At 4 PM, the Tenda annual party scene.

Employees who had eaten their fill and were tired from shopping gathered at the GPL competition venue on the top floor, taking seats according to their departments and seat numbers.

The eight teams spontaneously organized within company departments had played seven matches in four hours from noon until now, averaging between 20 to 35 minutes per game, and had just determined a champion.

On one hand, GOG’s game rhythm was relatively fast; the average duration was already shorter than games like “Shenqi” and IOI, so matches finished quickly. On the other hand, the strength gap between department teams was too large, easily resulting in one-sided games where matches often ended in under 20 minutes.

Additionally, on-site matches skipped interval breaks and usually didn’t require tactical discussions, saving more time.

The Tenda Gaming Department team, which had high expectations, unexpectedly lost early, not even reaching the finals, surprising everyone.

Clearly, without key players Bao Xu and Min Jingchao who were in Los Angeles, the Tenda Gaming Department’s team strength was severely reduced.

The two teams that reached the finals were Headwind Logistics led by Lü Mingliang and Dream Venture Capital represented by He Desheng.

Dream Venture Capital had a good foundation thanks to Ma Yang. Most employees, including He Desheng, were high-ranking players from the “Shenqi” era. Many of GOG’s design concepts came from their suggestions. They frequently played five-man teams with Ma Yang, so their teamwork was unmatched.

Headwind Logistics was strong mainly because of its numbers.

With so many stores and couriers, finding five good GOG players among them was easy.

However, Headwind Logistics ultimately lost to Dream Venture Capital due to slightly inferior coordination and tactics.

The courier team members expressed regret, all saying they’d practice harder to get revenge at next year’s party.

All participating teams received small gifts and participation prizes, including GPL league peripherals, player autographs, and team jerseys.

Of course, these small gifts would also go to other employees who enjoyed watching GPL.

The champion team received a custom internal competition trophy. Though incomparable to GPL league trophies, it was still valuable and would be a permanent honor in the Dream Venture Capital office.

Some people watched the internal competition, others went shopping, and others played claw machines or ring toss.

Now everyone was tired, having bought milk tea or drinks, sitting comfortably in the venue waiting for the lottery.

At other companies’ annual parties, lottery drawings had to happen during meals.

The reason was simple: few prizes, low winning rates. Employees might wait long without winning anything, so eating was the only distraction.

But Tenda’s lottery was different: many prizes, high winning rates, almost everyone would win something.

The lottery rules were the same as last year’s party – not completely random, but pseudo-random, with each person winning at most twice, and those who hadn’t won having higher winning chances later.

Drawing all these prizes in just one hour was exciting and suspenseful, never boring.

Once most people arrived, without any host’s opening remarks, the screen started rolling immediately to begin the lottery!

Before each drawing, a short promotional video introduced the prize, then contestants were selected from the employee database.

Since participation nearly doubled this year, the lottery program had slight modifications: instead of drawing one person at a time and showing individual photos, now five were drawn simultaneously.

Five photos would display on the screen, then shrink and move to the upper left, continuing with more drawings.

All photos stacked layer by layer on the screen as prizes were quickly drawn.

Everyone stared at the screen, afraid to miss winning information. But this worry was unnecessary – not only would department colleagues alert them, but phones would automatically send winning notifications.

Upon drawing completion, the program automatically generated orders arranging Headwind Logistics delivery to employee addresses and sent notification messages.

In the massive venue holding nearly two thousand people, cheers came in waves.

Later prizes became more valuable. High-value laptops, phones, cameras, TVs were distributed freely, and the atmosphere grew more heated!

Finally, after drawing the 18,888 yuan cash grand prizes, the ultimate prize appeared on screen.

Five-day tours for two to any global city, six slots!

This was a returning program from last year’s party. Five-day tours to any city worldwide, freely chosen, with company-provided first-class flights and five-star hotels, plus additional expense reimbursements.

As the party’s biggest prize, it was well-deserved.

Many might think it less practical than expensive TVs or gaming laptops, since electronics lasted years while travel was just five days.

But conversely, while one could sacrifice to buy expensive electronics, who could afford first-class flights and five-star hotels for personal travel!

Moreover, first-class flights plus five-star hotels far exceeded the value of expensive laptops.

So this was the most anticipated prize.

With increased participation, last year’s three slots expanded to six this year, improving winning odds.

Many watched the screen excitedly, hoping to be among the six lucky winners.

Soon, avatars rolled on screen, showing six faces.

Fourth from the left was unmistakably Bao Xu!

The other five were unfamiliar faces, likely lower-level employees.

With nearly two thousand present, Pei Qian only knew department heads – about a few dozen total. The chance of drawing them was low.

But Bao Xu…

What was happening with Bao Xu?

Was he really essential to every travel prize drawing?

Seeing Bao Xu’s avatar appear, the venue burst into laughter.

“Haha, Brother Bao again!”

“Where is Brother Bao? I want to see his expression!”

“In Los Angeles, it’s midnight there. He won’t know this tragic news for hours.”

“Perfect! Seeing Brother Bao win makes me happier than winning myself!”

Pei Qian silently sighed. Fate, it was all fate.

Even in Los Angeles, he couldn’t escape being drawn.

Moreover, Bao Xu was fourth, meaning if this year’s grand prize had only three slots, he wouldn’t have been on the list.

How ridiculous.

The Los Angeles team had several Tenda internal staff. But for the annual party lottery, excluding them would be inappropriate, so these absent members remained in the drawing.

Bao Xu won this way, still unable to escape his destiny.

In two or three days, after the IOI Global Finals finished in Los Angeles, Bao Xu would return home, just in time for New Year.

However… after New Year, Bao Xu would need to pack immediately and consider his next destination.

Pei Qian mourned silently for Bao Xu.

…

Finally, the entire annual party program concluded.

All employees left satisfied and fulfilled.

Having distributed so many gifts, Pei Qian also felt relieved, his burden lightened considerably.

Fortunately, this settlement cycle coincided with New Year, allowing him to spend millions through the annual party at once, saving him from devising more spending methods and preserving considerable brain cells.

In short, vacation time!

During Spring Festival, pre-arranged advertisements would flood Jingzhou, Beijing, Shanghai, and other cities. At current spending rates, after formal work resumed and settlement occurred, he should lose considerably.

Heavy losses were unlikely, but losing eight to nine hundred thousand, converting to eighty to ninety thousand, should be manageable.

As people filed out, Pei Qian remained seated, checking his phone.

But seeing a message about the Poor Journey Plan nearly made him curse.

“Ink and Smoke” and “Poor Journey Plan” promotional videos inexplicably went viral on AiLiDao!

Moreover, “Ink and Smoke” had updated a 10-minute demo on the official platform and opened pre-sales, selling fifty thousand copies in just one afternoon!

For an unknown indie game, this was incredibly impressive!

Over the next week or month, as awareness spread and buzz grew, pre-sales would obviously continue increasing.

Pei Qian’s expression grew blank.

“What’s happening?”

“The game isn’t finished and they’re starting pre-sales?”

“Is there no justice?”

“Is there no law?”

“Qiu Hong is deliberately sabotaging me! Where’s his professional integrity!”

“Will someone please control this!”