Coming out of the reception room, Pei Qian wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

He could see now that this interview team meant business!

Pei Qian had originally thought this was just a minor problem he could deal with casually. It was just an interview, right? He would say whatever, the journalist would write whatever, readers would skim through it, and everyone would move on as if nothing had happened.

He never expected that Editor Xia’s ability to turn black into white would be so powerful!

Now he realized this was definitely not a small issue. If not handled properly, the consequences could be very serious!

Pei Qian hurriedly pulled Assistant Xin aside. “Which employees is Editor Xia going to interview?”

Assistant Xin thought for a moment. “All the outstanding employees who have performed exceptionally well at Tenda, like Huang Sibo, Bao Xu, Lin Wan, Lü Mingliang…”

Pei Qian drew in a sharp breath.

This was practically a list of Pei’s biggest thorns in his side!

Most of them were outstanding employees who had been eliminated, plus problematic individuals like Bao Xu, who needed constant monitoring.

And these employees who were keen on backstabbing Mr. Pei all had one thing in common—they loved making wild assumptions.

Huang Sibo, Bao Xu, and Lin Wan—they were all dangerous over-interpreters.

If they were interviewed by Editor Xia, the combined effect of both parties’ wild interpretations might not be simply additive—it could be multiplicative or even exponential.

Would the interview even be watchable at that point??

They’d probably praise Mr. Pei to the point where he’d have a heart attack on the spot.

Pei Qian instinctively wanted to arrange replacements, but on second thought, that wouldn’t be appropriate either.

First, who could guarantee that other employees weren’t also over-interpreters?

Second, if he found a few ordinary lower-level employees to be interviewed and they mentioned their job titles to Editor Xia, that wouldn’t look right either.

Editor Xia would wonder why key staff weren’t being interviewed. Was there some hidden story behind this?

Then Editor Xia might privately find these over-interpreters for interviews, giving Mr. Pei a nasty surprise…

That scenario was too frightening for Pei Qian to imagine.

So, these people still had to be interviewed.

As for how to save himself…

Pei Qian thought for a moment and instructed, “Tell them directly that during the interview, they must not mention me at all. Even if they do mention me, they absolutely cannot say anything good about me. Understood?”

Xin Hailu was stunned. “Mr. Pei, this… might be a bit difficult.”

Pei Qian waved his hand. “This is an order. It must be done. Go notify them quickly.”

Xin Hailu nodded, took out her phone, and at lightning speed selected several employees who were about to be interviewed. She sent a group message relaying Mr. Pei’s requirements.

Afterward, Assistant Xin returned to the reception room and briefly explained a few things to Editor Xia.

Pei Qian still felt uneasy.

But he had already told Editor Xia that he had other official business to attend to, so it would be hard to explain if he stayed at Tenda.

So, despite feeling concerned, Pei Qian could only leave, thinking he would reconsider the situation after today’s interviews were completed tomorrow morning.

…

Huang Sibo entered the reception room and felt a bit nervous seeing the unfamiliar setup.

There were three cameras alone—one fixed-position camera and two handheld cameras shooting from different angles—plus the very professional-looking Editor Xia, all indicating that this interview was definitely high-profile.

As the first Tenda employee to receive the Dream Fund, it made perfect sense for Huang Sibo to be interviewed first.

Originally, he thought this would be a very ordinary interview. He could just say whatever came to mind and be done with it, without paying too much attention.

After all, the main interview subject was Mr. Pei, so all he needed to do was accurately portray Mr. Pei’s glorious image, answer whatever the journalist asked, and that would be it, right?

But now, the situation had changed.

Before Huang Sibo entered, he received a crucial message saying that during the interview, he shouldn’t mention Mr. Pei, and even if he did mention him, he couldn’t say anything positive.

Huang Sibo instantly felt enormous pressure.

He wasn’t particularly confused by this, since Mr. Pei’s thinking was always so free-spirited and unconventional. Many behaviors and requests that defied common sense often had very complex and profound meanings behind them.

Huang Sibo and most Tenda employees were already accustomed to this.

He couldn’t say anything good, but he certainly couldn’t tarnish Mr. Pei’s reputation either.

One would have to be out of their mind to speak ill of their boss during such an important interview.

Moreover, Mr. Pei’s kindness to everyone was as weighty as a mountain. Wouldn’t their conscience hurt if they spoke badly of Mr. Pei?

So the only option was to not mention Mr. Pei at all.

But if he followed Mr. Pei’s requirements and failed to complete the interview task, what then?

After all, there were three cameras recording, and when the interview was edited together, a large number of players would watch it. He couldn’t just talk nonsense in front of tens of thousands of players just to fulfill Mr. Pei’s request, making Tenda look bad, could he?

It was a dilemma.

So Huang Sibo had to rack his brains to figure out what to say that would both satisfy Mr. Pei’s requirements and not cause the interview to deviate greatly, raising questions from everyone.

He couldn’t think of a good solution in such a short time, so he could only listen to Editor Xia’s questions and improvise.

On the other side, Editor Xia was also carefully reviewing the list of people to be interviewed, as if preparing for battle.

Before the interview, Xia Jiang had already received this list, including their work experience, areas of responsibility, and some outstanding work events.

This way, they could save a lot of preliminary communication time and make the interview more efficient.

Assistant Xin had hinted that Mr. Pei hoped the employee interviews would avoid mentioning him as much as possible, focusing instead on exploring these outstanding employees’ inner worlds.

Xia Jiang expressed understanding of this.

The low-key Mr. Pei never competed with employees for fame or profit, leaving all opportunities for recognition to his employees.

This was a very rare and noble quality.

If someone else had said such things, Xia Jiang might have questioned their motives.

But coming from Mr. Pei, it seemed entirely natural to Xia Jiang.

So, Xia Jiang also decided to fully respect Mr. Pei’s intention and try to keep the topics away from him as much as possible.

But was that enough?

Xia Jiang didn’t think so.

Mr. Pei could be indifferent to fame and fortune and completely uninterested in competing for empty honors.

But Xia Jiang felt that, as a professional journalist, she could let everyone know about Mr. Pei’s noble character! And she had the duty to reveal the truth to everyone!

So, how could she convey Mr. Pei’s noble character while respecting his wishes and not mentioning him at all?

This was an extremely difficult task, but Xia Jiang was prepared.

Huang Sibo sat down on the sofa, and Xia Jiang quickly finished reviewing his resume. The interview officially began.

Xia Jiang smiled. “Due to some reasons we’re both aware of, today’s interview content needs to be modified slightly.”

“You just need to answer the questions truthfully according to your thoughts, okay?”

Huang Sibo quickly nodded.

Indeed, she was a professional journalist. It seemed she already had a solution, so there was no need to worry.

“We all know you’re considered a veteran employee at Tenda. When you joined, the company had just been established. So, can you tell us why you decided to join such a company at that time?” Xia Jiang asked.

Huang Sibo briefly recalled the scene at that time.

Initially, I was doing odd jobs at another game company in Jingzhou. Because the pay and work were completely out of proportion, and I happened to see Tenda’s recruitment ad online, I thought I’d try my luck.”

“When I went for the interview, I ran into my former lead designer, Old Liu, but he didn’t pass the interview either, which made me a bit anxious.”

“After arriving at the company, I found that although it was a startup, the working environment was excellent, which strengthened my desire to work there.”

“I honestly introduced my position and work abilities and received compensation far beyond my expectations, so… I came to work here.”

Huang Sibo was very careful to omit Mr. Pei’s existence throughout the entire description.

Xia Jiang nodded with a tacit understanding, preparing to ask a few detailed questions about this content.

“The company hired you but didn’t hire your former company’s experienced lead designer, is that right?”

Huang Sibo nodded. “Yes.”

“At that time, although Tenda was still a startup, the working environment was very good, correct?”

“Yes.”

“You said you received compensation far beyond your expectations. How exactly was this compensation negotiated?”

Huang Sibo thought for a moment. “Uh… I first proposed a number, and then my requested salary was doubled.”

Xia Jiang gave Huang Sibo an approving look.

Very good, that’s the feeling!

The two had reached an understanding, and the subsequent interview became very simple.

“Before you officially began producing ‘Sea Fortress,’ the production concept for this game already had a rough framework, correct?”

“You weren’t clear about the specific promotional methods for this game at the beginning, right?”

“After completing ‘Sea Fortress,’ you left Tenda Games. Can you briefly explain why?”

“When Fei Huang Studio first started, it was continuously losing money, but it never accepted low-end advertisements like ordinary video creators. Was this because someone gave you advice, correct?”

One question after another, Xia Jiang and Huang Sibo engaged in a back-and-forth conversation, greatly enjoying their chat.

By noon, Huang Sibo’s interview was finally coming to an end.

Xia Jiang was very satisfied with this interview and stood up to shake hands with Huang Sibo.

“Thank you very much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to accept the interview. I hope your work goes smoothly and you achieve even greater success!”

…

…

At Slackin’ Internet Café.

Pei Qian, who was playing a game, checked the time—it was almost 12 o’clock.

Presumably, the first interview should be finished by now, right?

He wondered what exactly had been revealed, feeling quite uneasy about it.

But Pei Qian didn’t feel comfortable asking, so he could only hope that these treasured employees would all obey and follow the requirement, not to mention him.

Pei Qian felt this situation was a bit ridiculous.

It was others being interviewed, so why was he the one feeling so anxious?