Pei Qian wandered over to Lü Mingliang’s workstation.

He intended to give Xiao Lü a warning.

Pei Qian had hired Ma Yiqun to serve as a mascot, to balance out his luck.

If Lü Mingliang misunderstood his intention and let Ma Yiqun work freely, making significant changes to the game’s narrative content, that would still be very dangerous.

Ma Yiqun’s writing skills were indeed good. What if his changes became hugely popular?

So, Pei Qian had to ensure Ma Yiqun remained idle.

Seeing Mr. Pei strolling over, Lü Mingliang took it very seriously, standing up to ask, “Mr. Pei, do you have any instructions?”

Pei Qian hadn’t been coming to the company much lately because he was a bit busy.

“Pei’s Daily Life” was still being filmed, and recently they’d been shooting on location frequently.

School had already started, and Pei Qian would occasionally attend classes.

At the internet café, Pei Qian would also drop by occasionally, and when he noticed signs of it becoming popular, he had to quickly snuff them out.

So, Pei Qian felt a bit mentally exhausted.

These employees, every single one of them, gave him no peace of mind!

“Nothing much, just wanted to let you know that our company has recruited a new narrative planner,” Pei Qian said casually.

Lü Mingliang immediately understood: “Got it, Mr. Pei, I’ll arrange for him to completely revamp the copy for all three games right away!”

“No, no, no, no, that’s not what I meant!” Pei Qian hurriedly shook his head. “What I mean is, he’s a newcomer, unfamiliar with games. This month, please don’t assign him any work at all, just let him learn freely, understand?”

“Especially don’t let him change any plot or copy content for ‘Game Producer’!”

Lü Mingliang was a bit confused.

Huh?

Hire a new employee, but don’t let him work?

Just let him watch? Not even allowed to assist?

This…

Lü Mingliang’s first feeling was that this was a bit strange.

But thinking again, it seemed reasonable.

Who wrote the script and narration for “Game Producer”?

Mr. Pei wrote it personally!

Even if this narrative planner was experienced, he couldn’t compare to Mr. Pei’s level.

Moreover, since he was a newcomer, he should indeed watch and learn well.

Thinking this way, Mr. Pei letting him study for a month was perfectly reasonable!

Lü Mingliang quickly nodded: “Yes, Mr. Pei, I understand! I’ll arrange appropriate learning tasks for him, and have him thoroughly grasp the design intentions of your game!”

Grasp my game’s design intentions?

What design intentions does my game have? Does discouraging players count?

Fine, whatever…

Pei Qian couldn’t be bothered to explain further and turned to leave.

But just after turning, he turned back.

He saw the image on Lü Mingliang’s computer screen, which was… the already submitted art resources for “Game Producer”!

There were both concept art and models.

The concept art drafts, Pei Qian only glanced at them, but had a feeling of déjà vu.

How strange.

Why did he have this feeling of familiarity?

Pei Qian frowned and asked, “This concept art…”

Lü Mingliang happily said, “Oh, Mr. Pei, you noticed? That’s right, these are works by Master Ruan Guangjian! You and Master Ruan Guangjian are indeed like-minded, recognizing it at a glance!”

Pei Qian: “????”

What the hell?!

He looked at Lü Mingliang in disbelief: “Didn’t I… tell you to find expensive concept artists?”

Lü Mingliang nodded: “Yes, Master Ruan is currently the most expensive concept artist.”

Damn it!

Pei Qian nearly spat blood.

Only a few months had passed, and Ruan Guangjian had directly transformed from an unknown to the most expensive concept artist?

Even housing prices don’t rise that fast!!

Looking at Pei Qian’s shocked expression, Lü Mingliang thought Mr. Pei was pleasantly surprised and continued: “Moreover, when Master Ruan heard it was your project, Mr. Pei, he only charged a nominal fee, very generous!”

“Without you even making an appearance, Mr. Pei, you saved the company at least tens of thousands in development funds. Your reputation truly precedes you!”

Pei Qian was stunned for a moment, then asked, “Can the contract still be changed?”

Lü Mingliang was taken aback: “Ah? Mr. Pei, do you mean… to give him the full payment? That’s… not very feasible now, because the contract has been certified by the platform, and more than half the work is already completed.”

“Changing the contract would involve very complicated procedures, and besides, Master Ruan might not even accept it.”

“Mr. Pei, if you feel uncomfortable about it, you could perhaps invite Master Ruan for a meal privately, or we could establish a long-term partnership and pay market rates in the future.”

Pei Qian: “…You carry on with your work.”

Pei Qian was at a loss for words.

Originally, he had no special requirements for the new game’s art resources.

He just hoped to spend more money and for it not to be too outstanding!

But what happened?

Of the two objectives, neither was achieved!!

Not only was extra money not spent, but the game’s art concept design was again overseen by Ruan Guangjian, this master disguised as a novice!

Pei Qian felt a headache coming on.

What was going on? With so many concept artists on the resource platform, why did he always have to be fixated on by a master?

What exactly did he see in me? Can’t I change it?!

Pei Qian returned to his office and collapsed into his chair.

Miserable!

“Well, it’s already like this, have to stay positive…”

“Breaking the contract is impossible, can only wait and see after it’s made.”

“Fortunately, ‘Game Producer’ is not a game that wins through its visuals…”

Pei Qian tried hard to calm his emotions.

“Knock, knock, knock.”

There was a knocking sound from outside the office.

Pei Qian looked up and saw it was Ma Yang.

“What’s wrong? Don’t tell me there’s a problem with the internet café as well?!”

Pei Qian was instantly alert.

Could Ma Yang be here to report good news?

That would be… too distressing!

Please don’t let misfortunes come in pairs!

Ma Yang’s expression was solemn: “Brother Qian, I… I think I should report the situation at Moyu Internet Café to you.”

“Zhang Yuan has calculated that based on the turnover during this period, the café will suffer a net loss of around 300,000 yuan per month…”

“That is to say, the café’s income can barely pay the employees’ salaries and cover some utility bills. The biggest expense, rent, basically can’t be recovered at all, let alone recouping those initial costs…”

“Zhang Yuan has made some suggestions, I think we can consider them, look…”

Ma Yang took out a small notebook, wanting to tell Pei Qian about Zhang Yuan’s suggestions.

They were nothing more than reducing prices, organizing promotional activities, and such.

Pei Qian was overjoyed inside, immediately raising his hand to signal Ma Yang to stop.

A pure loss of 300,000 yuan a month?

Great!

Indeed, brothers are truly reliable!

Ma Yang didn’t quite understand Pei Qian’s meaning.

Pei Qian tried hard not to smile, seriously saying, “I told you, don’t worry about these things. This shows our internet café is on the right track!”

Ma Yang was bewildered: “Huh? Losing 300,000 a month and still on the right track?”

Pei Qian nodded: “Exactly. The existence of Moyu Internet Café itself is a high-end publicity method!”

“Think about it, although Moyu Internet Café doesn’t have many customers, aren’t the customers quite satisfied with the café’s environment?”

Ma Yang thought for a moment: “It seems… they are quite satisfied.”

Of course they are.

Anyone who had strong opinions about the prices would take one look at the sign at the entrance and walk away, never becoming a customer of the café.

Those who looked at the prices on the sign and still walked in were all high-income groups who could afford such expensive consumption.

These people would naturally be satisfied with the café environment, because there were so few people!

Fifty high-end computers to choose from freely, prime spots in the coffee area to pick, often more service staff than customers, this was absolute one-on-one service…

How could they not be satisfied?

Pei Qian nodded and said, “So, temporary losses don’t matter. We’re paying to build a reputation!”

“Once our reputation rises, will we still worry about not having customers?”

“If we lower prices now and attract people who aren’t our target audience, how would we raise prices in the future?”

“So, the current situation is just fine, we must remain patient!”

Looking at Pei Qian’s resolute expression, Ma Yang scratched his head.

It seemed… to make some sense.

“Alright… I’ll listen to you then…” Ma Yang said listlessly.