Eric was stunned. He never expected Mr. Pei would say something like this.

*What have I done to deserve this?*

Eric knew very clearly that while his failures had many objective factors—sometimes he was held back by upper management, sometimes because IOI genuinely couldn’t match GOG’s quality… but regardless, a loss was a loss!

He was completely Mr. Pei’s defeated opponent, the kind that had been utterly outplayed in every possible way.

Moreover, Tenda was full of talented people. For such an impressive game as GOG, with its version updates, balance adjustments, operational activities, esports events, and so on—Mr. Pei obviously couldn’t handle everything personally. These tasks were all managed by Tenda’s internal employees.

Even setting aside Mr. Pei’s enormous contribution, these employees were not to be underestimated!

This was precisely why Tenda’s gaming department was the core division of the entire Tenda Group. Any random employee could be sent out to pioneer a new industry and expand Mr. Pei’s business empire.

Yet, Mr. Pei was apparently dissatisfied with GOG’s current management? And had been wanting to replace them for some time?

And give that position to me?

Eric found the situation extremely surreal, but looking carefully at Mr. Pei’s expression, he seemed completely serious, not joking at all.

So he genuinely began to consider this possibility.

Seeing Eric fall into silence, Pei Qian suddenly realized an issue: “Oh, I overlooked something.”

“You’re considered part of Dyarke Group’s upper management. Haven’t you signed a non-compete agreement?”

“If you were to switch jobs, how much would the penalty be?”

Small companies might not bother, but large corporations almost always had their executives sign non-compete and confidentiality agreements to prevent poaching by rival companies.

The confidentiality agreement was straightforward—even after leaving, employees couldn’t disclose or take company secrets, or they’d face consequences.

Otherwise, if executives could jump ship and bring company secrets directly to competitors, wouldn’t everything fall into chaos?

As for non-compete agreements, they restricted similar things, just with different specific content.

Generally, non-compete agreements targeted key, irreplaceable executives, restricting them from working in similar businesses during their employment, and for a period after leaving they couldn’t join competing companies in the same field.

This “period” varied between companies, but it was typically two years—anything shorter would be meaningless.

Of course, agreement terms couldn’t be excessively broad.

For instance, if a company wrote in a non-compete that employees couldn’t join any internet company domestically or internationally for two years after leaving, that would be excessive. The concept of “internet company” was too broad—wouldn’t that prevent employees from joining any company that employed programmers?

Therefore, agreements typically specified certain fields, like social media software or shopping websites.

Game companies often stipulated that former employees couldn’t join other game companies or establish their own game companies.

Alternatively, they might explicitly name certain companies that employees couldn’t join. These were typically industry giants that, despite having different main businesses, were still competitors. This was normal practice.

After signing a non-compete agreement, since employees faced restrictions, companies had to provide compensation: continuing to pay the employee monthly after departure, generally at least 30% of their original fixed income, essentially a “hush money” and “compensation fee” for complying with the agreement.

If a company stopped paying for several months, the non-compete restrictions on the employee would become invalid.

But Dyarke Group was a legitimate major corporation, and would certainly handle these matters properly.

If Eric had truly signed a non-compete agreement, that could be problematic.

Poaching him would require paying a penalty, which varied by company but would likely be several million at minimum.

The key issue was whether the system would allow Pei Qian to spend this money on poaching.

Eric nodded: “Yes, there is a non-compete agreement.”

Pei Qian felt frustrated.

What could be done?

Have Eric negotiate with Dyarke Group’s executives to cancel the non-compete agreement?

Wouldn’t that be essentially telling them, “I’m planning to jump ship to a competitor”?

Dyarke Group’s executives weren’t fools—how could they possibly agree?

This was difficult.

After pondering for a moment, Eric said: “But if I truly wanted to switch to Tenda, this non-compete agreement might not actually restrict me.”

Pei Qian: “?”

He couldn’t immediately think of what kind of background someone would need to make such a statement.

What, was a European high court judge a relative of his?

Seeing Mr. Pei’s slightly bewildered expression, Eric realized he must have misunderstood and quickly explained: “I certainly couldn’t violate the content of the non-compete agreement itself, but if I were to switch to Tenda, I wouldn’t actually be restricted by it.”

“Because Tenda doesn’t meet the conditions specified in the agreement.”

Pei Qian still didn’t understand.

Tenda’s GOG and Finger Company’s IOI had a fierce competitive relationship—that was an iron-clad fact, wasn’t it?

So if Eric, as IOI’s manager, switched to GOG, wouldn’t that trigger the non-compete agreement by any measure?

Eric explained: “My situation is somewhat unique.”

“Actually, I have non-compete agreements with both Dyarke Group and Finger Company.”

“Finger Company’s agreement specifically states that senior management and core designers cannot join any other game company for two years after leaving, which naturally includes Tenda.”

“But I’m not considered a Finger Company employee, so I haven’t signed that non-compete agreement with them.”

“As for Dyarke Group’s non-compete agreement, the situation differs from Finger Company.”

“Dyarke Group’s main businesses are in water utilities, transportation, energy, media, and so on. Although they’ve acquired some game companies, gaming isn’t considered their core business.”

“Moreover, I originally worked in the media department, so my non-compete agreement primarily restricts me from joining other Western media companies, as well as water utility, transportation, and energy companies that directly compete with Dyarke Group.”

“Additionally, it restricts joining certain internationally famous internet companies, like several major Silicon Valley firms.”

“Although this scope is quite broad, Tenda genuinely isn’t included…”

Pei Qian was shocked.

Could it really work like this?

He thought carefully and realized it might actually be true!

Even in China, many executives jumped between major companies, but those who had signed non-compete agreements generally couldn’t escape them—lawsuits were almost always successful.

After all, whether two companies were competitors was usually obvious at a glance.

But Eric’s situation was clearly exceptional.

He wasn’t originally in the gaming industry but handled affairs at a media company within Dyarke Group.

After Dyarke Group acquired Finger Company, they wanted both to strengthen control over Finger Company and better expand IOI’s business in the Chinese server, so they parachuted Eric in as the manager.

Although Eric was now managing gaming business, his non-compete agreement didn’t mention it.

It would be like a smartphone development company not specifying in their non-compete that employees couldn’t become designers at gaming companies, let alone work as dishwashers or waiters at restaurants.

Because executives, if they changed jobs, would typically stay in their main field.

A non-compete agreement aimed to prevent employees from jumping to competitors in the same industry, and to prevent large companies from maliciously poaching each other’s staff, disrupting the employment environment.

If someone changed industries entirely but was still prevented from working, wouldn’t that be unreasonable? The law certainly wouldn’t support it.

But Eric had crossed industries due to business expansion, rendering the restrictions in his original non-compete agreement ineffective…

Of course, the agreement did specifically name many major companies across various sectors, but Tenda wasn’t among them.

Because Tenda was a Chinese company that had only truly risen in the last two or three years, Dyarke Group had never even heard of it before. How could they have prophetically included Tenda’s name in the non-compete agreement?

Pei Qian never imagined this loophole could exist.

Moreover, he suddenly realized that he and Eric were already seriously discussing the possibility of changing jobs…

This led Eric into silence as well, feeling that the conversation had taken an odd turn.

Perhaps Mr. Pei’s eagerness to recruit talent was so evident that Eric had unconsciously been influenced by it.

Pei Qian’s voice suddenly grew louder: “Then that makes things simple!”

“Brother Eric, when can you start? Getting your resignation processed shouldn’t take too many days, right?”

Eric was a bit shocked—was there really such a rush?

Mr. Pei was truly unpretentious, without any of the usual executive airs.

But wasn’t this precisely what made Mr. Pei’s personality so appealing?

After pondering for a moment, Eric said: “Mr. Pei, this is too sudden. I need some time to prepare mentally and think it through properly.”

“Also… if I were to join Tenda, I have one small request.”

“Could you also poach Mr. Zhao from Longyu Group?”

“I work particularly well with him and would like to continue our collaboration.”

“Of course, if you feel his abilities are insufficient, then forget it. Besides, Mr. Zhao is likely bound by a genuine non-compete agreement, which might not be easy to handle.”

Pei Qian immediately nodded: “Sure! No problem!”

Pei Qian had a strong impression of Zhao Xuming.

He seemed to lack any real abilities, except for his outstanding talent at avoiding blame.

If such a person could continue working with Eric, wouldn’t the possibility of losing money increase dramatically?

They could have Eric manage the overseas market and Zhao Xuming handle the domestic market—one external, one internal. Perfect!

Of course, if Zhao Xuming truly had a non-compete agreement, Pei Qian wasn’t sure how to resolve it.

He could only try to find a solution, perhaps reaching some kind of cooperative arrangement with Longyu Group to bring Zhao Xuming over.

If that proved impossible, then so be it—it simply wasn’t meant to be.

Having just Eric, while not perfectly ideal, should be sufficient.