Losing Money to Be a Tycoon
chapter-585

At the Fish-Catching Internet Cafe’s branch at Ming Yun Villas during the night…

Qiao Liang drank coffee and checked the reviews on the internet about the Thriller Hostel. His brows furrowed and relaxed from time to time.

At present, there were not many reviews about the Thriller Hostel. It was not comparable to the situation when Tengda’s new games were released. There were basically no awkward bad comments about them, but neither were there huge praises.

Qiao Liang could feel that something was not right.

It was not necessarily a good thing to have no bad comments. It was also possible there was no enthusiasm for discussion since there was not enough interest!

That meant to say that not everyone understood the hard work that Boss Pei put into the Thriller Hostel.

If this situation were to continue, then the results would be obvious: the Thriller Hostel would be gradually abandoned due to the lack of traffic, and it would be ruined!

Qiao Liang knew that he would never allow something like that to happen.

His greatest mission was to make everyone understand Boss Pei’s intentions!

He quickly scanned through these comments and locked onto some representative points of view.

“I think there is nothing wrong with the horror house itself. They have invested a lot of resources, and the details are done well. However, it is a horror house—not a comprehensive amusement park, that is the biggest problem!”

“Who would deliberately travel so far just to be scared other than for a few horror enthusiasts?”

“I think there is a major problem with the pricing strategy of Thriller Hostel. Desperate Escape was the most fun and suitable for multiple players to experience repeatedly, and yet the ticket is only 10 yuan? Everyone was queuing…”

“The location isn’t very convenient either. It would be better if it was in an amusement park in Jingzhou or at least somewhere with better transport?”

“The price of Ultimate Horror is too expensive; who would want to spend 100 yuan to suffer…?”

“I’m also not optimistic about the follow-up development of this place. The choice to make a haunted house is already a niche market, the location is far, and the pricing is strange.

“If it was not because of the strong publicity from Tengda, it would probably not be known at all. Now, it is just a waste of resources to do the publicity. It will probably collapse soon…”

There were many similar comments; most people did not have any opinion on the Thriller Hostel itself. As a haunted house, it could indeed be ranked in the country, but it was obviously not attractive enough in the follow-up.

Most people concluded that it would still be a good deal if one was a local and visited it with friends. However, if one was not a local and not a horror lover, then it would be obviously not cost-effective to go all the way to be frightened.

The most discussed issues here were mainly focused on the positioning and pricing of the Thriller Hostel, which was believed to be the key factor leading to the subsequent weakness of this project.

Everyone had different opinions on whom to throw the blame to.

Some people said that Boss Pei would definitely not make such a low-level mistake, and it was definitely the fault of the person-in-charge.

Some said something as important as the pricing strategy must have been reported to Boss Pei so it was impossible for him not to know. There were calls not to deify Boss Pei; Boss Pei was an ordinary person and would make mistakes.

In short, the current situation of Thriller Hostel was not good.

Some UP Masters might be introducing the Thriller Hostel experience on the Aili Island video website, and the contents were very comprehensive. However, the responses were mediocre. They were not popular; neither did they become very good publicity.

Qiao Liang could not help but complain on behalf of Boss Pei especially since one of the most exaggerated comments was: “I think the brain of the person-in-charge was fried; he probably had too much money so he’s just burning some away.”

“Misunderstanding, this is definitely a misunderstanding!

“Sure enough, being misunderstood is the fate of the one who expresses himself. How dare he say Boss Pei’s brain is fried? Think he has too much money? What a bunch of nonsense!

“Boss Pei is a business genius! Most people don’t even understand Boss Pei’s positioning and special pricing strategy?

“It seems like it still has to be me, Teacher Qiao, who unveils the truth to everyone!”

Qiao Liang switched the website to the operating platform of Aili Island. He could not help making a fist and shouting ‘YES!’ upon seeing the words ‘Upload Completed’ on the screen.

After four days of hard work—coupled with the close cooperation with the staff of Thriller Hostel and Shang Yang Games, the new video was finally uploaded successfully!

Qiao Liang did not contact Boss Pei again during the past few days. He devoted himself to the production of the video.

Collating information from the net…

Discuss with Chen Kangtuo and the others about the construction of the Thriller Hostel…

Repeatedly thinking about Boss Pei’s deeper meaning…

The effort paid off; Qiao Liang finally completed the video and refuted all the misunderstandings of Boss Pei on the internet. He also made a bold prediction about the future development of Thriller Hostel!

He was filled with confidence for this video. He believed that Boss Pei would definitely be moved when he saw this video!

Finally, Qiao Liang confirmed the title of the video.

‘The Silent Expresser Issue 1: Answering the True Positioning of the Thriller Hostel in the Interactive Theme Park!’

The title of the series of videos was changed from ‘The Lonely Expresser’ to ‘The Silent Expresser’.

This change was based mainly on two reasons:

First of all, Qiao Liang felt that Boss Pei was actually not lonely. He might not be understood by the public, but Big Boss Ruan, Wu Bin, and the employees of Tengda understood Boss Pei!

How could someone say that Boss Pei was lonely since so many people understood Boss Pei and always acted with aligned interests? That would be too hypocritical.

Secondly, Qiao Liang felt that ‘silent’ could better express Boss Pei’s attitude than ‘lonely’.

Boss Pei had always been doing things silently, deliberately not explaining to everyone what he meant; however, his true intentions would always be understood by everyone.

Therefore, the word ‘silent’ seemed more fitting; moreover, ‘silent’ and ‘expresser’ were contradictory and seemed to be more philosophical.

Qiao Liang sent the video link to Ye Zhizhou, the person-in-charge of Shang Yang Games in the end.

“The video is completed!”

…

At night, Pei Qian lay comfortably on the sofa, playing with his mobile phone. He suddenly lost his grasp of it, and it fell directly onto his face.

“F*ck you!”

Pei Qian was stunned; he rubbed his red forehead and could not help but sigh.

This f*cking phone’s really too heavy! It was not stable enough to be held, and it hurts badly when it hits someone!

Which idiot made this cell phone so heavy?

Oh, it was me.

Ah, nevermind then.

Pei Qian changed to a comfortable position, ready to use his mobile phone to cast to the big screen and watch his drama while drifting off to dreamland. However, he saw a push notification as soon as he opened the Aili Island application.

The UP Master he was following updated his status!

A bad premonition surged into his heart. He looked carefully; it was indeed Teacher Qiao!

“Forget about games, why do you not let me off even for a haunted house?”

Pei Qian was shocked. At first, he thought that Qiao Liang would at least need to return to Beijing before he started to make the video. That would at least take a week.

In the end, he only took four days!

Just go and die already!!!

Pei Qian did not want to watch the video, but he had no choice.

“Let’s watch it. Teacher Qiao is a UP Master in the gaming area. He will definitely not be able to promote the haunted house professionally. Perhaps not many people would watch it?”

…

Different from the previous times, Teacher Qiao personally appeared in this video. The background seemed to be the coffee area of a certain Fish-Catching Internet Cafe. It was recorded in the morning; there were good light and not many guests.

Pei Qian realized in that instant that Qiao Liang had not left at all. He stayed in Jingzhou and made his video in the Fish-Catching Internet Cafe!

Qiao Liang took a sip of coffee and began to tell fans about the reason for this video.

“My dear audience, long time no see! It’s your gaming father, ‘Teacher Qiao’ again!

“I know that many fans are seeing my face for the first time in this video. Don’t be surprised; sometimes, you can be both handsome and talented. Friends who are conquered by my appearance can leave ‘handsome’ as a comment on the public screen.

“Next, let’s get down to business. Many of you will ask, Old Qiao, what does the title of these series of videos mean? Why is it so poetic? Are you going to do a literary show?

“Of course not! The ‘expresser’ here is actually a broad concept. Expression can be done without needing it to be through speech or the formation of words. Everything that we do is actually expressing something, which might be some sort of idea or demand from ourselves.

“The protagonist of this series and the ‘Products of the Gods’ is actually the same person.

“He is a silent expresser… and also a lonely expresser. His thoughts were always misunderstood, his intentions misinterpreted. Even so, he still insisted on being true to himself, never compromising with the world!

“I have been following the discussion on the internet recently and found that everyone’s understanding of Thriller Hostel has serious deviation.

“Next, let me uncover the mystery of the maverick theme park, explore those seemingly unreasonable places, and make bold predictions about its future.”

“I say that Thriller Hostel will! Definitely! Become! Popular! Soon!”

…

Pei Qian felt like his tiny heart could no longer take it. The last four words especially were emphasized one after the other, somehow reminding him of the death knell…

He had to admit that Teacher Qiao was right.

Indeed, my thoughts are often misunderstood, and I am true to myself and never compromised with this world.

However, the ones who had been misinterpreting me had always been your lot!

Why would I have fallen to such a state if it was not because you all had been trying to explain my ‘true intentions’?

And this Old Qiao, forget about how you interpreted my game and made me make a lot of money. Now, you can’t even let my secret haunted house slip?

Are you still a human? Must you wipe me out?

Pei Qian trembled in the cold. The entire world would not become any better!

However, he quickly adjusted his mentality since he had experienced something like that too many times.

Pei Qian continued watching.

…

The following contents in the video were mainly shot in Thriller Hostel and Fish-Catching Internet Cafe; however, the relationship between the scene and the content was not strong. He did not shoot the scenes in the three projects either, probably to prevent spoilers.

The focus of the video was still on the ‘interpretation’.

Qiao Liang’s unique voice was very recognizable; he spoke at a comfortable pace.

“At present, everyone’s doubts about Thriller Hostel can mainly be summarized to the three key points below.

“First, it was just a haunted house. It might be playable but is not worth a trip.

“Second, it is very scary and is only suitable for experienced horror lovers.

“Third, it’s pricing is a huge problem which will directly restrict its future development, and its prospects are worrying.

“Therefore, many people think that it may be a failed project.

“But my opinion is just the opposite!

“Next, I will stand from the perspective of the business genius to refute these three points one by one, uncover the truth about the thriller hostel strategy, and explain to you why its future is limitless!”