Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Nine: How to Play the Game

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The idea had merely crossed Xiao Tianci’s mind. Although borrowing outside power was one possible method, it was ultimately too unstable. For now, he needed to ensure his own safety with absolute certainty. Only by surviving could he accomplish anything else. This was Xiao Tianci’s most fundamental belief, just as it had been when he first inherited his fortune: preserving his life came first.

Two days later, Xu Guowei excitedly informed him that the situation seemed to be loosening. If things continued this way, the matter could probably be settled within half a month.

Xiao Tianci also began grouping the members of the Xiao family, preparing to move them into Xiao Family One and Xiao Family Two for the restructuring.

Ever since Tang Bing received word from headquarters that he would remain with Xiao Tianci for three months before returning with him, he had been as excited as a young rooster in love. He chased after Xiao Tianci, the chief steward Lin Jian, Vajra, Fire Phoenix, Little Princess, and the others everywhere, clinging to them and talking about how desperately he had once hoped for this day. He had never imagined it would actually become reality—and that he would be staying for three whole months.

Xiao Tianci had already thought Tang Bing was somewhat abnormal. Now he was even more convinced of it. Still, several questions had begun troubling him. What exactly was that old monster, the King of Soldiers, trying to accomplish by behaving this way?

Tang Bing would tell him almost anything, unless it involved something especially important. That alone made Xiao Tianci realize that Tang Bing could never be allowed to learn anything truly significant. From Tang Bing, he discovered that the King of Soldiers treated only him with such extraordinary affection. He doted on him so much that even his own biological son had never received such treatment.

At the time, Xiao Tianci wondered whether Tang Bing might be his illegitimate son. But that seemed unlikely. Given the old monster’s personality, he would never refuse to acknowledge his own child. Several of his sons had different mothers, and the man had no shortage of women. He certainly would not care if people learned that he had one more son.

That was precisely what made the matter even more puzzling.

Tang Bing was clingy, but he was not malicious. Of course, when it came to killing, he was more ruthless than anyone. After a few days, he had developed a good relationship with everyone. Since Xiao Tianci was busy with countless matters, Tang Bing often sought out Fire Phoenix, dragging her and Little Princess out to play and go shopping with him.

Six days passed in the blink of an eye. During that time, Xiao Tianci was mainly occupied with restructuring the management of Xiao Family One and Xiao Family Two. The arrangements were now essentially complete. Once the top executives of the two companies were finalized, there would be little left for him to handle.

The remaining tasks involved the executives’ work, the middle management, the integration and restructuring of the group, and the incorporation of the more than one hundred newly acquired companies.

As soon as the senior management teams had been selected, Xiao Tianci held a formal meeting with them.

Everyone knew that the two companies belonged to the Xiao family, but Xiao Tianci’s words were remarkably harsh.

“You can deal with this however you like. At present, the two companies are roughly equal in size and investment. From this point on, everything depends on your own abilities. As you expand and grow, you may compete with each other however you wish. Whoever proves superior will be rewarded. Whoever is suppressed, defeated, or loses to the other in the quarterly or annual results will be punished.

“However, if either side manages to absorb or destroy the other, I will award five percent of the company’s shares to the entire senior management team. This will be written into the contracts you sign.”

Because he was addressing the newly formed executive teams of both companies at once, everyone fell silent when Xiao Tianci finished speaking.

The boss… couldn’t possibly be insane, could he?

And yet his expression and tone were perfectly lucid. His words, however, made the entire company sound like some kind of lunatic enterprise.

Du Yu, the new president of Xiao Family One, and Hagenta, the new president of Xiao Family Two, had previously served as heads of other Xiao family companies. Both were business elites whom Xiao Tianci had selected only after careful consideration.

They had originally intended to make a great effort. Although the companies were separate, they had assumed the boss would divide their markets by region, perhaps north and south, or according to some other arrangement. No matter how the division was made, each of them would still lead from the front, with a considerable advantage. As long as they maintained steady growth, their futures would be brilliant.

Naturally, each man had his own plans. They were prepared to make a splash and show the boss what they could do. The Xiao family had many rules, but it also offered many rewards. Everyone knew that creating value for the Xiao family meant earning money, advancing their careers, and gaining access to greater and broader opportunities.

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Online conferences had become quite common by then, though confidentiality was obviously essential. Otherwise, who would dare conduct meetings over the internet?

Six executives sat beside both Du Yu and Hagenta. The two groups were all stunned.

Seeing their astonished expressions, Xiao Tianci asked, “Do you still not understand what I mean?”

Du Yu and Hagenta hurriedly nodded, and the other executives did the same.

Xiao Tianci nodded with satisfaction. “Good. As long as you understand. Once Guowei finishes dealing with the antitrust investigation, that will be when your race begins. I am not joking. The contracts you sign later will contain all the details.

“Given the present scale of Xiao Family One and Xiao Family Two, and the completion of this acquisition, the only people capable of competing with you will be each other. I will not interfere directly. Remember this: you may suppress the other side, but only on the condition that you guarantee profits for me. Once that condition is met, you may attack each other however you wish.

“Compete however you like. If you can absorb or destroy the other side, so much the better. I will absolutely honor the reward I promised. Is that clear?”

This time, everyone indicated that they understood. Although the meeting was being held online, the eyes of the two teams led by Du Yu and Hagenta already shone with the desire to eliminate the other side.

At that moment, they no longer cared whether their boss was insane, nor did they care why he was acting this way. It was not their place to ask.

The reward Xiao Tianci had offered was simply too tempting. After the two companies were fully integrated, each would have a market value of more than 130 billion dollars. Xiao Tianci held seventy percent of the shares in both, giving him absolute control. And that was only their current value. Once the news was announced, it would be no problem for each company’s value to rise to 150 billion dollars, giving them a combined value of 300 billion.

That did not even include future growth. If one side truly managed to destroy or acquire the other, five percent would amount to 15 billion dollars, divided among seven people. Each could receive more than two billion.

Naturally, the shares would not be divided equally. Xiao Tianci had never rewarded people according to a fixed formula. The distribution would always depend on their contributions.

They were all highly paid employees, earning several million dollars a year. But several million and several billion represented entirely different concepts.

Looking at the two teams, Xiao Tianci was extremely satisfied.

Du Yu and Hagenta then spoke briefly on behalf of their respective teams. By that point, however, they had already begun targeting each other, looking as though they were ready to strangle the other side on the spot and divide the spoils afterward.

Xiao Tianci had not spent these days idly. In addition to restructuring the senior management of Xiao Family One and Xiao Family Two, he had also been thinking about how to make the two companies fight more fiercely, more viciously, and more aggressively.

Rewards were naturally indispensable. They were the initial force driving the competition.

Xiao Tianci’s idea was to gradually instill in them a habit of thinking and a natural sense of hostility—much like the method Fatty had once mentioned.

How should one deal with the Japanese? Education had to begin when children were young. They had to be taught from childhood that the Japanese were no good. When they encountered them, they should show no courtesy. They should never treat them as equals. If they could kick them twice, they should never settle for kicking them once.

Xiao Tianci also formulated a series of rules. In certain countries, the companies would receive points based on their market share in films, television, audio and video products, magazines, books, and other fields. If one of their subsidiaries produced a Nobel Prize winner or received the highest recognition in a given industry, it would earn a set number of points.

Each year, points would also be awarded according to the rankings of the top ten films and television programs by revenue and viewership. Whoever claimed first place would receive a certain number of points, while poor performance would result in deductions.

While creating these regulations, Xiao Tianci happened to think of Fatty and added several more rules: points would be awarded for destroying Japanese companies of various levels, as well as for ruining the reputations of the stars they had cultivated.

The Japanese had been particularly arrogant in the media industry over the previous several decades. Three of the world’s ten largest media conglomerates were Japanese.

Destroying Japanese companies would count toward the score as well.

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What else could he add?

The question troubled Xiao Tianci greatly. If it came to waging war against the Japanese, he would certainly join without hesitation. But he rarely participated in discussions about such matters. He preferred to carry out practical acts of resistance quietly, such as refusing Japanese goods in everyday life.

Fatty was different. Xiao Tianci had no idea why that man had so much free time, but every day he studied ways to torment the Japanese. He even posted his own eccentric and perverse methods online.

Strangely enough, he had countless admirers, allowing him to enjoy the thrill of being an idol for once.

Whenever Xiao Tianci thought of him, he felt happy. If Fatty were allowed to design the scoring system for the two companies, he would surely come up with countless methods—and every one of them would target the Japanese.

The point system would continue to be refined, though only the executives would know the full details. Those beneath them would learn about it in a different way: they would know exactly what they had to do to receive concrete benefits, with the rewards paid directly in cash.

Du Yu, Hagenta, and their subordinates had already begun searching for targets in their minds, considering how they could earn more points.

When the plan to have the two companies compete against each other had first been announced, everyone had assumed their boss was abnormal. It was absurd and impossible to believe.

There was another thought as well: these days, the most popular description for someone like him was a spoiled heir burning through his money.

Du Yu and Hagenta could hardly imagine what people would think if the names of the two companies were made public and they openly tore into each other without mercy.

Everyone would be forced to choose between two explanations.

The first: the boss was a lunatic, a mental patient.

The second: he was a spoiled heir with far too much money to burn.

Xiao Tianci was like someone leading them into a new game. At first, they found it boring. Gradually, however, they began treating it like a single-player game, discovering that the greatest pleasure lay in winning—to break through every stage and clear the game completely, just to see what lay at the end.

Xiao Tianci had established a completion reward for them, a final prize that drew them into the ecstasy of clearing the game and enjoying the reward of those final shares.

Of course, Xiao Tianci understood that a single-player game would never be enough, because every such game had an ending.

So he proceeded step by step. Later, he began designing the point system. He knew that once the final objective of the single-player game had been achieved, there was a good chance the competition would come to an end. Everything eventually reached its conclusion.

Therefore, he transformed it into an online game.

What was an online game? The equipment had to be the best, and the players sought out the finest items. Their status had to be the highest. With hundreds or thousands of people online at the same time, each player wanted to become the leader.

In an online game, there were always more valuable items to pursue. Even after reaching the highest level, one might discover a rule allowing the character to be reborn and start all over again.

That was the difference between an online game and a single-player game: an online game never truly ended.

By linking commercial warfare to results and then turning those results into points, Xiao Tianci could transform the figures into ranking boards, performance charts, and wealth rankings. He would make them play a game of their own design.

This method was not especially novel. Many companies had long used similar systems, turning points or other measures into money in the end.

But that was not all Xiao Tianci wanted. He established numerous rankings and various calculation methods. The rankings were only an introduction, a way to introduce the concept. The true details, especially those concerning the people below, would be left for them to create.

Naturally, Xiao Tianci personally designed the specific rules and calculation methods for the executive teams led by Du Yu and Hagenta. From that point onward, the various data rankings of the two companies would be compared, and different rewards would gradually be introduced.

At first, they had found the idea impossible to believe. Very soon, however, they were completely drawn into it, their minds already filled with figures and plans.

Xiao Tianci had never expected that the ranking formulas and reward systems he created would eventually grow from the original three scoreboards into fifteen separate ranking systems, later imitated and adopted by other industries.

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