August 20th, Friday.

Qiao Liang set foot on Jingzhou soil for the first time, and it felt good.

The weather was similar to the capital, equally hot, but today happened to be somewhat overcast with a gentle breeze, making it feel much cooler than the past couple of days.

Qiao Liang quickly found the staff member responsible for meeting him at the station and headed to the pre-booked hotel.

The person who came to pick him up was a young man surnamed Sun, a professional driver for Tenda. He was sharp-looking, with very appropriate manners and behavior, polite.

Qiao Liang sat in the spacious back seat of the business car, feeling very comfortable.

The car drove very steadily, clearly indicating that this young Sun had extensive driving experience.

This was Qiao Liang’s first time enjoying such pick-up and drop-off service, which further improved his impression of Tenda.

Looking at the scenery outside the window, Qiao Liang sincerely exclaimed, “Fantastic!”

This was his first visit to Jingzhou, and he hadn’t expected much from the city, but after arriving, he discovered it was much more prosperous than he had imagined.

Qiao Liang had lived in the capital for a long time as a “Beijing drifter,” but he had always lived frugally. Although the capital was prosperous, he hadn’t enjoyed any of its luxuries.

At most, he would occasionally go to see a play or attend a concert, which was relatively convenient, but apart from that, there wasn’t much difference compared to an ordinary second-tier city.

Upon arriving in Jingzhou, he felt much more relaxed.

Soon, they arrived at the hotel.

“Teacher Qiao, I’ll help you check in first, then you can go upstairs and settle in. I’ll go park the car, and we’ll meet at the hotel entrance in ten minutes. The company is nearby, just a three-minute walk away,” Young Sun said, still very polite.

Everything was quickly arranged.

Qiao Liang didn’t have to spend a penny on accommodation during this period; Tenda was covering all expenses.

He arrived on the sixth floor of the hotel and discovered that Tenda had actually arranged a suite for him.

Outside was a small hall with a tea table, sofa, desk, and writing table. A fruit platter was placed on the tea table. There was also a coffee cabinet with a coffee machine, coffee capsules, and a small refrigerator.

Inside was a spacious bedroom with floor-to-ceiling windows and a spacious bathroom with a bathtub.

“Mr. Pei from Tenda is being generous!”

“It seems I have quite a bit of influence; otherwise, they wouldn’t value me so highly.”

Qiao Liang felt very proud.

Come to think of it, Qiao Liang hadn’t expected Tenda would invite him to be the chief game experience officer, testing an unreleased new game.

Indeed, his video influence was pretty good, and he had been following the development of Tenda since “The Lonely Desert Highway.”

But for a gaming company like Tenda, there was no need to attach importance to a small content creator.

That’s why the sincerity shown by Mr. Pei was all the more precious and genuinely touched Qiao Liang.

Not only did they provide adequate compensation and transportation, but they also arranged food and accommodation.

So, Qiao Liang had a great impression of Tenda and Mr. Pei.

“Who could have imagined that a company that initially made a scam game like ‘The Lonely Desert Highway’ would transform in less than a year and develop to its current scale?”

“Life is truly unpredictable.”

Qiao Liang tidied up his luggage a bit, ate some fruit, and then rested briefly on the living room sofa.

He didn’t have much luggage, just his personal computer and some other digital products, along with clothes for changing.

The hotel offered laundry service; he just needed to put dirty clothes in the laundry bag, and room service would collect them, wash them, and return them clean.

Before coming, Qiao Liang had been slightly worried about the accommodation conditions here and whether doing laundry would be inconvenient, but now he realized his concerns were completely unnecessary.

The sofa was very comfortable. It was a pity that today was overcast with little sunshine; otherwise, lounging on the sofa in the living room to soak up some sun would have been quite enjoyable.

However, the gloomy weather didn’t affect Qiao Liang’s good mood. After a brief rest, he went downstairs to the first-floor lobby and, under Young Sun’s guidance, headed to Tenda Network Technology Co., Ltd.

The thought of meeting Mr. Pei soon made Qiao Liang a little excited.

Qiao Liang had always felt that he and Mr. Pei were kindred spirits who deeply understood each other. Only he could understand the profound meaning behind behaviors like “Game Producer” and “performance art-style promotion.”

If it weren’t for him, who knows how long Mr. Pei’s spirit would have been misinterpreted?

He thought, perhaps Mr. Pei felt the same way?

As the saying goes, true friends are hard to find. Someone like Mr. Pei, who enjoyed making games with profound meanings, must also cherish rare kindred spirits, right?

That’s why Mr. Pei had brought him from the capital to be the chief experience officer for the new game.

Qiao Liang entered Tenda’s office area with Young Sun, feeling pleased with himself.

His first reaction was: how spacious!

The working environment was unbelievably good. Just the area occupied by each workstation showed that this company really wasn’t short of money.

Moreover, the entire office atmosphere was vibrant and free, completely unlike the lifeless atmosphere in many companies.

Although Qiao Liang hadn’t visited many companies, he had tried job interviews after graduating from university and had seen many videos of internal working environments on video platforms.

The office environments of most companies were quite depressing and dull.

But here, that wasn’t the case at all.

Every employee seemed very relaxed, snacking and drinking coffee while working. Yet their expressions while working were very focused, completely in a state where their subjective initiative was fully stimulated.

At first, Qiao Liang wondered if this was just for show.

But then he reconsidered, thinking that such suspicion might be giving himself too much importance.

He was just a small content creator, neither a supervising leader nor an authoritative media outlet. Why would they put on an act in front of him?

Besides, this kind of relaxed state couldn’t be faked.

Qiao Liang became even more interested in Mr. Pei.

For a company to operate in such a good state demonstrated that Mr. Pei was not only an excellent designer but also an excellent manager.

So, what was his true face like?

Young Sun approached Mr. Pei’s office and knocked gently.

“Mr. Pei, Teacher Qiao has arrived.”

…

Pei Qian was playing “Turn Back to Shore” in his office, and he was very irritated at the moment.

Strictly speaking, there was never a time when playing “Turn Back to Shore” wasn’t irritating…

Each time he suffered, Pei Qian would question why he had made this game, then silently go through his notebook and mentally hold a grudge against each name written there.

Hearing that Qiao Laoshi had arrived, Pei Qian immediately tossed the controller onto the desk and stood up.

Finally, he’s here!

If you hadn’t come, I really couldn’t have held on any longer!

Outside the door, Qiao Laoshi heard a “thud” from the office, not knowing what had been thrown down.

Qiao Liang smiled.

How highly Mr. Pei values me!

Back in the day, when Cao Cao received Xu You, he greeted him with bare feet. In simpler terms, upon hearing Xu You had arrived, Cao Cao ran out to welcome him without even taking the time to put on his shoes.

The current situation should be similar.

Although he didn’t know what Mr. Pei was doing, from the sound of it, Mr. Pei must have immediately dropped whatever he was doing to come out and welcome him, showing how highly he regarded him!

Qiao Liang even felt a bit embarrassed.

What virtue or ability did he have to deserve such respect from Mr. Pei? Humble, truly humble.