Half an hour later, Sun Xi knocked on Zhou Muyan’s office door.
“Mr. Zhou, this is the complete personnel list for the ‘Bullet Hole 2’ project team.”
Sun Xi hesitated, then added, “For some positions on the list, there might be several candidates. Everyone was extremely eager to sign up, and I found it difficult to decide exactly who to use, so I included them all. Please make the final decision.”
Zhou Muyan reached out to take the proposal without much surprise.
After all, everyone knew that “Bullet Hole 2” was a key collaborative project between the studio, Tenda, and Longyu Group, with a high probability of success, so applying to join was perfectly reasonable.
Zhou Muyan quickly scanned the list.
Although he was part of the studio’s management, he didn’t necessarily know everyone, so besides names, the list also included notes clearly stating which project team each person was currently on and what position they held.
With this project team and position information, Zhou Muyan could generally gauge a person’s abilities.
He read from back to front because the latter part of the list had mostly been finalized, with few vacant positions remaining.
Those selected for this list were all promising young talents from various project teams. Anyone whose name Zhou Muyan remembered from among so many people was certainly no ordinary individual.
So this time, Zhou Muyan focused on looking at the positions that hadn’t been confirmed previously.
“Liu He… I remember he performed quite well when designing levels, a young man with many ideas. Hmm, getting experience with ‘Bullet Hole 2’ is a good idea for him.”
“Zhu Yan did good work with art resources during ‘Bullet Hole’s’ development, so ‘Bullet Hole 2’ shouldn’t be a problem either.”
“Hmm? Isn’t Yang Yuhua working on features for the ‘Dark Fantasy’ project? That project is nearing completion and about to launch soon—is he giving up his bonus?”
“…Why is Old Han here too? This is ridiculous!”
At first, there weren’t any issues. Most of the new names Zhou Muyan saw were familiar—promising young people in the studio actively applying to join the “Bullet Hole 2” project team made sense.
But when he saw the candidates for key positions, Zhou Muyan was shocked.
Because some names appeared that were completely beyond his expectations!
Take the “Dark Fantasy” project, for example. This was a mobile game that had been in development for six months, and if all went well, would officially launch within two months.
For game developers, a game’s official launch was as significant as New Year’s, because it meant the end of overtime, a period of lighter work, and substantial project bonuses.
Although this mobile game’s quality wasn’t top-tier, Zhou Muyan believed it would generate at least ten million yuan in monthly revenue after launch.
Yet several people from the “Dark Fantasy” project team had voluntarily joined “Bullet Hole 2”?
According to Tianhua Studio’s regulations, those who left midway could still receive bonuses from their old project team for three months, but this game wouldn’t launch for another two months.
Wouldn’t these people be giving up all bonuses except for the first month after launch?
“Dark Fantasy” was nearly complete, so losing two or three people wouldn’t affect the big picture, but these people’s choices left Zhou Muyan completely baffled.
As for Old Han, he was even more excessive. He was a lead designer earning substantial bonuses every month, yet was willing to give up his position and bonuses to work on numerical design for “Bullet Hole 2”?
That was ridiculous!
Zhou Muyan suddenly realized he had completely underestimated the appeal of “Bullet Hole 2.” Otherwise, why would the names on this list exceed the quota by more than three times?
“Does everyone have such strong confidence in this game?”
“Especially Old Han—does he think the bonuses he’ll get as a numerical planner here will be more than what he’d get as a lead planner?”
“That can’t be right…”
Zhou Muyan looked at the list, then at Sun Xi, and asked uncertainly, “Could it be… these people are all here to avoid overtime?”
Sun Xi hemmed and hawed without answering.
He was clearly confirming it by his silence.
He couldn’t really deny it—the situation was too obvious, and Zhou Muyan wasn’t stupid, so there was no way to obscure the truth.
He could hardly claim these people were purely motivated by their dreams, could he?
Zhou Muyan became angry.
“How can they be like this?”
“I’ve repeatedly emphasized that ‘Bullet Hole 2’ is the studio’s key project, a game with massive investment using Mr. Pei’s ideas that cannot fail!”
“And what are these people doing? They’re all planning to come here for an easy life!”
“Without any fighting spirit, how can this project succeed?”
“Reject them all! These people who are clearly coming to avoid overtime—we can’t accept a single one!”
Zhou Muyan had reason to be angry. He had agreed that the “Bullet Hole 2” project team wouldn’t work overtime mainly as a courtesy to Min Jingchao, not because he truly endorsed a no-overtime work style.
It was like that famous saying many people use: “Money isn’t important, overtime isn’t important, what matters is attitude.”
Although this saying was nonsense, many people still believed it.
Now these people on the list were applying because they wanted to avoid overtime. In Zhou Muyan’s view, their work attitude was highly questionable!
Sun Xi quickly said, “Please don’t be angry, Mr. Zhou. I think we should ask Jingchao’s opinion on this matter.”
“To be honest, not wanting to work overtime is human nature. When Jingchao made this request, he probably considered the problems it might cause.”
“If Jingchao doesn’t mind, letting these people join shouldn’t be a big deal. If their work attitude does become a problem, we can replace them later.”
“At least from the current situation, everyone on the list is truly elite in our studio. This would make for a very capable project team.”
“Besides, it’s hard to determine who’s coming because they don’t want overtime and who genuinely wants to achieve something…”
After hearing Sun Xi’s words, Zhou Muyan fell silent.
The situation was indeed as described.
People like Old Han, whose original projects offered much better treatment than “Bullet Hole 2,” yet voluntarily took demotions to transfer over—their intentions were too obvious.
But others who applied might also be coming to avoid overtime, right?
They couldn’t use a lie detector to test everyone’s true thoughts.
And even if they did, the results might be very disappointing to Zhou Muyan.
Being bold, perhaps everyone was coming to avoid overtime.
Zhou Muyan was speechless. He handed the list back, “Fine, go discuss it with Min Jingchao.”
“The people on this list definitely have the ability—they’re all capable of handling these positions, perhaps even overqualified.”
“If Min Jingchao has no objections, then you coordinate and decide. Just send me a copy of the final list.”
Sun Xi nodded, “Yes, Mr. Zhou. I’ll go ask Min Jingchao’s opinion right away.”
…
At this moment, Min Jingchao was sitting at his workstation, carefully revising his design document.
Sun Xi’s workstation was right next to his, making it convenient for them to communicate and exchange ideas promptly.
In terms of position, Sun Xi was the Executive Lead Designer, responsible for advancing work progress and coordinating tasks between departments.
This configuration was similar to Bao Xu and Huang Sibo’s setup on “Sea Fortress” at the time—one responsible for design, the other for implementation.
“Jingchao, there’s something I need to discuss with you…”
Sun Xi explained the personnel selection issue in detail, then asked, “How do you think we should select these people?”
Min Jingchao looked puzzled, “What’s there to be conflicted about? Just screen them based on actual ability, right?”
“For feature design positions, emphasize innovation and learning ability; for numerical balance and level design, focus on experience and accumulated knowledge.”
Sun Xi reminded him, “Mr. Zhou is concerned that some people might be coming just to avoid overtime, which could affect the work atmosphere of the entire project team.”
Min Jingchao found this incredibly bewildering, “How would that affect the project team’s work atmosphere?”
“Isn’t not wanting to work overtime just human nature? Everyone at Tenda doesn’t want to work overtime, yet it doesn’t affect our work atmosphere.”
“Besides, it’s a form of motivation, a screening mechanism. To avoid being kicked out, everyone will definitely work hard.”
Sun Xi opened his mouth, somewhat dumbfounded.
Could it be understood that way?
Indeed, looking at it from a different perspective, the conclusion was completely different.
In Zhou Muyan’s view, joining the “Bullet Hole 2” project team to avoid overtime was clearly a sign of wanting to slack off or be lazy—a problematic work attitude.
But in Min Jingchao’s view, joining the “Bullet Hole 2” project team to avoid overtime was actually a motivating factor that improved work attitude!
Sun Xi vaguely felt something wasn’t quite right, but couldn’t articulate what.
After thinking for a while without clarity, he decided to follow Min Jingchao’s lead.
After all, Min Jingchao was the decision-maker for this project, and his decisions would be respected even by Mr. Zhou.
“Alright, then I’ll finalize the list according to this standard.”
Sun Xi quickly screened out some candidates and soon completed the personnel list.
At a glance, the list was extraordinarily impressive, filled with highly capable individuals.
Sun Xi suddenly thought of something and asked quietly, “Jingchao, let me ask you privately—does Tenda really not work overtime? Not even a single day?”
Min Jingchao considered for a moment, then shook his head, “It’s impossible to never work overtime. For certain emergencies, we still need to.”
Sun Xi nodded slightly. That made sense.
How could they not work overtime in emergency situations? Even Tenda couldn’t change the objective realities of the game industry.
So it was just a question of how much overtime they worked. That was acceptable.
Min Jingchao added, “However, we get triple pay, and such situations are extremely rare—the amount of overtime is limited.”
Sun Xi: “…”
Triple pay was enough to make him envious, but the overtime allowance was also limited?
What a strange policy!
He asked again, “Is it the same for all projects? What about special departments? Surely Headwind Logistics can’t avoid overtime?”
Min Jingchao replied, “They get compensatory time off. The overall working hours are about the same.”
Although he had somewhat expected this, Sun Xi was still shocked and remained speechless for a while.
He nodded silently, “No wonder Tenda is called heaven and everyone wants to go there. For employees, it’s simply perfect!”
After a moment of silence, Min Jingchao said, “Not entirely.”
“There are also some very annoying things.”
Sun Xi: “Such as?”
Min Jingchao: “Paid vacations.”
Sun Xi: “…”