Yu Fei had heard before that Bao Xu was an expert in almost all games, so it made sense that he would have expertise in fighting games too.

But the key issue was that Bao Xu was no longer in the game department—he was busy running the suffering travel program!

They were at an impasse again.

Suddenly, Hu Xianbin had a flash of inspiration: “Wait, speaking of Brother Bao, I suddenly have a good idea!”

“If this idea works out, we might both win!”

“Give me a moment to think through the details.”

Yu Fei’s expression was bewildered, not understanding what Hu Xianbin meant by “both win.”

Hu Xianbin seemed to be calculating something, a genuine smile appearing on his face.

This trip to Shennongjia would definitely involve suffering—Hu Xianbin was well aware of this.

Not going was impossible, but even within suffering, there could be differences.

The itinerary had basically been finalized, and Bao Xu would also be going on this trip.

When they first learned this news, both Hu Xianbin and Huang Sibo were surprised.

Didn’t Bao Xu hate traveling the most?

Logically, now that Bao Xu was in charge of the suffering travel program, shouldn’t he be sending others away while happily staying in Jingzhou playing games?

Why would he go himself?

After analyzing, they realized this was a dangerous sign.

Bao Xu indeed disliked going out randomly and basically couldn’t derive any pleasure from traveling.

So, if he had actively decided to go out this time, it must be because he could obtain greater pleasure than staying in Jingzhou.

Where would this pleasure come from?

Obviously from watching others suffer…

Although Bao Xu would be comfortable staying in Jingzhou, how could he witness these people suffering up close that way?

So, Bao Xu had decided to accompany them to watch these people suffer up close!

After figuring this out, Hu Xianbin and the others all shuddered.

Clearly, this Shennongjia trip might not be dangerous, but it would definitely involve a lot of suffering…

But what if Bao Xu didn’t go?

Although Sa Ziran was very professional in wilderness survival, he certainly wouldn’t be as harsh as Bao Xu.

The managers would naturally suffer less.

However, keeping Bao Xu in Jingzhou wasn’t easy, as it meant getting Bao Xu to willingly give up watching them suffer.

But now there was a suitable reason.

Tenda Games was in trouble and needed Brother Bao to save them!

Hu Xianbin was quite familiar with Bao Xu’s personality. Although Bao Xu might be a bit blinded by “revenge” now, he probably wouldn’t stand by if the game department encountered problems.

So…

By explaining the situation rationally and appealing to his emotions, citing the tight design schedule and heavy development tasks, they could likely persuade Bao Xu to stay and help.

Although this wouldn’t fundamentally cancel the Shennongjia trip, as long as Bao Xu didn’t go, everyone’s suffering would definitely be greatly reduced!

After all, Sa Ziran wouldn’t dare to be so harsh, and as long as Bao Xu wasn’t on site, everything would be easier to handle.

With this in mind, Hu Xianbin said: “Here’s the plan: you go ask Brother Bao for help, but don’t say I sent you.”

“Otherwise, he might become suspicious.”

“As long as you can convince Brother Bao to help, this design problem will definitely be solved easily!”

Yu Fei hesitated: “Will this… work? I’m not familiar with Brother Bao.”

Hu Xianbin nodded: “It will work. It’s precisely because you two aren’t familiar that you might be able to persuade him.”

People who were familiar with Bao Xu had almost all voted against him at some point, and all were recorded in his little notebook.

If Hu Xianbin went to find Bao Xu, Bao Xu would immediately be suspicious of his motives.

But Yu Fei was different. First, he had never voted against Bao Xu, so there was no direct grudge; second, he appeared unrelated to the suffering travel program, so seeking Bao Xu’s help wouldn’t arouse suspicion; finally, Yu Fei genuinely didn’t understand fighting games or game design, so he truly needed help.

All things considered, there was actually a high possibility that Bao Xu would softly agree!

And Hu Xianbin could also take this opportunity to lower the difficulty of his suffering journey and suffer less.

Yu Fei nodded: “Alright, I’ll give it a try.”

Since Hu Xianbin wasn’t coming back to take over, Yu Fei would have to continue for another month.

He had thought about giving up, but now that Hu Xianbin had pointed out a clear path, why not ask Bao Xu first?

What if Bao Xu had some good ideas?

As long as there was a general direction and he wasn’t completely in the dark, holding on for another month wouldn’t be too difficult.

With this in mind, Yu Fei organized his thoughts and prepared to go find Bao Xu for advice.

“Don’t say I sent you!” Hu Xianbin, still worried, reminded him one more time.

…

Meanwhile, at the suffering travel training base.

Meng Chang had just finished touring the entire training base and, under Bao Xu’s “enthusiastic recommendation,” had tried several foods like compressed biscuits, canned food, and compressed meat patties.

As a result, he drank two large bottles of water and still couldn’t rinse the taste from his mouth.

“Good, thank you for the introduction. I now have a basic understanding of this training base.”

Meng Chang’s expression was quite complex.

He had heard that after Bao Xu received the Dream Fund, he had created a “suffering travel” program, but he didn’t expect it would actually involve so much suffering!

After all, those participating in this project were all the precious managers of various Tenda departments, each well-fed and accomplished in their respective fields. Being forced to participate in such a masochistic project was truly miserable.

Bao Xu showed no mercy at all, pushing people to their limits.

Most amazingly, Mr. Pei fully supported this endeavor, seemingly not worried about its impact on the daily operations of the various departments.

It was known that larger companies had more affairs to handle, and department managers were the backbone of the entire company, responsible for dealing with various matters and transmitting information up and down the chain of command.

Many department managers in other companies were busy from morning till night, exhausted to death, yet Tenda’s managers could somehow spare two months to go suffer?

That was truly absurd.

Meng Chang’s task this month was to promote the “suffering travel” program. Although he had learned about some aspects of it, he still had no idea how to promote it.

Perhaps because his previous ideas had been rejected, his entire knowledge framework of the “Pei-style promotion method” was gradually reorganizing and recovering.

“That’s all for today. Thank you very much.”

“When you go to Shennongjia, I’ll arrange for someone to accompany you and take some footage, which may or may not be useful.”

“As for how to promote it, I’ll need to think about it carefully. I may need more cooperation from you and Brother Bao in the future.”

Meng Chang prepared to leave.

Bao Xu nodded: “No problem, we’ll definitely cooperate!”

After seeing Meng Chang off, Bao Xu waited a while longer at the training base until Yu Fei arrived.

Before coming, Yu Fei had already contacted Bao Xu and briefly explained his purpose.

Bao Xu hadn’t directly agreed or refused, only saying they should talk a bit to determine the specific situation of the game before making a decision.

“Please, have a seat.”

“There’s not much to offer you here, just mineral water. Make do with it.”

Bao Xu led Yu Fei to the training room at the training base, which was mainly used to teach trainees about wilderness survival knowledge but now temporarily served as a reception room.

Yu Fei instinctively looked around.

So this was the suffering travel training base that Tenda’s managers dreaded?

From Hu Xianbin’s description, this place seemed like the dungeon of the Eastern Depot—one might imagine it to be an unbearably dark place. But now it seemed the conditions were actually quite acceptable.

“Brother Bao, let me first briefly explain the current situation…”

Yu Fei recounted the matter of “Ghostly General 2,” including the design points raised by Mr. Pei and his own confusion.

Of course, he didn’t mention Hu Xianbin, which Hu Xianbin had repeatedly emphasized before Yu Fei came.

After listening to Yu Fei’s account, Bao Xu fell into deep thought.

Seeing Bao Xu’s expression, Yu Fei’s eyes brightened.

There was hope!

He knew that although Bao Xu was known as a “traveler,” he was also a game expert and one of the people who could best understand Mr. Pei’s intentions.

When developing “Sea Fortress,” Huang Sibo was just the executing chief designer, while Bao Xu was the conceptual designer who interpreted Mr. Pei’s thoughts and infused the game with its soul.

When hearing about the requirements for “Ghostly General 2,” most people were confused and clueless, but Bao Xu didn’t show any surprised expression and instead seriously considered its feasibility.

This was enough to prove that Yu Fei had found the right person.

After some consideration, Bao Xu said: “I can roughly guess a general design framework.”

“But… I can’t tell you that directly. It doesn’t align with the consistent principles.”

Yu Fei was stunned: “Huh? Isn’t Tenda’s consistent principle to help each other?”

As far as he knew, Bao Xu was a warm-hearted person who had even very enthusiastically gone to help at the snack market.

So why was he declining this time?

Bao Xu explained: “Mutual help has a prerequisite—it shouldn’t affect the original person-in-charge’s ideas.”

“Mr. Pei is very particular about selecting project leaders. The essence of certain projects can only be designed by specific leaders.”

“When I helped the snack market, although I proposed some of my own ideas, Zhang Yahui was still the final decision-maker. We had a division of labor.”

“But your situation is different. We both work on game creativity, our work overlaps.”

“If my ideas influence you too much, it becomes my design, not yours, which might go against Mr. Pei’s original plan.”

Yu Fei said: “But… I don’t have any design right now! I’m completely lost.”

“Brother Bao, if you don’t help me, I’m afraid this game simply can’t be made…”

Bao Xu thought for a moment, then nodded slightly: “That’s true.”

“The game prototype I’ve envisioned does have a high development difficulty, beyond what you can currently handle.”

“But I certainly can’t take over the entire design for you.”

“What if Mr. Pei actually didn’t have this in mind? Wouldn’t that mess everything up?”

“Hmm… at a time like this, we should call Mr. Pei for instructions.”