Chapter 118: Chapter 117: Insider Investing, The Sorrow of Entrepreneurs

```"Supervisor Wang, my Sword Barrier Network has been achieving impressive results lately~"

Bi Jian's smile was like that of a blooming chrysanthemum, his face oozing obsequiousness as he looked at investment supervisor Wang Meng, his intention to flatter all too obvious.

"Haha, I know, the new product you guys launched is doing quite well, although there was a small hiccup in the middle, your company resolved it quickly, which shows your team's capability in handling business is very strong!"

"Nowadays, it's rare to find companies as outstanding as your Sword Barrier in the industry! I have high hopes for you all!"

"But as you can see, there are so many companies competing for angel investment with you today, some of which are quite the dark horses. So, the final decision still needs to be thoroughly deliberated by our investment department!"

Wang Meng sipped his hot tea with a smile, but his index finger and thumb were surreptitiously rubbing together underneath the cup holder.

Only Bi Jian could see this gesture from his angle, and although his expression remained unchanged, he was swearing up a storm inside.

How could he not understand what Supervisor Wang meant? That was a clear request for a bribe!

This insatiable fellow had already received a bribe of 500,000 from him at a private dinner, and he had given another 200,000 to another female supervisor Li Jia!

And now Wang Meng was hiking up the price again!

Damn dog!

But he was out of options. At this point, all his hopes were pinned on securing angel investment from Shengda at today's seminar to help his company through its current predicament.

"Simulating Billionaire" was supposed to be his most promising product, but just days before its launch, "Life Restart Simulator" appeared out of nowhere and snatched away all the promotional resources that were meant for him!

The initial data was lackluster, the marketing impact was weak, and the product performance barely satisfactory.

If he really had to rely only on the current data from "Simulating Billionaire", securing this round of investment was quite uncertain.

Now his greatest reliance was on the two supervisors, Wang Meng and Li Jia!

As long as they supported him in this seminar, the investment would be almost guaranteed! seaʀᴄh thё NôvelFire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Seeing the undisguised greed in Wang Meng's eyes, Bi Jian pondered how much more he could give.

He thought for a moment with his head down and then gently tapped his fingers on the table three times.

300,000—that was the last of the funds he could offer right now!

The rest of the money had all been poured into the marketing for "Simulating Billionaire" over the past few days.

He had spent nearly a million on the Dou Ying platform alone!

This was exactly why he was going all in; he was out of money, and this investment seminar was his last chance!

It was his final gamble with everything on the line!

Wang Meng of course understood Bi Jian's added incentive, his smile grew even broader, and he put down his teacup contentedly.

At this moment, the meeting had already started, and manager Chen Yufei was delivering his speech to the participants.

He looked at the entrepreneurs seated there, most of whom were small video game companies from Modu that had shown remarkable performance recently.

Each person's aim for being here was to get that first pot of angel investment from Shengda!

This money would decide if they could carry on.

Too bad...

There were six spots, and all had already been decided in advance!

If Bi Jian could offer a bribe, so could the other supervisors from other people.

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Even manager Chen Yufei was no exception, and Chen Yufei surely took the lion's share!

The purpose of holding this meeting was just to give a facade to the public.

On the other side of the conference room camera, there were journalists watching!

Even though most people were aware of the underhanded deals, such formalities still had to be observed!

They took the company's money for investments and then skimmed off the top for themselves—why wouldn't they?

As for whether the companies they invested in would lose or gain, that wasn't their fault, right?

Out of ten startups, nine and a half fail, and there are countless examples of failed investments. It wasn't that their foresight was lacking; it was just that the entrepreneurs receiving the investments were not up to par.

There was no way the higher-ups in the company would discover any issues, let alone hold them accountable.

Wang Meng looked at the other supervisors, and each of their eyes was filled with the laughter of profit.

```

After successfully bribing Wang Meng, Bi Jian also let out a sigh of relief.

Just as he was about to take a sip of tea to soothe his aching heart, he suddenly felt a gaze fixed upon him.

Lifting his head, he met with a familiar face!

"Gu Yu! What is he doing here!?"

Bi Jian was startled; he had been talking to Wang Meng when Gu Yu and the others entered and hadn't noticed.

Moreover, he never would have imagined seeing Gu Yu at Shengda's investment seminar!

He knew that Gu Yu had started a company, something Shu Yinyin had told him about a while ago.

But at the time, he didn't pay much attention; he had even forgotten the name of Gu Yu's company.

With that thought, he quickly took out his phone under the table, opened Feixin, and checked his chat history with Shu Yinyin.

He soon found the photo Shu Yinyin had sent him.

The photo showed a bronze company business plaque with the words emblazoned on it — Ideal Paradise Network Technology Company.

"Ideal Paradise!"

Bi Jian immediately thought of the "Life Restart Simulator" that had taken up all of Shengda's operational resources, wasn't the developer Ideal Paradise?

"Damn! Why didn't I realize it sooner!"

Bi Jian clenched his fist secretly and cursed under his breath.

If he hadn't forgotten that Ideal Paradise was Gu Yu's company, he would have found a way to prevent the release of "Life Restart Simulator."

Even if he couldn't stop it, he would have certainly disrupted Gu Yu's game data with tactics like hiring fake reviewers.

He had always thought that "Life Restart Simulator" was a new game developed by Shengda Game or some major game factory!

So he could only silently take the fall, not daring to use any underhanded schemes.

And now... only now did he realize that Life Restart Simulator wasn't a product of some major game manufacturer at all!

It was just a concoction from the obscure company started by Gu Yu!

He was extremely frustrated, cursing himself for not paying attention to Gu Yu's company news; otherwise, he would not have allowed Gu Yu to succeed so easily.

Now, there was nothing he could do but let Gu Yu be!

"Humph, what does it matter if you were invited to the investment seminar? What does it matter if your company released a hit product? You still won't be able to secure angel investment from Shengda!"

Thinking that Gu Yu's purpose for coming today was probably the same as his, Bi Jian's heart filled with glee once again.

Today, Gu Yu was destined to be nothing more than a runner-up, just a clown there to make up the numbers!

After all, what could a startup rookie, whose company wasn't even a month old, know about the ins and outs of entrepreneurship?

He was doomed to face disappointment!

Bi Jian sneered at Gu Yu, but Gu Yu chose to ignore him with an expressionless face and turned his head to speak with the manager.

"Hmph, just keep pretending for a little while longer. I want to see the look of defeat on your face when you fail to pull in investment from Shengda no matter how hard you try!"

He scoffed disdainfully, convinced that Gu Yu was simply overconfident.

Meanwhile, Gu Yu across the table wasn't listening to Manager Chen Yufei's speech; he was contemplating what to have for lunch.

"Shall we go to Hai Shang Luo for lunch?"

He slid his phone beneath the table and typed a few characters to show Lin Xinyue beside him.

"Pay attention! Learn something!"

Lin Xinyue stealthily rolled her eyes at him.

She had totally understood that Gu Yu had no interest in business management!

It looked like she would have to handle these matters in the future...

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Da E wishes everyone a Happy New Year's Eve! May the New Year bring wealth, beauty, and a girlfriend (or boyfriend)!