September 12th, Monday.

The first round of group stages for the GOG Global Invitational Tournament had reached its third day of competition.

Inside Fei Huang Studio, many people were watching the tournament on their computers.

The video exposing Zhujia Apartments’ formaldehyde-contaminated rooms would be completed in a day or two, and most people had already finished their work.

So those who were free could relax by watching the matches.

Whenever the competition reached an intense moment, exclamations would erupt throughout Fei Huang Studio.

Zhu Xiaocai was with the post-production staff, waiting for the video export to finish.

Although the editing and post-production were complete, whether the exported video would be satisfactory remained unknown. If they wanted to perfect it, they might need to make two or three more fine adjustments before publishing it online.

Waiting for the video to export was boring, so the two of them were also watching the GOG Global Invitational Tournament.

“This tournament is well-organized, with great attention to detail. Shangyang Games must have put in a lot of effort,” said the editor.

Zhu Xiaocai nodded. “Yes, this GOG Global Invitational has made a big impression worldwide. None of the previous esports events have been organized to this level. Mr. Pei has big ambitions this time!”

“But considering how he previously booked an entire street on Times Square, it’s not surprising. Mr. Pei had already planned to spend a lot of money promoting GOG. It would be strange if this Global Invitational were done on a small scale.”

On the livestream, Jiang Huan was being interviewed.

Various bullet screen comments quickly floated across, covering the entire screen.

“Here he is, DGE’s strongest man!”

“Judging strength is simple, just follow two laws: DGE’s First Law, all DGE Club members are muscular men, so among all professional players from all clubs, overall muscle mass is proportional to strength; DGE’s Second Law, the worst player at DGE Club trains extra the most, so among all muscular men, overall muscle mass is inversely proportional to strength!”

“Jiang Huan falls into the muscular man category, but has the least muscle mass on the team, which means he did the least extra training at DGE Club. To describe this level of skill in eight words: unfathomably deep, terrifyingly strong!”

“It’s absurd that you can judge a player’s skill by their physique in an esports competition!”

“I’m curious about what kind of divine presence the DGE Club is. Unbeatable in online tournaments, unbeatable in offline tournaments, unbeatable in solo, unbeatable in team fights! Everyone gets an MVP after being distributed to different teams. How terrifying would they be if they were on one team!”

“Check out the meme competition! That’s precious historical material!”

“Is this the legendary ‘together a ball of fire, apart stars across the sky’?”

“A mysterious club that doesn’t compete but makes money by selling players—truly a money-making genius!”

Looking at these meme-filled comments, Zhu Xiaocai couldn’t help but laugh.

These silly netizens were truly masterful at creating memes!

Huang Wang already had the “boxer” meme, and during the first two days of competition, many people had thoroughly investigated the ten players from DGE Club, discovering that they had all appeared in this Global Invitational and all delivered MVP-level performances.

This was truly absurd!

Often, when two teams played against each other, it came down to which side’s DGE Club player performed better.

During each post-match interview, the audience would look expectantly at the interviewed player, and sure enough, it would be another muscular man!

Just seeing those muscles, they could confirm—this must be a former DGE Club player!

These muscles were essentially walking billboards, advertising the DGE Club and Tuoguan Fitness wherever they went.

Even more absurdly, before many matches began, after cheering for both teams, the audience would shout “Go DGE!” It had become a trend.

In electronic sports, the winner is king, and audiences naturally worship the strong. The mediocre don’t deserve applause.

Although DGE Club wasn’t competing, each of its players could influence the direction of matches, elevating DGE’s status in the audience’s hearts.

With both skill and meme potential, after just a few days of competition, the DGE Club had gained more fans than all other clubs combined!

Zhu Xiaocai watched enviously: “The atmosphere there is great. Too bad I’ve been busy editing and haven’t had time to go watch.”

The editor asked curiously: “Director Zhu, is Tuoguan Fitness really that effective? These players only trained for a few months, right? How come they look more defined than mine after nearly a year of training?”

Tenda had previously provided fitness memberships for all employees, so employees had developed some fitness habits.

However, many people hadn’t seen significant changes in their physiques despite training for so long.

Zhu Xiaocai smiled: “How do you train? On and off, sometimes not even going twice a week, and not paying attention to your diet. How do they train? They have strict training schedules, can only eat specially prepared fitness meals, and their daily training volume is all planned out. How can a regular gym’s results compare to Tuoguan Fitness?”

“But don’t worry, Tuoguan Fitness will soon be widely available as an employee benefit. Tenda headquarters has already started trying it out. Mr. Pei’s previous push to open Tuoguan Fitness branches near various companies was probably for this purpose.”

The editor was surprised: “Really? How come I haven’t heard about this?”

Zhu Xiaocai said, “I heard from Guo Licheng that after Mr. Pei arranged these gym branches, he originally planned to observe for a while before letting employees use them. But before he could arrange for employees to go in, they were already fully booked.”

“Tuoguan Fitness already had a continuously building reputation. The popularity of the Tenda Life APP and Slackin’ Delivery also provided high visibility for Tuoguan Fitness. Peak time slots were already fully booked.”

“This recent tournament further ignited Tuoguan Fitness’s popularity. On one hand, the players’ physiques were too eye-catching, creating an excellent advertising effect; on the other hand, many people inquired and discovered that the fitness results were indeed immediate. Those who tried it all praised it, so many people have been signing up these past few days!”

“You have no idea how difficult it is now to get a spot at Tuoguan Fitness.”

“I have to say, Mr. Pei’s promotional strategy shows patience. Think about it: for something like a gym, simple advertising won’t work—people won’t believe it. But if you can turn gaming addicts into muscular men, that’s impressive.”

“When people interested in fitness see that even gaming addicts who dislike exercise can achieve such results, they’ll think they can certainly do it too! Then they ask friends around them, who all say Tuoguan Fitness delivers improvements if you stick with it. Of course, they’ll sign up, even if it’s a bit expensive.”

“But only Mr. Pei can use this method. How could ordinary gyms have the patience to spend months training gaming addicts? They’re all looking to make quick money. In a few months, they might have already sold all their membership cards and be preparing to flee.”

“But Mr. Pei is different. He focuses on long-term goals. Even if he loses money for several months, he has the patience to build a reputation!”

“The before-and-after photos of those DGE Club players’ physique transformations have gone viral online. That’s living advertisement!”

The editor nodded in agreement: “Indeed, Mr. Pei’s move was truly brilliant, using the popularity of the World Championship to promote both DGE Club and Tuoguan Fitness.”

“So when will this benefit reach our internal employees?”

Zhu Xiaocai said confidently: “Don’t worry, Mr. Pei won’t forget us. Now that Tuoguan Fitness is fully booked, he’ll continue opening branches for us to use. It’s just a matter of sooner or later.”

“I heard that for Sloth Apartments, Mr. Pei also intended to use them as employee dormitories, but that’s still in the observation period, too.”

The editor was puzzled: “Why is everything in an observation period? What exactly is Mr. Pei observing?”

Zhu Xiaocai couldn’t quite answer that. After thinking, he said, “Maybe he’s observing whether this business model can succeed. After confirming its success, he’ll use it for employee benefits.”

“Perhaps the Sloth Apartments model also has some unique aspects that need verification.”

As they were chatting, suddenly, an employee ran over.

“Director Zhu, look at this quickly! Someone beat us to it!”

Zhu Xiaocai was startled and took the phone to check.

The video was titled “Formaldehyde Evaluation of Rental Apartments: Six Rental Companies, Including Zhujia Safe Houses and Snail Apartments, Only One Passed All Tests!”

It was published by a domestic technology review media outlet.

Zhu Xiaocai was surprised because he knew this tech review media had a good reputation in the digital circle.

But why was a tech review media testing formaldehyde in apartments?

This was a nearly half-hour video, and its content was remarkably similar to what Fei Huang Studio was producing.

First, it covered consumer complaints about excess formaldehyde in rental apartments and health damage, including some of the review media’s employees who had moved into formaldehyde-contaminated apartments.

Then, the review media began recruiting volunteers to test apartments for formaldehyde.

Unlike Fei Huang Studio, they weren’t targeting only Zhujia Group but had conducted sample tests on six rental companies, including Zhujia Group’s Safe Houses and Snail Apartments.

The final results showed that for Zhujia Group’s Safe Houses, all apartments occupied for less than three months exceeded formaldehyde limits, half of those occupied for three to six months exceeded limits, and even one apartment occupied for over six months still exceeded limits.

Snail Apartments, which used the same model as Zhujia Group’s Safe Houses but on a smaller scale, had similar issues with excess formaldehyde.

Only Sloth Apartments had all units pass inspection, with levels significantly below national standards!

Finally, the review media also shared some basic knowledge, such as the best way to eliminate formaldehyde, which is to open windows for ventilation. Formaldehyde removal companies could only temporarily reduce formaldehyde, but since formaldehyde evaporation is a long-term process, once you move into a contaminated apartment, there’s no better solution. It inevitably harms health, so caution is necessary.

Compared to Fei Huang Studio’s video, this one wasn’t as meticulously edited or refined, but it came from a well-known media outlet in the tech and digital circle, whose fairness and objectivity few would question.

Moreover, their video tested six rental companies, presenting more comprehensive content.

The video had already sparked heated discussions in the comments section and on the review organization’s Weibo.

“Isn’t this murder? With formaldehyde levels so high, forget living there for a year—a few months might cause cancer!”

“They dare call these ‘Safe Houses’? Safe for what, a safe death?”

“This scared me into opening my windows immediately!”

“It’s true! I worked for Safe Houses for a month. A tenant kept complaining about the smell in the room. I investigated and found there was a problem! I asked my supervisor what to do about our problematic apartments, and they said to ignore it, that it was just industry practice. Then I resigned. I need money, but not enough to harm people’s lives!”

“Now I remember, when I was looking at Safe Houses properties, the apartment was still being renovated and smelled terrible. The agent told me that if I signed, then I could move in two days later, and promised they’d bring in a formaldehyde removal company. Haha, fortunately, I didn’t move in!”

“Snail Apartments has always claimed to be conscientious, better than Zhujia’s ‘Safe Houses’? These test results are a slap in the face—they’re cut from the same cloth!”

“Sloth Apartments’ tests all meet national standards? That’s ridiculous. Weren’t they just renovated less than a month and a half ago?”

“Theoretically, if you use environmentally friendly materials for renovation and furniture, plus keep a fresh air system running constantly, it is achievable, though at a considerable cost.”

“Yes, the video mentioned that Sloth Apartments’ ventilation runs 24 hours, and the furniture is high-end.”

“After all this, Mr. Pei proves to be the most conscientious! Recently, there’s been an onslaught of negative articles about Sloth Apartments—calling it an intelligence tax, accusing it of inflating rents, exploiting fans—a true circus. But the test results come out and instantly prove them wrong!”

“Indeed, Tenda’s physical businesses may not be cheap, but they’re high quality! Take these apartments as an example—if it weren’t for professional review media exposing this issue, who would know the gap between Zhujia’s Safe Houses and Sloth Apartments could be so large?”

“Ah, speaking of this, I can’t help but sigh. Often it’s not that Tenda does things so well, it’s all thanks to their competitors making them look good by comparison!”

Netizens were outraged.

Most people renting were young people, especially those drifting in first-tier cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, with particularly high demands for rental housing.

Young people have relatively high living requirements. No one wants to live in old, shabby places; everyone wants nicely decorated apartments. That’s why Zhujia Group’s “Safe Houses” and Snail Apartments were created and welcomed by young people.

But who could have imagined they were all beautiful on the outside but rotten inside?

They looked well-decorated but cut corners drastically in invisible places, seriously harming consumers’ health and lives.

And since young people are the main internet users, they all exploded in anger upon seeing this news. The topic instantly went viral!

After watching the video, the editor was stunned.

“Director Zhu, what… what about our video?”