’s Daily Life’ short videos.

 Director Zhu Xiaoce had told Pei Qian that they were going to finish filming the first episode today; they wanted to release it during the holidays.

 To express his sincerity, Zhu Xiaoce had already credited a lump sum of the remuneration for all three seasons’ worth of work into Pei Qian’s bank card; it was thirty thousand yuan in total!

 Pei Qian’s Personal Wealth that he could use as he pleased instantly reached fifty thousand yuan!

 For Boss Pei—who had never been so rich before, this feeling was very good!

 As the saying went… if one took the money, one had to be ready to step up.

 Boss Pei had already prepared himself to appear in front of the camera. In the afternoon, Zhu Xiaoce, Huang Sibo, and two other underlings arrived punctually.

 Among all the equipment they brought, the most expensive thing was a DSLR that cost fifty thousand yuan. As for the tripod stand, light screen, and other things; they didn’t cost even ten thousand yuan in total.

Seeing that Huang Sibo was so thrifty, Pei Qian immediately grew a little unhappy.

 He wasn’t like a Tengda employee at all!

 However, since Zhu Xiaoce had said that all one million yuan would be used up, Pei Qian naturally had no reason to make noise now.

 “Boss Pei, this episode is very simple. We just need a few camera shots. You don’t even need to look at the script; there won’t be lines for you. The dubbing will be inputted at a later stage.”

Zhu Xiaoce had thought things through thoroughly. He was genuinely afraid that making Boss Pei memorize lines would waste his precious working time and hence had decided on this.

 1“The first shot: could you lie on the guest room sofa, raise your head, and glance at your Rolex?”

 “The second shot: could you take this game magazine and flip to the poster introducing the latest games and point with your finger?”

“The third shot: could you smile slightly, look into the distance, and portray a sense of being deep in thought…”

 Pei Qian actually did not have that many shots. For a one-minute long video—although Pei Qian’s scenes were the most, it was at most twenty-odd seconds.

 Pei Qian casually posed a few times; within ten minutes, the filming had concluded.

 “Thanks, Boss Pei, we are done! You can continue with your busy schedule.”

 Zhu Xiaoce kept the equipment as he headed to film the others in the office.

 This was it?

 Pei Qian was bewildered.

 What exactly was being shot?

 For a short video to be shot like this—without even a concrete storyline and plot, would that work?

 It was apparent: this film was going to lose money!

 Pei Qian returned to his office as he felt much more assured. Due to his perceptiveness of people, Huang Sibo and Zhu Xiaoce really were not going to let him down! Although losing a million yuan might not help him much, it was still something; it was something to be happy about.

 Pei Qian looked at his Rolex as he thought. These two fellows are so thrifty; they even had to use my personal belongings as props.

 En?

 Hold on…

Pei Qian suddenly realized something.

 The Rolex!

 Why did I have to look at my Rolex for the first shot?

Was this a coincidence? No, there were others!

 For example, why did he have to lie on the sofa and look at his Rolex! Why did he have to look deep and reflective?

 These shots… why did they seem to be vaguely familiar??

 Pei Qian suddenly felt that something was not good!

Something big was going to happen!

 He hurriedly jumped up from his office chair as he left his office.

 At this time, Zhu Xiaoce and Huang Sibo had completed their filming. They were just keeping the tripod, the light screen, and other stuff; preparing to leave.

 “Director Zhu! Wait!” Pei Qian hurriedly yelled and stopped Zhu Xiaoce.

 Zhu Xiaoce was confused, “What’s up, Boss Pei, is there something else?”

 “That… this short video’s script; could you let me have a look?” Pei Qian pretended to look like he didn’t care much as he casually asked.

 Zhu Xiaoce nodded as he handed over a script, “Of course, here you go.”

 Pei Qian took it over.

 “If there’s nothing else, we’ll head off first, Boss Pei. We have to start editing.” Everyone said goodbye to Pei Qian as they left.

Pei Qian took the script and returned to his office. The script was rather short, and he immediately finished it. After reading, Pei Qian collapsed in his chair.

 “What… what in the world?! Isn’t this a combination of ‘Zhu Yidan’s Boring Life’ and Surprise?!

Didn’t we agree not to shoot something like Surprise?”