Evening.

Qiao Liang opened AiLiDao and glanced at this episode of “Masterpiece of the Century.” He found that enthusiastic players had already rapidly pushed it to first place in the gaming section and third place on the entire site.

At this rate, he believed that by tomorrow, this video would definitely reach first place across the entire site.

Qiao Liang opened the video with satisfaction and looked through the comments section, enjoying the flattery from his fans, feeling completely content.

See, what does it mean to be a top-tier content creator?

A top-tier content creator can casually post a video and immediately reach AiLiDao’s site-wide rankings!

Amid his pride, Qiao Liang was also extremely grateful to Mr. Pei.

If Mr. Pei hadn’t provided such a conversation-worthy game, he wouldn’t have had the opportunity to produce such a video that stood out among countless gaming videos.

After basking in the flattery, Qiao Liang prepared to close the webpage and continue editing the first episode of his “Return to Shore” complete walkthrough commentary.

Although Qiao Liang wanted to stall for a while longer, the game’s popularity was at its peak, so he needed to seize this opportunity to gain more attention for himself.

If each upcoming complete walkthrough commentary video could top AiLiDao’s site-wide rankings, the effect on his follower growth would be obvious. When accepting sponsored content in the future, his rates would naturally be higher.

Qiao Liang posted an update: “The first walkthrough video is officially in production! Stay tuned! Also, many friends have complained to me that their computer specs are too low to play this game. I suggest trying it at some high-end internet cafés. For friends in Jingzhou, I especially recommend Slackin’ Internet Café, which will give you the most perfect gaming experience. The only downside is that if you die, you can’t blame the equipment, haha.”

He casually helped promote Mr. Pei’s Slackin’ Internet Café.

After making his presence known, Qiao Laoshi was about to close the webpage when he noticed he had received a private message.

Opening it, he saw it was from another content creator.

“Hello Teacher Qiao, I’m a video creator who’s studying in America. My name is Hao Shuaiqi. I also really love the game ‘Return to Shore.’ I want to stream this game on Link Live and was hoping to use some content from your videos. Would that be possible? Thank you.”

Qiao Liang was surprised because he recognized this content creator.

This was indeed a foreign exchange student who spoke with broken Mandarin in his videos, but his content was quite interesting and had a certain popularity on AiLiDao.

Clicking on the profile picture, he confirmed it was indeed the right person.

Qiao Liang was quite happy and replied directly: “Of course you can!”

Qiao Liang knew about Link Live, which was a new streaming service launched by a popular foreign chat software.

China had ZZ Live, which was also an emerging streaming platform.

But comparatively, Link Live had started earlier abroad, had more complete features, and was much more popular than China’s ZZ Live.

If this foreigner could stream “Return to Shore” on Link Live, wouldn’t that be promoting traditional culture?

And he could also make friends with this content creator, potentially collaborating in the future—wouldn’t that be a perfect win-win?

So, Qiao Liang immediately agreed and specifically mentioned that if Hao Shuaiqi encountered any problems while playing the game, he could ask him at any time, and he would definitely provide serious answers.

After all, “Return to Shore” was a game with fairly complex content. Many of the side stories and puzzle elements incorporated classical Chinese text and poetry elements. Qiao Liang felt that with this foreign content creator’s broken Mandarin, he probably wouldn’t understand these.

The two chatted for a few messages, getting along well. They added each other as friends and agreed to regularly exchange insights about the game.

Hao Shuaiqi also mentioned that he would record all his Link Live streams and post them on AiLiDao, hoping that Qiao Laoshi could help share them.

…

…

October 8th, Friday.

Slackin’ Internet Café, Huanyu Skystreet branch.

Ma Yang and Zhang Yuan were sitting in the café’s rest area. The projector’s large screen was playing this episode of “Masterpiece of the Century.”

“Brother Ma, business at the café has indeed been getting more and more prosperous lately. I told you Mr. Pei truly has foresight.”

Zhang Yuan looked at the seating area, which was already nearly half full: “Do you think Mr. Pei calculated this? He knew the game would be so popular after release, and that many people would come to internet cafés to play it, so he planned ahead, rushing us to open stores—and opening four at once?”

Ma Yang chuckled: “Of course. Would Brother Qian fight a battle he wasn’t confident of winning? I think this was definitely planned.”

“By the way, the day before yesterday I secretly visited Star Joy Internet Café, which claims to follow a high-end route and is copying us. Guess what? Running ‘Return to Shore’ was actually a bit laggy there, and it couldn’t run smoothly on the highest settings!”

Zhang Yuan was surprised: “No way? Aren’t Star Joy’s computers also high-end?”

Ma Yang shook his head: “I checked the specs, and they’re far worse than what you configured. They definitely cut corners. Our computers, including monitors and peripherals, cost more than 20,000 yuan each, with just the tower alone costing over 10,000.”

“But a tower at Star Joy Internet Café costs 5,000 yuan at most. How can they be the same?”

“They can run ‘Return to Shore,’ but with difficulty. They have to lower the graphics quality and effects, and the gaming experience is quite average.”

“So haven’t you noticed? More than half the people coming to our café are here for ‘Return to Shore.'”

“Chen Lei’s incident has already given Slackin’ Internet Café some recognition, and with Nameless Restaurant and Public Reviews’ ratings… our café’s reputation in Jingzhou is already very high!”

“In Jingzhou, when people think of high-spec internet cafés now, the first that comes to mind is Slackin’ Internet Café.”

“Brother Qian said he wanted to return to the essence of the internet café business, and he really did it!”

Zhang Yuan sighed: “That’s why Mr. Pei is Mr. Pei—everything interconnects. Temporary losses are all for greater profits. So impressive.”

“If this trend continues, the outlook is very promising!”

Of course, both Zhang Yuan and Ma Yang clearly understood that the game “Return to Shore” was just a catalyst for Slackin’ Internet Café gradually becoming busier.

On one hand, Slackin’ Internet Café had originally accumulated decent recognition in Jingzhou. On the other hand, the good reputation on Public Reviews had attracted many people.

The game “Return to Shore” had system requirements significantly higher than average computers. With insufficient specs, the game might lag. Most local Jingzhou players had come to nearby Slackin’ Internet Cafés to better experience the game.

This Slackin’ Internet Café at Huanyu Skystreet gradually gained recognition. Many men who came shopping with nothing to do would stop by the café, and they actually helped boost the café’s popularity.

As Zhang Yuan and Ma Yang watched the projection and reflected, they thought: Mr. Pei truly is wise!

“Excuse me, are you two the owners here?”

Zhang Yuan turned to see a plain-looking but expensively dressed young man standing behind him.

Zhang Yuan didn’t dare to be negligent—after all, this was a customer, and the customer is always right.

Regardless of wealth, all were the breadwinners for Slackin’ Internet Café.

“Is there something I can help you with?” Zhang Yuan hurriedly asked.

The young man smiled: “Nothing much. I just found your computers here very comfortable to use. Could you give me the specs list? I’d like to set up the same at home.”

Zhang Yuan nodded: “No problem, just wait a moment.”

He found paper and pen and quickly wrote down the specs list.

For Zhang Yuan, these specifications were practically second nature, readily at hand.

“The case isn’t particularly convenient for cable management. Is that okay?” Zhang Yuan casually asked as he handed the paper to the young man.

The young man scratched his head: “Uh… I don’t really know how to build a computer. Could you help me?”

Zhang Yuan: “…”

He was about to refuse when the young man added: “I’ll pay you 500 yuan as an assembly fee!”

Zhang Yuan: “No problem!”

“Let’s exchange contact information. I’ll find someone to build it for you, and you can leave your address for direct delivery.”

“Really? Thank you so much!” The young man was delighted and left after expressing his gratitude repeatedly.

Ma Yang was puzzled and asked quietly: “Why not just let him find someone else to build it? Why are we going to this trouble?”

Ma Yang didn’t understand. Zhang Yuan was now the regional manager of Slackin’ Internet Café, so why was he returning to his old trade of building computers?

Five hundred yuan for assembling one computer was quite high compared to market rates, but with Zhang Yuan’s current salary, was it worth the effort for this hard-earned money?

Zhang Yuan smiled slightly: “Brother Ma, I’m not doing this for the few hundred yuan assembly fee. I suddenly realized there’s a business opportunity here!”

“Don’t you think ‘Slackin’ Internet Café Model Computer,’ ‘Return to Shore Dedicated Computer,’ or ‘Tenda Games Designated Computer’ would be pretty good marketing angles?”

Ma Yang was startled: “Uh… those are good angles. But even if we can leverage some of the café’s popularity, it’s not enough. We’d essentially be competing with traditional computer brands, which isn’t easy.”

Zhang Yuan shook his head: “Traditional computer brands are constantly cutting corners on prebuilt systems. There’s a lot of profit margin there. For players who genuinely need gaming performance, DIY is definitely more cost-effective.”

Ma Yang thought for a moment: “But they offer after-sales service.”

Zhang Yuan smiled: “We can offer after-sales service too, and even door-to-door delivery! Don’t forget, Headwind Logistics is also Mr. Pei’s business—why not use it if we can!”

“There are so many dishonest merchants selling prebuilt systems online who have scammed many people. What we sell is genuine quality. We’re just charging for assembly and after-sales service, targeting wealthy users only. There’s potential here.”

“Maybe we could even create our own brand in the future!”

Ma Yang looked confused: “Our own brand?”

Zhang Yuan nodded: “I’ve thought of a name—Republic of Faith, abbreviated as ROF. What do you think?”

“Eventually, this business could expand throughout Jingzhou alongside Slackin’ Internet Café and Headwind Logistics!”

Ma Yang considered it: “It’s not impossible, but it just seems… unnecessary? Can’t we just focus on running the café business well?”

Zhang Yuan shook his head: “Brother Ma, you’re thinking too simply!”

“We can’t always just do whatever Mr. Pei tells us to do. That shows no initiative in our work!”

“We should take initiative to share Mr. Pei’s burdens and find work to do ourselves!”

“Although you have a close relationship with Mr. Pei, Tenda is now a huge enterprise. If we don’t hurry up and achieve results, we’ll definitely fall behind other departments.”

“If we expand some additional services for Slackin’ Internet Café this time, and if it succeeds, our position within Tenda will certainly rise!”

“Wouldn’t it be wonderful to hold our heads high in front of everyone then?”

Ma Yang nodded, deeply convinced: “Right, what you say makes sense.”

“We can’t always just do what Brother Qian tells us to do. We need to find our work to do.”

“You focus on the computer side of things, and recruit some technicians responsible for assembly and on-site after-sales service.”

“I’ll talk to Lü Mingliang about this and have Headwind Logistics coordinate with us. Let’s give it a try!”