“Is everyone here? Let’s begin the meeting.”

Pei Qian walked straight into the conference room.

The others hurriedly stood up and followed Wang Xiaobin into the meeting room.

Everyone quickly took their seats, sitting upright with serious expressions.

Ye Zhizhou couldn’t help but marvel.

This was what presence meant!

When Old Liu used to hold meetings, although everyone pretended to be obedient, nobody took him seriously.

They all just went through the motions with an attitude of getting by, doing the bare minimum with the work assigned to them.

After all, everyone understood clearly that in this environment, no amount of effort would make any difference.

But now, everything was completely different.

Thinking about how Mr. Pei, as the new boss, had earned everyone’s genuine respect and recognition without saying a word—it was truly remarkable.

Pei Qian shifted positions several times in his chair, feeling uncomfortable.

Shangyang Games was certainly stingy—from office chairs to conference room seats, everything was cheap and uncomfortable to sit on.

“Fortunately, I bargained Du Ruijie down by 400,000 yuan, which can be used to supplement these people’s salaries and replace the office furniture.”

“When funds are more available, I should find time to completely renovate Shangyang Games. That would be a good way to spend money aggressively before settlement.”

The uncomfortable chair strengthened Pei Qian’s determination to quickly assign tasks and leave this place.

Pei Qian glanced at his Rolex, making it appear as if he was pressed for time.

In reality, he had nothing planned for the day except catching up on sleep.

“Time is limited, so I’ll just briefly go over a few points.”

Hearing “briefly go over a few points,” everyone sat up even straighter, preparing themselves for a lengthy lecture.

After all, when leaders say they’ll “briefly go over a few points,” it often turns into hours of talking.

Pei Qian looked around the room. “Who is Ye Zhizhou?”

Ye Zhizhou was startled.

What did this mean?

Why would Mr. Pei call out my name at the very beginning of the meeting?

Ye Zhizhou quickly stood up. “Mr. Pei, I’m here!”

Pei Qian felt a bit uncomfortable with this formality and quickly waved his hand to tell him to sit down. “You can remain seated.”

He turned to look at Wang Xiaobin, the current lead game designer and numerical designer. “Wang Xiaobin, the numerical design work is quite important. Serving as both numerical designer and lead designer seems like it might be too much for you.”

“From now on, Ye Zhizhou will be the lead designer of Shangyang Games. Wang Xiaobin, please cooperate with him.”

As Pei Qian spoke, he quietly observed the facial expressions of Wang Xiaobin and Ye Zhizhou.

Ye Zhizhou was completely dumbfounded.

Wang Xiaobin was stunned for a moment, and then… a slight smile appeared on his face?

Although the smile contained a hint of concern, it was a genuine smile.

Huh?

This wasn’t following the script.

Pei Qian had assumed that demoting Wang Xiaobin, who had just become the lead designer, would cause his expression to change from shock to disbelief, and finally to desperate pleading…

But none of that happened. Wang Xiaobin seemed a bit happy?

There was no palace drama unfolding…

How disappointing.

Pei Qian observed the reactions of the others and noticed that several older employees, who appeared more senior, clearly had unhappy expressions.

This was normal. Ye Zhizhou had only been here for a few months, filling Huang Sibo’s position as executive designer. He had neither the ability nor the track record—who would respect him?

When Wang Xiaobin heard he was being removed from his position, he mainly felt relief because he doubted his ability to handle the job and feared messing it up, which explained his slight happiness.

In reality, he also didn’t believe Ye Zhizhou could handle the lead designer role, which explained the concern in his smile.

Wang Xiaobin was someone without much ambition, which was why he could be so calm.

But the other senior employees were different.

Why should this youngster be the lead designer? Why not me?

Their facial expressions were quite fascinating.

Pei Qian nodded silently. Yes, this was more like it.

Infighting!

Infighting!

Infighting!

Pei Qian’s heart was filled with excitement.

But on second thought, this alone seemed a bit inadequate.

These people had been colleagues before, seeing each other day in and day out as familiar faces. Mere envy wouldn’t create intense enough conflict.

He needed to provoke them further.

Pei Qian thought for a moment and added, “Ye Zhizhou, you have one unconditional dismissal quota each month. If you want to fire someone, just send me a message.”

Ye Zhizhou was even more bewildered.

This was truly an imperial sword!

And it wasn’t just about reporting someone—it was unconditional dismissal. All he needed to do was send this person’s name to Mr. Pei, and they would be packing up and leaving immediately.

Pei Qian glanced at the senior employees whose faces had turned grim earlier and saw that their expressions had become even more grim.

Good, this was exactly the effect he wanted.

When a lead designer who couldn’t command respect takes over, wielding such power, he would likely make life difficult for the senior employees who had bullied him before, throwing his weight around and even firing colleagues to establish authority.

Over time, morale would crumble, Ye Zhizhou would become isolated as a lone commander, and he’d be left with a mess and no solutions…

Yes, the script was perfect!

Pei Qian checked the time, feeling pressed.

Although watching everyone’s expressions was quite interesting, he needed to continue with the scheduled agenda quickly—after all, he was eager to get back for his afternoon nap.

“Next, Shangyang Games will implement a two-step strategy.”

“First step, make changes to the current two games by removing all payment points except one. As for how to cut and what to keep, Ye Zhizhou, that’s your decision.”

“Second step, everyone will come up with their game proposal, develop a design document, and I’ll select one as Shangyang Games’ new project.”

“Um… until the end of June, your main focus will be executing the first step.”

“Then in July, submit your proposals, and we’ll officially launch the new project.”

Pei Qian’s gaze swept across the room. “Any questions?”

Ye Zhizhou was the first to raise his hand.

Pei Qian ignored him completely and nodded. “Very good, meeting adjourned.”

Mr. Pei stood up and walked out with style.

Only Ye Zhizhou remained, his hand frozen in mid-air.

The others were also dumbfounded.

When Mr. Pei said he would “briefly go over a few points,” did he mean it?

In total, he hadn’t even spoken ten sentences…

Ye Zhizhou only wanted to immediately decline the lead designer position, but Mr. Pei seemed to have anticipated his thoughts and completely avoided the subject, simply walking away.

Now, Ye Zhizhou could feel the unfriendly gazes of several senior employees on him, like needles pricking his back.

The atmosphere at Shangyang Games, which had previously been like stagnant water, was now like oil heating over a flame, gradually coming to a boil.

…

After leaving the Shangyang Games, Pei Qian was in a good mood.

Yes, this should work perfectly!

Although Old Liu was gone, promoting an executive designer who had just entered the industry to lead the design team should achieve similar results to what Old Liu was doing.

Moreover, this two-step strategy would ensure continuous losses for the foreseeable future.

First, to prevent any resurgence of “The Amorous Taoist” and “Hot-Blooded Battle Song,” he had ordered all payment points to be removed except one, ensuring these two games wouldn’t make money.

Then came the brainstorming session, with everyone writing a proposal.

Pei Qian was still considering whether he should pick the worst proposal himself or randomly select one.

After brief consideration, Pei Qian decided to select one randomly.

He no longer trusted his judgment.

Every time he aimed to make a terrible game, it ended up being hugely popular, which was frustrating.

“The Lonely Desert Highway” and “Game Developer” had taught him enough lessons.

So, Pei Qian decided to draw lots when the time came, accepting whichever proposal was selected.

Of course, if it turned out to be a well-written proposal, Pei Qian would draw again.

Beyond that, Pei Qian resolved not to visit Shangyang Games again, minimizing his influence on the company as much as possible, allowing it to become a disordered dark forest, returning to the most primitive jungle law.

By then, it would become disorganized, and Ye Zhizhou wouldn’t be able to lead effectively, perfectly.

This way, the situation at Shangyang Games should be foolproof… right?