Evening, Swan Lake Restaurant.

Pei Qian sat in a quiet corner by the window, waiting for Ruan Guangjian’s arrival.

“I wonder if he enjoyed the roller coaster and pendulum ride, and if he got scared in the haunted house.”

Pei Qian imagined Ruan Guangjian turning pale and screaming on the pendulum ride, and felt delighted inside.

Sweet revenge!

Looking at the time, he should have arrived by now.

They had agreed to meet at 7 PM for dinner. With Xiao Sun’s habits, he would bring the guest over ten minutes early. But it was already past 7 PM, so why hadn’t they arrived yet?

Could it be that the rides were so intense that he couldn’t eat and went back to the hotel to rest?

But Pei Qian checked his phone and saw no missed calls.

Just as he was wondering, Xiao Sun and Ruan Guangjian arrived.

“Mr. Pei! Sorry, we’re a few minutes late.” Xiao Sun was a bit embarrassed.

Ruan Guangjian followed behind: “Don’t blame the driver. I was having so much fun that I lost track of time.”

“The pendulum ride was so much fun!”

Ruan Guangjian looked like he couldn’t get enough.

Pei Qian: ???

This was his first time meeting Ruan Guangjian.

He had originally thought that Ruan Guangjian would have an artistic air about him, with flowing long hair, perhaps even sporting a small mustache.

However, that wasn’t the case. From his appearance, he was just a very spirited young man with short hair, fair skin, well-proportioned features, and still had a bit of a student vibe about him.

Compared to that fat otaku Qiao Laoshi, judging from his appearance, this one was a normie.

Pei Qian’s imagined scene of “Ruan Guangjian pale-faced and terrified” didn’t materialize.

On the contrary, Ruan Guangjian had a ruddy complexion, was full of energy, and even seemed slightly excited. There was no sign of him being scared witless by the pendulum ride.

“Mr. Pei! Thank you!”

Ruan Guangjian grabbed Pei Qian’s hand: “It’s been so long since I’ve had such a great time! Jingzhou’s amusement park is really interesting! Especially that pendulum ride, it’s on par with the one in Magic City! It was so much fun!”

“Ah, it’s a pity that time was a bit tight, otherwise I would have liked to ride it one more time!”

Pei Qian: ???

This is bad; everything went wrong.

Ruan Guangjian enjoyed such intense rides!

Ruan Guangjian sighed: “Mr. Pei, you’re so thoughtful. It seems you knew I like these kinds of rides and arranged them specially, even giving me a surprise by only telling me after I was already in the car.”

“But I have to say, given our friendship, this seems a bit too formal. Mr. Pei, you don’t need to be so polite!”

Pei Qian: “…”

Our friendship?

What the hell kind of friendship do we have?

A retort was stuck in Pei Qian’s chest, unable to be expressed. However, Ruan Guangjian’s enthusiasm blocked his mouth so tightly that there was no room for sarcasm.

“Let’s eat.”

Pei Qian sat down silently.

Although the dishes at Swan Lake Restaurant couldn’t compare to Mingyun Private Kitchen, they had plenty of good ingredients, and it was a buffet where you could take whatever you wanted and eat as much as you liked.

Ruan Guangjian took many delicious items, and soon the table was full.

In Pei Qian’s imagined script, Ruan Guangjian should have spent the afternoon on roller coasters and pendulum rides, leaving him terrified and disoriented, naturally with no appetite. Then Pei Qian could enjoy his food while savoring the sight of Ruan’s miserable state, feeling relaxed and satisfied.

However, Ruan Guangjian wasn’t terrified or disoriented; instead, he was in high spirits with a hearty appetite…

So Ruan Guangjian was eating voraciously, devouring everything in sight, while Pei Qian had lost his appetite.

It was so frustrating!

It was like throwing a powerful punch into cotton; Pei Qian almost gave himself internal injuries from the effort.

The two chatted while eating.

Ruan Guangjian stuffed a large piece of lobster meat into his mouth: “The pendulum ride was really fun, so thrilling, very helpful for inspiring my creativity!”

“The roller coaster and drop tower were also good, worth the ticket price.”

“All in all, I had a fantastic time this afternoon!”

“Thank you for your hospitality, Mr. Pei. Let me toast you!”

Although they were drinking beverages, as they clinked glasses, Pei Qian felt a bit dizzy.

“Everything was good? There wasn’t anything you weren’t satisfied with?” Pei Qian probed. “If there are any shortcomings, we can continue to improve.”

Ruan Guangjian thought for a moment: “If I had to mention any shortcomings…”

“It might be the haunted house.”

“I’m quite afraid of the dark, and I was prepared to be scared to tears, but the haunted house wasn’t that frightening.”

“But that’s also good. If the haunted house was particularly scary, I might not have been able to come tonight, haha.”

Pei Qian was speechless.

Look how this turned out.

He had carefully prepared so many attractions, like the roller coaster and pendulum ride, all of which turned out to be like a lamb entering a tiger’s den—completely ineffective.

Only the haunted house hit Ruan Guangjian’s weakness, but it wasn’t scary enough to frighten him.

A good power move had turned into an appetizer.

Frustrating!

It’s all the fault of Jingzhou’s amusement park. Who told you to make such a weak haunted house? Embarrassing!

Pei Qian silently passed the blame to the amusement park.

Before long, the two had eaten and drunk their fill, leaving the table in disarray.

Ruan Guangjian patted his stomach contentedly and burped.

“That was delicious!”

“Eh, Mr. Pei, you don’t seem to have much of an appetite. You’ve eaten so little.”

Pei Qian chuckled: “I don’t have much of an appetite today.”

Ruan Guangjian nodded: “I understand, I understand. Mr. Pei has such a large enterprise, the work pressure must be high, so you don’t have much appetite.”

“I heard that Mr. Pei also enjoys similar activities, is that right?”

“It’s so hard to find a kindred spirit. I never expected that Mr. Pei and I would have such similar interests and hobbies!”

“Let’s go on the pendulum ride together in a couple of days. It will stimulate your appetite!”

Pei Qian: “…No need! Don’t be so polite!”

This was infuriating. He had intended to give Ruan Guangjian a hard time, but instead, Ruan was riding roughshod over him?

The most annoying part was that he couldn’t do anything about it!

If they went on the pendulum ride together, with Pei Qian’s weak heart, he would be completely at a disadvantage!

Pei Qian felt severely challenged.

When Qiao Laoshi came last time, Pei Qian had directly used “Turn Back to Shore” to put him in his place, manipulating him at will.

Although Qiao Laoshi had countered later, at least on Pei Qian’s home turf in Jingzhou, he had been at Pei Qian’s mercy.

But with Ruan Guangjian’s arrival, the script was different!

Pei Qian’s carefully prepared roller coaster package had completely failed to have its intended effect.

This caused Ruan Guangjian’s status in Pei Qian’s little notebook to rise rapidly; it seemed only a matter of time before he surpassed Qiao Laoshi.

Pei Qian was very displeased.

He needed to find a good way to teach Ruan Guangjian a lesson!

He couldn’t let him continue being so arrogant!

…

…

The next morning.

Ruan Guangjian brought his drawing tablet and laptop to Tenda’s office.

He had eaten well yesterday, slept well too, and woke up feeling refreshed, full of inspiration.

Today at Tenda, his main purpose was to communicate face-to-face with GOG’s designers to ensure that the character concept art he was going to draw wouldn’t deviate conceptually.

Fully gathering opinions, sketching the outlines himself, and then sending them to others in his studio for refinement.

As soon as he walked into the office area, Ruan Guangjian was stunned.

So spacious!

Compared to this, Ruan Guangjian felt that his Halo Studio’s office environment was like a pigeon coop, while here everyone had their villa.

Floor-to-ceiling windows were filled with well-tended green plants, which were lush and cared for by professionals.

In addition, there was a water bar, recreation room, snack area…

Everything that should be there and even things that shouldn’t were all available!

A pure black cat with only white paws sniffed around Ruan Guangjian’s feet, then walked away uninterestedly, as if mocking him for being an inexperienced bumpkin.

Ruan Guangjian was shocked—how much rent would such a large office space cost?

So luxurious!

His Halo Studio was located in Magic City, right next to the University of Economics and Trade where he had graduated. The office rent in this area wasn’t considered high in Magic City, but it was still a burden for Ruan Guangjian.

Due to the expensive rent, workstations naturally had to be cramped, and without much money to buy good office desks, chairs, and computers, conditions were naturally much worse.

Ruan Guangjian hadn’t felt anything out of the ordinary before, since most companies in Magic City were like this.

The standard workstation area was about 10 square meters; less than this would feel cramped, more would be very costly.

Ruan Guangjian had always thought his studio’s workstations were quite spacious, but seeing Tenda’s office environment…

He instantly felt jealous.

The gap was too great!

Li Yada stood up to greet him: “Master Ruan Guangjian, right? Hello, I’m Li Yada. We’ve chatted online often before.”

The twin girls at the reception poured hot tea for Ruan Guangjian, and then he and Li Yada began to discuss the details of some hero designs in GOG.

While listening to Li Yada’s introduction, Ruan Guangjian sketched outlines on his drawing tablet, constantly making adjustments.

“This righteous guardian Modistet is designed based on Mr. Pei. In the previous draft, a few aspects weren’t quite suitable, such as the body type…”

With Li Yada’s suggestions, Ruan Guangjian continuously modified various details, including appropriately exaggerating the hero’s physique and adjusting facial expressions according to personality.

Face-to-face communication was indeed much smoother than online, and the character quickly began to approach the concept Li Yada had in mind.

Before they knew it, it was almost noon.

Ruan Guangjian habitually took out his phone: “Isn’t it time to order takeout? Which place do you usually order from?”

Li Yada quickly said, “Let me handle it. We have special work meals here. Just choose one.”

“Work meals?” Ruan Guangjian took the phone with some suspicion and found that there were all very simple dishes on it, like tomato and egg, potato and beef, twice-cooked pork, and others that didn’t look any different from ordinary rice bowls.

He didn’t think much of it, assuming it was ordered from some small roadside restaurant, casually selected the “Daily Healthy Meal,” and didn’t pay any more attention to it.

At exactly 12 o’clock, the deliveryman arrived on time.

Everyone in the office, as if by prior agreement, stood up from their workstations and went to the water bar area to eat.

White porcelain bowls were laid out on the table, looking quite proper.

Everyone chatted happily while eating.

“This is yours, the Daily Healthy Meal. Oh, it’s shrimp with broccoli.” Li Yada handed the transparent glass container to Ruan Guangjian.

Ruan Guangjian took it and opened it to find that the meal container was divided into three parts, with the main dish occupying half of it.

Several large shrimp and bright green broccoli were mixed, interspersed with red carrot cubes, looking colorful and not at all greasy.

The two slightly smaller compartments contained two brown rice balls and several slices of salmon sashimi, along with a purple sweet potato milkshake.

All these dishes were served in transparent glass containers, looking crystal clear and appetizing.