Soon, the development plans for new versions of all games were arranged.

As for how to implement them specifically, Pei Qian didn’t bother with that anymore and handed everything over to Lü Mingliang.

Regarding this matter, Pei Qian had a very good mindset.

He knew these new game versions and DLCs would definitely make money, probably quite a bit, but not too much.

Since making money was within expectations, he wouldn’t feel too bad about it.

What if they lost money? That would be an unexpected joy!

Indeed, after changing his mindset, life became much happier.

The meeting concluded, and Pei Qian prepared to head to Slacking Internet Café to put the branch expansion plan on the agenda as soon as possible. He wanted the locations for various branches to be quickly finalized and begin renovation after the May Day holiday.

One month for renovation, another month for losing money—perfectly timed for the next settlement period.

Just as he was about to leave the meeting room, Ma Yang stopped him.

“Mr. Pei, could I speak with you privately about something?”

Pei Qian paused, then nodded, “Sure, come to my office.”

Pei Qian quite liked Ma Yang.

Such mascots weren’t easy to find.

Up until now, Ma Yang had been quietly staying at the company, studying Mr. Pei’s advanced game design philosophy every day without doing any meaningful work.

Pei Qian was quite satisfied with this.

If every employee could be like Ma Yang, how much easier would things be!

“What’s the matter?” Pei Qian sat down in his executive chair and pointed to the chair across from his desk, gesturing for Ma Yang to sit.

Ma Yang seemed somewhat embarrassed, but after hesitating for a moment, he said, “Mr. Pei, it’s like this. I have a friend who recently ran into a small situation…”

Pei Qian smiled, “This friend of yours, is it yourself? It’s okay, just tell me directly what difficulties you’re facing. I can approve three days of paid leave for you, and you can come back to work after handling it.”

Ma Yang quickly shook his head, “No, no, no, Mr. Pei, you misunderstand. It is a friend of mine.”

“Huang Sibo and I both worked at Shanyang Games before, as you probably know.”

“After Huang Sibo left, because they were missing an executive game designer, they hired someone else to fill the position.”

“Recently, he became unemployed, so he came to ask if I could help introduce him to a job…”

Hmm?

Pei Qian noticed Ma Yang’s choice of words: “unemployed.”

Generally speaking, “unemployed” should be a passive state, not an active action.

Not resigning, but being laid off by Shanyang Games?

Calculating on his fingers.

Huang Sibo came to Tenda in November last year, only about half a year ago.

Since this guy replaced Huang Sibo, he should have entered Shanyang Games around late November, working as an executive game designer.

And then… laid off after just half a year?

This young man must be very capable!

This kind of talent must be recruited!

But on second thought, Pei Qian realized he should clarify something.

What exactly was the reason for the dismissal?

If it were due to insufficient work abilities, Pei Qian would take him without hesitation.

But if it involved leaking company secrets or similar illegal behaviors, Pei Qian couldn’t accept him.

If he committed crimes, Pei Qian would be implicated, as the system did not allow any violations of laws and regulations within the company.

“What was your friend fired for?” Pei Qian asked.

“Fired? No, no, no.” Ma Yang quickly shook his head. “He’s unemployed because Shanyang Games is about to go bankrupt.”

Pei Qian: “…”

He had misunderstood and gotten excited for nothing.

Pei Qian knew about Shanyang Games, after all, it was Huang Sibo’s former employer. Moreover, there weren’t many game companies in Jingzhou City, and Shanyang Games had some reputation.

But he had heard this company was doing okay, so how could it be on the verge of bankruptcy?

So envious!

“How could Shanyang Games… be going bankrupt?” Pei Qian asked with genuine concern.

He was truly concerned, as this might be a valuable experience for him.

Ma Yang also felt somewhat emotional, after all, he had worked at Shanyang Games for a long time, so it was impossible to have no feelings about it.

“Ah, it’s a long story.”

“There were signs early on. Starting in October last year, many people at Shanyang Games were secretly looking for new jobs. Even our lead designer, Old Liu, was trying to find a new workplace, which shows how dire the situation was.”

Pei Qian recalled that this was indeed the case.

In November last year, Old Liu and Huang Sibo came for interviews almost one after another, and then Old Liu was decisively rejected by Pei Qian because of his extensive experience.

Looking back now, when a company’s lead game designer was secretly looking for a new job, it showed how bleak the company’s situation was.

Ma Yang continued: “However, although the company’s operating conditions were deteriorating, it could still barely maintain operations since our main games still had stable revenue.”

“But the revenue pressure kept increasing.”

“As far as I know, Old Liu had been thinking about changing jobs all along but couldn’t find a good opportunity, so he kept working there.”

“Later, after seeing the success of ‘Sea Fortress’ and how popular the Fire Kirin was at 888 yuan, he organized an event and also priced a knife in the game at 888 yuan.”

“I suspect he felt the company was going to fail anyway, so he just went wild.”

“Surprisingly, the boss approved it. After all, normal operations were already quite difficult at that time, and bringing in some short-term revenue would at least keep the company alive temporarily.”

“But the result? Players were furious! Not only did they fail to make money, but the game’s reputation collapsed, active users plummeted, and revenue dropped sharply!”

“At this point, they couldn’t even keep the company alive. After struggling until now, they can’t even pay salaries anymore. Last week, their boss called everyone together and said the company’s funding chain had broken, telling everyone to quickly find new jobs.”

“So my buddy came to me for help.”

Pei Qian listened silently.

So part of this was my fault??

“Sea Fortress” had unwittingly given Shanyang Games a push, accelerating its demise.

All this happened by mere coincidence.

Moreover, the game industry circle in Jingzhou was indeed small…

In that moment, Pei Qian felt a bit envious of Shanyang Games’ boss.

Look at him, losing money whenever he wants!

And losing so much that the company goes bankrupt!

Hmm? Wait a minute.

Pei Qian suddenly had a flash of inspiration. There’s no need to envy him!

I can just take over, can’t I?

Why envy Shanyang Games’ boss when I could become Shanyang Games’ boss myself?

A company that has already successfully lost money—if I take it over, wouldn’t that count as me losing money too?

This was a treasure!

Seeing that Pei Qian hadn’t immediately agreed, Ma Yang quickly said, “Mr. Pei, I know Tenda has very strict requirements for employees. I just hope you can give my friend a chance to interview.”

Pei Qian nodded: “Don’t worry, your friend won’t be unemployed.”

Ma Yang was startled, then exclaimed with delight: “Really? Thank you, Mr. Pei! Thank you so much!”

Did Mr. Pei mean that even if he didn’t meet Tenda Games’ requirements and couldn’t join Tenda Games, he would still recommend other jobs to him?

How righteous, so righteous!

Ma Yang hadn’t expected Mr. Pei to agree so readily. It seemed Mr. Pei truly treated every employee as a friend and brother!

Ma Yang left with countless thanks.

Pei Qian was also very happy.

Whether Ma Yang’s friend met Tenda’s recruitment standards was no longer important.

After all, why not just buy the entire Shanyang Games and be done with it?

Buy it, let it continue operating as it had been, and then all losses would count towards Pei Qian.

Where else could you find such a good deal?