Monday, July 1st.

Pei Qian arrived at the company as usual, preparing to arrange the work for this month.

July was still a very busy month.

This month, Tenda’s new phone and game router would officially have their launch events, and exclusive games would be revealed.

The zoo project, which had been planned for a long time, would also officially open to the public in these two months, followed by new haunted house projects and Luxury apparel, and so on.

Annoying things came one after another!

Fortunately, Pei Qian had now graduated, so he no longer needed to worry about studying and exams.

There’s a saying that “those admitted to graduate school without exam live like pigs, those who go into employment live like dogs, and those preparing for graduate school entrance exams live worse than pigs and dogs.”

So Pei Qian’s current state should belong to the happiest category. He just needed to endure for another half year, and he would be completely liberated.

Speaking of which, after submitting his graduation thesis, there had been no news about it so far.

Midway through, Pei Qian was a bit worried and called Zhang Wei to ask.

But Zhang Wei was also vague. Regarding how the thesis was specifically, he couldn’t say much, only that Professor Kong’s side appreciated the thesis very much, and graduation definitely wouldn’t be a problem!

Pei Qian didn’t ask further. In his view, a thesis was just like an exam—floating by with a passing score was enough.

Because a passing score was the perfect state in his ideal, not a point more or less. It neither wasted too much of his energy nor wasted his time on makeup exams.

After all, Pei Qian didn’t plan to do research. He just wanted to casually set up a small company, lose some money, exploit the system, and live a happy life.

Being able to pass exams was already his effort to maintain a bottom line.

As he was looking at this month’s projects, there came a knock on the door from outside.

The new assistant walked in, “Mr. Pei, there’s something I need to report to you.”

“This weekend, Zhaiju Delivery’s CEO Zheng Hao has been talking nonsense on Weibo, saying he wants to debate with you face-to-face, and he’s been frequently @ing our company’s official Weibo account. However, because we weren’t working the past two days, the operations team members who saw it couldn’t report it in time.”

Pei Qian replied without looking up: “Oh, that matter. I know.”

During the two days of the weekend, with nothing to do, Pei Qian naturally also scrolled through the web. He knew Zheng Hao was a sore loser, not only exposing on Weibo that his grades in all subjects during his four years of university were just passing scores, but also saying he wanted a face-to-face debate to expose his public image.

But the problem was that Pei Qian only had a small Weibo account, which he used to look at pretty girls, and he didn’t have an official Weibo account as Mr. Pei at all.

Even if he wanted to respond, he couldn’t.

Moreover, Pei Qian had no intention of responding. So what if his grades in all subjects during his four years of university were just passing scores?

What? Envious that I could graduate smoothly? That passing score was earned through my own ability!

Pei Qian had no desire to debate face-to-face with Zheng Hao because this matter had no meaning for him whatsoever. Moreover, Pei Qian wasn’t skilled at debating in the first place. Why bother appearing to entertain the antics of an embarrassed and angry Zheng Hao?

Let Zheng Hao throw his tantrum on Weibo. If it could really cause some damage to Tenda and Mr. Pei’s image, that would be a good thing.

After all, Pei Qian also felt that his current image was a bit too exaggerated, inexplicably followed and praised by many people. It wouldn’t be a bad thing to let his image drop a bit.

It could even help him lose money!

Pei Qian said to the assistant without concern: “It’s fine, let him make a fuss. We don’t need to make any response.”

……

In the afternoon.

Counselor Zhang Wei was busy. Although it was already graduation season, the work of these counselors hadn’t decreased at all.

But at least, after being busy for a while longer, it would be summer vacation.

“There are still several students whose employment issues haven’t been resolved. What to do? It’s already July.”

“We can’t just trouble Pei Qian again and force them into Tenda Group, right? It’s not appropriate to keep pushing people there.”

Every graduation season, the school was troubled by the employment rate issue.

Zhang Wei was temporarily at a loss, mainly because if Tenda Group was developing well, that would be fine. But recently, the business war between Tenda Group and the Anti-Tenda Alliance had been making a lot of noise. Internal affairs must be very complicated, and Pei Qian definitely couldn’t spare much energy.

At this time, troubling Pei Qian to solve employment issues didn’t seem very appropriate.

“These big companies, one worse than the other at being decent.”

“Losing in normal business competition is one thing, but now they’re not playing by the rules, using some dirty tactics.”

Zhang Wei also felt very ashamed of the behavior of the Anti-Tenda Alliance and Zheng Hao.

He was certainly on Tenda’s side but found it very puzzling why the Anti-Tenda Alliance’s public opinion battles were repeatedly defeated yet could still raise such a big wave?

Aren’t the rights and wrongs of many things obvious at a glance?

It could only be said that too many people were involved. Wanting all people to reach the same consensus was as difficult as climbing to heaven.

Zhang Wei habitually opened the intranet to check notifications.

A prominent position on the intranet displayed an announcement: Notice of the Results of the Outstanding Undergraduate Graduation Thesis (Design) Selection.

“Hmm?”

Zhang Wei instantly became alert. He clicked on the attachment table below the announcement to check, and sure enough, Pei Qian’s thesis was listed!

Zhang Wei had originally wanted to help Pei Qian revise his thesis before submission, but after actually reading the thesis, he found he couldn’t figure out where to start. He also consulted several young lecturers, and their opinions varied.

In the end, Zhang Wei had no choice but to submit the thesis exactly as it was to Professor Kong. Unexpectedly, Professor Kong gave it very high praise.

This thesis went through layer upon layer of reporting, constantly going through procedures.

During this period, Pei Qian returned to school to participate in the graduation defense, but that defense was basically just a formality, only asking a few simple questions.

Later, with Professor Kong’s strong recommendation, it was a natural progression for this thesis to be selected as an outstanding undergraduate graduation thesis.

Zhang Wei looked at the list again and found it somewhat regrettable that Ma Yang’s thesis hadn’t been selected.

Actually, if it weren’t for Pei Qian’s thesis, Ma Yang’s thesis would have had a good chance.

It’s just that Ma Yang’s thesis was based on Pei Qian’s, choosing an angle to extend and expand upon it. Although his arguments were detailed and the format was perfect, with Pei Qian’s thesis preceding it like a pearl, it somewhat lost its luster.

Moreover, if the outstanding graduation thesis was given to both of them simultaneously, it might seem somewhat unfair to other students.

So Ma Yang’s thesis wasn’t selected, but in the eyes of Zhang Wei and other faculty members, Ma Yang’s thesis was fully qualified to be selected as an outstanding graduation thesis.

Seeing this list, Zhang Wei felt relieved.

There were indeed many people online attacking Pei Qian’s academic level, especially spreading around his grades.

Although a student’s grades are personal privacy, in these days, what absolute privacy can be spoken of? In-school grades aren’t highly confidential information; they could leak out from who knows which channel.

Regarding this, Zhang Wei actually wanted to stand up and say a few fair words for Pei Qian.

He’s the big boss of a company. He’s already too busy managing the company. Being able to spare time to come to school for a few classes and memorize some lecture notes before finals is already very good. How could anyone demand that he get full marks in every subject?

Moreover, for someone like Mr. Pei, who’s already at the level of being self-taught without a teacher, these university courses might be helpful if studied, but not studying them wouldn’t really matter either.

Many people online using this to attack Mr. Pei seemed, in Zhang Wei’s view, a bizarre thing.

But many times, things online are just that magical. The more excellent a person is, the more people online will try to find flaws and stains on them. Even things that wouldn’t be considered flaws in others will be infinitely magnified by those with ill intentions until they become flaws. A person might constantly do meaningful things, but often a slip of the tongue, a misinterpreted word, or a maliciously interpreted quote could potentially stir up a wave of cyberbullying and cursing online.

In the end, those who maintain their integrity are often forced to withdraw from the internet and isolate themselves. Only those who have already rolled in the mud pit, who can attack others without restraint and drag others down into the mire, can continuously emit meaningless noise online.

In such an environment, excellent people will express their views less and less. Over time, some forums become chaotic places of mutual attacks, mutual incomprehension, yet chasing after hot topics and indulging in reckless celebration.

The more people understand this point, the more they understand the preciousness of Tenda and the difficulty of Mr. Pei.

And as the alma mater—Handong University—of course, it should unconditionally support Mr. Pei.

Zhang Wei immediately called a colleague responsible for operating Handong University’s official Weibo.

An outstanding graduation thesis was no small matter; it must be well-publicized.

……

In the afternoon, at Tenda’s Game Department.

Yu Fei was still busy with the new game.

Cui Geng, as a “pigeon spirit” who wanted to be involved in everything except updating his own work, had recently developed a strong interest in Tenda’s new game. He would come over every now and then to help Yu Fei write game plots.

Yu Fei was also a bit overwhelmed, so he accepted Cui Geng as the scriptwriter for the new game and promised that once the game was made, Cui Geng would be listed in the credits as a scriptwriter, making an appearance in the end credits.

However, Cui Geng’s work attitude this time was really making Yu Fei uncomfortable!

He agreed to write plots, but Cui Geng would drift into scrolling Weibo while writing, and his work efficiency was extremely low.

Fortunately, Cui Geng wasn’t a formal employee of Tenda. Otherwise, he would definitely be sent on a suffering trip to properly experience the Tenda spirit.

As Yu Fei was busy, he heard Cui Geng exclaim loudly: “Mr. Pei’s thesis is simply amazing!”

Yu Fei was startled: “Thesis? What thesis?”

Cui Geng pointed at the screen: “Mr. Pei’s graduation thesis, of course! Haven’t you seen it? It’s already gone viral online.”

“Have you ever seen this operation where an undergraduate makes trending topics with a graduation thesis?”

Yu Fei was even more confused: “Mr. Pei’s graduation thesis is trending? Since when?”

Cui Geng immediately handed over his phone: “See for yourself. This is not a purchased trending position but real popularity.”

“All I can say is that a fierce life needs no explanation. Mr. Pei’s final sentence in the thesis is just too powerful. What’s even more interesting is that Professor Kong didn’t change a single word and directly submitted the original text. It seems Professor Kong also highly recognizes Mr. Pei’s theory!”

Yu Fei took it and looked, finding that on Handong University’s official Weibo, they had published the notice of this year’s outstanding undergraduate graduation theses, and Mr. Pei’s thesis was prominently listed.

Previously, Zhaiju Delivery’s CEO Zheng Hao, in his embarrassment and anger, had launched multiple provocations against Mr. Pei, first attacking that Mr. Pei’s subject grades were all just passing 60s, then widely proclaiming that Mr. Pei actually had no genuine talent and was a fame-seeker, and even clamoring for a face-to-face debate with Mr. Pei.

Although Zheng Hao’s persistent pestering was very ungraceful, truly the behavior of a sore loser, it did indeed cause many people to doubt Mr. Pei.

After all, Mr. Pei never appears in public and almost never expresses any of his opinions to the outside world.

Of course, people around Mr. Pei know that Mr. Pei is a brilliant, powerful, and strategic great leader! But to outsiders, those uninformed onlookers, seeing Mr. Pei receive so much praise, even showing signs of deification, they would naturally develop a contrarian psychology.

So Zheng Hao’s remarks did have some market and indeed caused a certain impact on Mr. Pei’s image.

And now that Mr. Pei’s graduation thesis had won Handong University’s outstanding graduation thesis, this point alone was enough to counter Zheng Hao’s smear campaign!