Slackin’ Internet Café.
“Qiao Laoshi, are you sure you don’t want to appear in the video or be credited as a co-creator?” Zhu Xiaocai asked.
Qiao Liang nodded. “Yes, I’m sure. Your studio is very professional. I only made a few suggestions about some details, which hardly qualify as co-creation.”
Zhu Xiaocai shook his head. “You’re being too modest, Qiao Laoshi. As an experienced content creator, your ability to understand audience psychology is truly impressive. The version we were considering before was a bit out of touch, but after making the changes you suggested, it’s much better.”
“However, if you insist on not being credited as a co-creator, we’ll certainly respect your wishes.”
Qiao Liang remained firm. “Yes, thank you.”
Zhu Xiaocai stood up. “Alright, I’ll head back to the studio to edit the video now. Thank you so much for all your help during this time!”
Qiao Liang smiled and said, “It’s all part of my job. Exposing garbage companies like this is everyone’s responsibility!”
After seeing Zhu Xiaocai off, Qiao Liang returned to Slackin’ Internet Café and sat back in his seat.
During this time, Qiao Liang had been helping Zhu Xiaocai produce a video exposing the formaldehyde-contaminated apartments of Zhujia Group, though he hadn’t appeared on camera or participated in the filming and post-production.
Qiao Liang realized that Fei Huang Studio was indeed professional. Their equipment and filming techniques were far superior to his own as a self-taught content creator, so there wasn’t much for him to contribute in those areas.
However, Fei Huang Studio’s initial proposal did have some issues.
Fei Huang Studio had previously produced short videos, documentaries, and films, so they tended to create content that was efficient and concise, with masterful storytelling techniques.
But this video topic was more like a review, meant to express opinions, which required consideration of the audience’s receptiveness. Fei Huang Studio’s original plan lacked this perspective.
When making videos, Qiao Liang paid particular attention to the audience’s feelings, expressing his attitudes at a level they could accept, and generating resonance.
So, Qiao Liang simply corrected some details to make the video more relatable while objectively exposing the facts.
Currently, volunteers had been found across the country, and Fei Huang Studio staff had contacted professional testing agencies and flown out to film. Once all the video materials were gathered and edited, it would take about three or four more days before the video could be released.
As for Qiao Liang, after finishing with this video, he suddenly felt a strange sense of confusion.
Originally, he had stayed in Jingzhou to figure out what exactly was missing from his Terrifying Inn video.
But even after thinking about it for so many days, he still had no clue.
He heard that “Struggle” had been released, so he played it, but before he could figure out how to make a new video, the official account posted a Weibo that completely blocked all his paths.
This was awkward!
Qiao Liang wanted to ask Mr. Pei: I’ve already given up on using “Masterpiece Analysis” to interpret “Struggle,” but I still don’t understand what’s missing from the Terrifying Inn video!
For some reason, he had an inexplicable feeling of being deceived.
If he didn’t trust Mr. Pei so much, Qiao Liang would truly think Mr. Pei was a fraud.
He quietly opened his fan group, wanting to peek at what the foolish group members were discussing.
“Old Qiao, come out quickly! Something big has happened, someone’s stealing your rice bowl!”
“Look at this Weibo post, it’s already gone viral!”
“This He An, is he famous?”
“Famous? He’s like the North Star in the domestic single-player game circle! He made ‘Landlord Game’! When such a big shot comes out to interpret Tenda’s games, I think Qiao Laoshi is about to lose his job.”
“Tenda has prestige!”
“I think this is just a basic operation. The official account is hyping it up as ‘the light of Chinese gaming,’ so veteran game developers coming out to praise it a bit—what’s strange about that?”
“Praise it a bit? Look again, is this just a bit? This is a ten-thousand-word essay!”
Seeing the heated discussion in the fan group, Qiao Liang was confused.
What did they mean?
How am I about to lose my job?
Scrolling up through the chat history, Qiao Liang found a Weibo link and clicked on it, revealing He An’s long post.
Qiao Liang’s first reaction was shock, and his second was defiance.
Someone’s trying to steal my business!
Previously, after Tenda’s games were released, Qiao Liang’s “Masterpiece Analysis” was always the first to interpret their meaning, and he did it best.
Though he couldn’t claim to understand 100% of Mr. Pei’s true intentions, he had grasped at least 80%, and no one had been able to surpass him.
As a content creator focused on single-player games, Qiao Liang had certainly heard of He An. One could say he grew up playing He An’s games.
But He An had retreated from the scene many years ago. During the early rise of Chinese games, his few single-player titles had indeed caused a sensation, but after he shifted to online games, he gradually faded from players’ view.
Qiao Liang wasn’t convinced. A veteran was a veteran, but hadn’t it been about ten years since He An had touched single-player games?
Moreover, Mr. Pei’s Weibo post had completely blocked many interpretative directions. If one merely repeated analyses that players had already figured out, it would undoubtedly be inferior.
Even so, could this man steal my rice bowl?
Qiao Laoshi didn’t believe it one bit.
Nevertheless, disbelief aside, Qiao Laoshi clicked on the long Weibo post and carefully read it from beginning to end.
After reading it, Qiao Liang was completely convinced.
Only four words remained in his mind: dimensional reduction attack!
Especially when He An said at the beginning of his long post: “This game is a textbook for game developers. Without professional knowledge of game development, you likely won’t understand it.”
To Qiao Liang, wasn’t this directed right at him?
Indeed, your grandfather is still your grandfather.
As a seasoned game enthusiast, Qiao Liang had previously looked down on game developers, feeling that many mediocre ones were nothing special and that their understanding of games wasn’t necessarily more profound than his own.
But today, he realized he had been completely wrong.
One shouldn’t challenge someone else’s livelihood with mere interest and a hobby. After all, there was still a huge gap between amateur and professional.
Of course, everyone makes mistakes. When professionals err, they indeed seem worse than amateurs, but overall, the fact that professionals can make a living at what they do already proves they’re much better than most amateur enthusiasts.
He An’s analysis made Qiao Liang understand one thing: Mr. Pei’s official Weibo hadn’t blocked all his paths, but rather blocked all other paths, leaving just one.
And that path was to interpret the true essence of the game “Struggle”!
It was just that Qiao Liang lacked the professional mindset of game design, so he hadn’t realized this.
Look at how the great He An analyzed it?
Using a basic theory of artistic creation, he broke through the labyrinth that Qiao Liang couldn’t escape despite all his pondering.
“No one can create a work of art without purpose. Any artistic work will more or less project some of the author’s inner thoughts.”
So, he successfully found the thread in a tangled ball of yarn, and everything flowed smoothly afterward!
While admiring the master, Qiao Liang also felt regret.
How wonderful it would be if this content could be made into a video!
The veteran He An wrote all the substance, but after all, it was just a long Weibo post with limited influence.
Society today is rather impetuous, with various things on the internet frantically competing for people’s attention. Compared to video formats with their rich visuals, sound, and special effects, pure text was increasingly less appealing.
If made into a video, it would certainly achieve wider distribution.
Of course, Qiao Liang could contact He An on Weibo, requesting permission to make a video, complete with detailed explanations over gameplay footage from “Struggle.” That should be feasible.
But Qiao Liang didn’t quite have the nerve to do so.
If “Masterpiece Analysis” used someone else’s material, what would that make him?
Although Qiao Liang usually appeared carefree and seemed like a heartless otaku, when it came to game-related content, he held himself to extremely high standards and had a certain pride.
Using someone else’s material to make videos, even with their consent, would still feel like taking credit for others’ wisdom.
So, after some thought, Qiao Liang decided against it.
This time, he had truly failed, dimensionally reduced and thoroughly crushed by the master, He An.
Only when the answer appeared did he suddenly understand, while before that, he had no clue—this proved that his abilities were still far from adequate, and when ability is lacking, one must acknowledge it.
Only by objectively admitting one’s inadequacies can one identify and fill the gaps, continuously improving.
If one always gets jealous seeing others do better, always believing nothing is wrong with oneself, then improvement becomes impossible.
So, with mixed feelings, Qiao Liang closed the long Weibo post, frankly accepting the fact of his failure.
Wait, why say “again”?
Well… clearly, the Terrifying Inn video had already failed once, though not catastrophically—it just hadn’t gone viral or broken through, which was failure by the high standards of Qiao Laoshi.
This dealt a heavy blow to the usually very confident Qiao Liang.
“Wait a second.”
“Speaking of that video, Mr. Pei told me personally that if I gave up using ‘Masterpiece Analysis’ to interpret ‘Struggle,’ I would find what was missing from that video.”
“I’ve already given up now, given up completely, but I still have no clue what was missing!”
“Could Mr. Pei have deceived me?”
“No way!”
“Since Mr. Pei said so, there must be something I’m still overlooking!”
Qiao Liang opened He An’s long Weibo post again and examined it carefully.
He felt that he could use this post as a key to interpreting “Struggle,” or as a textbook, which might give him new inspiration!
The battle was not over yet—Qiao Laoshi refused to leave the battlefield!