178 Beating Him at His Own Game

Pei Qian could not be sure that the nearby shops were holding various promotions to pick on Fish-Catching Internet Cafe. After all, he could not malign others without any proof.

What if they were all holding their regular promotions at the same time out of coincidence?

Pei Qian also could not be sure whether Boss Li was causing trouble behind the scenes. He did not have a proof for this either.

However, what he could be sure of was that Boss Li took this to be a good opportunity for himself. He wanted to gain from all of this.

This made Pei Qian anxious; yet, it seemed so inconsequential.

However, Pei Qian could not blame Boss Li for being silly. This was because it was a carrot-and-stick approach.

On the one hand, Boss Li would never directly admit that he was picking on Fish-Catching Internet Cafe. However, he would stick out an olive branch and make it seem like there was money to be made for everybody. He would be careful not to anger Fish-Catching Internet Cafe too much. This was the carrot.

On the other hand, this Boss Li was hinting to Pei Qian that if he continued to act stubbornly, he would fight all the way to the end. He would lower his prices and cause Pei Qian to lose all his customers. So what if Pei Qian knew that Boss Li was behind it? In order to cut his losses, wouldn't Pei Qian still have to give in eventually? This was the stick.

If other people had been in the same situation—without any way out, they might really have accepted the investment.

However, Pei Qian was completely different.

You're willing to spend money to help me incur more losses? I have to thank you for that!

Pei Qian wanted to reject him at first. However, on second thought, he realized that would not be right.

This Boss Li took joy in helping others. Shouldn't Pei Qian cooperate with him?

If he turned Boss Li down directly once again, Boss Li might give up sooner. After all, this man was the boss of an investment company. He had many things to do, and he could not afford to keep chasing after Fish-Catching Internet Cafe.

The moment he lost Boss Li's interest, the businesses around Fish-Catching Internet Cafe would stop burning money, too. Then, the human traffic in Fish-Catching Internet Cafe would revert to the way it was.

Pei Qian would not be able to incur this much loss anymore!

Pei Qian smiled and came up with a plan in his mind.

"Old Ma, do you really think that Boss Li is doing this for our good? Do you think he's really being kind? Think about it carefully. The shops around us are all holding promotions at the same time. Are you sure there isn't someone helping them behind the scenes?"

Pei Qian said a couple of simple sentences to enlighten Ma Yang.

Of course, this was not really considered enlightening him. Ma Yang was very easy to lie to. If people were trying to lie to him one after another, the last one would have the greatest advantage.

Pei Qian said a couple more sentences to make matters sound worse. He exaggerated the dangers of selling shares in the business and immediately managed to turn Ma Yang around, just as he expected.

"Holy sh*t! I didn't know this Boss Li had such venomous intentions! I'll turn him down at once!"

Pei Qian said, "You don't have to do that. If his frustration turns to anger and he decides to squeeze Fish-Catching Internet Cafe dry, we'll be in trouble.

"Tell him that I am very frustrated by the fact that we are making losses now. Say that I didn't want to accept investments, but I'm faltering. Tell him that I'm struggling to decide and that as long as the internet cafe continues to make losses, I might change my mind…"

Ma Yang sounded confused. "Brother Qian, you want us to continue to make losses? That wouldn't be good for us, would it? I don't think we can afford it."

Pei Qian smiled. "If we make losses, wouldn't the same happen for them?

"These shops are incurring losses like us. At the very most, we'll drag all of them down with us. What is there to be afraid of?

"What's more, if they continue burning money in this way, all the customers nearby would be attracted to come out. The people in other areas of Jingzhou City might even be attracted to go there and spend their money.

"In the long term, this would improve business in the area. We will not be making losses at all."

A realization dawned on Ma Yang. "I see! I understand, Brother Qian!"

"That's good. Go and tell Boss Li this, then…"

Pei Qin hung up, smiling.

Boss Li, you must have been so proud of your own ability to hoodwink Ma Yang. You were wrong. Anybody could have lied to him…

You threw him a couple of simple lies, but all I had to do was lie more to bring him back to my side.

Pei Qian hoodwinked Ma Yang by telling him a mixture of truth and lies. What he said about improving business in the area, especially, was a bunch of bullsh*t.

The business environment was affected by different factors working together. How could the business environment be changed just because a few shops were holding promotions at the same time? Just the thought of it seemed impossible.

However, it was worthwhile to look for any reason to lie to Ma Yang.

As long as he could rope Boss Li in and allow the surrounding shops to continue holding promotions, Fish-Catching Internet Cafe would continue to incur losses. How could Pei Qian let go of a chance to reap the benefits of others' loss?

…

After hanging up, Ma Yang quickly rubbed his own long face in order to quickly prepare himself. Just the thought of being lied to by Boss Li made him furious.

It's a good thing that my brother is so smart; I was almost cheated by you!

Although Ma Yang was not good at acting, just thinking about Boss Li scheming to destroy his rice bowl motivated him to take revenge.

He would turn this rage into acting skills!

He returned to the table and immediately put on a smile. "Boss Li, I just spoke to Boss Pei on the phone. I tried to find out his intentions.

"The losses we've been incurring have been worrying indeed. However, he does not want to allow outsiders to join the company so easily. He said that we'll give it another month. If things still do not improve by then, he will think of other ways."

Li Shi nodded subtly.

This was exactly as he had expected.

According to his calculations, this Boss Pei was a hard-headed man. If his subordinate were able to change his mind with just a couple of sentences, that would be strange.

A month…

He had to continue burning money for a month. That hurt, but it was still do-able.

Li Shi's heart hurt, but he could not display the hurt on his face. After all, it seemed like Ma Yang still had no clue that he was the one who organized for the surrounding shops to hold promotions at the same time.

Boss Pei might have been able to tell, but he probably did not tell Ma Yang about it. After all, there was no evidence. Boss Pei probably did not want to run his mouth off without proof.

After all, as long as Li Shi could successfully buy Fish-Catching Internet Cafe over in the end, it did not matter how much money he had to burn. He was sure he would be able to make it all back.

At that thought, Li Shi suddenly grinned.

"Of course. I'm in no rush at all. Boss Ma, you don't have to rush Boss Pei either. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. Boss Pei has to come around on his own.

"However…

"I'm worried about you all. You might make huge losses in one month. What if you cannot hang on for that long? Boss Ma, I think you can test waters again in a week. For all we know, Boss Pei might have changed his mind."

"Alright." Ma Yang nodded and then turned to the bartender. "Give me another Margarita. I'll treat Boss Li to a drink!"

…

…

Tengda Network Technology Co., Ltd…

Pei Qian had not been going to the office recently because he had been busy with Fish-Catching Internet Cafe and his exams. Since he was in the mood today, he decided to go and make his rounds.

The settlement was drawing near. Pei Qian was finding it hard to balance all his commitments at the same time.

The good thing was that the downloadable content for Tengda's games had already been published. Apart from the split of the profits that the official games' platforms gave them earlier, there had been no more unexpected shocks. Pei Qian guessed that he could begin to relax.

Pei Qian could not help but feel happy when he thought about Fish-Catching Internet Cafe's current situation. Happily, he sauntered into his own office.

In the office area, Lu Mingliang and Bao Xu were engaged in whispered discussion.

"Boss Pei has not been coming to the office much these days. Do you think he has been busy?"

"I heard that Fish-Catching Internet Cafe is not doing well. I guess he must be helping out over there."

"Looking at Boss Pei's expression, I don't think the problem is that huge."

"That's not for certain. You know Boss Pei's character well. He does not show his emotions on his face. The problem might be huge, but Boss Pei might just not be showing it."

"Well… should we report to Boss Pei about Ocean Stronghold, then? We shouldn't distract him, right?"

Bao Xu pondered for a moment and said, "Compared to Fish-Catching Internet Cafe, this does not seem that urgent. Let's wait for a couple of days.

"What's more, it was expected that accounts would raise the prices on trading platforms. It's a good thing that the amount of top-ups and the number of active players have increased these few days. I don't think we have to specially report this."

Lu Mingliang nodded. "That's true. We'll wait until Boss Pei has time before we inform him, then."