Pei Qian approached Qiao Liang casually, smiling as he asked, “How do you feel?”

Qiao Liang was still immersed in the game and didn’t react immediately. After a moment’s hesitation, he stood up: “I feel… uh…”

For a moment, Qiao Laoshi, who had played so many bizarre games and made so many video episodes, found himself at a loss for words.

How did he feel?

The strongest feeling was that the game’s difficulty setting was wrong!

Perhaps the numerical designer had accidentally added an extra zero to the enemies’ attack power; everything else was fine.

But seeing Mr. Pei’s warm smile, Qiao Laoshi couldn’t bring himself to say it.

Mr. Pei was, after all, something of a star producer now. Could he make such a stupid numerical error?

Adding an extra zero to values was an error that even entry-level numerical designers rarely made. After all, nowadays, to enter the profession of numerical design, one’s basic mathematical knowledge must meet standards.

Unlike story planners, who could get jobs just by writing some pretentious sentences.

So Qiao Laoshi hemmed and hawed for a long time, unable to come up with a proper response.

He even felt a bit guilty.

Oh, Qiao Liang, why are you dropping the ball at such a crucial moment?

Mr. Pei had invited you from so far away, treating you with good food and accommodation, all because he saw you as an experienced player and wanted to hear your opinion, right?

But after playing for several hours, you can’t even answer such a simple question. You’re letting Mr. Pei down!

He felt quite embarrassed.

However, Pei Qian didn’t mind at all. Instead, he laughed: “Let’s go eat. Tonight, I’ll host a welcome dinner for you!”

Pei Qian wasn’t angry at all; on the contrary, he was very satisfied with Qiao Laoshi’s reaction.

It indicated that playing “Turn Back to Shore” had left him in a daze, which was exactly what Pei Qian wanted to see.

After all, Qiao Laoshi’s endurance capacity was among the strongest in the player community.

Back when “The Lonely Desert Highway” came out, Qiao Laoshi had genuinely completed the entire journey, absolutely hardcore!

Of course, part of it was for his livelihood, but Qiao Laoshi’s ability to withstand pressure was not to be underestimated.

But now, even Qiao Laoshi was being tortured into a daze by this game—didn’t that just prove that Pei Qian’s approach was correct?

Looking at Qiao Laoshi’s reaction and imagining how ordinary players would react, Pei Qian felt even more confident about the prospects of “Turn Back to Shore.”

…

…

Mingyun Private Kitchen.

Pei Qian led Qiao Liang to the largest private room at the restaurant.

In the afternoon, all the decorations here had been changed. To match the dishes prepared for today, they had selected coordinating interior decorations, dining tables, tableware, and so on, giving it a distinctive style.

Only Pei Qian and Qiao Liang were dining, with no one else accompanying them.

Other employees were still busy with Mr. Pei’s money-losing enterprise; only Mr. Pei himself was relatively free, so he came to dine with Qiao Liang as a show of respect.

Moreover, this wasn’t a formal business dinner; having too many people would make it constrained.

The environment was excellent, and the service was impeccable.

Even the pre-meal desserts and appetizers were better than the main courses at ordinary restaurants.

Eating the appetizers and chatting casually with Pei Qian, Qiao Liang inexplicably felt a sense of crisis.

Is Mr. Pei being too good to me?

As the saying goes, unusual events suggest something fishy. I’m just an ordinary video content creator; what virtues or abilities do I have that make Mr. Pei value me so highly?

Could there be some conspiracy behind this?

Qiao Liang felt that Mr. Pei’s smile across from him seemed somewhat meaningful, not so pure.

“How far have you progressed in the game?” Pei Qian picked up a piece of appetizer with his chopsticks, smiling as he asked.

Qiao Liang answered truthfully: “I’ve reached the town.”

Oh, he’s already left the initial small village?

Not bad, not bad, the progress is quite fast.

It seemed that Qiao Laoshi’s intuition and operation were both good.

Similar suffering games were typically most difficult at the beginning; as long as one persevered, they generally became smoother as one progressed.

The key was a change in mindset.

Without changing one’s mindset, it wouldn’t be surprising to never leave the starting village.

Like other souls-like games, “Turn Back to Shore” had a setting where monsters respawned after death. If some hotheads only knew how to rush impatiently forward, no matter how many times they tried, their game progress would just keep treading in place.

But if they could find the trick and advance steadily with caution, the game progress would be much faster.

This was Qiao Liang’s first encounter with this type of game, so it was normal for progress to be slow at the beginning.

However, thinking about Qiao Laoshi suffering in the starting village for eight hours, Pei Qian couldn’t help but let his lips curl upward, involuntarily wanting to laugh.

“What do you feel are the main difficulties?” Pei Qian continued to ask.

For areas that Qiao Laoshi considered difficult, they must intensify; for areas that Qiao Laoshi didn’t consider difficult, they must increase the difficulty.

Qiao Liang replied without thinking: “The monsters’ attack power is too high.”

“What else?” Pei Qian directly ignored this point.

“Also…” Qiao Liang fell into deep thought.

Eight hours of miserable experiences flashed through his mind, scene by scene.

Like angering one small monster and being surrounded by a group of small monsters; walking into an alley and suddenly being surrounded by monsters from front, back, left, and right; crossing a cliff and being pushed off by a monster that suddenly rushed out…

The eight-hour struggle was truly filled with blood and tears!

Qiao Liang felt like a fish on a chopping board, at the mercy of others!

No, at the mercy of monsters!

Listening to Qiao Liang’s laments, Pei Qian tried to keep his expression serious, but no matter how hard he tried, he could only see four big words on Qiao Liang’s face: Intensify the effort!

Hearing Qiao Laoshi personally recount his suffering experiences, Pei Qian felt even happier.

What did I spend so much money making this game for?

Wasn’t it for this day?

But Qiao Liang had not yet noticed Mr. Pei’s subtle expression; he was still immersed in his suffering emotions, unable to extricate himself.

“The most ridiculous thing is that in the town, there are monsters similar to night watchmen, working in pairs—one with a gong and one with a clapper. All the dormant monsters along their path wake up, and it takes a long time for them to fall asleep again. I wanted to assassinate them, but these two guys carry lanterns and have incredibly sharp eyes. One strike and my health bar bottomed out. Just as I was about to run, these two used hidden weapons. I was just about to…”

“Pfft.”

Pei Qian finally couldn’t hold back and laughed out loud.

Qiao Laoshi froze completely: “Mr. Pei?”

Pei Qian felt a bit embarrassed. Oh no, he couldn’t hold it in!

Mainly because Qiao Laoshi described it so vividly and with such emotion, Pei Qian could even mentally picture him being chased and hacked at by the lantern-carrying night watchmen. It was really hard to maintain seriousness.

Fortunately, at that moment, the dishes were successively served.

“I’m just happy to see the dishes arriving. Come, come, Teacher Qiao, please help yourself.”

Pei Qian hurriedly pushed the sea urchin sushi that the waiter had just placed on the table toward Qiao Liang, gesturing for him to eat quickly.

Qiao Liang felt even more uneasy.

Mr. Pei’s expression was very strange.

Why did it feel like he was gloating?

Seeing me die repeatedly in the game seemed to make him very happy. He couldn’t even help laughing out loud just now?

Could it be that Mr. Pei invited me from so far away just to watch me suffer?

And this table full of delicious food—was it because his conscience was bothering him?

Qiao Liang couldn’t help but feel suspicious.

Although I’m just an ordinary content creator who has signed a contract and accepted your money, I still have personality and dignity!

If my suspicion is true, even if the contract has already been signed, I will protest strongly and expose this disrespectful behavior toward the cooperating party online!

Qiao Liang thought angrily as he picked up a piece of sea urchin sushi.

“Hmm? It’s delicious!”

The cool freshness of the sea urchin combined with the warm, fragrant rice in the sushi—two wonderful sensations instantly melding on the tip of his tongue, like a sensuous French kiss, immediately conquered Qiao Liang’s taste buds.

Qiao Liang had eaten some Japanese cuisine in the capital before, but he could feel that this was not ordinary sea urchin!

Ordinary sea urchins were very cheap, but some auction-grade sea urchins could cost several thousand yuan each.

That’s why when Xue Zhebin came at noon today and asked about sea urchin, the waiter told him it needed to be reserved, because Mingyun Private Kitchen didn’t sell ordinary sea urchin.

Of course, to be more precise, the kitchen did have sea urchin at that time, but it was all reserved by Pei Qian to entertain Qiao Laoshi, so it couldn’t be served to Xue Zhebin.

Looking at the plates of exquisite dishes on the table, Qiao Liang felt that the suspicion in his heart melted away like ice and snow.

Mr. Pei values me so much and treats me to such delicious food; how could he possibly watch me suffer?

If I can eat so many delicious things just by playing a game and suffering a bit, then I can only say… please intensify the effort, I can still endure it!

Qiao Liang made a silent resolution while enjoying the delicious food.

“Mr. Pei is being so good to me; I must play this game seriously, complete it thoroughly, and promote it well for him!”

…

…

“Thank you for your hospitality, Mr. Pei!” Qiao Laoshi still felt somewhat unsatisfied, but his stomach truly couldn’t hold any more.

So much delicious food—it was the ultimate satisfaction!

Qiao Laoshi even felt that just for this meal, coming to Jingzhou was worth it!

Pei Qian didn’t know that Qiao Laoshi’s mindset had undergone a huge change at the dinner table. He instructed Young Sun to take Qiao Laoshi back to the hotel, then return to pick him up.

After seeing Qiao Liang off, Pei Qian found Lin Canrong and asked about the recent situation.

There were also tables and chairs in the villa’s garden, and the cool evening breeze was refreshing.

“How many customers have been coming recently?”

Ever since Zhang Zuting posted on Weibo earlier, Pei Qian had been feeling anxious, concerned about the situation at Mingyun Private Kitchen.

Lin Canrong immediately understood.

From initially having no customers to recently having people gradually coming in, clearly, Mingyun Private Kitchen’s promotional work was steadily progressing in places most people weren’t aware of.

Mr. Pei probably wanted to ask about the recent number of customers to judge the results of the promotion, right?

However, how should he answer?

Logically, to highlight the success of the promotional work, he should speak optimistically. But doing so would seem like deceiving Mr. Pei.

After all, the customers who had come in the past two days added up to less than ten people, and most of them were scared off after looking at the menu. Only two or three people stayed to eat.

The only repeat customer was the young man named Xue Zhebin, who came at noon.

Just looking at the numbers, how could anyone possibly be optimistic?

Seeing Lin Canrong hesitating, Pei Qian’s lips couldn’t help but curl up slightly.

Good, good, Lin Canrong didn’t immediately report the good news excitedly—that was the best news!

This indicated that Zhang Zuting’s Weibo post hadn’t had such an obvious effect and didn’t significantly stimulate customer flow.