At 12:30 pm, after finishing lunch, Pei Qian arrived at Slackin’ Internet Café Esports Life Hall right on time.

All the way there, Pei Qian grew increasingly angry.

“This Xiao Peng, it seems he wants to be the first one eliminated.”

“In the past, department heads would scheme secretly. He dares to send me a notification!”

“Sending a notification is one thing, but changing the time last minute and notifying me just two hours in advance!”

“Is he afraid I might react too quickly and avoid getting stabbed?”

“Next time, I’ll put you on the Outstanding Employee list, so you can keep Zhang Yuan company! You two can just watch internet-addicted teenagers flex their muscles all day!”

Arriving at the fourth floor of the shopping mall, Pei Qian still hadn’t managed to calm himself down.

The main issue was that he had finally obtained intelligence from Guan Peisheng, had analyzed it to narrow down the scope, and was about to find the answer—then Xiao Peng’s invitation arrived.

It was like a detective solving a case, reaching the final step, when suddenly the suspect turned themselves in to the police, refusing to play along anymore!

Even the spectators had dispersed, with no one left to hear the detective’s final deduction.

How infuriating!

That was exactly how Pei Qian felt right now.

However, as soon as he reached the fourth floor, Pei Qian’s indignation was immediately replaced by shock.

How could there be so many people?

The fourth floor of the mall was packed with people. Several staff members in Slackin’ Internet Café uniforms were maintaining order. Some customers appeared to have received invitations and were allowed to enter, while those without invitations could only stand outside watching.

After all, Slackin’ Internet Café had limited capacity and couldn’t accommodate everyone inside.

But the people standing outside didn’t seem to mind. Instead, they bought drinks, ice cream, and snacks from nearby dessert and snack shops, chatting while eating and drinking as if waiting for a movie to start.

In the sea of people, Xiao Peng immediately spotted Mr. Pei.

He quickly approached and said quietly, “Mr. Pei! This way, please. Put this on.”

Pei Qian: “?”

Xiao Peng placed something in his hand. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a custom mask with Modistel’s image printed on it.

Pei Qian: “…”

What is this thing!

Wasn’t this supposed to be the Slackin’ Internet Café 3.0 opening ceremony? Why do we need to wear masks?

Are you trying to turn this into a masquerade ball or something?

Xiao Peng whispered, “Mr. Pei, I know you don’t want to reveal your identity, so we specially arranged a masked theme. If you want to speak later, you can; if not, that’s fine too.”

Pei Qian immediately put on the mask: “I won’t be speaking.”

It seemed that Xiao Peng was quite thoughtful. He appeared concerned about exposing Mr. Pei’s identity, so he had prepared masks for everyone entering, featuring different heroes and appearances.

As for Mr. Pei’s mask… of course it had to be Modistel.

No wonder a simple opening ceremony had taken so much preparation time.

“Very well, then please follow me, Mr. Pei.”

Xiao Peng led Mr. Pei inside, while thinking to himself that Mr. Pei’s decision not to speak must mean he wanted to evaluate Xiao Peng’s speech skills.

I must deliver a good speech later, I can’t embarrass Mr. Pei!

Pushing through the crowd at the entrance, Pei Qian looked around.

His first reaction was: This is freaking cool!

This was Pei Qian’s first visit to Slackin’ Internet Café 3.0. He had previously instructed Xiao Peng to select an expensive location with good decoration and spacious seating, so he was mentally prepared for a magnificent scene.

However, when he actually saw it, Pei Qian felt like he was having a heart attack.

How could it be so spectacular?

Especially combined with the sea of people present, Pei Qian felt even more panicked.

“Here, Mr. Pei, please sit here,” Xiao Peng pointed to the first row of seats in the lounge area.

The lounge area of Slackin’ Internet Café 3.0 wasn’t very large, but it wasn’t small either. There was a bar selling drinks, and it could also serve as a place for teams to discuss tactics.

Since there was still an hour before the official start, the lounge area was still empty.

“No, I want to sit in the last row.”

Pei Qian shook his head and walked through the rows of seats, climbed the steps, and arrived at the corner of the last row.

When designing this lounge area, they had considered the need for viewing competitions, so the seats were deliberately designed in a tiered arrangement, with the last row slightly elevated.

Pei Qian felt that sitting in the first row would definitely make him the center of attention, which was too risky. The last row would attract less attention and be safer.

Xiao Peng naturally didn’t say much about this. He understood Mr. Pei’s psychology, probably similar to a homeroom teacher who listens from the back row.

Xiao Peng came to Mr. Pei’s side and bent down to whisper, “Alright, Mr. Pei, please rest for a moment. I’ll have the waitstaff bring drinks. The opening ceremony will begin at 1 o’clock.”

After speaking, Xiao Peng went off to handle other matters.

The waitstaff weaved through the crowd, continuously serving drinks to customers in the internet café, and soon reached Pei Qian.

Pei Qian accepted the drink and, on impulse, asked, “Aren’t there any drinks prepared for the people outside?”

The waitstaff was taken aback: “Mr. Pei, the people outside… weren’t invited by us. They just heard the news and came to join the excitement, so we didn’t prepare drinks for them.”

Pei Qian waved his hand: “Serve them, serve everyone.”

The waitstaff was stunned: “Everyone?”

Pei Qian nodded: “Yes, serve everyone outside, regardless of how many there are!”

Although these drinks wouldn’t cost much, since people had come, they might as well help me share the expense!

Mr. Pei would never miss any opportunity to spend money!

The waitstaff nodded: “Alright, I’ll arrange it right away.”

After thinking for a moment, Pei Qian stopped the waitstaff again: “Also, where’s the nearest furniture market? Arrange for someone to buy the most expensive folding chairs for me! These people have come from far away. How can we let them stand? Make arrangements for everyone to sit down!”

“I need them in stock, delivered as quickly as possible.”

The waitstaff was startled, then quickly nodded: “Yes, Mr. Pei!”

Pei Qian figured that since he was spending anyway, and there were already quite a few people gathered outside, there would be no problem setting up several dozen folding chairs in such a large space.

Even at seventy or eighty yuan per chair, wouldn’t that be a few thousand yuan spent?

Besides, these chairs would be useless after one use. Might as well spend the money.

The waitstaff quickly approached Xiao Peng and whispered Mr. Pei’s requirements.

Xiao Peng was surprised, then nodded: “Yes, Mr. Pei is always so thoughtful! It’s my fault for not anticipating so many people would come. Alright, call the internet café near the furniture mall immediately and have them arrange people to take care of it! Get them delivered as soon as possible!”

Pei Qian sipped his drink while observing the current situation.

It was clear that the audience inside for the opening ceremony had all been specially invited.

The invitation criteria weren’t hard to guess—most likely, only regular customers of other Slackin’ Internet Cafés were eligible.

The lounge area gradually filled up, and it was obvious that those sitting here received more attention.

There were even photographers with cameras filming, with three camera positions, which seemed very wasteful.

Drinking his cold beverage, Pei Qian calmed down a bit.

“Hmm, this level of enthusiasm is probably just an illusion, deliberately created by Xiao Peng.”

“All the spectators have come from various places in Jingzhou because they received invitations to watch the opening ceremony.”

“For regular internet usage, people probably wouldn’t travel this far. Besides, other Slackin’ Internet Cafés are cheaper than Slackin’ Internet Café 3.0, and the computers are all the same, so there’s no special reason to come here to use the internet…”

“No, that still seems too far-fetched…”

However, no matter how Pei Qian tried to rationalize it, he still couldn’t convince himself. He could only silently drink his beverage and wait to see what would happen.

Soon, it was 1 o’clock.

Everyone in the venue had taken their seats. All positions in the main hall were occupied, but the left side facing the soundproof rooms—the area with the inverted V-shaped training room—didn’t have any seating arrangements.

Those sitting in the lounge area with Pei Qian were probably VIP customers, but since everyone was wearing masks, nobody recognized anyone else.

People in the front rows of the lounge were exchanging business cards, but Pei Qian wasn’t interested in that.

Finally, Xiao Peng took the microphone and came to the front of the stage, with the red and blue soundproof rooms behind him.

The projection screen had been lowered, showing a PowerPoint background.

Xiao Peng cleared his throat, and the venue immediately fell silent.

“Welcome to the opening ceremony of Slackin’ Internet Café’s first Esports Life Hall. I am Xiao Peng, CEO of Tenda Group’s Slackin’ Internet Café. On behalf of Tenda Group’s Mr. Pei, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all new and old customers of Slackin’ Internet Café, as well as media friends who have come from afar!”

“Today’s opening ceremony is not just to announce the opening of a new Slackin’ Internet Café, it also has extremely significant special meaning.”

“Now, please allow me to provide you with a preview, to predict for everyone the upcoming Grand Esports Ecosystem!”

As Xiao Peng spoke, the venue erupted in thunderous applause.

In the “VIP section” of the lounge, people were discussing in low voices.

“Grand Esports Ecosystem? Sounds impressive.”

“Slackin’ Internet Café is always at the forefront in this area. This will probably become the next hot trend in the internet café industry.”

“Not just Slackin’ Internet Café, which of Tenda’s industries isn’t at the forefront?”

“Listen carefully, this might be the next stage of planning that Mr. Pei has arranged for Tenda Group.”

Meanwhile, Pei Qian, sitting in the corner, was full of question marks.

???

Grand Esports Ecosystem?

What the hell is this!

Xiao Peng, oh Xiao Peng, I never told you about anything like this. Don’t falsify imperial edicts here! If people misunderstand, you’ll be held responsible!

Xiao Peng very calmly pressed the projector remote to switch to the next slide.

“First, I must clarify that this Grand Esports Ecosystem is merely my prediction about the future direction of the esports industry and internet café industry, and does not represent the official position of Tenda Group.”

Pei Qian let out a long sigh of relief. Good, I’m sitting right here, so Xiao Peng wouldn’t dare to falsify imperial edicts.

However, after two seconds, Pei Qian keenly sensed that something wasn’t quite right.

This statement seemed to clear any connection, but everyone in the venue took it in stride, with no one taking it seriously.

They even completely ignored this statement.

Two people in the front rows of the lounge whispered, “One can’t speak with absolute certainty, understandable, understandable.”

“Right, when it comes to predicting future industry models, no one can guarantee 100% accuracy, so being cautious is fine. But as the head of Slackin’ Internet Café, someone who can speak directly with Mr. Pei, his predictions must partly come from Mr. Pei, so they’re worth listening to.”

Pei Qian silently squeezed the drink cup in his hand: “I fucking…”