At this moment, Pei Qian had just left Headwind Logistics headquarters and was planning to visit the Slackin’ Internet Café at Huanyu Skystreet.

After all, there was nothing he could do about the game anymore, so now he needed to focus on spending money as quickly as possible.

The progress at Headwind Logistics was going smoothly, with Lü Mingliang actively recruiting people and opening new stores.

Normally, Pei Qian should have been at ease since Lü Mingliang was very reliable, but at this critical juncture, Pei Qian couldn’t help but supervise a little more.

There was no choice—no matter how busy he was, he had to get through this month’s financial settlement.

In the car, Pei Qian’s phone rang.

Seeing it was Li Yada calling, Pei Qian’s heart instantly skipped a beat.

Could something have gone wrong with “Return to Shore” again?

Don’t do this to me!

I’m trying to solve problems here, please don’t create bigger ones!

He hurriedly answered the phone.

“Mr. Pei, should we release an English version of ‘Return to Shore’?”

“I see many foreigners commenting, hoping for an English version of the game.”

“Besides, this might help us expand into overseas markets. Haven’t the authorities been calling for support of domestic games and promotion of traditional culture…”

Pei Qian listened with a pounding heart and quickly said, “There’s no rush for that!”

An English version? Wouldn’t that be the death of me!

Pei Qian knew very well that “Dark Souls 1” first became popular in the Western market, and these types of punishing games were particularly favored by Western players.

If “Return to Shore” were to have an English version, wouldn’t that be the end of him?

Of course, it wasn’t completely out of the question, but at this critical juncture, if he wanted to make money, it shouldn’t be in these few days!

With less than a month until settlement, Pei Qian had been opening internet cafés and Headwind Stations, looking to create a loss by rapidly spending money, losing several hundred thousand while filling his own pockets and receiving a special reward from the system.

But now, at this final stage, releasing an international version? Wasn’t this sabotage?

Although hiring translators for an overseas version would cost money, it wasn’t nearly enough.

Translation work in Western countries is considered a respectable profession, but in China, written translation ranks below simultaneous interpretation and business meeting accompaniment in pay scale. It’s dirt cheap—only three to four hundred yuan per thousand characters is considered high, translating a game’s text of a hundred thousand characters would only cost tens of thousands of yuan.

Was this small amount of money worth Pei Qian’s attention?

Even hiring famous translators would cost at most over a hundred thousand yuan. Compared to the potential income from an English version, it was merely a drop in the bucket—extremely not cost-effective.

If Pei Qian agreed to Li Yada’s proposal, given her work efficiency, she would probably find translators within two days. Different translators would handle different parts of the game text, and it would be completed quickly.

With the settlement approaching, he couldn’t afford such a fiasco!

So Pei Qian firmly refused.

If they were going to translate it, it would have to be after this month’s settlement!

Pei Qian coughed twice: “It’s too rushed.”

“Entering the overseas market requires the right timing, geographical advantage, and human harmony—none can be missing. Without abundant resources and support, hastily entering could lead to failure.”

“Of course, it’s not that I’m afraid of failure, but this concerns our company’s long-term planning. There’s no need to be hasty.”

“Let’s first stabilize the domestic market, and consider releasing multilingual versions next month.”

“You can start looking for suitable translators, but as for when to actually begin creating multilingual versions… let’s discuss that next month.”

Li Yada: “Ah, but what about the current foreign players? They seem quite pitiful. Are they supposed to play while constantly checking dictionaries until next month?”

Pei Qian said sternly: “Why not? This is a perfect opportunity for them to learn Chinese!”

“Those who have already purchased the game are players who understand some Chinese. Letting them check dictionaries, review knowledge they’ve gradually forgotten, and learn new Chinese vocabulary—isn’t that good?”

“As for players who don’t understand Chinese at all… they’re waiting regardless, what difference does another half month make?”

“Besides, our game contains so many classical poems, which would be troublesome to translate. If we translate too hastily and end up with machine-translation quality, our foreign friends would laugh at us.”

“So this matter can’t be rushed; it requires long-term planning. You can start looking for skilled translation experts first, and we’ll discuss further once you’ve found them.”

Li Yada thought about it and realized he had a point: “Alright, I’ll start preparing then.”

After hanging up, Pei Qian let out a long breath.

Good thing I was clever—almost had a major problem!

Next cycle’s issues can wait until the next cycle. As long as it doesn’t happen in these few days, everything will be fine once we get past the settlement period.

Pei Qian calmed himself down, and shortly after, he arrived at Huanyu Skystreet.

Pei Qian got out of the car and headed directly to Slackin’ Internet Café on the third floor.

For the past few days, Pei Qian had been focusing on Tenda, so he hadn’t visited Slackin’ Internet Café in a while. Today, he needed to check on it to feel at ease.

However, before even entering, Pei Qian sensed something was wrong.

It was Sunday afternoon, and Huanyu Skystreet, as Jingzhou’s largest high-end shopping mall, had significant foot traffic.

Originally, there was already substantial foot traffic, but it had nothing to do with the third-floor internet café. After all, most people came to the mall to shop, eat, or watch movies, not to play games.

When Pei Qian was previously scouting this location for Slackin’ Internet Café, he had particularly noticed that the two clothing brands on the third floor were usually quite quiet, and the coffee shop had average popularity, which was why he felt comfortable opening Slackin’ Internet Café there.

But this time, the situation was suddenly different!

Pei Qian had taken the direct elevator up, and the elevator was crowded. He didn’t pay much attention at first, assuming everyone was going to see movies or eat, but when they reached the third floor, this group of people all poured out of the elevator!

Pei Qian, the last to exit, froze, watching helplessly as the crowd headed toward Slackin’ Internet Café.

Wait a minute!

Stop right there!

What are you doing?!

Don’t just walk around randomly!

Pei Qian hurriedly took a few quick steps to the entrance of Slackin’ Internet Café, but upon seeing the scene inside, he nearly choked and almost passed out on the spot.

The occupancy rate was over 60%. At this rate, they would soon be turning losses into profits!

This was truly from suffering to sweetness… like hell it was!

Pei Qian immediately thought of finding Ma Yang and Zhang Yuan.

Where were they?!

With the internet café in this state, those two must be connected to it!

Whoever did this should proactively take responsibility; if I catch them, they’ll suffer!

Pei Qian continued into the café, growing increasingly alarmed with each step.

He had experienced this feeling before, at the Slackin’ Internet Café flagship store.

However, at that time, although the café was wildly popular, it was mainly the coffee shop and bar that were booming, with most people coming to hear Chen Lei sing.

But this store only had the internet café business left!

All these people were sitting in gaming chairs, seriously playing games, with a large portion playing “Return to Shore.”

There were even quite a few couples and groups of friends playing together, making the entire café look quite lively, unlike its previous quietness.

Unbearable!

Pei Qian arrived at the café’s rest area, where the projector’s large screen was playing Qiao Laoshi’s latest video.

Around the long table in the rest area sat some customers, some drinking coffee, others drinking milk tea, all watching Qiao Laoshi’s explanations on the big screen. They occasionally showed expressions of sudden enlightenment, as if greatly inspired.

Ma Yang was also sitting in the rest area, but Zhang Yuan wasn’t there, having gone somewhere else.

“Brother Qian, you’re here?”

Ma Yang’s long face bloomed with a smile as he invited Pei Qian to sit in the rest area.

“Would you like some coffee? The coffee shop next door saw how busy our café has become and started a promotion with us—70% off drinks when you top up internet fees! I must say, the taste is pretty good. Look, everyone’s got a cup.”

Pei Qian’s mouth twitched slightly.

This first blow hit him so hard he felt a bit dazed.

“Why… are there so many people today?” Pei Qian asked tremulously.

Ma Yang looked confused: “Huh? That’s not just today. It’s been this crowded every day recently.”

Pei Qian: “…”

Damn it!

Are you trying to kill me with that long face of yours?

What benefit do you get from my death?

Pei Qian forcibly calmed his emotions: “So, exactly when did it start getting crowded?”

Ma Yang was puzzled: “Don’t you know, Brother Qian? It was during the time you were busy with ‘Return to Shore’!”

“I hadn’t realized it before, but although our café’s occupancy rate wasn’t high, we had already built up a good reputation in Jingzhou through a series of previous events!”

“Even though this store is newly opened, it has consistently maintained high ratings on Public Reviews.”

“There weren’t many people at first, but later more and more people started coming. When they got tired from shopping and couldn’t find seats at the coffee shop, they would come to our internet café to sit for a while. After all, ten yuan per hour is quite reasonable in this mall.”

“Then, guess what happened a few days ago, Brother Qian? The large roller-skating rink in the mall finished renovations and officially opened!”

“Many fathers bring their children to roller-skate. The kids’ lessons last over an hour, so the fathers come to our café to play.”

“There are also those who accompany their girlfriends to get their hair or nails done, which takes several hours, so they come to our café to pass the time.”

“Besides that, there’s the word-of-mouth effect. It seems like Qiao Laoshi recommended our café online, and that Wang Peng from Public Reviews also recommended us.”

“Of course, most importantly, ‘Return to Shore’ got popular, which benefited the café!”

“Many players come here specifically to play ‘Return to Shore’ for the best gaming experience.”

“Brother Qian, you’ve been busy at Tenda all this time—was it for this?”

Pei Qian was speechless.

So, it’s my fault again?

Do you think I wanted “Return to Shore” to be like this?!

Ma Yang showed slight regret: “It’s a pity that, even with such significant improvement compared to before, we’re still just a little bit away from actually making money.”

“Brother Qian, are you dissatisfied with the current situation? Do you think it should be even more popular?”

Pei Qian’s mouth twitched slightly. Indeed, he was dissatisfied, but for completely different reasons!

He remembered a more important matter and quickly asked: “How are the other new stores doing?”

Ma Yang happily said, “The locations have all been finalized. After some simple renovations, they can open next week!”

Pei Qian hastily waved his hand: “There’s no rush! Set the opening date for Sunday the week after next, the 24th. There’s no need to hurry, understand?”

Originally, Pei Qian thought it didn’t matter when these internet cafés opened, but after seeing the condition of the Huanyu Skystreet store, he realized there was a big problem!

If the other stores opened too early and attracted many customers, it would create an even heavier burden for Pei Qian!

Therefore, he wanted to time the opening just one week before settlement. Opening a week later would naturally mean earning less money, reducing the pressure on himself.

Ma Yang was startled: “But we’ve already paid the rent, why delay for another week…”

Pei Qian replied with feigned profundity: “This is to wait for a better opportunity. No need to ask further.”