He An held the test papers and began explaining.

“You answered several questions very well!”

“For example, summarizing the art style of ‘Demon General’ as ‘epic ink-oil thick painting style,’ and concluding that the central idea of ‘Game Producer’ is ‘Misinterpretation is the fate of the expresser’—these are extremely precise and appropriate expressions, very professional!”

“Some questions were answered somewhat ambiguously, but the general meaning is correct.”

“Like the last question about how the epitaph in ‘Turn Back to Shore’ reflects the designer’s thought of doing everything possible to discourage players. This answer isn’t wrong, just imprecise.”

“The standard answer should go one level deeper—the designer wants to discourage players as a strategy of ‘feigned retreat to entice the enemy.’ The correct answer should be: ‘It reflects the author’s precise grasp of the target players’ mindset.'”

“And there are several questions where your answers were completely off the mark.”

“For instance, designers should completely abandon their requirements and let artists express themselves freely? That’s not feasible! Unless your artist is a true artist, but who can guarantee that any random artist you encounter while making a game will reach the level of an artist? That’s why more precise and detailed art requirement documents are necessary.”

“And saying that ‘Lonely Desert Highway’ was designed to make players feel bored and abandon the game? That the original intention of pricing the ‘Fire Qilin’ at 888 to discourage purchases? That ‘Game Producer’ used ‘awkward marketing’?”

“These answers are completely off base!”

“In summary, considering all the questions, although it’s still difficult to determine your true level, I can make a general assessment.”

Seeing He An’s confident expression that suggested he had everything under control, Pei Qian suddenly became very curious about what he would say next.

Could this veteran deduce deeper insights from just these few simple questions?

“Please, go ahead,” Pei Qian’s attitude was genuinely sincere, as he also wanted to know what level and state he was at, and exactly where his understanding of games had gone wrong.

He An stroked his chin, looking like a master detective.

“Your precise characterization of art styles and game central ideas doesn’t seem like something an outsider focused on the investment industry could achieve. Unless you’ve heard these terms from elsewhere and memorized them.”

“These ambiguous answers indicate that your understanding of games isn’t profound—you have only surface knowledge and lack the spirit of in-depth study. Of course, I’m not saying you lack perseverance or anything like that, but rather… it seems that studying games itself doesn’t have a high priority for you. It’s something with relatively low returns for you.”

“As for those completely off-base answers, they’re quite intriguing.”

“Logically, even someone completely unfamiliar with the gaming industry should at least understand the relationship between designers and artists. Answers like ‘this game was designed to discourage players’ are very unreasonable and contain too much subjectivity.”

He An’s eyes were bright and sharp, looking at Pei Qian with cunning and confidence: “It seems you’ve also presented me with an implied puzzle?”

Pei Qian showed a shocked expression.

Is it that amazing?

He could see so much just from my answers?

Could he have figured out that I’m Mr. Pei, the game designer?

Countless thoughts flashed through Pei Qian’s mind, and he didn’t know what to say for a moment.

He An couldn’t help but laugh: “I knew I was right!”

“Mr. Ma, I bet you must be close friends with Mr. Pei in real life. Your relationship isn’t just that of a boss and subordinate, but more like friends or brothers, right?”

“Your precise characterization of art styles and game central ideas must have been things you heard from Mr. Pei during casual conversations and remembered.”

“Studying games doesn’t have a high priority for you because you’re busy with investment work and don’t have time to study deeply, so your knowledge is superficial.”

“As for those ridiculous answers, perhaps they came from Mr. Pei joking with you during casual talks, saying these games were meant to discourage players, or being self-deprecating, saying ‘Game Producer’ used ‘awkward marketing.’ However, not understanding games deeply enough, you took it as truth!”

“Being able to have so many casual conversations with Mr. Pei, and him even joking with you, shows your relationship is very close. And you believed Mr. Pei’s jokes, which shows sometimes you can be overly honest…”

“Am I right, Mr. Ma?”

After finishing, He An looked at “Ma Yang” with confidence.

Pei Qian did not doubt that if He An had a long beard, he would certainly be stroking it with a satisfied expression at this moment. But since he had no beard, he could only rub the stubble on his chin, his face seemingly written with six large characters: “There is only one truth.”

Pei Qian didn’t know how to respond for a moment.

Because of a missing known condition, He An’s reasoning had been completely wrong from the start, but somehow, he had arrived at a correct conclusion…

He had accurately guessed Ma Yang’s behavioral characteristics, personality traits, and even deduced Ma Yang’s close friendship with Pei Qian.

The precision of this deduction was surprising.

Moreover, He An’s reasoning started from known conditions and could be described as methodical and well-founded.

This made it even more remarkable.

Pei Qian couldn’t help but sigh: “Mr. He, your deductive abilities are truly astonishing.”

Sensing the sincerity in “Ma Yang’s” words, He An couldn’t help but smile: “Back in the day, I also made detective games. This is just a trivial little skill of mine, not worth mentioning.”

Pei Qian asked: “So, Mr. He, do you think I passed the test?”

He An smiled slightly: “If someone else had answered like this, I wouldn’t waste more time on them. But since Mr. Ma is Mr. Pei’s close friend and your attitude is so sincere, I have no reason to refuse.”

“I’ll do my best to teach, and how much you can comprehend will depend entirely on yourself.”

Pei Qian: “…”

Who would have thought that passing the test ultimately relied on his reputation?

Am I riding on my coattails?

Pei Qian felt an extremely absurd sensation, as if the entire situation from beginning to end exuded a kind of dark humor.

It seemed the idea of “learning game design” had gone off track from the very beginning, and now it was getting further and further off course…

But since he had already come this far, he might as well learn!

Being able to master more game design knowledge and avoid some detours in future game development, even if it meant earning less, would be good!

He An continued: “Mr. Ma, my time is limited, and I can only come to Jing Prefecture once a month. How would you like to arrange the schedule?”

Pei Qian cleared his throat: “Mr. He, I was thinking, since it’s not easy for you to come to Jing Prefecture, and what you’ll teach is very valuable knowledge. To save your time, I propose one major lesson per month, a total of five lessons. For each lesson, I’ll pay you 200,000 yuan as compensation. Additionally, your round-trip airfare and expenses in Jing Prefecture will all be reimbursed!”

This was the highest price the system would allow.

At first glance, 200,000 yuan per lesson seemed outrageous, but it was reasonable.

Many economics professors and experts charge 200,000-300,000 yuan just for an appearance fee when invited to give lectures—this was a normal price.

He An himself was a game company owner with several successful games. Although Alliance Fruit Games wasn’t as glorious as before, He An personally had a net worth of at least several hundred million yuan.

In other words, if he didn’t want to come, he wouldn’t change his mind for a few hundred thousand yuan.

Given He An’s position in the gaming industry, which was far higher than that of an average economics professor, and considering this wasn’t a public lecture but one-on-one teaching with the opportunity to ask questions and interact anytime, 200,000 yuan per lesson wasn’t excessive.

Pei Qian calculated that this way, he could spend at least one million yuan before the settlement.

As for the remaining money… he’d figure that out later.

He An nodded with a smile: “Alright, it’s a deal.”

Although the exact compensation wasn’t particularly important to him, it represented sincerity.

Two hundred thousand yuan per lesson, five lessons totaling one million yuan—at least he wouldn’t be working for nothing.

“Good, then Mr. Ma, let’s end here for today. Since this is my first time in Jing Prefecture, I plan to do some sightseeing and also prepare the teaching content. Let’s start the first lesson next Thursday, the 28th.”

“For the subsequent lessons, let’s set them for the last Thursday of each month.”

Pei Qian nodded: “That’s fine. Just arrange the time as you see fit.”

After seeing He An off, Pei Qian felt a bit melancholic.

He wondered what content this expert would teach him in next week’s first lesson…

…

…

April 23rd, Saturday.

A group of students who looked immature was led by Tang Yishu to the 16th floor of Shenhua Luxury View.

After entering the magnificent office building, although the students were all trying hard to control themselves and not appear too surprised, they couldn’t help but look around.

Everyone’s face showed uncontainable curiosity, along with a bit of embarrassment.

After all, this magnificent building seemed full of well-dressed, elegant, successful people, while they were all poor students with empty pockets.

Tang Yishu led everyone to the meeting room: “Please wait here for a while. Mr. Pei should arrive soon.”

“I’m going to feed a cat first.”

After Tang Yishu had left the meeting room, everyone began whispering to each other.

“The working conditions here are too good.”

“I almost thought this was a TV drama set.”

“Are all companies like this?”

“What are you thinking! This is Tenda!”

Obviously, among these people, some were more familiar with Tenda’s situation, while others were completely immersed in studies and quite isolated from information.

“So, what exactly are we management trainees supposed to do?” someone asked a very pointed question.

This was a question that no one understood, and even Tang Yishu couldn’t explain it clearly.

Because Pei Qian hadn’t bothered to explain it to her at all.