March 20th, Sunday.

Mingyun Private Kitchen.

The weather had gradually turned warmer, and today was a bright, sunny day with pleasant afternoon sunshine.

The courtyard of Mingyun Private Kitchen had already been set up with tables, chairs, and sun umbrellas. Compared to before, over a dozen more seats had been added, accommodating even more people.

With clear skies and gentle breezes, dining outside had its special charm.

At this moment, the core members from various Tenda departments had gathered together, exchanging toasts and drinks while catching up. Waiters moved between them, pouring wine and serving dishes, as the entire Mingyun Private Kitchen was immersed in a joyful and harmonious atmosphere.

The heads of various departments took turns welcoming Ruan Guangjian, making the members of Halo Studio feel the warmth of home.

Taking this opportunity, many department heads also expressed gratitude to other departments.

For example, Chang You from Outopia Technology.

The success of the OTTO E1 phone was inseparable from the support and concessions of other departments in the early stages. Although Director Lin had secured this as part of Tenda Group’s overall development strategy, and all profits from the phone would be returned without missing a penny, Chang You certainly didn’t take this help for granted.

He and the core members of Outopia Technology expressed their gratitude to other departments one by one, laying a solid foundation for continued deep cooperation in the future.

Another example was Huang Sibo from Fei Huang Studio.

The various advertising concepts and logos in the movie were completed through collective wisdom from all departments. Although the movie’s great success had benefited other departments, Huang Sibo didn’t forget to thank everyone for their strong support.

In addition, some new faces also received warm welcomes.

For instance, the three new heads of Tenda’s gaming department: Hu Xianbin, Min Jingchao, and Zhang Nan.

After taking over from Li Yada and Bao Xu, these three had performed excellently. The explosive popularity of the GOG mobile version has led everyone to recognize their abilities.

Some old friends also took this opportunity to catch up and discuss the recent developments in their businesses.

As for Pei Qian, he didn’t come today.

Pei Qian had already foreseen what kind of scene today’s celebration banquet would be. If he forced himself to attend this meal, the outcome could be described in just four words:

Rubbing salt in wounds!

Just thinking about the awkward scenario of all department heads taking turns to toast him and saying things like “without Mr. Pei’s wise guidance, the project wouldn’t have been successful” gave Pei Qian a stabbing pain in his heart.

So, he simply decided not to come.

As they say, out of sight, out of mind. There would be many opportunities to enjoy a feast at Mingyun Private Kitchen; it didn’t have to be this one.

The department heads knew this information from the beginning, but the other core members participating in the gathering didn’t.

Therefore, not long after the celebration began, many people raised this question.

“Hey, Director Lin, why isn’t Mr. Pei here?”

“Yeah, I remember Mr. Pei would attend previous gatherings.”

“Does Mr. Pei have something else today?”

“Hmm… today is Sunday. Could it be that Mr. Pei is still busy with work? He repeatedly tells us not to work overtime, but is he still rushing around for company matters on weekends?”

Many people’s eyes revealed a sense of concern and shame.

Concern that Mr. Pei’s body might not be able to withstand such high-intensity work;

Shame, feeling that while Mr. Pei was working so hard, they were comfortably eating and drinking, which seemed somewhat inappropriate.

Lin Wan raised a glass of red wine and smiled, saying, “Everyone, don’t worry. I think Mr. Pei’s absence today isn’t entirely due to work matters; there are also some other considerations.”

The noisy venue instantly quieted down a bit as people looked at Lin Wan and asked, “Director Lin, do you know some inside information?”

Lin Wan shook her head, “I don’t know any inside information, but I can make an educated guess!”

“In my view, Mr. Pei’s absence today has at least two motives and reasons.”

Everyone listened attentively.

“First, Mr. Pei wants to give all our departments enough private space.”

“Perhaps Mr. Pei feels that, as the boss, his presence at such occasions would prevent some employees from relaxing fully. Everyone would maintain a composed face because the boss is present, making the atmosphere relatively serious.”

“Therefore, Mr. Pei intentionally didn’t come to create a natural, pressure-free atmosphere for all of us to properly enjoy the relaxation and joy after success.”

Everyone nodded, finding this reasoning quite sound.

Although Mr. Pei was very approachable and didn’t put on any airs as a boss, at the end of the day, a boss is still a boss.

Moreover, Mr. Pei had a far-sighted vision and flawless strategies, with a very dazzling aura among all department heads. Even if everyone wanted to treat him as an ordinary person, that would be virtually impossible.

Under these circumstances, Mr. Pei’s presence would cause some subtle changes in the atmosphere.

And for Mr. Pei to deliberately miss a gathering so that everyone could enjoy the food more freely and better connect… it seemed he truly had a special intention!

Lin Wan continued with a smile, “Secondly, Mr. Pei is working, there’s no doubt about that, but it’s probably not the kind of work you all imagine.”

“Over such a long time, have you all noticed a special phenomenon?”

“Mr. Pei seems to be busiest after all projects have been completed!”

Everyone thought carefully and realized this was indeed the case.

At the beginning of a project, Mr. Pei would simply provide a few general directions and then let each department freely develop without further inquiry.

During project development, although Mr. Pei would occasionally check in, he would neither push for progress nor nitpick details. Instead, he would strictly punish situations that violated the Tenda spirit, such as blindly rushing work or working overtime.

Rather, it was when projects had already achieved great success and everyone was resting that Mr. Pei would become busy, often being seen briefly but then disappearing, no one knowing what he was busy with.

Moreover, at this stage, Mr. Pei always seemed worried, constantly appearing to be deep in thought.

“Why is this?” someone asked.

Lin Wan took a sip of red wine and said with some emotion, “Not all peaceful times come easily; there are always people bearing heavy burdens for us.”

“As the saying goes, ‘Those without long-term plans will have immediate worries.’ All our projects have been hugely successful, but do you think this is a coincidence?”

This question stumped everyone.

What was the reason for project success?

Was it because everyone worked diligently and hard?

That was certainly part of the reason, but there were many companies in the world where people worked hard, and not every company succeeded.

And within Tenda, it seemed that the success rate after hard work was indeed higher, much higher!

Just look at this cycle: two games, a phone, a movie, shared phone booths, Scholar Rush, and other projects that originally seemed doubtful all achieved success. This absolutely couldn’t be explained simply by “effort” and “luck.”

Lin Wan continued, “You all should have also realized that for these projects to succeed, first, they needed the right direction, and second, there was mutual support between various industries and departments, which greatly increased the chances of success.”

“Suppose last year we had invested heavily in making movies and developing phones without help from other departments; the chances of success would naturally have been greatly reduced!”

“Mr. Pei had planned these details from the beginning: which projects could be done, which couldn’t. This was something he had thought through carefully.”

“Why is he busiest after projects are completed?”

“Because after a project is completed, he has to start planning for the next phase of projects.”

“Think about it: having to plan the overall direction of projects while also considering the interactive effects between various departments—all of this is complex and intricate, not something that can be figured out in just a day or two.”

“Yet Mr. Pei can always come up with perfect plans to give us for execution within a week or two, and even provide a little guidance when assigning tasks. The difficulty of this is beyond imagination!”

“Mr. Pei has achieved so much at such a young age, calculating every move without error. This outstanding ability certainly has elements of natural talent, but it’s also inseparable from his hard work.”

“In places we can’t see, Mr. Pei must be constantly thinking about things we can’t imagine!”

“I believe we can also learn from Mr. Pei: in the phase after project completion, instead of just celebrating, we should also think more about future planning. This will greatly help improve our abilities!”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

“Yes, it must be like that!”

“No wonder, ‘Mr. Pei in good times often appears to be lost in thought!”

Lin Wan continued, “Of course, I don’t think we need to worry too much about Mr. Pei’s health.”

“As the creator of the Tenda spirit, Mr. Pei is certainly very clear about the relationship between work, rest, and health. He repeatedly advocates for more rest and entertainment because he understands better than anyone the importance of maintaining physical health and good condition.”

“Everyone can rest assured that with Mr. Pei’s current state, he can lead us in striving for at least another forty years!”

“And this also happens to match our country’s legal retirement age.”

Expressions of happiness radiated from everyone’s faces.

“Great!”

Someone called out, and everyone began to applaud.

Indeed, Mr. Pei was only twenty years old this year, and many famous entrepreneurs remained active in business even in their seventies and eighties.

Even if Mr. Pei developed thoughts of retiring due to his achievements in the future, he would at least work until he was sixty, right?

That’s still forty years!

Consider how many brilliant achievements Tenda had already accomplished under Mr. Pei’s leadership in the past two years. With another forty years, what kind of behemoth would Tenda develop into?

And what heights would those present reach in their careers?

Just thinking about it was exciting!

Following such a boss, not only would they be willing to work hard for another forty years, but they would even be willing to dedicate their entire lives!

Everyone was exhilarated, and the atmosphere at the venue heated up again.

…

Meanwhile, Pei Qian, who had been catching up on sleep after being addicted to GOG, suddenly woke up from a dream. Seeing the warm afternoon sunlight outside the window, he quickly calmed down.

“How am I having nightmares in broad daylight?”

“It’s terrifying. I dreamed that I kept working hard until retirement without becoming the richest loser, still having to go to work at sixty and face countless backstabs from employees!”

“That’s too much of a failure!”

“If something like that happened, I might as well find a piece of tofu and ram myself to death right now!”

“It’s fine, dreams are opposite to reality, totally impossible…”

Pei Qian yawned and turned over to continue sleeping.