Meanwhile, Pei Qian was also in his office, sighing deeply.

What should he do?

This championship skin issue really had nothing to do with him!

People might not believe it, but this was completely FV Team’s independent action—they were the ones who started it…

Pei Qian had clearly seen from the online comments the negative impact this championship skin set had created.

The money-throwing hedgehog Modistre’s image was likely to become even more deeply rooted in people’s minds.

Moreover, Finger Company had communicated extensively with FV Team and worked tirelessly to revise the design, ultimately producing such a high-quality championship skin set—only to have all the attention stolen by Tenda. What a tremendous blow this must be for Finger Company!

Of course, the championship skins would still make plenty of money.

The key issue was the psychological impact, which was almost unbearable!

Pei Qian even considered paying out of his own pocket to hire a psychologist, or at least a counselor, for Eric to help him cope.

After all, not everyone possessed his own indomitable spirit and ability to grow stronger with each setback. People with more fragile psyches like Eric could easily crumble under such intense pressure.

Pei Qian absolutely did not want Eric to crumble.

If Eric gave up, who knew what kind of person Finger Company would send next as head of the Greater China Region?

What if Finger Company, seeing the tragic fate of three consecutive Greater China Region heads—especially the returning Eric’s miserable state—simply decided to abandon the Greater China market and sent some nobody to deliberately underperform?

Then no matter how much money Tenda burned, if Finger Company’s new head simply refused to engage, wouldn’t that be awkward?

How could they happily burn money then?

Although they could continue burning money in overseas markets, it would ultimately be too far removed and inconvenient.

So Pei Qian could only silently pray that Eric would be strong, grow more determined with each setback like himself, and face the bleakness of life and the streaming blood head-on.

If there were a way, Pei Qian would genuinely like to help Eric, but unfortunately, he couldn’t.

The championship skins were already created. Whether they changed them now or not, Tenda had already stolen all the attention.

Even if Pei Qian came forward to clarify that these skins had nothing to do with Modistre and told everyone to stop speculating, it would be useless!

It might even backfire, making people think he was openly mocking them, further damaging Eric’s mental state.

Eric’s mental state was probably already in shambles and couldn’t take such provocation.

So Pei Qian could only choose to let it cool down—out of sight, out of mind.

He could only silently pray that Eric would get through this!

Setting aside the championship skin issue for now, Pei Qian opened the work reports from various departments again to see which upcoming projects deserved attention.

Next week, the Food Court was scheduled to officially open.

Pei Qian had zero confidence in the Food Court. After all, in Meng Chang’s view, both the Food Court and the experience store were guaranteed to be successful projects.

And Meng Chang’s judgment about the experience store had already been proven correct.

The Food Court was likely to face a similar fate—more bad than good.

But regardless, after so much preparation, business had to proceed as planned. Better to grit his teeth and make money than to delay and affect the settlement.

Even if it truly became popular and highly profitable, he would just have to endure it.

Speaking of Meng Chang…

Pei Qian checked his calendar and found that it had been almost two weeks since Meng Chang’s promotional plan for Terminus Chinese Website’s Inspiration Class had been formally launched.

The plan was released last Monday. Since the promotional material was extremely simple—just a single image—it spread very quickly.

By next Monday, this promotional plan would have been running for two full weeks, and by then, regardless of the final outcome, Meng Chang would receive his minimum commission—a base salary of 5,000 yuan plus a guaranteed minimum of 2,000 yuan, totaling 7,000 yuan.

This might not seem like much, but for Meng Chang, who had typically only received a base salary of 3,000 yuan, it was already double.

Moreover, the guaranteed 2,000 yuan minimum commission wasn’t just about money—it was also a matter of dignity!

Meng Chang had always prided himself on being a promotional mastermind and psychology expert. He believed he could manipulate public attention with ease, creating trends effortlessly and generating buzz at will.

However, since joining Tenda, he had suffered defeat after defeat, growing less confident with each failure.

This had been a severe blow to Meng Chang’s worldview.

Receiving this 2,000 yuan minimum commission would greatly boost his confidence, giving him faith and enthusiasm to invest more energy in future promotional plans.

And this crucial moment was just four days away.

Today was already Wednesday. Once they got through Sunday, the commission would be in hand.

From the current situation, Meng Chang’s promotional plan could be considered very successful.

That ugly image truly hadn’t caused much of a stir. Even when there was discussion, it was only about how ugly the image was.

Some netizens thought this promotional campaign might have been outsourced to amateurs, which explained both the ugly image and the lack of originality in promotional methods. Most crucially, they seemed completely ignorant of industry data, making themselves a laughingstock.

By showcasing these works’ statistics, thinking they were impressive figures, they had actually exposed their shortcomings and made themselves ridiculous.

If this trend continued until the end of the month, Meng Chang might earn tens of thousands in commission.

However, Pei Qian still felt uneasy.

Where was this strange sense of crisis coming from?

Perhaps it stemmed from Pei Qian’s numerous tragic experiences of failing on the eve of success…

Thinking back, Pei Qian himself had once been a young man like Meng Chang, full of passion but always harboring hope for lucky breaks.

Each time he thought, “The settlement is coming soon—as long as this project stays unprofitable, everything will be fine!”

But often when he thought this way, the unprofitable project would suddenly become wildly popular for some inexplicable reason!

Was this coincidence or the mockery of fate?

Pei Qian couldn’t say for sure.

But after experiencing this repeatedly, Pei Qian had learned a simple truth: the closer you are to success, the more vigilant you must be and the more thoroughly you must prepare.

And Meng Chang…

He probably hadn’t grasped this concept so deeply yet.

Therefore, Pei Qian felt that as someone who had been through it all, he had both the responsibility and obligation to remind him, lest he become complacent and ruin everything at the last minute, destroying his own mental state.

Picking up his phone, Pei Qian sighed silently.

Life was so hard for him!

Not only did he have to manage his own mental state, but he also had to constantly help people like Eric and Meng Chang adjust theirs, fearing they might suddenly have a breakdown and stop playing along with him.

But who could understand Pei Qian’s pain?

The call connected quickly.

“Hello? Mr. Pei?”

Meng Chang’s voice sounded slightly relaxed, somewhat relieved.

Clearly, after more than a week of anxiety, he had discovered his plan was very successful, generating neither necessary nor unnecessary attention, so his mental state had gradually relaxed.

Pei Qian asked, “How’s your promotional plan going recently?”

Meng Chang chuckled and replied, “Thanks to you, Mr. Pei, things are going smoothly.”

“Especially your notice requiring all Tenda departments to keep the copyright development of Inspiration Class works confidential—that really helped a lot!”

“And the rule that internal leaks won’t affect commission has also eased my mind considerably, allowing me to create promotional plans with a calmer state of mind.”

Although Meng Chang constantly reminded himself to be vigilant, vigilant, and once more vigilant with an old fox like Mr. Pei…

This time, Mr. Pei had genuinely been a great help…

If Mr. Pei hadn’t promptly helped him plug the leaks, once information about the Inspiration Class works’ copyright development leaked from within, he would have been in serious trouble.

Especially after hearing that Tenda’s gaming department had already begun preliminary production preparations for the “Eternal Cycle” DLC, Meng Chang had broken out in a cold sweat.

If that news got out, the entire Inspiration Class would absolutely receive a surge of attention!

By then, all the promotional expenses and that ugly promotional material would likely become fuel for a wildfire of public interest, and the situation would certainly spiral out of control.

Fortunately, Tenda’s internal confidentiality measures were working well.

So Meng Chang had gradually relaxed, eyeing the commission that was just three or four days away, his entire being in a state of pleasure and ease.

Hearing this, Pei Qian sensed something wasn’t right.

Pride comes before a fall!

Meng Chang’s current state clearly showed insufficient understanding of causality as an objective law of the world—he didn’t recognize the seriousness of the situation.

Pei Qian immediately said in a very serious tone, “Your attitude is extremely dangerous!”

“Indeed, there are only four days left until you receive your minimum commission, but don’t forget, the last mile is the hardest!”

“The promotional plan has been out for over a week, and a lot of promotional funds have been spent. While it may seem like there’s little interest on the surface, seeds have already been planted in netizens’ minds.”

“The current state may appear peaceful and harmonious, but it’s actually fraught with danger—this is the most dangerous time!”

“How many times have you failed at the last moment? Have you forgotten the pain of past wounds?”

“At times like these, you must be even more vigilant and careful!”

This speech left Meng Chang confused.

Although both the tone and content seemed like normal instructions from a superior to a subordinate, something about it just didn’t feel right…

Although Meng Chang found it somewhat puzzling, upon careful consideration of what Mr. Pei had said, he realized it was quite true!

How many times had he failed at the last moment?

The more secure things seemed, the more vigilant he needed to be!

Like a bucket of cold water poured over his head, Meng Chang instantly felt enlightened. He put aside his previous casual, optimistic attitude and immediately became serious.

“Yes, Mr. Pei, you’re absolutely right!”

“I’ll definitely be careful!”

“But… how should I stay vigilant…”