Zhang Yuan was surprised.

Because “predicting Mr. Pei’s direction” was something he had never even considered until now.

Everyone was still trying hard to understand “what deeper meaning Mr. Pei’s words have,” but as for “what Mr. Pei will do in the future,” that seemed beyond most people’s capabilities.

“Are you confident?” Zhang Yuan asked.

Xiao Peng thought for a moment. “I’m not certain, of course, but I’d say I’m about 70% confident.”

“For this Slackin’ Internet Café 3.0, Mr. Pei didn’t give very clear hints, but his layouts in other industries leave clues we can follow!”

“The strategy of pitting GOG and ioi against each other.”

“DGE Esports Club’s main project is GOG.”

“Combining these two clues means Mr. Pei is planning in the esports industry, and shortly, some industries will become interconnected!”

“And at this critical juncture, Mr. Pei asked me to create Slackin’ Internet Café 3.0. Although there were no specific requirements, it must be meant to interact with and complement the esports industry!”

“Slackin’ Internet Café provides the soil for esports, while esports provides popularity for Slackin’ Internet Café.”

“The first phase of the battle between GOG and ioi has concluded. Both sides have frantically updated their versions, and GOG has not fallen behind.”

“Since Mr. Pei wants to implement this strategy of letting them compete, the battle will not stop here. Next comes the real fight.”

“At this stage, there are only two approaches: either burn money on offline promotion, using internet cafés and online streamers to expand the player base; or host esports events.”

“But the prerequisite for hosting esports events is having a large enough player base, because players first need to understand the game before they can understand the competitions.”

“Based on all these judgments, I believe Slackin’ Internet Café 3.0 should adopt this esports lifestyle center model!”

Zhang Yuan couldn’t help nodding repeatedly. “Yes, that makes sense!”

“However, strictly speaking, this shouldn’t count as a prediction—everything is still within Mr. Pei’s plan.”

Xiao Peng nodded. “Yes, I know. No one can think ahead of Mr. Pei; that’s beyond doubt.”

“What I mean is that Mr. Pei’s entire plan has just completed its first step. Although several subsequent steps have already been planned, they haven’t been revealed to us.”

“I’ve predicted Mr. Pei’s yet-to-be-implemented second step, which is why I can launch Slackin’ Internet Café 3.0’s esports lifestyle center model before Mr. Pei unfolds his second-step plan!”

Zhang Yuan nodded sincerely in admiration. “Impressive!”

Xiao Peng led Zhang Yuan inside. “Come, Mr. Zhang, let me introduce you to the Slackin’ Internet Café 3.0 model.”

“My idea is to build this into a professional players’ esports base.”

“For ordinary players who just want to fulfill basic gaming needs with friends, Slackin’ Internet Café 2.0 is already sufficient. Slackin’ Internet Café 3.0 should be prepared for more hardcore players.”

“For example, some people who love GOG specifically organize a team. Besides solo and duo queues, they need more opportunities to play against other teams and compete with similar strong teams offline.”

“This is a very important recreational activity for them, just like how many elderly people go square dancing right after work.”

“In this case, Slackin’ Internet Café 3.0 is their most suitable choice!”

“Come, Mr. Zhang, let me introduce you to the overall layout of the internet café.”

“All the seats in the entire café are designed in a five-seat configuration to maximize satisfaction for teams and five-player games.”

“Seats in the main hall allow mixed seating, but we’ll try our best to ensure that five-person teams sit at the same table.”

“We’ll regularly hold competitions, and at that time, the entire hall becomes the selection stage. All participants must join in five-person teams. Only after passing our selection will they qualify to enter other areas.”

“The compartments inside are separate training rooms, which can only be used by teams ranking high in our internet café. They must have all team members present to use these rooms; otherwise, they can only sit in the main hall.”

“The innermost, highest position is specially prepared for the café’s strongest team. The team captain can sit in that highest position, representing our café’s highest level and being admired by all players in the café.”

“In addition, the battle rooms in the hall, the projector, and the large screen outside are all specially used for preparing events. Regularly held café competitions will be livestreamed on the screen. At that time, everyone in the hall and everyone outside the café can watch simultaneously, and participants can enjoy the attention and treatment of esports stars!”

“Although it’s a scaled-down version, being able to enjoy the cheers of the entire café and even spectators outside is something to be proud of!”

Zhang Yuan couldn’t help nodding repeatedly.

He tried hard to imagine himself entering the soundproof room, with the match scenes simultaneously playing on the projector and the large screen outside… that would be a very exciting experience.

Zhang Yuan couldn’t help but exclaim, “A genius approach!”

“Internet Café 3.0’s positioning is itself meant to filter out the most hardcore players from Internet Café 2.0. Then these players compete in formal matches to vie for better positions, even becoming the café’s champion team, receiving everyone’s admiration.”

“This way, an esports community culture forms. Once this social relationship is established, for players, this is no longer just a place to go online and play games, but a social circle…”

“The only slight drawback is that ordinary players can only be spectators.”

Predictably, those who would like this place would be a group of true esports players. Each person would probably be outstanding in their original environment, but here they would be just like everyone else, which might be a blow to them.

Xiao Peng smiled slightly. “Mr. Zhang, I’ve thought of this too and have made arrangements.”

“Notice the new ROF computers?”

Zhang Yuan looked at the computers at these positions. “Yes, there seem to be more lights than before, and they’re more elaborate.”

Xiao Peng casually approached a computer. “This case is specially customized and expensive, but it doesn’t have any particular advantages compared to other cases. Its only advantage is that it has more lights!”

“Its front, sides, back, top… lights everywhere.”

“These lights all support RGB light effect programming, which means they can emit specific light patterns when the computer program outputs specific commands.”

“So I went to Min Jingchao and his team to create a small feature for me.”

“The GOG game program outputs information to the RGB light effect program, and then the case lights illuminate according to the programmed content!”

Currently, I plan that first blood, double kill, multi-kill, killing spree, godlike, rank promotion, and so on—each has a unique light effect. Once achieved, the computer case will emit the corresponding light effect!”

“This way, just by seeing a specific light effect from someone’s computer case, you can know they got first blood, or achieved godlike status in the game, or were promoted to master or even king rank…”

“In other words, even if you’re an ordinary player, even if your organized team can’t compete with most of the top players in the café, as long as you play here and make brilliant moves, you can attract others’ attention.”

“This experience is unique!”

Zhang Yuan couldn’t help but marvel. “Brilliant! I never thought RGB could have this function!”

“However… why did you only do this for GOG and not for ioi?”

Xiao Peng helplessly spread his hands. “I did contact Shangyang Games, but modifying the game program seems to require approval from the parent company, which is quite troublesome. Besides, I don’t think it’s necessary. Mr. Pei wants ioi to be GOG’s practice partner.”

Zhang Yuan was startled. “Is that so?”

Xiao Peng nodded. “Of course. Otherwise, why would Mr. Pei establish an esports club for GOG but not for ioi? He favors GOG more.”

“Since ioi is destined to be cannon fodder, and currently, ioi’s market in China is the minority, we might as well just consider GOG players.”

Zhang Yuan thought for a moment. “Hmm, that seems to be the case. When does the internet café plan to open?”

Xiao Peng replied, “Next Wednesday. There are still some finishing touches to complete.”

Zhang Yuan nodded. “Alright, when you open, I’ll bring those guys from DGE Esports Club over to play a BO5 exhibition match to generate some buzz for you!”

Xiao Peng was overjoyed. “That would be great! They’re all king-rank players, so the matches will be exciting to watch!”

…

Meanwhile.

“Mr. Liang, your coffee.” Guan Peisheng from Sloth Apartments placed a cup of coffee on Liang Qingfan’s table.

Liang Qingfan just said thank you without looking up and continued working intensely on his drawings.

A few days ago, Liang Qingfan had officially joined Tenda Group as the head of Sloth Apartments. Pei Qian had naturally arranged for this architecture department junior to be Guan Peisheng’s assistant, helping Liang Qingfan while collecting some intelligence.

“Phew… finally almost complete.”

Liang Qingfan let out a long breath.

After more than a week of busy work, Liang Qingfan had broadly finalized the renovation plans for these three buildings and was very satisfied with them.

Repeatedly reviewing the renovation plans, Liang Qingfan couldn’t help but admire himself a little.

Being able to transform such bizarre layouts so perfectly—I truly am a genius!

This seemed to confirm what Mr. Pei had said: it’s these high-difficulty, bizarre layouts that showcase a designer’s skill!

Liang Qingfan even felt that if this renovation case wasn’t widely publicized, it would be a real waste.

“Take some photos?”

“No, photos are too simple. Everything should be recorded.”

“This kind of renovation case would attract many viewers if posted online, right?”

“Hmm, then I need to find a professional filming team.”

“Tenda’s Fei Huang Studio seems very professional, right?”

The more Liang Qingfan thought about it, the more appropriate it seemed. Since they were all departments of Tenda Group, they should be easier to work with, right?

Money wasn’t an issue since Mr. Pei would be paying anyway. The main thing was that using their people was reliable and would ensure quality footage.

But Liang Qingfan didn’t have contact information for Fei Huang Studio, and bothering Mr. Pei for such a small matter seemed unreasonable.

Fortunately, there was a management trainee.

“Do you know anyone from Fei Huang Studio?” Liang Qingfan asked.

Guan Peisheng was startled. “Uh…”

He hesitated because he only knew the management trainee from Fei Huang Studio, but since they were both undercover, should he say he knew them or not?

After thinking about it, saying either yes or no didn’t seem good. Saying yes might expose his identity, but saying no might cause issues if Mr. Liang needed something.

Guan Peisheng thought for a moment and decided not to answer directly. “The people from Fei Huang Studio should be on vacation now.”

“Vacation? The entire department is on vacation?” Liang Qingfan was surprised.

Guan Peisheng nodded. “Yes, this is a special regulation within Tenda Group, because Fei Huang Studio made outstanding contributions…”

Guan Peisheng explained the whole story.

Liang Qingfan nodded. “Oh…”

Too bad, so he couldn’t ask Fei Huang Studio to help with filming because they weren’t working.

It was already Friday, and the workday was about to end.

It seemed he would have to find a professional photographer to help tomorrow.