Guo Licheng shook his head. “No, Mr. Pei, I only requested those basic appointment functions.”
Pei Qian relaxed and turned to look at Chang You.
Well, Chang You, what do you have to say for yourself?
You didn’t properly fulfill someone else’s requirements and went off doing your own thing. How should you be punished?
However, before Pei Qian could say anything, Guo Licheng continued, “But after seeing all the features that Manager Chang ultimately created, I realized these functions are indispensable!”
Pei Qian turned to look at Guo Licheng. “?”
I thought you were on my side!
Guo Licheng completely failed to notice Mr. Pei’s bewilderment and continued to heap praise on the software that OTTO Technology had created.
“All these features are so comprehensive and useful!”
“Take this intelligent training schedule, for example. It greatly reduces the coaches’ workload. We only need to make adjustments based on each person’s physical condition!”
“Then there’s the check-in reminder that helps customers avoid prolonged sitting and irregular eating habits even when they’re not at the gym!”
“The fitness community section allows our customers to share fitness experiences, support each other, and boost everyone’s confidence to persist…”
“Plus, the interface looks great, the layout is logical, and it’s convenient and easy to use! They’ve included features I never even thought of. It’s just fantastic!”
“Manager Chang, I truly struggle to express my gratitude in words!”
Pei Qian: “…”
Looking at Guo Licheng’s excited expression, Pei Qian was momentarily at a loss for words.
When the client who provided the requirements was so satisfied, what grounds did he have to criticize Chang You for adding extra features?
Chang You smiled slightly, but didn’t fully accept Guo Licheng’s thanks.
“Mr. Guo, OTTO Technology indeed put a lot of effort into developing this software, and we should gladly accept your gratitude. However… I think you should primarily thank Mr. Pei.”
Guo Licheng looked bewildered.
And Pei Qian was even more bewildered than him.
Thank me??
What is there to thank me for?
Chang You explained, “If Mr. Pei hadn’t suggested that we incorporate some internet thinking during the app development and comprehensively improve the requirements you proposed, how would we have come up with so many features?”
“While the specific work is important, pointing out the direction is even more crucial!”
Guo Licheng had a sudden look of enlightenment.
He had been puzzled earlier, feeling almost unrealistically fortunate.
In reality, when hiring an outsourcing team to develop software, they would at most just implement the required features, and often deliver something messy and full of bugs.
After all, they only needed to meet the minimum requirements to get paid, so who would put in serious effort?
But OTTO Technology not only completed the requirements well, but they also provided a bunch of extremely useful additional features. Both the interface and operations were very smooth, stable, and bug-free, clearly polished to perfection!
Guo Licheng had been wondering, even as a brother department where profits didn’t affect each other, why would they work so hard?
Now everything made sense.
This must be because Mr. Pei had given OTTO Technology plenty of explicit and implicit instructions, which is why they were so dedicated!
Otherwise, why would Chang You take this so seriously and personally come to introduce the features?
And why would Mr. Pei “coincidentally” appear at the gym to inquire about the app?
But… there seemed to be one point of confusion.
Why did Mr. Pei just ask, “Were these the requirements you requested?”
Now he understood.
Mr. Pei had essentially assigned homework to OTTO Technology, and when checking it, he needed to ask if these requirements were jointly completed by Tuoguan Fitness and OTTO Technology. If so, it wouldn’t count as Chang independently completing the assignment, and OTTO Technology’s work would receive a lower evaluation in Mr. Pei’s mind…
And now, OTTO Technology had clearly perfectly met Mr. Pei’s requirements!
Everything made sense now!
Guo Licheng quickly said, “Thank you, Mr. Pei! This software really helps a lot! Mr. Pei, you’re truly meticulous, you had already thought of all this in advance!”
Pei Qian looked bewilderedly at Guo Licheng, then at Chang You.
You two… are you playing some kind of duet or riddle game here?
What does this have to do with me?
Why are you both thanking me so persistently?
Looking at Guo Licheng’s sincere, grateful expression, and then at Chang You’s meaningful smile… both seemed to be waiting for Mr. Pei to say something.
Pei Qian’s mouth twitched slightly. “Actually, I didn’t really…”
Guo Licheng and Chang You said in unison, “Understood!”
Guo Licheng excitedly exclaimed, “Then I’ll go promote this software to all our members right away!”
Chang You also stood up, brushing himself off. “Mr. Pei, I have matters to attend to back at the company, so I’ll be going now. Mr. Guo, if there are any issues with the app, feel free to contact us anytime, and we’ll fix them immediately!”
Pei Qian: “…”
Why won’t any of you listen properly to what I’m saying?
What is this?
As long as we both pass the blame to Mr. Pei first, Mr. Pei can’t pass it back to us?
Pei Qian was speechless. Why did it seem like his employees were all evolving to be more like Ruan Guangjian?
Watching Guo Licheng happily go off to promote the Tuoguan Fitness app to the gym members present, Pei Qian fell into confusion.
What should he do now?
The app was already developed, and it was exceptionally good. He couldn’t just forbid its use, could he?
But with such a good app, if nothing was done to stop it, what if it became popular and made Tuoguan Fitness popular as well?
“From the current perspective, if only the gym users are using it, there’s no immediate issue, since the gym doesn’t have many users at the moment.”
“However, if it spreads rapidly like ‘Xueba Kuai Lai,’ that would be extremely problematic!”
“The urgent priority is to prevent them from widely promoting this software.”
“How to prevent it…”
“Uh… it seems they don’t have plans for large-scale promotion anyway.”
Pei Qian realized his thoughts had hit a dead end. The software was feature-rich and had the potential to become popular, but OTTO Technology only handled development, not operations, and Guo Licheng certainly didn’t have the brains to promote it…
“Should I emphasize to Guo Licheng not to promote this software?”
“No, that would backfire…”
“He might not have thought about promoting it, but if I mention it, he might misinterpret it as a hint and promote it instead…”
Pei Qian sat conflicted on the sofa in the rest area. It seemed the best approach now was to say nothing, letting Guo Licheng remain unaware that he should actively promote the software, and instead treat it merely as a benefit for gym members.
After weighing the pros and cons, Pei Qian decided to say nothing.
After all, the Tuoguan Fitness branches were all losing money nicely, and he absolutely couldn’t mess things up. If he accidentally made them popular, that would be a major problem.
He would observe for a while and figure something out if he noticed any concerning signs.
Pei Qian stood up, planning to leave.
Just then, his phone vibrated with a message from DGE Esports Club’s informant, Guan Peisheng.
“Mr. Pei, today Zhang and Coach Yaling didn’t arrange any strength or endurance training, but instead scheduled a full day of practice matches. Coach Yaling said to let the team members rest.”
Hm?
They changed the training plan? This kind of thing hadn’t happened before.
But it didn’t seem harmful, did it?
Coach Yaling’s fitness plans typically separated different muscle groups, training legs one day and chest the next, allowing each muscle group to fully develop.
Making an exception to let everyone rest for a day or two seemed reasonable.
As for a full day of practice matches… whatever, let them do as they please. Nobody was organizing GOG tournaments right now anyway.
Hmm…
No, even the slightest indication couldn’t be taken lightly!
Many previous lessons had taught Pei Qian to pull back from the brink just when he was about to let his guard down.
“Indirectly ask Manager Zhang if there are any special activities planned?”
After two minutes, Guan Peisheng replied, “Manager Zhang says it’s a secret for now, he’ll give me a surprise in two hours.”
Pei Qian: “Two hours???”
Well, Zhang Yuan, you dare not even answer the Imperial Guard’s questions now!
Does that mean I need to build a special prison for the Imperial Guard?
And a surprise in just two hours? What’s going on?
Pei Qian suddenly felt a bit panicked, but there was nothing he could do. If Zhang Yuan wouldn’t talk, Guan Peisheng couldn’t force it out of him without risking exposure.
Pei Qian thought for a moment. He should immediately go back and get out that mind map to properly analyze whether DGE Esports Club might be connected with certain departments!
Perhaps he could find some clues!
…
Watching Chang You and Mr. Pei leave, Guo Licheng felt an inexplicable warmth in his heart.
These two came quietly and left quietly.
After extending a helping hand, they simply waved their sleeves and departed without lingering.
Is this what being in a big family feels like?
It seemed that Tuoguan Fitness was like a small sapling, and these already-established departments were like towering trees, sheltering it from wind and rain…
With Mr. Pei’s care and the help from other departments, Guo Licheng suddenly felt more optimistic about Tuoguan Fitness’s future.
Now, Tuoguan Fitness’s customer base had stabilized.
The variety of fitness meals was increasing, making it easier for people to stick with their fitness routines. Anyone who had persisted in training at Tuoguan Fitness for a while had already seen noticeable changes in their physique, with significant improvements in various physical indicators.
With the app, customers could make appointments on their phones and wouldn’t have to worry about the gym becoming chaotic when crowded.
Now, it seemed only one opportunity remained—an opportunity to showcase Tuoguan Fitness’s amazing effects to everyone.
Guo Licheng wasn’t sure when this opportunity would come, maybe in one month or two?
But he firmly believed that all of this was part of Mr. Pei’s plan. As long as he waited patiently, a turning point would surely come!
…
Returning to Slackin’ Internet Café’s Handong University branch, Pei Qian immediately took out his notebook to check which departments DGE Esports Club might be connected with.
After a tense investigation, Pei Qian preliminarily identified three suspicious departments: Tenda Games, Shangyang Games, and Slackin’ Internet Café.
“DGE Esports Club doesn’t have an IOI project, so Shangyang Games is the least suspicious.”
“Tenda Games… possible.”
“Slackin’ Internet Café… also seems possible, but didn’t Xiao Peng tell me they were opening on Wednesday, and today is only Tuesday?”
“That doesn’t match the ‘two hours’ timeline?”
“I should ask the informants from these two departments and see if there’s anything worth noting.”
However, just as Pei Qian was considering which department to ask first, his phone received a message.
It was from Xiao Peng.
“Mr. Pei! Today, Slackin’ Internet Café 3.0 is officially opening. Do you have time to attend the opening ceremony?”
Pei Qian looked at this message, a question mark silently floating above his head.
?
He quickly asked, “Isn’t today Tuesday? The previously scheduled time was Wednesday, wasn’t it?”
Xiao Peng quickly replied, “Ah, it was indeed originally scheduled for Wednesday.”
“But the preparatory work went more smoothly than expected, and today seems to be an auspicious day for opening, so we decided to move it up to today.”
“Don’t worry, Mr. Pei, everything has been arranged. Opening one day earlier means earning money one day earlier and accumulating popularity one day earlier!”
Pei Qian: “…”
Auspicious day?
Feudal superstition kills people!