December 26th, Monday…
Pei Qian woke up naturally in the morning. He reluctantly got out of bed, brushed his teeth, and washed his face.
“Perhaps I won’t go to the office today…”
“Damn it, I have to study hard from today onwards!”
Pei Qian brushed his teeth in frustration as he made up his mind.
It was a weekend two days ago. Pei Qian could not remember what he had done. It seemed like he had only slept at home, played games, and surfed the web as the two days passed.
Pei Qian had intended to find a quiet place to revise.
It was almost exam week after all. In order to realise his goal to surpass Old Ma, he had to take some time to revise.
However, the problem was that everyone knew that time was like water in a sponge. There would always be water if they squeezed, but sometimes, they would not have the strength to squeeze it out.
Pei Qian felt like his time was like water in the desert. He would always lose it at the speed of light if he was not careful.
What’s more, there was a huge problem with his mentality.
On Mondays to Fridays, the company was working normally. Pei Qian often had to keep an eye on them and deal with some work-related matters, such as making decisions which took some strength from him, causing him to have no time to revise.
The company was indeed on holiday on Saturday and Sunday. Logically, Pei Qian should have time to revise, but he was too lazy to move at home.
He was so busy from Monday to Friday. Shouldn’t he have a good rest during the weekend? Relax a little?
Yet, for some reason, all the time disappeared.
Pei Qian could not remember how many times he had made up his mind to revise from today onwards. However, his revision progress was still worrying. He had not even finished reading a few pages of the notes that he had already copied.
It was too difficult.
After washing up, Pei Qian wiped his face hard and sat on the sofa to read his notes.
Five minutes later, he picked up his cell phone and habitually swiped it.
“Eh? Boss Li and Xue Zhebin invested in the Cold-Faced Lady?”
When he saw He Desheng’s message, Pei Qian immediately became alert and frowned.
A bright red word seemed to appear above his head: Danger!
Pei Qian immediately stood up and walked around the living room twice.
Boss Li treated Pei Qian as a windmark for investment, but Pei Qian also treated Boss Li as a warning line for investment.
Pei Qian had already carefully recalled his painful experience of investing and earning money. He realized that Boss Li played an important role in most of the profits.
Many projects that had been losing money well previously, once Boss Li led the other investors into the venue, the situation immediately took a turn for the worse. The projects suddenly started turning profitable!
Yet, Boss Li had invested in the Cold-Faced Lady. That was a clear signal.
Something was going to happen!
Pei Qian had originally planned to invest in two million yuan trenches into Meng Chang to symbolically buy some shares. His main goal was to burn money and lose money silently.
However, Boss Li was investing now. This was a very dangerous signal. It meant that the Cold-Faced Lady project was going to make a killing!
At that thought, Pei Qian felt like he was sitting on pins and needles. He felt like his plan to incur losses had been completely overturned.
If he continued to invest in two million yuan trenches according to his original plan, the Cold-Faced Lady’s valuation would skyrocket. Wouldn’t he make another profit?
That must not happen!
Pei Qian looked like he was about to turn soupy. He nearly had Boss Li PTSD syndrome when it came to investments. He immediately decided to overturn his previous loss-making plan and run!
After some consideration, Pei Qian immediately called He Desheng.
“Sell all the shares that you bought for two million yuan immediately! Sell them to anyone. It doesn’t matter if the price is low. Sell them!”
The person on the other end of the line was obviously stunned.
He was confused. What was Boss Pei up to again?
Two million yuan was not a lot of shares. Was there a need to sell them in such a hurry? Going back and forth in the short term meant they could forget about making money. It would be good enough if they did not lose money.
The operation was really incomprehensible and very magical.
However, hearing Boss Pei’s determined tone, He Desheng suddenly felt that Boss Pei must have had a higher level of understanding.
He Desheng did not dare to ask further and agreed readily.
He Desheng began to analyze Boss Pei’s intentions after hanging up.
“Boss Pei asked me to sell my shares fast once again even if they were at a loss as soon as I gave him the news that Boss Li was investing in the Cold-Faced Lady.”
“Could it be… Boss Pei and Boss Li had discussed this beforehand? Or could it be a tacit understanding between top-tier investors? Could it be that the bit of shares that Boss Pei spent two million yuan on previously had some special meaning?”
The more He Desheng thought about it, the more he felt that this matter was not simple.
Boss Li and Boss Pei seemed to be cooperating as though they had discussed it beforehand.
However, He Desheng only vaguely felt that there might be a chess game here even though he could not tell what it was.
After much consideration, He Desheng still followed Boss Pei’s instructions obediently and called Meng Chang.
…
“Selling again?”
“No, are you selling such a small portion of shares?”
On the other end of the line, Meng Chang was completely dumbfounded after receiving the call.
He was as shocked as He Desheng. He could not understand what Boss Pei was doing.
It was ridiculous that Boss Pei had only invested two million yuan previously. After all, Boss Pei had spent a few million yuan on FV Club’s overseas trips. In comparison, the two million yuan that Boss Pei had given the cold-faced lady was no different from throwing a rice millet to a pigeon.
It was clear at a glance the close and distant, rich and poor.
Yet, Boss Pei still wanted to sell these shares?
Boss Pei had been working so hard for so long, but he was still not earning anything!
Was he playing with him?
It would be fine if they could do this secretly. Boss Pei had sold all his previous shares. This time, he was only selling a small portion of the shares that he had bought for two million yuan. Anyone would be able to eat it.
However, he could not do it secretly.
As long as it involved the transfer of shares in the company, he had to inform the other shareholders according to the company’s regulations. They also had to make changes to the company registration.
Boss Li was now a shareholder of the Cold-Faced Lady.
Once Boss Pei sold it, Boss Li would definitely know about it. The other shareholders would also know about it. All the investors who were still observing would also receive the news.
Wouldn’t that be bad?
Boss Li had just invested in the Cold-Faced Lady less than two days ago and Meng Chang had not even warmed up after receiving the money in his hands. Who could stand this sudden move?!
After Meng Chang received this sum of money, he had intended to go all out.
As long as investors were once again filled with confidence in the cold-faced lady and could continue playing the game that pushed up the valuation, the entire script could continue to develop according to Meng Chang’s plan.
There were some twists and turns but the impact would not be huge.
However, Boss Pei’s sudden move was like pouring a bucket of cold water over Meng Chang’s head, extinguishing the little flame that had just ignited in his heart!
That wasn’t a lot of shares but it did not sound nice at all!
Boss Pei had thrown out all of the Cold-Faced Lady’s shares again in less than half a month…
What would others think of Cold-Faced Lady’s company if word got out?
Previously, Meng Chang had to put in a lot of effort to suppress the fact that Boss Pei had sold all of his shares. For it to happen again would make it beyond saving!
Meng Chang quickly realized the seriousness of this matter. He quickly said, “Boss He, why are you doing this?”
“Tengda shouldn’t be so short of money, right?”
“How about this? Tell Boss Pei to make an exception. Give me another month, no, half a month or even a week, sell it after a week. Is that alright?”
Meng Chang thought that he would hide this from Boss Pei and drag the time. Then, he would make use of this time to look for the buyer and try to turn the situation around. That would minimize the negative impact of Boss Pei selling shares for the second time.
He Desheng sighed on the other end of the line. “I’m sorry. You know Boss Pei’s character. There’s no room for negotiation.”
Meng Chang’s hand trembled slightly as he held his phone.
The cold-faced lady’s future was bright ten minutes ago, but now, it suddenly became dark…
…
…
December 28th, Wednesday…
It was 10 PM in Los Angeles.
On the second floor of the internet cafe, Min Jingchao sorted and saved the data sheet. He copied it all onto his laptop and shredded the source documents on the computer in the internet cafe.
While doing this would seem like making a mountain out of a molehill, it was still better to be careful. The contents of the team’s training could not be leaked. This was equivalent to military secrets during wartime.
After everything was done, Min Jingchao stretched. His work was done in stages.
“Brother Bao, it’s been hard on you these two days,” Min Jingchao said to Bao Xu, who was sitting beside him.
Bao Xu shook his head. “No, no, no. It’s not tough at all. I think I can accept it if every trip is the same as this one…”
Bao Xu had felt like a bolt out of the blue when he heard that he was coming to Los Angeles. However, he realized that it was much more comfortable than his previous overseas trips!
Every day, he would stay in a five-star hotel at night. During the day, he would go to a nearby internet cafe. Apart from analyzing data and researching tactics, he could also play games.
He might be overseas but he did not have to check in at various attractions. That was very comfortable!
It would not be unacceptable if he could stay in hotels or internet cafes in a new city every time he went overseas.
Thus, Bao Xu had put in a lot of effort in analyzing the data and helped Min Jingchao a lot.
The team members were still in the training competition, continuing to perfect their tactics.
Tomorrow was Thursday, the official start of the IOI World Finals Group Competition. The schedule for the IOI World Finals this time was different from GOG’s international invitational tournament.
In order to ensure that teams could enter the top eight in the weaker competition zones, Chrétien decided to adopt the ‘seeded guarantee’ rule.
There were a total of 16 teams this time. Four of the first seeded teams were guaranteed to enter the top eight. The other 12 teams were divided into four teams. Three teams in each team would play a double loop BO1. In the end, only the top team emerging from this could qualify.
After that, they would draw lots for the top eight competitions. There was no avoiding mechanism for the same competition area. They would fight whoever they drew.
FV Club was the number one seeded team of China. They started from the top eight. The group stages had nothing to do with them. What’s more, the opponents for the top eight matches had not been decided.
However, that did not mean that they could let their guards down.
The team members had to continue their high-intensity training to maintain their condition. The stats analysis team also had to make use of all the time to study the tactical playstyles of the various teams in the group stages to ensure that their understanding of the version was not problematic.
If they could not make sufficient preparations in the group stages, they would probably be eliminated from the first round of the top eight.
In any case, the real battle was about to begin.
…
At the same time, on the first floor of the internet cafe.
The other two clubs had also finished their training for the day. They packed their belongings and walked back.
These few days, the training schedules of these two clubs were the same. Basically, they would train until 12 AM every day before leaving.
The daily training arrangements were mainly to play mock competitions, review the mock competitions, hold meetings to discuss tactics, play high rank games to maintain hand sensitivity, and so on.
Since the group stages would officially begin tomorrow, they had to go back earlier today and rest as much as possible.
At the entrance of the internet cafe, everyone pretended not to see FV Club’s minibus as usual.
At the beginning, the leaders of the two clubs even specially studied FV Club’s training time and deliberately avoided it to avoid the relatively awkward scenes.
However, they later realized that there was no need to deliberately avoid it. FV Club spent more time training than them almost every day!
The members of both clubs only woke up around 10 AM in the morning. They would only come to the internet cafe to train after having lunch in the hotel. However, every time they arrived, they would see that the minibus was already parked at the entrance of the internet cafe.
Both clubs left around 12 AM. The minibus was still there when they left.
The leaders and players of the two clubs were very confused.
What exactly was FV Club practicing for so long hours everyday?
The reason why these two clubs woke up late was not because they were lazy. They were mainly arranged according to the schedule when they were training in the country. No high ranks could be arranged in the morning and there were no mock competitions to play. It was meaningless to wake up early.
What’s more, there was a limit to a person’s energy. Excessive training might affect one’s condition, and the efficiency of training might not be high.
On the other hand, FV Club had been practicing from morning to midnight. It was a stark contrast to them.
The two team leaders were very curious. There were a few times when they pretended to pass by unintentionally, wanting to sneak a peek at the second floor to see how FV Club’s training was going. However, they were caught by the four responsible bodyguards and left without any useful information.
That made the two clubs even more curious.
One of the team members asked in confusion, “FV Club probably slept for six or seven hours today. They seem to be training the rest of the time. What are they training for? Can their bodies take it?”
The other team members obviously had the same doubts.
FV Club was really too hardworking, making themselves look like lazy bums.
The leader quickly said, “Don’t take it to heart, everyone. The key to training is efficiency, not time. There’s a good saying that many people are using their tactical diligence to cover up their laziness in strategy.”
“Don’t worry, everyone. After asking around, I’ve basically confirmed that FV Club did not play any mock competitions with FRY or any other foreign clubs. They probably did not even play rank.”
“They don’t have super accounts on hand, but we can’t rule out the possibility of them buying accounts.”
“These people are at most playing mock competitions with SUG and their own Team Two. No matter how much they play, they are just two lousy players playing chess. The more they play, the worse they will become. There won’t be much improvement.”
“Alright, everyone, stop staring at FV Club. The group competition will officially begin tomorrow. Everyone, maintain yourselves in tip top state and show the results of our mock competition.”
“We might not be able to win against the strong teams like FRY now, but we’ve improved since the beginning. Our grouping this time is still alright. Everyone should follow the rhythm and routine of the training competition and fight steadily. It’s not a problem for the team to qualify for the top eight.”
On the way back to the hotel, the team leader cheered them on, afraid that their mentality would be affected.
Ever since they came to Los Angeles, the FV Club seemed to be intentionally or unintentionally messing with the mentality of the members of these two clubs.
They took business class, stayed in a luxurious five-star hotel, booked the second floor in an internet cafe, hired a mini bus and bodyguards to take care of them all the way. What was even worse was that the three photography brothers worked extremely hard. Apart from taking photos, they edited videos every day. They never stopped posting on the official Weibo of FV Club with at least three or four posts a day.
The official Weibo was completely unmoved even though many people were criticizing it. They would update it however they wanted. At most, they would just block the haters.
In the end, the haters got tired of it and gathered their strength. They would wait for FV Club to lose before they started flaming it with all their mights again.
After training for the past few days, the other two clubs felt a little sour seeing the members of FV Club enjoying themselves.
It was the same today. It was already early in the morning. The breeze on the street was slightly chilly, and everyone subconsciously quickened their steps.
One of the team members suddenly thought of something and said, “Hey, will the FV Club stay in our hotel starting today?”
The competition would officially begin tomorrow. Finger Games would provide food and accommodation for all the participating clubs.
The food and accommodation fees for these two clubs had been paid for by Long Yu Corporation. They thus checked into rooms provided by Finger Games this afternoon.
What’s more, the other clubs had also arrived during the past two days and checked into Courtyard by Marriott.
Logically speaking, the members of FV Club should have been changed over, right?
Finger Games provided food and accommodation. If they did not change over, wouldn’t all the money be wasted?
The other members had obviously not thought about this question before. They looked at each other, their eyes revealing a hint of anticipation.
That’s right, there was no reason not to move in!
It was fine if they had to pay for their own luxury hotels previously. Now that Finger Games was providing food and accommodation, were they going to continue paying out of their own pockets?
Wasn’t that too extravagant?
If everyone stayed in the Courtyard by Marriott together, everyone’s food and accommodation conditions would be the same. FV Club might still have the minibus and bodyguards, but the impact on the mentality of the other two clubs would be slightly reduced.
However, before everyone could finish their beautiful dreams, they saw the black minibus drive by. It was still parked in front of the entrance of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel.
The members of FV Club alighted from the car and entered the hotel lobby. They did not even look at Courtyard by Marriott.
Obviously, FV Club would stay there during the competition and would not move to Courtyard by Marriott.
Their hopes were dashed.
The members of the two clubs quietly entered the lobby of Courtyard by Marriott. Their hearts, which had finally calmed down, were shaken again…
…
…
December 29th, Thursday, 9 AM…
It was 11 AM in Los Angeles, which was 3 AM in China. IOI’s global finals were about to officially begin.
The members of FV Club were doing basic fitness training in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel’s gym.
After arriving in Los Angeles, the team members maintained good fitness habits. It was precisely because of their regular working hours and good physical conditions that they could maintain a better state and focus. They trained longer and were more efficient every day.
The accompanying team doctor watched the team members’ condition seriously from the side to prevent them from practicing too much.
Working out now was not to train to the point of exhaustion or to increase muscles after all. It was just to maintain the body in a good state and increase the focus in the competition. It was enough to move their body. If one was too tired, it would affect the training effect.
The team doctor had to ensure that the team members were in their best condition.
In the hotel’s resting area, the coach and the data analysis team were studying the competition that was about to begin today.
The competition schedule this time was a little strange because they had to ensure that the first seed of each division would make it to the top eight.
There were a total of 12 teams and four groups in the group stages. They would play the double loop BO1, and the first team from each group would qualify.
There would be a total of four days. From Thursday to Sunday, with six matches a day. On Sunday, the group stages would all be finished and the top eight would draw lots.
As for why the first match was held at 11 AM, no one knew.
According to the GPL’s habits, they would usually play during the prime time from afternoon to night. However, Finger Games probably took into account that there were too many audience members. They were afraid that if a bug appeared in the competition and the game was delayed for too long due to other reasons, it would be inconvenient for the audience to leave. Thus, the time was brought forward earlier.
The venue for this competition was a famous local coliseum. It could accommodate nearly twenty thousand people and was very famous around the world.
This time, Finger Games was obviously determined to use this global finals to exact revenge. That was why they spared no expense.
The prize pool for the IOI global finals this time was three million US dollars. At the same time, Finger Games had also specially produced a skin model. 25% of the sales of the skin would also be counted into the overall prize pool.
In terms of the distribution of the bonus pool, the champion would get 50%, the runner-up would get 15%, the third and fourth teams would get 7.5% each, and the fifth to eighth teams would get 2.5% each. The remaining eight teams that did not qualify would split the remaining 10%.
In other words, the prize pool had slightly surpassed GOG’s international invitational tournament and the venue was more spectacular.
Finger Games had always been influenced by Tengda after all. They had wanted to hold a global final for a long time. However, they had been repeatedly interrupted by Tengda and failed.
They had finally managed to organize the world finals. They had to surpass GOG even if they had to sacrifice everything. This was a matter of face.
Wu Yue looked at the time and saw that it was about time. He asked Manager Lu to bring his team members back to their rooms to wash up. Then, he came down to have breakfast and prepared to set off for the opening ceremony.
FV Club’s competition would only start next week, but this week, the players would go to the venue to watch a few key battles selectively to look at the playstyles and standards of the other teams and prepare in advance.
