In the afternoon, Pei Qian first went to the company to check on GOG’s development progress.

Ma Yang had already sent over IOI’s test version client.

After all, Dream Realization Venture Capital owned shares in Finger Company and was also the domestic game distributor, so getting a client was only natural.

Although it was the English version, Pei Qian, relying on his Level 4 English proficiency and with the help of Baidu Translation, could understand the general idea.

Comparing IOI’s version with GOG’s current version, Boss Pei felt much more at ease.

The gap was still very obvious!

Previously, IOI hadn’t been publicly tested, with only occasional updates on versions being improved. Although Pei Qian had seen these, he didn’t have a clear concept of what stage the game was actually in.

Since Pei Qian’s memory of LOL was already of a very mature and complete form, when looking at IOI in its embryonic stage, he naturally found it awkward from every angle and couldn’t evaluate it objectively.

But after learning about players’ reactions during the testing period, Pei Qian could roughly determine the situation.

The quality of this game itself was absolutely fine; at least at present, its competitiveness in the current field was undeniable.

Looking at GOG in comparison, it lagged far behind in terms of completion.

Pei Qian didn’t know if this was because IOI had started earlier and had faster development progress, or because Li Yada and her entire project team were slacking off.

Pei Qian hoped it was the latter.

It had to be said that since the introduction of the Tenda Spirit Compatibility Test, not only had new employees’ attitudes changed significantly, but even the work attitudes of old employees had greatly improved!

For instance, the design team of the Tenda Games Department, known for their stubborn overtime habits, had also noticeably reduced their frequency of overtime work recently.

It seemed that Li Yada and her team were planning to strategically give up on winning the first Zero Overtime Competition.

Between completing work tasks and winning the bonus, they chose the former, which made Pei Qian feel a bit disappointed.

However, Li Yada and her team didn’t seem to be completely giving up, thinking that since they had no chance at the Zero Overtime Competition anyway, they might as well work even more overtime.

Instead, they were actively trying to reduce overtime hours and workload each week.

This made Boss Pei very satisfied, giving him a sense of joy that “the stubborn faction had finally seen the light.”

All in all, GOG’s current situation looked good. If there was extra money later, with nowhere to spend, throwing a few million into GOG shouldn’t cause any major problems.

After all, the gap between IOI and GOG, from what he could see now, shouldn’t be something that a few million could bridge.

Thinking about this, Pei Qian felt somewhat reassured. He continued reviewing while looking forward to the dinner in the evening.

…

That evening, at the Ming Fu Family Banquet.

“Mr. Pei! It’s been a while!”

Zhang Zuting, Lu Zhiyao, and several other important members of the film crew greeted Pei Qian at the entrance of the restaurant.

“What are you doing standing out here in the cold? Let’s go inside and talk.”

Pei Qian hurriedly ushered everyone inside.

Before entering the dining area, Pei Qian quietly said to everyone: “As I mentioned before, you’ve all come from far away to help me make this movie, so I must fulfill my duties as a host.”

“I’ve made a reservation at Nameless Restaurant for the 20th, which is three days from now. So three days later in the evening, we’ll have another big meal.”

“During these three days, everyone can relax and enjoy what Jingzhou has to offer.”

“Today’s meal is to celebrate the completion of filming.”

“The meal three days later is to see everyone off and also to wish the movie great box office success!”

“So today’s meal might be slightly lower in quality, but please don’t mind; just make do with it.”

Pei Qian’s words were partly to give everyone advance warning so they’d have mental preparation for today’s meal, and partly to find a legitimate reason for having two big dinners.

Both reasons were legitimate and unassailable; he thought the System would have no reason to object.

Zhang Zuting smiled: “Mr. Pei, you’re being too polite.”

“We’re here to support you, partly out of respect for you, Mr. Pei, but the quality of the script and the team are also very important factors.”

“With Mr. Pei’s excellent script, if the movie becomes a box office hit, all of us will benefit from it. We should be thanking you, Mr. Pei!”

Everyone exchanged pleasantries as they entered the Ming Fu Family Banquet and took their seats.

Li Shi wasn’t here today, apparently having business to attend to at his company.

However, he had made arrangements in advance. The restaurant manager knew Pei Qian, and since they had reserved the entire place, naturally, they received attentive service.

Soon, one delicious dish after another was served.

Perhaps because Little Tang wasn’t brought along today, the dishes came quickly, and there were no mishaps during the meal—everything was normal.

The film crew members savored each exquisite dish, eating to their heart’s content.

They were just slightly puzzled.

When Boss Pei had earlier said, “Just make do with it,” was he being humble, or did he think this way?

If this place was considered low-end, then what level could Nameless Restaurant possibly be?

The female lead, Lin Ruyi, couldn’t help asking Lu Zhiyao, who was sitting next to her, about this since Lu Zhiyao had eaten at Nameless Restaurant before.

Lu Zhiyao thought for a moment: “It’s hard to describe, but… Nameless Restaurant is indeed better than this place, and by quite a margin.”

…

At another table, Pei Qian was discussing post-production arrangements with Zhu Xiaocai and Huang Sibo.

“The movie has already begun editing, and in a few days, we can have a rough cut to take a look at.”

“After that, besides editing, there’s a series of miscellaneous tasks like post-production special effects and so on. Anyway, we’ll try to finish it all in a month.”

“But, Mr. Pei, I can’t guarantee this timeline; I can only say we’ll do it as quickly as possible.”

Pei Qian was slightly disappointed: “A month… then we definitely won’t make it for the Spring Festival release.”

“Valentine’s Day… is also tough.”

“That’s a bit unfortunate.”

The 2011 Spring Festival was on February 3rd, less than half a month away.

Even if they worked the post-production team to death, it would be impossible to release the film during the Spring Festival period.

Of course, Pei Qian had never planned to rush the schedule or make everyone work overtime.

The reason he said it was unfortunate was mainly because he thought these two release windows would be perfect for “Beautiful Tomorrow.”

The Spring Festival period, with families reuniting, was the realm of comedy films.

Valentine’s Day was the domain of romance films.

“Beautiful Tomorrow,” being both poisonous and heart-wrenching but disguised as a “sci-fi romance” with a very misleading title, would be cursed to hell if released during these periods and would be crushed to nothing by those comedies and romance films.

For a movie release, timing was indeed important.

Because films released during the same period competed fiercely with each other. Good movies with high attendance rates would see increased screening ratios, naturally squeezing the living space of other films.

Pei Qian was hoping for a blockbuster to emerge that would reduce his own film’s screen time to nothing.

Zhu Xiaocai said, “The Spring Festival and Valentine’s Day periods have higher traffic, which is indeed good timing. But our film has a rather profound meaning, and might not be suitable for release during these two periods.”

“In my opinion, we might as well set the release date for May Day. Good food is worth waiting for.”

May Day?

Don’t be ridiculous. The settlement date is March 31st; if you schedule the release for May Day, won’t it be too late?

Although one project could have its settlement delayed in this cycle, such a crucial mechanism as delayed settlement was something Pei Qian was saving for Jingji Hostel. How could he waste it on a movie destined to lose money?

In Pei Qian’s view, the sooner the movie was released, the better. It was destined to lose all its investment anyway, so each day of delay just added risk.

Pei Qian said: “May Day is too late; there’s no need at all. In my opinion, let’s go one month from now. February 22nd is a good date.”

Zhu Xiaocai: “?”

He took out his phone to check the calendar and found that February 22nd was a Tuesday, not any holiday, not even a weekend.

Zhu Xiaocai’s confused expression lasted for two seconds, and then his brow relaxed.

Did Boss Pei have other arrangements? Or was this some auspicious date?

Seeing Boss Pei’s serious demeanor, it didn’t seem like he was joking.

Zhu Xiaocai nodded: “Alright, Mr. Pei, then February 22nd it is. However… with a release on such a day, our movie will face tremendous promotional pressure.”

Whatever.

Pei Qian was completely indifferent inside. What was the point of promoting a box office flop? It would be best if after its release, the movie had no screenings at all and nobody even knew about it.

“Anyway, let’s just do it this way. Now, let’s enjoy the food.”

…

…

After a satisfying meal, Pei Qian saw off all the crew members one by one.

For the next three days, the crew members’ itinerary had already been arranged. There were designated people to guide them around Jingzhou, so Pei Qian didn’t need to worry.

This tour wasn’t the roller coaster, bungee jumping, haunted house gauntlet; it was just a normal sightseeing trip.

After all, Pei Qian knew very well that friends and enemies should be treated differently.

These people had worked hard to help him make a money-burning flop of a movie, and they might even bear some criticism if the movie was too terrible. If Pei Qian subjected them to the deadly gauntlet on top of that, what kind of person would he be?

“Mr. Pei, would you like to stay a little longer?” Li Shi said as he approached the entrance.

Seeing that he seemed to have something to say, Pei Qian nodded: “Sure.”

The two returned to the restaurant, found an empty table to sit down, and a waiter brought over a pot of tea.

“Mr. Li, if you have something to say, just say it directly.” Pei Qian wanted to skip the formalities; he was thinking about getting back early to sleep so he could wake up early to study.

Li Shi sighed with emotion: “Mr. Pei, you said before that you would support the business here more often, and I thought it was just a polite remark. I didn’t expect that Mr. Pei would be so sincere.”

“We’ve only been open for just over a week, and you’ve already booked the entire place twice…”

Pei Qian took a sip of tea and found it was indeed quite good: “Mr. Li, I’ve said before that you shouldn’t read too much into it. This is just a normal gathering. Is that all you wanted to say, Mr. Li?”

Li Shi smiled, seeming to have made a decision: “Mr. Pei, I’ve made up my mind.”

“I’m ready to invest in your haunted house project!”

“Even if the money goes down the drain, it doesn’t matter. Consider it a way of thanking you, Mr. Pei!”

Pei Qian drank his tea as a question mark slowly appeared above his head.

?