April 30th, Monday.

“Knock, knock, knock.”

Pei Qian was in his office reviewing work reports from various departments when there was a knock at the door.

“Come in.”

After a brief moment, the person outside pushed the door open.

Pei Qian looked up and saw that it was Meng Chang.

Meng Chang’s face was sallow, his eyes lifeless, and his hair somewhat disheveled. Add to that the stubble on his chin, and the entire person looked quite dejected—a stark contrast to his once spirited self.

Since joining Tenda Group, Meng Chang seemed to pay less and less attention to his personal appearance.

Back when he first founded “Cold-Faced Girl,” he would always meet investors looking energetic and vibrant, with his styling and attire always impeccable.

But now, he looked almost like a gaming-addicted teenager who had been holed up in an internet café for a month.

Pei Qian had been very angry that Meng Chang had botched the promotion of “Mission and Choice” and wanted to give him a dressing-down in person. But seeing his miserable state, he felt a twinge of compassion and found it hard to speak the harsh words.

The two men stood in silence.

Pei Qian picked up a laptop from the side, opened last month’s analysis report, and handed it to Meng Chang.

Meng Chang silently accepted it. After flipping through it, he saw that familiar, expected number.

Last month, he had at least earned a 1,500 yuan commission. At that time, Meng Chang was just testing the waters and had received good results. This month, he had rolled up his sleeves, prepared to make a big effort, and then successfully reduced his commission back to zero.

Still a 3,000 yuan base salary. As far as Meng Chang could remember, since coming to Tenda, apart from receiving a commission last month, every other month had been the same 3,000 yuan base salary, without exception.

Meng Chang felt no emotional fluctuation, just a sense that his body had been hollowed out.

Actually, by the middle of the month, when he saw the promotional plan for “Mission and Choice” suddenly racing in a direction he couldn’t control—with the online buzz for both the game and the movie growing day by day—Meng Chang already knew that this month was a lost cause.

Some people die in the middle of the month but are only buried at the end.

Meng Chang didn’t even bother to examine the details in the analysis report because he didn’t want to be flogged again. He just glanced at it, confirmed the final, expected figure, and then handed the laptop back.

“Mr. Pei, if there’s nothing else, I’ll be going now.”

Meng Chang turned to leave.

He really had nothing to say. The promotional plan was one he had set himself, and in the end, not only did he fail to achieve his goal, but he directly hit rock bottom. Although Pei Qian had likely been pulling strings behind the scenes, what could he do besides accept the consequences?

Moreover, the last time he received the base salary, Meng Chang had already been subjected to Pei Qian’s sarcastic remarks. If he stayed longer, would he have to endure more sarcasm?

That would be too much to bear.

However, Pei Qian immediately stopped him: “Wait.”

Meng Chang stopped.

Pei Qian looked at Meng Chang’s “dead pig not afraid of boiling water” demeanor and felt deeply distressed.

“The previous few times, you had just joined Tenda and weren’t very familiar with the company’s operations. Things not going as planned was to be expected.”

“I’ve never really criticized you; I just hoped you could learn from one instance and apply it to others, summarize your experiences and lessons, and correct yourself in the future.”

“And the result?”

“Last time you came to see me, you were thumping your chest and guaranteeing there would be no problems. And then? When problems arose, you simply disappeared? Lying flat and playing dead?”

“You’re supposed to be a professional. Can’t you show some professional integrity? Have you even considered that while you may find it easy to simply abandon your responsibilities, someone else still has to clean up the mess you left behind?”

Pei Qian grew increasingly angry as he thought about it.

Initially, it was Meng Chang who had guaranteed there would be no issues, mysteriously claiming he had a very comprehensive plan that would definitely work. Pei Qian had believed him.

Even as the buzz for “Mission and Choice” began to rise, Pei Qian was still hoping Meng Chang would keep his promise and turn the situation around.

But after waiting and waiting, there was no further word, and Meng Chang himself couldn’t even be found!

He had given up so readily.

Pei Qian inwardly despised this, thinking, “Haven’t I faced many more setbacks than you? Yet I’ve always pulled through. Meanwhile, you give up so easily, leaving me to rack my brains to spend the money you’ve earned. How unreasonable!”

Meng Chang’s mouth slightly opened, completely shocked. Even with his usually good composure, his expression showed signs of losing control for the first time.

He was completely stunned by Mr. Pei’s words.

In a normal context, Mr. Pei’s speech might seem unremarkable—just a superior criticizing a subordinate for repeatedly failing to meet expectations and not doing their job properly.

But Meng Chang clearly didn’t believe this was a normal context!

He believed his relationship with Mr. Pei was one of wits and strategy: he earned his commission by botching promotions, while Mr. Pei hoped the products would sell well and make money.

In such a situation, Mr. Pei would certainly try secretly to obstruct and sabotage his promotional plans.

He had only been with Tenda Group for a few months and was solely responsible for the marketing department. How could his skinny arms possibly wrestle Mr. Pei’s thick thighs?

And that would have been fine, but the crucial part was that Mr. Pei always pretended to stand on his side, seemingly more anxious than he was.

All he could say was, what an actor! This performance—real and fake, true and false—seemed fake but with genuine expressions, seemed heartfelt but on closer inspection was obviously fake.

So Meng Chang was momentarily speechless. It seemed wrong to refute, but it also seemed wrong not to refute. He was completely stuck.

Pei Qian, seeing Meng Chang’s bewildered expression, grew even angrier: “Aren’t you supposed to be good with words? Why are you silent now?”

“Forget it, maybe I’m being too strict with you.”

“But could you please put more effort into your promotional plans next time?”

“If you don’t feel confident after creating a promotional plan, why not let me take a look? I may not be as professional as you, but I can still offer some advice.”

Meng Chang opened and closed his mouth, feeling absurd.

Give me advice?

Haven’t you sabotaged me enough?

But Mr. Pei’s expression was so sincere, seemingly filled with genuine emotion, that Meng Chang didn’t know what to say.

Pei Qian was exasperated: “Say something! Do you really think you bear no responsibility for how things have turned out?”

Meng Chang was dazed. Wasn’t the current situation entirely due to your behind-the-scenes manipulation?

But he couldn’t directly confront him. After stammering for a while, he said, “Yes, I’ll continue to work hard in the future.”

Pei Qian finally got a response, his mood slightly improved, and said, “Alright, as long as you understand.”

“Next month, there are some projects. The phone and the Automatic Intelligent Contrarian Machine from Oughto Technology should be nearing the end of development. Get to know them in advance and prepare. Strive to earn more commission next month.”

“Although your promotion plans have had a low success rate so far, I still have great faith in you.”

Meng Chang: “…”

After pondering for a long time, he still didn’t know what to say, and could only respond with “Yes, Mr. Pei” before turning to leave.

…

After Meng Chang left, Pei Qian calmed himself down and continued reviewing work reports from various departments.

Looking back at the course of the past month, it could be described as tumultuous. The unexpected success of “Mission and Choice” caught Pei Qian off guard, but fortunately, he had managed to alleviate the pressure in the latter half of the month by establishing Slow Walk Studio and the Sales Department.

But for the next month, the pressure was coming again.

The new phone developed by Oughto Technology was about to have its launch event.

Pei Qian planned to visit Oughto Technology tomorrow to check out the G1 phone prototype and then finalize the details for the launch event.

Besides that, there was also good news.

On May 1st, “Raging Sea Battleship,” which had been hyped online for a long time, was finally releasing!

Previously, “Raging Sea Battleship” had been riding on the buzz of “Mission and Choice” quite happily. But after “Mission and Choice” was released with overwhelmingly positive reviews, it made “Raging Sea Battleship” look tasteless by comparison, leading to considerable criticism online.

However, “Raging Sea Battleship” hadn’t been released yet, and no one really knew its quality. Logically, with the massive investment and star-studded cast, even if the quality was slightly inferior, its box office performance should still be solid.

Moreover, “Mission and Choice” had chosen a poor release window, while “Raging Sea Battleship” was launching during the prime May Day holiday. By the time May Day arrived, “Mission and Choice” would already be in its latter stages with significantly reduced momentum. In contrast, with all the marketing already in place, “Raging Sea Battleship” would likely have an exceptionally high opening day, easily surpassing “Mission and Choice.”

So this was considered good news.

Pei Qian had already booked movie tickets for tomorrow morning, planning to check out “Raging Sea Battleship” and get some psychological comfort.

Actually, “Raging Sea Battleship” also had midnight screenings, but Pei Qian felt there was no need to be that eager. It was just a Hollywood blockbuster; there was no need to watch it in the early hours of the morning.

In the afternoon, Pei Qian planned to visit Oughto Technology to see the phone prototype and then finalize the details for the phone launch event.

Previously, although Pei Qian had overseen the phone launch event, problems still arose. Unexpectedly, Chang You had turned it into a stand-up comedy routine.

Upon reflection, Pei Qian believed the issue was with Chang You.

But now, Chang You had been transferred to another department and was no longer responsible for the phone business.

The new person in charge, Jiang Yuan, was relatively new and his eloquence was far inferior to that of a veteran like Chang You. Moreover, Jiang Yuan had a somewhat introverted personality and would definitely not deliver a “stand-up comedy” effect at the launch event.

So Pei Qian felt that as long as he went over the content of the launch event with Jiang Yuan, it should be foolproof.