In the evening, at Swan Lake Restaurant…
Pei Qian sat in a quiet corner against the window, waiting for Ruan Guangjian to arrive.
"I wonder if he had fun on the roller coasters and pendulum rides. I wonder if he got scared when he entered the haunted house."
Pei Qian imagined Ruan Guangjian sitting on the pendulum rides, his face drained of all color and him screaming at the top of his lungs. At once, Pei Qian felt comforted.
Revenge was sweet!
He glanced at the clock. They should have arrived by now.
They had arranged to have dinner at 7 PM. According to Little Sun's past practice, they should have been here ten minutes earlier than the arranged time. Yet, it was already past 7 PM. Why hadn't they arrived yet?
Had it all been too much for Ruan Guangjian? Did he return to the hotel to rest because he had lost his appetite?
However, when Pei Qian checked his cell phone, there were no missed calls.
Just as he was feeling confused, Little Sun and Ruan Guangjian arrived.
"Boss Pei! I'm sorry, we're a few minutes late." Little Sun looked embarrassed.
Ruan Guangjian followed behind him. "Don't blame the chauffeur. I was having too much fun and forgot the time.
"The pendulum rides were too fun!"
Ruan Guangjian looked like he had not played enough.
Pei Qian, "?"
This was his first time meeting Ruan Guangjian. He had thought that Ruan Guangjian would look like a stereotypical artist, with long, flowy hair and perhaps even a thin mustache.
However, that was not the case. On the surface, he looked like an energetic, young man. He had short hair, pale skin, and nice features. He even looked a bit like a student.
Compared to the fat nerd-Teacher Qiao, Ruan Guangjian was much more pleasing to the eye.
At that moment, Ruan Guangjian did not look as pale and listless as Pei Qian had imagined.
In fact, it was quite the opposite. Ruan Guangjian's face was flushed, and he looked quite energetic. In fact, he looked slightly excited. Obviously, he had not been scared sh*tless by the pendulum rides.
"Boss Pei! Thank you!" Ruan Guangjian grabbed Pei Qian's hand and shook it. "I haven't had so much fun in a long time! Jingzhou's amusement park is really interesting! The pendulum rides especially are comparable to the ones in Shanghai! It was really fun!
"Ai, it's a pity I didn't have that much time. Otherwise, I would have wanted to take the rides one more time!"
Pei Qian's mind was filled with question marks.
Something was wrong. The tables had turned completely.
Ruan Guangjian loved extreme activities like that!
Ruan Guangjian looked moved as he said, "Boss Pei, you're really thoughtful. You must have known that I enjoy activities like that. That's probably why you made special arrangements on my behalf. You even made it a surprise and waited until I was in the car to inform me.
"Still, I have to say that you have been too polite, given our relationship. Boss Pei, you didn't have to be so kind!"
Once again, Pei Qian was at a loss for words.
Our relationship? What f*cking relationship do we have?!
Pei Qian tried to suppress his anger. He needed to release it, but Ruan Guangjian's passion seemed to have sealed his lips, leaving him no way to curse.
"Enjoy your meal."
Pei Qian sat down in silence.
Swan Lake Restaurant's food could not compare to Ming Yun Private Kitchen's. However, there were many delicacies there as well. Furthermore, this was a buffet. One could take whatever and eat as much as they wanted.
Ruan Guangjian took many delicacies. Soon, the table was filled. The plot in Pei Qian's head had been different. Ruan Guangjian should have felt listless and frightened after taking the roller coasters and pendulum rides. He was supposed to have lost his appetite. On the other hand, Pei Qian was supposed to enjoy watching his frightened state while savoring the delicacies. He should have been relaxed and pleased.
Yet, Ruan Guangjian was neither listless nor frightened. Instead, he looked energetic and hungry. Thus, Ruan Guangjian stuffed himself with food and ate to his heart's content while Pei Qian lost his appetite.
Painful!
It was almost like Pei Qian had thrown a punch at a cloud. He was trying so hard to suppress his anger that he nearly burst a vessel.
As they ate, they chatted.
Ruan Guangjian stuffed his mouth with a huge piece of lobster meat. "The pendulum rides were really fun and exciting. They helped a lot in giving me inspiration! The roller coasters and drop towers were alright. It would be worth buying a return ticket just for those.
"All in all, I had a lot of fun today!
"Thank you for hosting me so well, Boss Pei. Here, let me offer you a toast!"
Although they were drinking soft drinks, both men drank heartily while they chatted happily. Pei Qian felt as if alcohol had gone to his head.
"Were they all good? Was there anything that you weren't satisfied with?" Pei Qian tried asking. "Was anything lacking? Perhaps we could improve on it the next time."
Ruan Guangjian pondered for a moment. "If you're asking what was lacking…
"I would say the haunted house.
"I'm quite scared of the dark, and I was already prepared to be scared to tears. However, the haunted house wasn't that scary. That's good, though. If it had been too scary, perhaps I wouldn't be sitting here right now, hahaha."
Pei Qian was really speechless.
Look at how things turned out.
Pei Qian had gone to so much trouble to line up so many activities, but it turned out that Ruan Guangjian enjoyed the roller coasters and pendulum rides as much as a tiger would enjoy lamb. In the end, everything was a waste.
Only one activity could have scared Ruan Guangjian, but the haunted house was too lousy. Ruan Guangjian had not been frightened at all.
Pei Qian's plan to dampen Ruan Guangjian's spirits had ended up as the latter's appetizer!
Painful!
Jingzhou's amusement park is to blame for all of this! Why's the haunted house there so lousy?! How embarrassing!
Pei Qian silently pushed all the blame to the amusement park.
Soon, both of them became full from the drinks and food. The table was covered with empty plates and dishes.
Ruan Guangjian patted his stomach happily and burped.
"That was yummy! Eh, Boss Pei, how come you don't seem to have much of an appetite? You ate very little."
Pei Qian sniggered. "I don't have much of an appetite today."
Ruan Guangjian nodded. "I understand, I understand. Boss Pei, you run a large business and you must be under a lot of pressure. That's probably why you don't have much of an appetite.
"I heard that Boss Pei likes activities like that, right? "It's been so difficult for me to find a friend with similar interests. I didn't expect me and you to share so many similar hobbies and interests!
"Let's go and take the pendulum rides together in a couple of days. I'm sure it'll increase your appetite!"
Pei Qian remained silent for a second, and then said, "There's no need! Don't stand on ceremony with me!" Pei Qian was furious. He had wanted to set Ruan Guangjian up, and yet the latter was ending up putting him to shame?!
The most frustrating thing was that Pei Qian could not do anything about it!
If they really went to take the pendulum rides together, Pei Qian would suffer a heart attack for no reason!
This was a massive challenge to Pei Qian.
When Teacher Qiao came the last time, Pei Qian had set him up using Repent and be Saved. That alone had been sufficient; Pei Qian could torture him with a click of his fingers. Although Teacher Qiao had made a comeback after that, he had still been subject to Pei Qian's torture while he had been in Jingzhou.
Yet, now that Ruan Guangjian was here, the script was completely different!
Pei Qian had put in so much effort into planning the roller coasters and rides from soup to nuts, and yet it proved to be in vain. As a result, Ruan Guangjian's place in Pei Qian's notebook flew upwards. It looked like it would be a matter of time before he would surpass even Teacher Qiao.
Pei Qian was very unhappy.
He had to find a way to deal with Ruan Guangjian! He could not allow Ruan Guangjian to continue getting his way!
The next afternoon…
Ruan Guangjian brought his drawing tablet and laptop to Tengda's office. He had eaten and slept well the night before. In the morning, he woke up feeling extremely refreshed and filled with inspiration.
His main purpose in going to Tengda today was to meet GOG's designers, in order to confirm that his animations and concept designs for the characters would not turn out different from their expectations.
He would gather their opinions, come up with sketches, and then send them to his workspace to be perfected by his colleagues.
The moment he stepped into the office, Ruan Guangjian paused.
It was so spacious!
Ruan Guangjian felt that comparing this place to his Halo Workspace was like comparing a pigeonhole with a detached villa.
There were many verdant and lush plants set up against the French windows. The plants looked well taken care of by professionals. Apart from that, there was also a pantry, an entertainment room, a snack area…
It contained everything necessary and unnecessary!
A pure black cat with white legs walked towards Ruan Guangjian and sniffed him before turning around and walking away, uninterested. It was almost as if the cat was mocking Ruan Guangjian for being a country bumpkin.
Ruan Guangjian was shocked. How much rent did they have to pay for a place like that?!
It was so extravagant!
His Halo Workspace was in Shanghai, near the University of Business and Economics where he graduated from. The rent in Jingzhou for a place like that probably could not be higher than in Shanghai, but it was still too much for Ruan Guangjian to cope with.
Naturally, renting an expensive place meant that everyone's workspaces would be more cramped. Furthermore, he would have less money for good desks and computers. Other facilities would have to be compromised as well.
At first, Ruan Guangjian did not feel that bad. After all, Shanghai's offices were mostly like that.
The standard workspace only measured about ten square meters. Any smaller than that, and it would be too cramped; any bigger than that, and it would be too expensive.
Ruan Guangjian had always thought that his own workspace was quite spacious. However, when he saw the working conditions in Tengda…
He immediately felt bitter.
The difference was huge!
Li Yada stood up to welcome him. "Big Boss Ruan Guangjian? How are you? I'm Li Yada. We've spoken a lot online."
The girls at the front desk poured Ruan Guangjian a cup of tea before Li Yada and Ruan Guangjian began discussing GOG's hero designs in detail.
As Ruan Guangjian listened to Li Yada's briefing, he sketched on his drawing tablet and continually made adjustments.
"This Guardian of Justice, Modest, is based on Boss Pei. Your original sketch doesn't look right in several places. Take the body, for example…"
Ruan Guangjian edited the details according to Li Yada's advice. He exaggerated the appropriate parts of the hero's body and adjusted the hero's expressions based on his character.
Discussing face-to-face was much smoother than discussing online. The hero's design soon looked much closer to what Li Yada initially had in mind.
Before they knew it, it was almost noon.
Out of habit, Ruan Guangjian retrieved his cell phone. "Is it time to order take-out? Where do you all normally order from?"
Li Yada quickly said, "Let me do it. We have our meals specially prepared for us. Just choose what you want to have for lunch."
"Meals are prepared?" Ruan Guangjian took Li Yada's cell phone suspiciously and saw a simple-looking menu on it. There were eggs and tomatoes, stew beef with potatoes, double-cooked pork, and the like. The dishes looked no different from what most other restaurants served.
Ruan Guangjian did not read too much into it and guessed that someone would order food from a restaurant nearby. He casually selected the 'Daily Healthy Set Meal' and then quickly forgot about it.
At 12 noon sharp, the delivery man arrived.
Everyone in the office got up from their seats and walked towards the pantry as if they had discussed this beforehand. One by one, white porcelain bowls were laid out on the table. It looked very extravagant.
Everyone talked and laughed as they ate.
"This is yours, the Daily Healthy Set Meal. Eh, it's Broccoli with Shrimp." Li Yada handed a transparent, glass lunchbox to Ruan Guangjian.
Ruan Guangjian took it and opened it. The lunch box was split into three compartments. The compartment that took up half of the lunchbox contained the main dish.
There were several large shrimps mixed together with green broccoli. There were also diced carrots in the middle. The meal looked very colorful and not oily at all. The two smaller compartments contained two balls of brown rice and several slices of salmon sashimi. The entire meal was also accompanied by a sweet potato milkshake.
All the food had been placed in the transparent, glass lunchbox. It looked extremely delicious and luxurious, and Ruan Guangjian could not help but salivate.
Chapter 346 I've Decided to Move my Workspace to Jingzhou!
Ruan Guangjian tried the food and realized it was unexpectedly delicious!
Before this, Ruan Guangjian always ate take-out in Shanghai. He had tried almost every restaurant offering take-out in the vicinity.
However, he racked his brains every day, thinking about what to eat.
There was better-tasting take-out, such as spicy stir-fried food, barbecue skewers, rice with meat and vegetables, and the like. However, they were often extremely oily and unhealthy. If one ate those kinds of food too often, they would easily gain weight or develop health problems.
On the other hand, take-outs that prided themselves on being healthy often tasted horrible. Most of them were made up of a bunch of raw vegetables tossed together. Thus, they could not fill Ruan Guangjian for long. He often felt hungry by the afternoon, and his productivity would be affected as a result.
Nothing much could be done about this. In order to make their food tasty, many restaurants added a lot of additives and flavoring. After all, customers who ordered take-out could not be too concerned about their health. They probably only cared about the food's taste.
If they thought the food was too bland and boring, they probably would not order from the same restaurant again. In order to make the food genuinely healthy, restaurants would have to use fresh ingredients. Apart from that, chefs would need to have solid skills. Lastly, customers would have to be willing to pay the inevitably higher price.
Thus, despite staying in Shanghai for such a long time, Ruan Guangjian had only had a few 'healthy' take-out meals. Even then, hardly any of those meals tasted like healthy, home-cooked food… like the set meal in front of him at that moment.
Ruan Guangjian curiously asked, "How much did this set cost?"
Li Yada answered, "Employees don't have to pay for these meals, but outsiders would pay about twenty yuan."
Ruan Guangjian could not help but feel emotional. "That's not expensive. Do we get to keep the cutlery?"
Li Yada shook her head. "Of course not. Someone would be sent to collect them and disinfect them."
Ruan Guangjian looked even more shocked. "That means the meal really isn't expensive! Can the restaurant really recover its costs by only collecting twenty-odd yuan per meal?" Li Yada smiled. "Fish-Catching Take-Out has been incurring loss all this while. Boss Pei has been funding the business out-of-pocket.
"However, based on the money spent on ingredients and capital, the business should be a profitable one. It's just that it's very small-scale now, and few people place orders. That's why the company is still incurring losses.
"Perhaps it will generate profits in the future. We can't be sure."
"I think that Boss Pei purely intended for this company to provide benefits for his employees. It's just like the way schools subsidize students' meals in the canteen." Ruan Guangjian continued eating his food in silence.
Once everyone had finished their meals, they gathered the cutlery and placed them on the front desk. Then, they went back to their respective workspaces to watch shows or take afternoon naps.
Li Yada did not have the habit of taking naps so she started chatting with Ruan Guangjian.
Ruan Guangjian asked about Jingzhou's rent and daily living expenses once again. The more they spoke, the more envious he became.
Jingzhou was a second-tier city after all. The living expenses here were of a whole different tier compared to in Shanghai. Naturally, Ruan Guangjian found everything cheap.
Li Yada talked about Upwind Logistics, Fish-Catching Internet Cafe, ROF's computer-installation business, and the like. It was obvious from the way she spoke that she was very proud of Tengda Corporation.
Ruan Guangjian listened without saying a thing. At last, he said nothing in response.
He softly sighed and went back to drawing.
Li Yada stood up and went to the pantry for some coffee.
She retrieved her cell phone and secretly sent Pei Qian a message: "Boss Pei, I told Big Boss Ruan Guangjian about all of Tengda's benefits, just as you asked!" Pei Qian's reply came almost immediately.
"What was his reaction?"
Li Yada answered, "He didn't say anything much, but he looked disappointed. I'm wondering if hearing about Tengda's excellent benefits has irritated him. Big Boss wouldn't bear a grudge, right?" Pei Qian answered, "Well done. I'll be there
soon!"
Pei Qian had been slacking in bed. Once he read Li Yada's messages, he jumped up and got changed as quickly as he could. He had gone back to slacking mode today. He had slept from noon all the way until 2 PM before he finally got up.
He had just been watching shows for a while when he received Li Yada's good news. At once, he could not wait to get to the office.
Pei Qian had been miserably tortured by Ruan Guangjian yesterday. That was why he had racked his brains when he got back, thinking of a way to get back at the latter.
How could Boss Pei be defeated in his own territory, Jingzhou?!
Even after much consideration, Pei Qian could only think of hurting Ruan Guangjian by telling him about Tengda's benefits.
Businesses that required owners to pay out of their own pockets, like Upwind Logistics, Fish-Catching Internet Cafe, and Fish-Catching Take-Out, involved substantial costs to run. Furthermore, excellent quality normally had to be guaranteed. Thus, such businesses were rare in large cities like Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou.
Furthermore, Ruan Guangjian's workspace was located in Shanghai where things like rent and living expenses were very high. Of course, he could not afford to make his workspace as luxurious as Tengda.
Thus, Pei Qian decided to make a big deal out of this. He wanted to deal a huge blow to Ruan Guangjian to take revenge for what had happened the night before!
From the looks of the current situation, his plan was going quite well.
Ruan Guangjian had probably already been hurt. Pei Qian guessed that life suddenly felt meaningless and dull to him now!
Pei Qian could not miss the moment.
A few minutes later, Pei Qian arrived at the office. He walked in looking very carefree. Then, he greeted Ruan Guangjian, whose head was buried in his work right then.
"Brother Ruan! How did you sleep last night? Is work going smoothly today? I'm sorry, I've been quite busy all morning. That's why I couldn't come to the office.
"Was lunch to your liking? Do you like the office environment?"
Pei Qian grinned, prepared to rub more salt into Ruan Guangjian's wounds.
Ruan Guangjian looked much more down than he was before. It was almost as if… he was thinking about something. Looking at Pei Qian, he finally made up his mind.
"Boss Pei, I have decided. I'm going to move my workspace to Jingzhou!" Ruan Guangjian looked extremely serious.
Pei Qian was stunned. After a moment, his mind filled with question marks.
"Huh?"
He had not expected that this would be the first sentence Ruan Guangjian would say to him…
Feeling like something was amiss, Pei Qian quickly said, "Brother Ruan, you shouldn't rush into things like that! Moving your workspace is no small matter!
"How about the office you're currently renting? How about the furniture and computers that you've already bought? The employees would still have to move houses. They have to leave their hometowns and come all the way to Jingzhou…
"You should chew on this for longer! Chew on this for longer!"
Pei Qian felt light-headed.
Ruan Guangjian, is it not enough that you came all the way to Jingzhou, of your own accord, to stab me in the back? Do you really intend to move your entire workspace to Jingzhou next?
Are you trying to kill me?!
Until now, Tengda's designers had been working on art resources with Halo Workspace online. Although it was much less efficient, the art resources still turned out excellent under Ruan Guangjian's supervision and quality-control.
If the entire Halo Workspace moved to Jingzhou…
Employees could just take a ride to meet one another face-to-face if they ran into any problems with communication!
Thus, Pei Qian quickly tried to change Ruan Guangjian's mind, hoping that the latter would dispel the impracticable idea once and for all.
Ruan Guangjian smiled subtly. "Boss Pei, I understand your good intentions.
"It will indeed be troublesome to move my entire workspace here. Honestly, apart from me, I'm sure most of my employees would be unwilling to move as well.
"However, I've been thinking for a long time, and I've concluded that there are more benefits to moving to Jingzhou!
"The rent here is much cheaper than in Shanghai. Everything costs less as well. There are also Fish-Catching Take-Out and Upwind Logistics. Both standard of living and convenience are practically guaranteed in Jingzhou. "Other people in the workspace could also pay less for accommodation after moving to Jingzhou. As long as their salaries remain the same, their standard of living would surely improve.
"As for the moving plan… I've more or less thought about it as well.
"We'll rent out our current office and sell off all our furniture and stationery there. Then, we'll purchase new ones once we move to Jingzhou.
"Moving such a long distance would cost a lot indeed, but all things considered, we'll probably recover that sum of money after some time."
Pei Qian felt light-headed. "It's hard to leave one's own hometown. Would your employees remain unswerving and move with you?"
Ruan Guangjian smiled. "What do you mean by 'it's hard to leave one's own hometown'? Where's our hometown? Nobody in our workspace was born in Shanghai. Most of us are just hovering in Shanghai. We can't afford houses, we haven't struck the lottery, and we don't even have bank accounts.
"Our only problem once we get to Jingzhou would be that our company is too small. It'll be hard for us to change jobs. However, the core members in my workspace are all good friends of mine. They have their hearts set on following me around; they'll work for me no matter where I go.
"I won't force the other employees. Those who are willing can come with me. Those who are not would be free to find new jobs.
"In any case, it's better to deal with painful things quickly. Since the workspace would be the same anywhere, why not move to a city with less stress?
"What's more, I have friends here."
Ruan Guangjian looked at Pei Qian with a warm gaze.
Pei Qian, "?"
At once, Pei Qian realized that Ruan Guangjian was referring to himself as his 'friend'.
Ruan Guangjian continued speaking. "All in all, our workspace will be depending on you once we get to Jingzhou, Boss Pei! You're such a loyal person; I'm sure I can trust you!"
Pei Qian's mind was filled with question marks. He was feeling very giddy now.
Pei Qian thought that the conversation had been going quite well at first. Yet, as the plot developed, it twisted and twisted… and finally descended into chaos.
No way, I cannot allow this to carry on! Ruan Guangjian is going to move his entire workspace here?! That's ridiculous! Pei Qian quickly said, "Brother Ruan, I understand how you feel.
"However, you've been so busy with work lately. If you move your workspace now, you might not be able to complete your assignments satisfactorily. You must think about this more! Don't rush into things!"
Ruan Guangjian pondered for a moment and said, "Hmm… that's true.
"Alright, then! Once we're done working on Tengda's art resources, we'll prepare to move!"
Once Ruan Guangjian finished speaking, he went back to work, his heart filled with hope for the beautiful future.
Looking at Ruan Guangjian who was now full of confidence, Pei Qian became deeply confused.
Oh, no, something horrible had happened!
Halo Workspace would move to Jingzhou City in three or four months. What could Pei Qian do about it?!
Pei Qian remained out of Ruan Guangjian's influence while the latter was in Shanghai, but once he moved to Jingzhou, wouldn't Pei Qian be completely at his mercy?!
What should he do then?!
Pei Qian's head began to throb. He quietly walked to the guest room, drank a cup of tea, and pondered deeply.
Ding! Ding! His phone rang. Pei Qian picked it up and saw that he had received a message from Li Yada.
"Boss Pei, was this in your plan as well?
"That's such an intelligent plan!
"Just a string of words could cause Big Boss Ruan to move to Jingzhou. He's even bringing his entire workspace with him!
"Is this the legendary method of luring artists over without offering anything?!
"You are indeed charming and attractive, Boss Pei.
"I have to give it to you!"
Pei Qian received several messages, one after another. It was obvious how much Li Yada respected him.
Once again, Pei Qian was at a loss for words. He wanted to say that this was a big misunderstanding. However, after typing a couple of words, he deleted them all.
He could only sigh inwardly.
This is so tough for me!
Chapter 347 I Want to Invest in the Most Unwanted Project!
December 3rd, Friday…
Tengda Network Technology Co., Ltd… Tang Yishu cleared Glabella's poop and filled up its food as usual. Then, she walked past Bao Xu and returned to her own desk.
Bao Xu's monitor was displaying Zhongdian Chinese Network's website.
He looked like he was so engrossed in an exciting online novel that he could not be bothered about anything that was happening around him.
However, the moment Tang Yishu passed him, he scanned his surroundings with the corners of his eyes to make sure that he was not within anyone's line of sight. Then, he switched to the gaming program at once.
He scanned the edited document, saved it, and then sent it to Li Yada using the chat software.
Once he was done with everything, Bao Xu heaved a sigh of relief and continued pretending to read.
Switching back and forth between games and the program was slower and less convenient. It also placed Bao Xu at a higher risk of being exposed. Switching from an online novel website was far quicker.
Although research and development of GOG was ramping up, there was still a lot of designing work to do.
That was because games of this genre often produced many bugs.
The unique mechanisms of each hero; the prioritization of their skills; whether the actions, special effects, and stats of their skills made sense or not; whether other details needed to be perfected…
All of these were design problems that they needed to continuously work on.
The sum of all of these would be beyond Li Yada and her design team's capabilities. Of course, Bao Xu had to step in to help.
However, the threat of another paid holiday made Bao Xu feel a little weak.
He did not dare to edit the document in the open. Thus, he had no choice but to secretly send it to Li Yada after making edits. She would then be the one to upload the document.
That way, Bao Xu could avoid being named the most outstanding employee once again.
A few minutes later, Li Yada replied to him.
"Should I apply for you to work overtime this weekend? Or are you going to come to the office secretly again?
"I don't think you should do that anymore. More people mean more chances to be seen. You might easily get into trouble."
Bao Xu replied, "I haven't thought about it yet. Let me consider it more.
"For some reason, I feel like the atmosphere has been quite tense recently. I wonder if I'm just overthinking…"
Ever since Bao Xu bumped into Tang Yishu last weekend, he had been having an ominous feeling. He had been prepared to be exposed at any moment.
However, Boss Pei never came looking for him.
Li Yada and Little Zhou had been called into Boss Pei's office. That meant that Boss Pei had already noticed that people had worked in the office over the weekend.
Bao Xu had been lucky this time; Li Yada and Little Zhou had covered up for him. In addition, the new, young girl—Tang Yishu, had been quite loyal. She had not ratted on him to Boss Pei. Thus, Bao Xu was certain that he was still safe for now.
However, the entire situation had made Bao Xu all the more cautious.
Boss Pei had allowed some people to work overtime this weekend.
The design team had been given a certain quota. Although the number of people who could work overtime and the duration for which they could work were severely limited, it was still good news. Team members no longer needed to work from home in secret like they used to. They could come to the office openly, make themselves a cup of coffee, have some snacks, and discuss the design direction face-to-face.
Still, Bao Xu had no plans to apply for permission.
How would Boss Pei see him if he applied to work overtime over the weekend? How would his colleagues look at him?
Wouldn't all his hard work be wasted?!
He was only two or three months from the next selection of the most outstanding employee. Bao Xu did not want to let all his efforts go down the drain.
Thus, there were only three options for Bao Xu: he could apply for permission to work overtime and come to the office openly, work from home, or secretly come to the office without applying for permission.
Bao Xu began to feel conflicted. However, his instincts told him that there was no rush to decide. He could observe the situation for a bit longer before making up his mind.
Saturday night, at Fish-Catching Internet Cafe's Handong University branch…
Pei Qian and Li Shi were sipping their cocktails while remaining silent.
Pei Qian looked distracted. He had a faraway look, and he seemed to be in low spirits. On the other hand, Li Shi sipped his drink and observed Boss Pei's expression. It was almost as if he was trying to guess what was on the latter's mind.
Pei Qian felt like everything had been going wrong recently. Thus, he decided to drop all work in the evening and have a drink or two.
He did not expect to bump into Li Shi.
Pei Qian did not think too much into it. After all, Li Shi was considered a regular of Fish-Catching Internet Cafe. He thought that it was just a coincidence-nothing out of the ordinary.
Yet, this was not the way Li Shi saw the situation. He had come to the Handong University branch on purpose, hoping to see Pei Qian.
As for why…
It was a long story.
When Ming Yun Private Kitchen became famous, Li Shi's Fu Hui Investments earned a huge profit. As a result, Li Shi became more interested in Pei Qian's every move.
He had suddenly realized that investing had become much easier!
He had thought that all he would have to do was invest in any area where Boss Pei opened a Fish-Catching Internet Cafe or a restaurant. That would guarantee profits!
However, Pei Qian had seemed to lose interest in the physical industry.
He had opened Fish-Catching Internet Cafe 2.0 in several shopping malls at the most. Li Shi had heard nothing more after that.
Li Shi had wanted to follow in Pei Qian's footsteps and freeload off the latter's wisdom. Yet, he had been failing to do so.
This confused Li Shi a lot.
Fish-Catching Internet Cafe had already become popular. More and more people were playing games there, and its reputation was improving. Wasn't this the best time to expand outwards and open more branches around the country?!
Even if Pei Qian wanted stability, shouldn't he have at least planned to expand towards the other cities in Handong Province like Luzhou City or Lincheng City?
Li Shi had been waiting for Boss Pei to open new Fish-Catching Internet Cafe branches in these cities, so that he could invest in the surrounding area and earn a profit.
However, even after so long, Boss Pei did not show any signs of doing so.
It was almost as if he was abandoning Fish-Catching Internet Cafe and cutting all ties with the business even though it had finally turned its losses to profits.
It was so strange!
Thus, Li Shi could finally hold it in no longer today. He wanted to find out Boss Pei's explanation.
"Boss Pei, it seems like you've been very busy. I haven't seen you drinking at Fish-Catching Internet Cafe in a while. Your businesses are now doing very well. It's a good problem." Li Shi started off by bootlicking Pei Qian. However, Pei Qian did not seem moved by his efforts. His businesses were doing very well. However, there was nothing good about this problem.
Pei Qian sipped his cocktail, still looking depressed. "Boss Li, I'm very confused now." Boss Li paused and then smiled. "Boss Pei, what's there to be confused about? Are you confused because you've achieved success in every area you've ventured into so far? Do you feel like life is no longer challenging enough?"
Once again, Pei Qian was at a loss for words.
Boss Li's first two sentences were right, but the last sentence was not.
More accurately put, Pei Qian felt like life was extremely challenging because he had achieved success in every area he had ventured into so far. He had been defeated so much that he was losing his fighting spirit.
Unfortunately, he could not share these problems with anyone.
Pei Qian looked at Li Shi and said earnestly, "Boss Li, you're very experienced in making investments. You know Jingzhou City's businesses like the back of your hand. Can you offer some guidance to the confused me?"
Li Shi paused and then grinned. "Boss Pei, you must be teasing me. I'm nothing compared to you in terms of making investments. I might know slightly more than you about Jingzhou's businesses, but you definitely know much more than me about the way Jingzhou's businesses would develop in the future."
Once again, Pei Qian was at a loss for words.
I'm genuinely asking you for help; I'm not trying to bootlick you! Ai, it's so tiring talking to successful men!
Pei Qian decided to stop beating around the bush and cut right to the chase. "Boss Li, I'm going to be very direct.
"Can you tell me the projects in Jingzhou City which investors refuse to touch? I want to invest five to ten million yuan in such projects. That would be my minor contribution to developing Jingzhou City's economy."
Li Shi was at a loss for words.
Boss Pei lived up to his name; even his questions were different from most other people's!
Others would only ask about projects that had the most potential or offered the most returns. Yet, Boss Pei was only asking about projects that investors refused to touch.
Awesome!
Indeed, he had the mind of a genius. He was so different from everyone else.
"I understand now, Boss Pei. Do you find traditional investment projects too simple? They can't satisfy you. Is that why you're looking to have fun with more difficult projects? Are you trying to challenge yourself?"
Li Shi's eyes were filled with respect and admiration. Pei Qian, "… More or less." Li Shi stuck up his thumb and shouted, "I respect that! "If you're talking about the projects in Jingzhou City which investors refuse to touch…
"I can only think about the old industrial zones. Now, the entire country is moving towards upgrading businesses, eliminating outdated methods of manufacturing, and developing the service industry and innovative businesses.
"Many factories have already moved out of the old industrial zones. All that remained are worn-out factory buildings. Since such zones are located in the deserted outskirts, they have been shelved.
"Some have suggested learning from Beijing's recent experiences and turning the place into a cultural industrial park.
"In fact, many people have made similar suggestions. However, none of them have stepped up to invest money.
"That's because the entire country faces the same, difficult problem. Many cities have thought about following in Beijing's footsteps and turning their old industrial zones into cultural industrial parks, but most of them have failed.
"Thus, although there are green lights all the way for such plans, no one has dared to touch the old industrial zones. The most that investors did was to symbolically rent one or two factories or warehouses and open cafes or art museums. Those investors ended up incurring losses for years.
"How's that, Boss Pei? Does that sound challenging enough?"
Once Li Shi finished speaking, he smiled and waited to see Pei Qian's reaction.
Initially, he had thought that Pei Qian was just trying to show off. He expected the latter to change his mind once he heard about such a difficult project.
What he did not expect was for Boss Pei's eyes to light up at once!
"Very good! Thank you, Boss Li! That's exactly the answer I was looking for!" Pei Qian was delighted with his unexpected good fortune.
Li Shi was right. This was a terrible mess.
Factories like that were all located in the deserted outskirts. There were no facilities around them, and few people even passed by the area. If the factories had been located in the city center, the factories would have been turned into art museums or unique tourist spots. Perhaps they could have been resurrected from the dead.
If the factories had been located downtown, they would just have to be put to a different use. Countless people would fight for them in a heartbeat.
However, nobody was interested precisely because these factories were located in the outskirts. In fact, nobody even bothered to tear them down because nobody could bear to part with the money.
Yet, that was precisely what Pei Qian was looking for!
Pei Qian downed his cocktail and stood up, preparing to leave. Li Shi quickly said, "Boss Pei, hold on! Are you really going to invest in that place?" Pei Qian nodded. "Of course!"
Li Shi was reluctant to believe him at first, but he had to admit that Boss Pei had never lied to him. Everything that Boss Pei had done in the past had seemed unreliable. Yet, Boss Pei had honored his word every time, without turning back.
What's more, he had succeeded.
Li Shi stood up as well. "Boss Pei, can you tell me what you're going to use the factory for?"
Pei Qian remained silent for a moment and then said, "Boss Li, I can tell you on one condition.
"Once the place opens for business, you have to be the first customer and experience everything inside at least once."
Li Shi could not help but grin. "What kind of condition is that? No problem! Even if Boss Pei didn't lay down this condition, I would have gone to experience it and learn."
Pei Qian nodded. "Alright, I'll tell you the truth, then. I'm intending to create a large haunted house."
Li Shi, "…"
Chapter 348 Caught Those Dogs
When he returned to his apartment, Pei Qian sent a message to Assistant Xin, telling her to make some time on Monday to check out the old industrial zones around Jingzhou City. He also instructed her to find out the price of the bigger factories there and estimate how much creating a haunted house there would cost.
After that, Pei Qian read the message from Tang Yishu.
It was Saturday. Many people went to work overtime.
On the surface, Tang Yishu looked like she went back to clear Glabella's poop. However, she had actually gone to supervise those working overtime on Pei Qian's behalf, to ensure that they did not cross the line.
Pei Qian read the message and compared the name list to the one Li Yada had handed to him.
"A girl with huge-frame spectacles… that should be Li Yada.
"A man with a mole on his face… that should be Little Li.
"A tall man with a crew cut… huh?"
Pei Qian checked Tang Yishu's message against Li Yada's name list and realized that there was a problem.
There had been one more person in the office compared to what the name list reflected!
Only five people had requested permission to work overtime. However, according to Tang Yishu's records, six members of the design team had gone back to the office!
This tall man with a crew cut was probably Chen Kangtuo from the design team. He was not among the people who requested permission to return to the office over the weekend.
Pei Qian laughed mirthlessly. Hmph, I knew it!
Indeed, a few people in the design team were still trying to work overtime. He had caught those dogs.
Pei Qian thought about how he should deal with the stubborn people who refused to change their ways and insisted on sneakily working overtime.
Should he give them a joyful send-off, present them with a larger stage on which to display their talents, and thereby make them into an example for others?
That wouldn't be right.
Doing that would treat the symptoms but not the cause. Pei Qian would be temporarily gratified, but there would still be disastrous consequences.
It was for the same reason that Pei Qian neither insisted that Tang Yishu should tell him who worked overtime during the weekend nor set up surveillance cameras around the office.
If Pei Qian transferred Chen Kangtuo to another department through the first-place-elimination system, he would undoubtedly signpost to the other employees that the same would happen to them if they worked overtime.
Those who wanted to get promoted would purposely start working overtime while those who genuinely wanted to do work would intensify their efforts. The mess would be unsalvageable.
Then, Pei Qian would have no way to differentiate the slackers from the genuine hard workers.
Pei Qian could also warn Chen Kangtuo against working overtime and strictly prohibit such behavior. Yet, although people who genuinely wanted to work overtime would appear to stop after that, they would definitely continue to secretly work from home.
If everyone started working from home, Boss Pei still would have no way to differentiate the slackers from the genuine hard workers.
Thus, he could not do that either!
As the saying went, water that was too clear had few fish, and one who was too critical had few friends.
There was not much of a difference whether he strictly supervised people's working hours or installed surveillance cameras in the office. His employees would still take their work more seriously and slack less, and Pei Qian would still not be able to differentiate the slackers from the hard workers.
Pei Qian's ultimate goal was to create a safe environment for all of his employees to slack. At the same time, they needed to think that Boss Pei would not bother even if they sneakily worked overtime.
That way, the slackers would slack without worrying and the hard workers would naturally continue working overtime in secret. The difference would be clear for Pei Qian to see.
After that, Pei Qian could come up with a list of hard workers and then arrange for them to be transferred away without anyone noticing.
He would not alert the perpetrators beforehand.
Thus, Pei Qian could not be rash. He noted down Chen Kangtuo's name without saying a word, plotting his sweet revenge and preparing to strike out of nowhere.
At the same time, he would wait for more fish to take the bait.
December 6th, Monday…
Pei Qian arrived at the office at 10 AM as usual. He noticed that there were fewer people in the office. He was confused for a while before he recalled that it was the day of Tengda's recruitment examinations.
Many employees from the HR department and the administrative department had gone out to ensure the entire process ran smoothly.
Although many postgraduate students from Handong University had come to help out as well, they could only do what they were told to by Hao Yun and the others.
Pei Qian planned to sit around in his office for a while before visiting the examination hall.
After all, recruitment was a big thing. Whether he could hire more slackers would directly impact the company's future development or not. Pei Qian could not afford to be careless about the process.
After sitting down for a short while, Assistant Xin came to report updates on her task.
"Boss Pei, I've already asked around about the factories.
"The abandoned factory buildings in the old industrial zone are meant to be developed into cultural industrial parks; that's why they're not for sale. However, the good news is that rent is cheap because nobody's interested in them.
"The monthly rent for these factory buildings is about eight to nine yuan per square meter. This sum of money would be considered negligible to our company. "If you want to turn these factory buildings into a haunted house, you have to think about how big you want the haunted house to be and how many factory buildings you would need. That would make it easier to calculate the initial investment."
Pei Qian nodded. It was much cheaper than he had imagined
At a monthly rate of eight to nine yuan per square meter, Pei Qian would only need to pay about a million yuan for several huge factory buildings, with a total of ten thousand square meters. That sum would be incomparable to the rental Pei Qian was paying for office buildings.
Of course, whether rent was expensive or not depended on location.
These factories were located in a deserted place. If one rented these factories but did not generate any revenue, they would practically be throwing one million yuan into the trash every month. That was why most people were not willing to take them up.
Assistant Xin continued speaking. "There's another thing. Boss Pei, are we going to have an annual meeting this year? If you want to do that, we should start preparing soon."
Pei Qian paused, and then immediately said, "Yes, of course!"
He had almost forgotten about that altogether!
Holding annual meetings was a great way to spend money. How could Pei Qian miss the opportunity?
He did not hold an annual meeting last year because Tengda had still been too small. That was why he had not seen a point.
However, Tengda had many more employees this year. It was logical to organize an annual meeting!
He could hold a lucky draw during the annual meeting and give an additional prize to every attendee. Wouldn't that allow him to spend a huge sum of money?
He had to thank Assistant Xin for reminding him!
Assistant Xin nodded. "Alright, Boss Pei. I'll inform the rest to start preparing. If you have any requirements, feel free to let me know."
Pei Qian said, "I don't have any requirements, except one. Everything has to be done according to Tengda's spirit, understand?"
Assistant Xin answered, "I understand. We'll distribute high-quality prizes."
Pei Qian nodded in satisfaction.
After Assistant Xin left, Pei Qian started to watch some shows. He would go down to the examination hall after lunch.
However, the moment he accessed Aili Island, he received another message on his cell phone.
It was from Lin Wan.
"Boss Pei, the first demo for Be Quiet has been created. We're also more or less done with the first version of the cell phone's system.
"Do you want to take a look at them if you have time to spare over the next few days?"
Pei Qian pondered for a moment and then typed his reply. "Alright, I'll go down to Shang Yang Games tomorrow and to Otto Technologies the day after…"
Just as he was typing, Pei Qian realized that something was amiss. He deleted everything he wrote.
He should not be going down on his own. Instead, he should ask them to come down.
It was now time for him to inspect the results of research and development. That meant it was time to put Tang Yishu, his nuclear weapon, to good use.
However, it would be strange if Pei Qian brought Tang Yishu along with him to Shang Yang Games and Otto Technologies to inspect the results.
After all, Tang Yishu was merely the encourager's keeper. Pei Qian had no reason to bring her around with him. Others might even get suspicious.
Thus, it would be best to ask everyone to come to Tengda Games instead. Then, Tang Yishu's halo effect could influence them without them realizing it.
At that thought, Pei Qian re-typed his reply. "You can come to Tengda to give me a demo tomorrow and the day after."
Soon after, Lin Wan replied, "Alright, Boss Pei."
In the afternoon…
At Tengda's recruitment examination hall…
Wu Bin had just finished eating the set meal from Fish-Catching Take-Out. He continuously praised the food in his heart.
This was the HR employee who had tried to headhunt Hao Qiong on behalf of Hengtu Games earlier and who ended up being shamed. He had been keeping a close eye on Tengda Games' recruitment for activity since then.
Tengda was finally holding recruitment examinations; naturally, he could not miss the opportunity.
He had already taken a paper in the morning. They were now having a lunch break. Wu Bin had many mixed feelings about the recruitment examinations.
The first of which was: weird!
The timing was weird, the process was weird, and the examination questions were weird. In terms of timing… Tengda was holding the examinations on a Monday. That was ridiculous to Wu Bin.
This was because many companies had meetings on Mondays, and so it was extremely difficult for employees to take leave. Yet, Tengda was purposely holding the recruitment examinations on a Monday. It was almost as if they were afraid that those who were already working would take leave to come and take the examinations.
In terms of the process… there were many stages that Wu Bin felt were strange and unnecessary. Wu Bin himself worked in HR. He was very familiar with such processes.
To him, Tengda was considered a big company. However, organizing such a long recruitment process like this was as useless as tits on a bull. It was unnecessary and a waste of money and energy. Wu Bin thought that the regular recruitment process would be much better. The most confusing thing was that there was a Tengda Spirit compatibility test at the end of the process. Those who failed that test would not be hired. That was really ridiculous.
Furthermore, the questions were very difficult!
Wu Bin had taken part in similar written examinations to be recruited as a government official. Thus, he had prepared for such questions before. He had thought that as a private enterprise, Tengda's written examinations would be much simpler.
However, he was completely wrong.
The questions were more difficult than he had imagined!
Wu Bin had nearly broken down after the morning's paper. He had thought he was well-prepared, but the difficult questions had proven to him how wrong he had been.
Still, he had no other choice.
Tengda treated its employees extremely well! It was obvious from their lunch. There were at least hundreds of applicants in the hotel's examination hall. Yet, Tengda provided meals for everyone. This alone probably cost them tens of thousands of yuan.
What's more, this was not the only examination hall.
In addition, they hired postgraduate students to invigilate and mark the papers. That was another huge cost.
as
Ai, how good it was to be rich!
Wu Bin ate the set meal from Fish-Catching Take-Out and fantasized about how good it would be if he could work in Tengda one day.
VV
After lunch, Wu Bin saw many people walk out of the examination hall.
Tengda had provided accommodation for applicants who had come from other cities. At that moment, those applicants were returning to their rooms for some rest before returning for the afternoon paper.
Since Wu Bin lived in Jingzhou, he did not enjoy such treatment.
He could return home to get some rest, but it would be troublesome to travel there and back. Thus, he decided not to go to all the trouble.
Since he had nothing else to do, Wu Bin looked around the hall and observed the other applicants-his competitors.
Most of them were young people. Furthermore, the majority among them were Jingzhou's own university graduates.
That was to be expected. After all, students in their final year of university would be scrambling to find full-time employment. Naturally, they would not give up the opportunity to take recruitment examinations like that.
Most people in Wu Bin's age, who were already employed, either found it hard to sacrifice their year-end bonus or found it difficult to take leave on a Monday. Thus, they were among the minority in the examination hall.
"It feels like Tengda favors younger employees. I wonder if old slackers like me would be able to get in."
Wu Bin felt slightly sorrowful.
Chapter 349 It was Perfectly Fine Before He Came Over
December 7th, Tuesday…
Tengda Network Technology Co., Ltd….
The examinations ended yesterday. Now, it was time for the papers to be intensely marked.
Pei Qian had expected there to be a lot of papers to mark, and so he had allocated a week for marking alone.
The interviews would be held on the following Monday. After that, the list of successful applicants could quickly be generated. From there, they would decide who could join Tengda as interns and get the opportunity to take the Tengda Spirit compatibility test.
Pei Qian was very happy with the time allocation for the entire process.
On one hand, the written examinations, interviews, and selection had lengthened the entire recruitment process by nearly two weeks. This worked to persuade many people not to try and apply for a job at Tengda.
On the other hand, having to take two Mondays off in such a short period made most working adults feel helpless. As a result, many experienced, potential applicants had been dissuaded from applying as well.
All in all, he had come up with many ways and means to dissuade as many people from applying as possible!
For now, the HR department and administrative department were handling the marking of papers. Given Tengda's current size, Pei Qian guessed that guarding against bribery and fraud was unnecessary.
In the future-as the recruitment drives get bigger in scale, they would mark the papers according to the standards of other large-scale examinations. They could purchase professional facilities and recruit professional markers. Then, Pei Qian would probably be able to spend a huge sum of money.
Just as he was considering this, someone knocked on his door.
Pei Qian looked up to see Ye Zhizhou.
Be Quiet had been completed earlier than GOG. Now, the first version of their demo was already out.
The current version could not be considered done. At the most, it contained the game's basic functions such as the movement of characters against the backdrop, the use of props, and the like.
Art resources were still far from done, and only one setting had been completed. There was also still a lot of room for improving the props, characters, and special effects.
Still, the initial demo offered some idea of how the game would look like.
Ye Zhizhou sucked in a long breath at the door of Boss Pei's office, trying to calm himself down.
In the past, Boss Pei had always gone over to Shang Yang Games to check on the game's research and development progress. However, this time, Ye Zhizhou had been summoned to 'face the god' alone at Tengda Games. Of course, he felt slightly nervous.
Cou
ervo
"Calm down, calm down. The demo isn't meant to be a perfect version. It's normal for there to be bugs in the demo. Boss Pei wouldn't blame me. "As long as it can show the game's basic functions, it'll be good enough.
"That's unless… there are so many bugs that he can't even play the demo. "That isn't likely, though. The testing team already ran the game once through. The serious bugs have already been fixed.
"There are still some minor bugs in the demo, but I probably won't be so unlucky. All of them wouldn't appear, right?"
Ye Zhizhou comforted himself before knocking the door and entering the office.
"Boss Pei, this is the game's program. Please install it."
Ye Zhizhou handed a portable hard drive to Pei Qian. Pei Qian took it and then installed the game's demo onto his own computer. Then, he handed the controller to Ye Zhizhou.
Actually, Pei Qian still had no idea what kind of game this was.
That was because he had only given several general instructions to Shang Yang Games earlier. After that, he had left them to create the game on their own.
Thus, Pei Qian felt quite hopeful about the game's demo. He had no idea what his instructions, which pointed to a dead-end, had led the team at Shang Yang Games to come up with.
Yet…
Could Pei Qian see the demo for what it truly was under the influence of Tang Yishu's halo effect?
Pei Qian highly doubted that.
There was a blank screen, and then the game started. Pei Qian was quite surprised. It worked! No error popped up and the game didn't crash!
The demo seemed quite good.
Ye Zhizhou had no inkling of his impending doom. He moved the joystick on the controller, operating the game and explaining it at the same time.
"We've completed the basics for the demo such as the movement of the characters, the use of surrounding props, and the like. Our main purpose was to show you the horror atmosphere and the overall style and see if they are to your liking.
"This is the first character we made. It's a male adult with a standard body type. His health meter, strength meter, and sanity meter are displayed on the screen.
"We expect to come up with more different characters later on, so that players can customize their appearance…"
Ye Zhizhou observed Boss Pei's expressions as he explained.
Boss Pei looked engrossed in the screen as if he was expecting something to happen. At the same time, it was mixed with the hopeful look was a hint of… surprise.
Ye Zhizhou could not help but feel proud of himself.
It looks like Boss Pei thinks highly of our project; he can't possibly feign this hopeful expression!
Furthermore, the hint of surprise in his expression showed that the game was more complete than he had expected.
The situation was looking good!
Ye Zhizhou began explaining with more excitement.
However, only two thoughts filled Pei Qian's mind at that moment.
When will the bug appear? I can't wait. The bug hasn't appeared yet? I guess the bunch of people at Shang Yang Games has put in a lot of effort into this demo.
Pei Qian did not feel much about the game itself. He could only say that it was alright. He could not see signs of the game becoming popular from a mere demo.
The game's foundational contents and details, its art resources, and its style were all pretty well done. After all, the game was being produced by a game editor. As long as they were willing to pour in enough money, its art resources could not turn out that badly.
However, the horror atmosphere was far from?good.
Of course, it was probably because the monsters and other gamers had not been added. There was also no sign of danger. No matter how dark and scary they made the game look, there was a limit to how frightening it could be.
Still, no matter what, this demo had not left a lasting impression in Pei Qian's mind for now.
"Boss Pei, this is a special tape recorder. Once players use it, a deafening, scary soundtrack would play. The sanity meter of all players around it would take a huge hit. Take a look…"
At that point, Ye Zhizhou moved his character forward and tried to interact with the props in the surroundings.
However, nothing happened.
Ye Zhizhou, "?"
He was confused inside. He clicked the prop once again.
It still didn't work.
"Heh, Boss Pei, I think there might be a bug. It's alright, we have other props prepared."
Pei Qian smiled and said, "That's fine. It's a demo after all. It's expected to have bugs."
Ye Zhizhou heaved a sigh of relief and moved to the next prop that he could interact with.
"This is an ax. You can pick it up and attack enemies with it, just like that."
Ye Zhizhou made the character wave the ax around, causing the crates, old tables, and other random items around him to shatter to pieces.
Ye Zhizhou heaved a sigh of relief once more. Thankfully, nothing had gone wrong with the weapon system.
However, just as he was starting to feel better, the character holding the ax dropped into a chink in the map.
Ye Zhizhou was speechless.
He reacted immediately by clicking the prepared hotkey. Once again, the character reappeared in the starting position on the map.
"Hehe, that was an accident. I accidentally dropped into a chink in the map. Don't worry, Boss Pei. We will definitely fill the gap later on."
Pei Qian nodded. "Yes, yes, of course."
Ye Zhizhou did not dare to over-explain himself, for fear that Boss Pei would think he was both incapable and unwilling to own up to his own mistakes. Thus, he continued steering his character forward, toward the arranged next prop. However, he only made it a couple of steps before the image jammed.
Deng! Deng! Deng! Deng! The program stopped suddenly, projecting them back to the desktop. Multiple error windows popped up, stacking one on top of another rather ceremonially.
Ye Zhizhou felt too ashamed to explain himself. He quietly took hold of the mouse and closed the error windows before trying to reboot the game.
This time, however, the game could not launch.
Ye Zhizhou was speechless…
Confused…
Puzzled…
What was going on?
Before he came to Tengda, Ye Zhizhou had tried the game on different computers at Shang Yang Games. Although one or two bugs appeared every now and then, the game functioned quite well on the whole.
Yet, now, he could not even launch the game.
Ye Zhizhou looked at Boss Pei, ashamed. "Boss Pei, I don't know why this is happening. The game was functioning well before. I'm really sorry. There are too many bugs in the game. I'll go back and make some edits… and then demonstrate it to you again in the future…"
Ye Zhizhou was too embarrassed to look at Boss Pei in the eyes.
Boss Pei had thought so highly of the game, and he had been so expectant as well. Yet, Ye Zhizhou had completely blown it!
Now, he had only one feeling: he was too ashamed to face his superiors!
How would he explain this to Director Lin when he got back to Shang Yang Games…?
Unexpectedly, Boss Pei grinned at him and said, "Don't worry. It's only a demo. This is very normal. Don't blame yourself.
"Although I didn't get to see a demonstration of the actual game's contents, I felt your sincerity and genuineness in researching and developing the game. Continue along the same path!
"You don't have to give me a demonstration of this version anymore. You can give me another demo when you've completed the game's basic gameplay." Boss Pei… isn't blaming me?
Ye Zhizhou tried hard to look for any hint of reproach in Boss Pei's expression, but he failed.
Boss Pei's expression was benevolent. He even looked a bit comforted.
Wait, comforted? Why was Boss Pei feeling comforted?
Ye Zhizhou was confused.
He could not have been comforted about the appearance of so many bugs.
Could it be that Pei Qian had deciphered the direction of our design through the short demonstration? Has he confirmed that we are on the right track?
Yes, that must be it!
After all, Boss Pei was the one who set the game's general direction. Boss Pei must know how the final version of the game would look better than any one of us.
Since that's the case, there's nothing strange about Boss Pei's expression.
Ye Zhizhou knew very well that everyone at Shang Yang Games had been working hard during this period. The demo was indeed more or less complete. It was just that his luck had been bad today, and bugs kept appearing in the game for some reason.
Thankfully, Boss Pei was not pursuing the matter. Instead, he was very understanding about this unlikely scenario.
"Rest assured, Boss Pei. I'll go back and fix all the bugs. The next time I come, I'll demonstrate an early version of the game that will definitely be good enough!"
Ye Zhizhou turned to leave the office.
Before that, he had been quite remiss. He had thought that the research and development of Be Quiet had been progressing quickly and smoothly. Thus, he started slacking off.
Now, however, all of those feelings were gone. They still had a long way to go! He had to keep working hard!
Seeing that Ye Zhizhou's motivation had been renewed, Pei Qian felt slightly confused.
I didn't say a word. Why is he becoming so agitated…?
Still, whatever that had happened today had confirmed something for Pei Qian. Tang Yishu's halo was indeed effective. In fact, it was extremely effective!