December 7th, Wednesday.

Inside Slackin’ Internet Café, Pei Qian sipped his coffee while browsing through forum messages.

“Strange, the IOI qualifiers should be starting soon, so why can’t I find any information about it online?”

“There are a few rumors, but no concrete evidence, and they’re barely causing any ripples.”

Pei Qian was puzzled because according to intelligence from Shangyang Games, the IOI qualifiers should be starting within a week.

The GPL league’s preseason matches were scheduled to begin this weekend. Not all clubs would participate in these preseason games, which would only last for three weeks.

For clubs, the preseason was an opportunity to practice and fine-tune their teamwork. For the league, it allowed them to prepare for various unexpected situations during matches. For viewers, it provided entertainment during this boring period, giving them a preview of the GPL league.

After finishing at the end of the month, there would be a two-week break, and then around mid-January, the GPL spring season would officially begin.

Currently, IOI faced a major threat from GOG. The situation was better overseas, but in the domestic market, every move IOI made depended on GOG’s attitude.

Even IOI’s new version changes were learning from GOG.

Under these circumstances, IOI’s two important competitions—the qualifiers and the World Finals—would need to avoid clashing with GOG’s match schedule.

If both competitions ran simultaneously, wouldn’t IOI just be handing over its popularity to the other side?

So, according to Fingertip Company’s schedule, they should hold the domestic qualifiers this weekend to select three teams for the World Championship. Then at the end of the month, right after the GPL preseason ended, they would hold the World Finals, avoiding GPL’s popularity peak and effectively sidestepping its dominance.

Pei Qian fully approved of this strategy.

However, what Pei Qian found unfortunate was that IOI’s domestic qualifiers would still clash with the GPL preseason: both were starting this weekend.

“It seems Fingertip Company has tried its best to avoid GPL events, but there’s simply not enough time. The IOI qualifiers’ preparation to execution timeframe is very tight—they can’t start earlier, and pushing it back wouldn’t make sense since GPL matches will run for the next twenty days, so delaying serves no purpose.”

“So a scheduling conflict is inevitable, which is a bit awkward.”

“But despite the conflict, why is there so little buzz about the IOI qualifiers? It seems the officials haven’t even promoted it much?”

“There’s no noise at all. Aren’t they just handing popularity over to GPL?”

“These people are being too unprofessional. I need to figure out how to help them and generate some buzz.”

“Hmm… how should I help?”

Seeing the IOI qualifiers receiving so little attention with no discussion whatsoever, Pei Qian couldn’t help but worry for them.

If IOI’s competitions couldn’t generate any buzz, how would they pose a threat to GOG?

If GOG’s popularity remained as high as it currently is, how would Pei Qian lose money?

So, Pei Qian decided to lend a hand and help Fingertip Company. At the very least, he could stir up some buzz for the IOI qualifiers and increase public attention, right?

This was just a matter of spending some marketing money, which wouldn’t cost much.

Fingertip Company and Longyu Group were both wealthy corporations. Why were they being so stingy about this? Pei Qian found it quite puzzling.

But then again, perhaps the qualifiers were prepared in such a hurry that they hadn’t had time to generate buzz yet?

Yes, that was certainly possible.

All the more reason to give them a helping hand.

However, Pei Qian hadn’t quite figured out exactly how to help.

Using his own money was certainly out of the question. With what little money Pei Qian currently had in his pocket, at most he could buy some fake accounts online to hype things up, but the effect would be negligible.

Besides, the fundamental purpose of all these actions was to lose money and convert more personal assets, but if he first used personal assets to subsidize things before losing money, wouldn’t that be completely idiotic?

So, he still needed to find a way to get the System to reimburse him.

The problem was that the IOI qualifiers weren’t a competition hosted by Tenda, so how could the System possibly cover the expenses? It didn’t quite add up.

Pei Qian stroked his chin, deep in contemplation for a long time, when suddenly a brilliant idea struck him.

“I’ve got it! Didn’t I just invest in an IOI club? I can do something with that!”

Just this past Monday, Pei Qian had made a lightning trip to Metropolis to invest in FV Club, and only two days had passed since then.

Using company funds to promote the IOI qualifiers wouldn’t make sense, and the System wouldn’t approve it. But what if he spent money promoting FV Club and, in the process, promoted the IOI qualifiers? Wouldn’t that work?

Promoting one’s club meant money could be spent freely, and the System was very lenient in this regard!

Although Pei Qian had previously resolved not to interfere with FV Club’s operations, giving them some money for advertising shouldn’t count as interference, right?

Of course, there was a potential risk: what if FV Club became famous, gained substantial attention, and showed profit potential?

But after some thought, Pei Qian realized this possibility was extremely slim, almost nonexistent.

What was the FV Club’s current situation?

They had some money, but not much—Pei Qian had only given them three million, a pittance compared to the investment of top-tier clubs. As for personnel, they had only three players left, and they weren’t even that good.

What good would aggressive promotion do for such a club?

In esports, results ultimately spoke louder than words. Without achievements, no amount of marketing would do anything except make viewers feel disgusted and uncomfortable, which would only accelerate the deterioration of their public image.

Besides, FV Club’s chances of advancing from the qualifiers were minimal, so any buzz generated now would be impossible to sustain.

In short, the promotional hype would mainly benefit the IOI qualifiers, with minimal impact on the FV Club itself, while Pei Qian would have legitimately spent a sum of money.

Perfect, absolutely perfect!

The more Pei Qian thought about it, the more suitable it seemed. He immediately called Wu Yue, the owner of FV Club.

“Hello, Mr. Pei?” The phone rang several times before being answered. Wu Yue’s voice carried traces of drowsiness, as if he had just woken up.

Pei Qian glanced at his watch. It was nearly 11 AM now, and he was still sleeping? Even later than me?

Good, Mr. Pei approved of such people.

Pei Qian asked, “Do you have enough money for the club’s expenses?”

Wu Yue was taken aback on the other end of the line.

Didn’t Mr. Pei just invest three million two days ago? Why was he bringing up money again today?

Could it be… Mr. Pei knew about my player purchases and was worried I didn’t have enough money, so he wanted to add some more.

Wu Yue couldn’t help but feel warmth and gratitude. He quickly replied, “Don’t worry, Mr. Pei, we still have enough money. You don’t need to worry about that.”

Pei Qian was quite dissatisfied with this response.

Still having enough money? This Wu Yue wasn’t being honest.

Pei Qian cleared his throat: “It’s impossible to have enough. If you think you have enough money, then some part of your work must be inadequate!”

“Here’s what I’ll do: I’ll give you another three million.”

“However, these three million are for a specific purpose—marketing expenses. Take this money and promote online. Use various channels to properly promote both FV Club and the upcoming IOI qualifiers.”

Wu Yue was stunned and quickly said, “Mr. Pei, three million for marketing is far too much! The effect probably won’t be very good—it would be a waste…”

“How about this: we use fifty or a hundred thousand for marketing, and the rest can be used elsewhere…”

Upon hearing the word “waste,” Pei Qian’s eyes lit up.

Waste was exactly what he wanted!

Using it elsewhere would be a real waste.

Pei Qian immediately said, “No, all three million must be used for marketing and promotion, and it must all be spent before this weekend, not a penny left!”

“Don’t ask why, just spend it.”

Although Pei Qian had said he wouldn’t interfere with FV Club’s day-to-day operations, forcibly giving them money didn’t count as interference, and Wu Yue had no reason to refuse.

After a long silence on the other end, Wu Yue reluctantly said, “Alright, Mr. Pei, since you’ve already decided, I’ll use all three million for marketing.”

Pei Qian nodded: “Good, feel free to spend it all. And remember, you must promote the IOI qualifiers!”

Pei Qian feared Wu Yue might forget. What if he only promoted the FV Club without mentioning the IOI qualifiers? That would be putting the cart before the horse.

After all, Pei Qian’s fundamental goal was to get more people to know about the IOI qualifiers and generate buzz for IOI.

Wu Yue: “Understood, Mr. Pei!”

…

After hanging up, Wu Yue sat up in his bed.

He had rushed back from Jingzhou with several players late last night, then arranged accommodations for them, staying busy nearly all night. He had only fallen asleep around six in the morning.

He didn’t expect to sleep until noon, only to be awakened by Mr. Pei’s call, with another three million raining down.

Wu Yue was instantly wide awake. He got up, washed his face, and immediately called Manager Lu to detail how he had received another three million specifically for marketing.

Manager Lu, also just waking up, was equally confused.

“Mr. Pei gave another three million? And specifically said it’s for marketing? Can only be spent on marketing?” Manager Lu found this situation somewhat absurd.

Why was Mr. Pei so good to the FV Club?

Excluding the possibility that Mr. Pei was Mr. Wu’s long-lost biological father, it didn’t make sense.

Wu Yue said, “Based on Mr. Pei’s tone and recent events, I’ve made a rough deduction. See if this possibility makes sense.”

“Mr. Pei’s first question was whether we had enough money, which must be because he knew about our player purchases.”

“That being the case, the money Mr. Pei is giving us is intended for us to spend elsewhere.”

“Our team’s core strength is already quite impressive in the IOI esports circle. How well we’ll perform depends on the team’s cohesion, but going head-to-head with those strong teams is possible.”

“With a certain level of strength already secured, what our club lacks most obviously is buzz and recognition!”

“And Mr. Pei specifically giving a marketing budget is actually reminding us that we can start generating some buzz, that now is an appropriate time.”

Manager Lu was taken aback: “But Boss Wu, the IOI qualifiers haven’t even started yet. We’re not even sure if we’ll advance. If we generate buzz now and then don’t win, wouldn’t we just be benefiting other clubs?”

Wu Yue shook his head: “That’s a risk we must take.”

“If we wait until we’ve advanced before promoting, what’s the use? The matches will be almost over, and the buzz will have passed!”

“We need to promote and build anticipation before the matches start, generating viewer interest in both the matches and our club. This way, when our players perform well, we can gain even more attention.”

“As for the possibility of becoming stepping stones for others… that’s a risk we must take.”

“Mr. Pei must be clear about this, too, which is why he repeatedly emphasized that all the money must be spent within a week. Isn’t that reminding us that we must create buzz before the competition begins?”

Manager Lu suddenly understood: “You’re right.”

“I’ll prepare right away and start generating buzz for FV Club and the IOI qualifiers!”

…

After calling Wu Yue, Pei Qian temporarily set aside the esports matters and stopped worrying about them.

Although he had spent three million to help promote IOI, Pei Qian didn’t have very high expectations for the IOI qualifiers. If it generated buzz and helped IOI counterattack, that would be ideal; if not, it didn’t matter.

In the worst-case scenario, the IOI qualifiers would still lack buzz, but at least for Pei Qian, three million had been spent.

Pei Qian began to consider matters in the capital.

Currently, there were two projects in the capital that Pei Qian was particularly concerned about. The first was the indie game incubation base managed by Qiu Hong, and the second was Meng Chang’s cold noodle restaurant.

The indie game incubation base had been officially operating for about half a month now, and Pei Qian had never visited it, so he was completely in the dark about the situation there.

For some reason, he felt slightly uneasy.

What if some of these indie games became hits? What if the income from two or three games completely covered the losses from other games and the incubation base’s expenses, and even turned a profit?

Pei Qian was well aware of his luck; this possibility was not just plausible but highly likely.

So, he felt somewhat inexplicably worried.

But Pei Qian couldn’t go check in person because both the Poverty Road project and the incubation base currently had no connection to Tenda. If Pei Qian went himself, wouldn’t he be exposing himself?

Once the “Poverty Road project” was linked to Tenda Group, various capable, idealistic, and ambitious indie game developers would flock to join, drastically reducing the project’s chances of losing money.

The other project was Cold Noodle Girl.

Pei Qian had also invested a lot in this project, and it would be a lie to say he wasn’t concerned at all.

For this type of project, losing money would be fine, but if it made money, it would be a huge profit. Pei Qian had never inspected it in person, so he felt somewhat unsettled.

After much consideration, Pei Qian decided to send someone to check on his behalf.

A trip to the capital—first to see the Poverty Road’s game incubation base, then to visit the Cold Noodle Girl store—to gather some intelligence and report back to him.

It might not be useful, but at least it would put his mind at ease.

But the question arose: who should he send?

The most important quality for this person was to be objective and not mix too much subjectivity into their judgment. Also, preferably not a department head.

Disrupting departmental work wasn’t an issue, but if after the inspection, the two projects started to interact, that would be problematic.

After some thought, Pei Qian quickly determined the best candidate.

Let Little Tang go!

Apart from managing the Money-Losers and feeding cats, Tang Yishu had no other work at present, so visiting the capital wouldn’t risk creating any synergistic effects.

Moreover, Tang Yishu had a very minimal presence within Tenda Group. Even if she appeared at the indie game incubation base, no one would guess the connection between the incubation base and Tenda.

Additionally, Tang Yishu would observe as a third party. She lacked relevant professional knowledge, so she should be able to see the true situation of the indie game incubation base and Cold Noodle Girl, free from subjective factors as much as possible.

The more Pei Qian thought about it, the more suitable it seemed. He called Tang Yishu.

“Hello? Senior.” Tang Yishu lowered her voice on the phone. “I’m in the study room, just a moment while I step outside.”

A moment later, Tang Yishu’s voice returned to normal volume: “Senior, I’m outside now. What can I help with?”

Pei Qian got straight to the point: “I want you to take a trip to the capital for the next two days to handle something for me. Our company currently has some business in the capital. I’d like you to go take a casual look, do some inspection, and report back to me when you return.”

Tang Yishu’s tone revealed surprise and hesitation: “Ah? S-Senior, I don’t think I’m up to it. I’m a bit afraid of traveling far…”

Pei Qian had anticipated this: “No worries. This time I’ll have Little Sun, our company’s best driver, take you, along with another driver as company. Before departure, the car will be thoroughly inspected from top to bottom, ensuring absolute safety throughout the journey.”

“When you arrive, Qiu Hong will receive you. You won’t need to worry about anything—just inspect on my behalf and honestly report what you observe.”

Pei Qian was well aware that Tang Yishu had peculiar luck, but her bad luck typically manifested in minor incidents, like tripping while walking or encountering hidden bugs in programs.

Tang Yishu had never faced any major dangers threatening her life or health. She wasn’t from Jingzhou, had traveled far to study, and had never experienced accidents like train derailments. So there was no need to worry in this respect.

Having Little Sun drive her, with careful precautions, should avoid any problems.

Tang Yishu was still reluctant: “But Senior, the exam period is approaching, and I need to study…”

Pei Qian smiled slightly: “It’s just two days. With your grades, two days without studying will have minimal impact. It won’t prevent you from getting the national scholarship.”

Whenever this topic came up, Pei Qian felt particularly envious of these super scholars.

Why did Tang Yishu always score high marks, while he had to struggle just to pass?

This world was so unfair!

After hesitating briefly, Tang Yishu finally agreed: “Then I’ll make the trip, though I don’t understand much and might not notice any problems…”

Pei Qian smiled: “That’s fine. It’s precisely because you don’t understand much that you might notice some details. You don’t need to deliberately research or care what others say. Just observe based on your first impressions and tell me what you see.”

“Oh, and at the incubation base, pay attention to whether there’s any overtime work, which is absolutely prohibited.”

“If there’s no overtime, then check their work state. If their work state is good, force them to play games—they must play at least ten hours a week!”

Pei Qian had grown smarter now. He discovered that merely limiting work hours couldn’t control these people anymore. Many departments had short working hours but high efficiency, never falling behind schedule!

So, besides work hours, he also needed to monitor the work state of these indie game developers at the incubation base. If their state was off the charts, some measures would need to be taken.

Tang Yishu: “Understood, Senior.”

…

December 8th, Thursday.

At Longyu Group headquarters, Zhao Xuming, the head of the IOI Operations Cooperation Department, Christian, the head of the IOI National Service, and related staff were in a meeting.

Christian was briefing everyone on the work directions from Fingertip Company headquarters.

Currently, the headquarters is fully focused on preparing for the IOI World Finals. The Finals will be held in Los Angeles. The venue is still being prepared but should be completed by the end of this month.”

“Qualifiers from all over the world should be starting soon, selecting spots for the World Championship. The World Championship is tentatively scheduled to begin on the 24th of this month, Saturday, which is Christmas Eve, and end on January 15th.”

“This competition schedule largely avoids overlap with GPL matches, which was a suggestion I made to headquarters.”

“Although from any perspective, our Global Finals’ popularity would not be lower than the GPL League, considering the special circumstances of the national service, we don’t need to go head-to-head. Avoiding scheduling conflicts can maximize the Finals’ popularity.”

“Additionally, the in-depth innovation of IOI gameplay is still ongoing. The headquarters’ next goal is to further incorporate the advantages of GOG’s gameplay. I overcame opposition and requested that the modified version be used for the Finals, demonstrating our determination to global players, especially Chinese players.”

“Mr. Zhao, what’s the situation with Longyu Group?”

Zhao Xuming picked up the conversation: “Everything is smooth at Longyu Group, progressing perfectly!”

“Earlier, due to issues with the low-price region and game changes, domestic players had accumulated a lot of resentment, but our delay tactics have already shown initial results.”

“The targeted compensation for old players temporarily quelled their anger. As for the new version, although there are certain gameplay changes, many old players have adapted after some time and aren’t as resistant anymore.”

“I believe that with time, they’ll gradually accept it.”

“Of course, the current situation can’t be blindly optimistic. There’s still a portion of old players whose activity has decreased. But that’s not a big deal—once the Global Finals are well-executed and IOI’s popularity surges, these old players will return.”

“As for domestic clubs, that’s already foolproof. Our Longyu Group has collaborated with three established clubs, coordinating to help them strengthen their teams.”

“These three established clubs are well-known domestically and currently the strongest. They’ll advance from the qualifiers without any issues. Other clubs have also received decent transfer fees by selling players, and when they participate in the qualifiers as supporting actors, they can provide a certain contrasting effect.”

“This can be considered a win-win-win situation for small clubs, large clubs, and us as organizers.”

“In short, preparations for the IOI World Finals have been completed!”

Christian nodded: “Hmm. Among the three clubs you mentioned, is there one called FV Club?”

Zhao Xuming was taken aback: “Huh? No.”

“FV Club is a small club without much reputation. Even if they participate in the qualifiers, they’re just there to make up numbers—they’re far too weak.”

Christian frowned slightly, showing some surprise.

There was a discrepancy in information between the two parties.

“Then why is this FV Club seemingly spending its own money to promote the qualifiers? I thought this was under Longyu Group’s direction,” Christian said.

Zhao Xuming was completely puzzled: “When did this happen? I wasn’t aware of this!”

Christian appeared somewhat displeased: “It started yesterday. Mr. Zhao, you don’t seem to be very up-to-date with recent information.”

Zhao Xuming quickly explained: “I’ve been busy these past few days and haven’t been paying much attention to these things.”

He turned to his subordinate: “Do you know about this?”

The subordinate nodded: “Yes, actually, these promotions only appeared yesterday afternoon and evening. I’ve already compiled the relevant content and was planning to report to you after today’s meeting.”

Seeing that the atmosphere wasn’t right, the subordinate quickly shouldered the blame.

Zhao Xuming said coldly: “Bring it here immediately!”

The subordinate quickly left and returned moments later with a prepared document, handing it to Zhao Xuming.

Zhao Xuming took it and quickly reviewed it.

According to the report, FV Club had promoted in many places, including some streaming platforms, video websites, forums, etc. Besides buying trending topics and advertisements, there also seemed to be some fake account activity in these topics.

This increased the buzz, but all these marketing activities were limited to the FV Club and IOI’s domestic qualifiers only.

Moreover, since FV Club itself wasn’t well-known, it had to leverage the IOI World Finals for marketing, so in these promotions, FV Club wasn’t the main focus.

No wonder Christian thought these marketing activities were directed by Longyu Group for FV Club to execute.

Zhao Xuming was completely puzzled. What was going on?

The emperor wasn’t worried, but the eunuch was?

Longyu Group hadn’t deliberately promoted IOI’s domestic qualifiers, mainly because there was no need to waste money on this.

Only a few teams were participating in the domestic qualifiers. Apart from SUG and the other two established clubs, the remaining participating teams were just there to make up numbers, determined from the player selection stage.

Moreover, these qualifiers wouldn’t attract much attention domestically, with few viewers. Longyu Group hadn’t even planned to spend much on the venue, just finding a studio to make do, thinking of it as a mere formality.

Under these circumstances, why spend so much more money on marketing?

If they built up hype and viewers came to see, what would they think? This stage? This level of competition? Far worse than GPL!

Spending money might not necessarily have a good effect.

So Zhao Xuming didn’t forget to promote—he deliberately chose not to make a big fuss about it. Just go through the motions, send the three established teams to the World Championship, and then put effort into promoting and creating buzz during the World Championship.

Money should be spent where it matters most.

But surprisingly, FV Club was spending its own money on promotion!

Zhao Xuming found this perplexing, thinking these qualifiers had nothing to do with them.

If clubs like SUG spent money on promotion, that would make sense since they could gain real buzz and traffic. But FV Club was just there to make up numbers—wasn’t promoting this a pure waste of money?

Seeing Zhao Xuming’s bewildered expression, Christian became quite displeased.

He tapped the table lightly and said, “Mr. Zhao, the situation with the FV Club doesn’t look good.”

“Our publicity is insufficient, and many players are getting information from the FV Club instead of official channels. This makes us look very unprofessional!”

“I initially thought FV Club’s promotion was under your direction, and felt you handled this unprofessionally. But unexpectedly, you weren’t even aware of this? That’s even more unprofessional!”

“Out of trust in Longyu Group, we’ve never interfered with the domestic qualifiers. But the current situation seems to betray our trust, doesn’t it?”

Zhao Xuming’s mouth twitched slightly, feeling utterly speechless.

This was truly unlucky!

According to the original plan, the domestic qualifiers were just going to be handled casually, as long as appearances were maintained. The teams were predetermined, not many people would watch, so why make such a big fuss?

Better to save the money and exert effort during the World Championship.

But now with FV Club’s actions, it has put the officials in an awkward position. Players would see that IOI’s official promotion wasn’t even as good as a club’s? They would think Fingertip Company and Longyu Group were extremely unprofessional.

To use a simple analogy, Longyu Group was like a department head, originally slacking off with the entire department. Others might not notice too clearly, at most feeling this department wasn’t very capable.

But suddenly, someone in the department started working enthusiastically like they were on steroids, working overtime every day. The rest of the department was exposed, becoming a bunch of good-for-nothings.

Especially the department head, who would receive the most criticism.

Zhao Xuming quickly said, “Don’t worry, there’s still plenty of time to remedy this!”

“The matches start on Saturday, so we still have two days. We’ll invest some resources to promote the IOI qualifiers. This way, players will think FV Club just got insider information and promoted earlier than the officials, rather than thinking we’re unprofessional.”

“Additionally, with FV Club’s momentum, our promotion now should also yield quite good results.”

Christian finally nodded with satisfaction: “It’s good if you can remedy this. I believe in your professional capability.”

Zhao Xuming maintained a smile externally, appearing calm, but internally, he was cursing.

Wasn’t FV just causing trouble for no reason? Harming others without benefiting themselves!

Now, Longyu Group would have to spend a large sum of money on these qualifiers.

Not just advertising and marketing costs—the competition venue would need to be rushed and made more elaborate.

As attention increased, critical players would also increase. If the venue wasn’t impressive enough, it would lower the competition’s prestige and be embarrassing.

Of course, with only two days until the event, there wasn’t enough time to change venues. They could only purchase more decorations to enhance the venue’s effect as much as possible.

Zhao Xuming still couldn’t understand why FV Club would spend money promoting itself for no reason, but he had no time to investigate further.

After all, time was tight with just two days until the competition. Zhao Xuming needed to focus all his energy on preparing for the qualifiers.

…

Meanwhile, in the capital.

Tang Yishu stepped out of the car, cautiously setting foot on the capital’s soil.

This was her first visit, and although she had been anxious throughout the journey, miraculously, no accidents had occurred.

However, this didn’t reassure Tang Yishu; in fact, she felt more endangered.

Perhaps the safety measures taken earlier were so thorough that her bad luck found no opportunity, accumulating instead. Who knew what breakthrough point it would find for an explosion?

Little Sun drove the car directly into the hotel parking lot. Qiu Hong had already booked the rooms and was waiting in the lobby.

According to the itinerary, they would have lunch, rest a bit, and then visit the indie game incubation base in the afternoon. The next day, they would visit Cold Noodle Girl, then return to Jingzhou in the afternoon.

Qiu Hong glanced at his mechanical watch, estimating that the time should be about right.

After waiting two minutes, he looked up and saw Tang Yishu arriving at the hotel’s main entrance.

The two drivers flanked her like bodyguards, carefully protecting her safety, but the automatic revolving door at the hotel entrance suddenly stopped for unknown reasons, leaving the three stranded.

Qiu Hong quickly went forward and opened the side door: “Little Tang, right? Come this way!”

Tang Yishu and the two drivers had to use the side door. As soon as they entered the lobby, the revolving door at the hotel entrance resumed normal operation.

Qiu Hong didn’t pay much attention, assuming it was just an unexpected minor incident, and shook hands with Tang Yishu.

“You’ve had a tiring journey. I’m sure all three of you are exhausted from the travel. The plan is this: we’ll eat something simple nearby, then the three of you can rest at the hotel in the afternoon. At two o’clock, we’ll meet in the lobby, and I’ll take you all to see the incubation base.”

“The current time is… huh?”

Qiu Hong instinctively raised his wrist to check the time, but found that his mechanical watch, which had been working fine just moments ago, had stopped.

He was puzzled. This watch had been with him for several years without any major issues, and he had just wound it recently.

How did it stop while running perfectly fine?

Tang Yishu looked up at the ceiling somewhat embarrassedly, pretending nothing had happened.

…

At noon, at the indie game incubation base.

Wu Zhicheng was in the rest area eating lunch with several recently arrived indie game developers.

“See, I told you Slackin’ Takeout’s scrambled eggs with tomatoes are especially delicious, right? Different from restaurants outside, right? Slackin’ Takeout’s dishes are healthy.”

“…Hmm? Work plan? Don’t worry about that, it’s not a mandatory deadline, it’s adjustable. If you feel there’s new content you want to add, you can find Xi Hao anytime.”

“…Don’t be afraid of him. Don’t view Xi Hao as your superior or manager. He’s just the boss of the service department. He won’t interfere with project matters, only plan work schedules based on your concepts. How the project is executed still depends on you.”

“Come on, eat more.”

Wu Zhicheng acted like a senior colleague, showing meticulous care for these newly arrived indie game developers, although he had been here for less than a month.

Originally, Wu Zhicheng thought he would struggle to adapt to this collective work environment, but after arriving, he discovered it was completely different!

Since coming here, the development progress of “Ink and Smoke” could be described as advancing by leaps and bounds.

Wu Zhicheng deeply reflected on the differences.

Looking back, he realized his belief that he worked efficiently at home was an illusion.

Because when working at home, he would often be distracted by trivial matters, like how to handle certain art assets for the game, or realizing halfway through a level that the overall framework wasn’t clear and needed to be scrapped and redone.

Such situations occurred frequently because Wu Zhicheng’s planning for the entire project wasn’t detailed or comprehensive enough, and these trivial matters would indeed disperse his energy.

But after coming to this incubation base, others helped handle these minor issues. Wu Zhicheng only needed to focus on creative thinking and design, naturally improving efficiency significantly.

Many indie game developers couldn’t make it because of this issue.

Different trades have their expertise. Even within planning, designing gameplay, adjusting values, making art requests, and scheduling development progress are completely different, making it difficult for anyone to be fully proficient in all areas.

Once someone is weak in one area, they have to expend a lot of energy to compensate, diverting attention from other tasks.

But now, with the incubation base’s help, Wu Zhicheng and other indie game developers only needed to focus on creativity and game design. Professionals handled other work, and with such a specialized division of labor, efficiency naturally increased dramatically.

Originally, Wu Zhicheng had slight social anxiety and was a bit worried about encountering workplace issues, but after this period of interaction, he realized he was just worrying unnecessarily!

Xi Hao, as the administrative department head, had a very clear understanding of his department’s position: it was purely a service department.

Therefore, there was no question of who managed whom, and consequently, no workplace politics and complications.

Conversely, these indie game developers had all been screened by Qiu Hong. Their abilities varied, but their personalities were relatively straightforward, with little scheming and manipulation, naturally drawing them closer to each other.

Wu Zhicheng realized that there were extremely few people in the world who were truly introverted and unwilling to communicate with others. Many who appeared introverted or socially anxious were simply in an environment unsuitable for them.

Now that Wu Zhicheng was in an environment perfectly suited to him, he felt happy every day and had become noticeably more outgoing.

As everyone was happily eating lunch, Xi Hao came over from outside.

“Mr. Qiu might bring someone over for an inspection this afternoon, just to let everyone know in advance.”

Wu Zhicheng was surprised: “Is there anything we need to prepare beforehand?”

Although Wu Zhicheng had little formal work experience in companies, he was familiar with the concept of leadership inspections. Generally, one needed to prepare in advance to make a good impression on leadership.

To be honest, Wu Zhicheng had always been curious about who exactly was the boss behind the incubation base, but had never received a definitive answer.

On the surface, Qiu Hong was in charge of everything, but rumors suggested that Qiu Hong wasn’t the real boss, and there was someone else behind the entire Poverty Road project.

Could the person coming for inspection be the real boss?

Xi Hao shook his head: “No need to prepare anything in advance. We just need to present our most authentic selves.”

“We strictly follow Mr. Qiu’s requirements: an eight-hour workday. Although our working hours aren’t very long, everyone works diligently with high morale, actually surpassing the work state of many companies that practice 996.”

“I think as long as everyone continues to demonstrate this serious and responsible work attitude, it should be sufficient.”