January 20th, Friday.
Today was Tenda’s annual party day, and also the last working day before the holidays.
At 10 AM, Pei Qian crawled out of bed with a yawn, still a bit groggy.
Yesterday’s livestream by Old Ma had dealt him a slight blow. The stockpiled fully automatic smart debating machines had sold another batch, so much so that Pei Qian had tossed and turned late into the night, unable to sleep.
That’s why he got up late today.
However, after a night’s sleep, Pei Qian finally accepted reality. Since the smart debating machines had already gone viral, there was probably no way to cool down the enthusiastic consumers. Better to turn his attention elsewhere.
Fortunately, he’d prepared an emergency spending plan in advance, so this minor setback was still within acceptable limits.
“I wonder how today’s annual party will work out. Whatever, I’ll find out when I get there.”
Yesterday Pei Qian had predictably forgotten about the annual party plan Assistant Xin had given him. He’d been fixated on Old Ma’s livestream and left the plan in his office, never getting to see what the specific arrangements were.
But it shouldn’t be a big problem.
Last year’s annual party went quite successfully. Before organizing this year’s event, Pei Qian had already stated to continue following last year’s principles – boldly trying new formats while maintaining the essence, but most importantly, raising the budget even higher.
Last year’s annual party budget for prizes alone exceeded 4 million, not counting venue fees, game prizes like plushies and figures, and other costs.
This year’s annual party naturally required an even bigger budget, as with Tenda’s continuous expansion, employee numbers were rapidly increasing. Last year’s event had under 1,000 employees, but this year had reached around 1,700-1,800.
Of course, the employee composition was quite complex, including delivery drivers from Niufeng Logistics, fitness coaches from Tuoguan Fitness, delivery drivers and chefs from Slackin’ Delivery, internet café staff from Slackin’ Internet Café, and so on.
Besides these workers, employees from core departments like Tenda Games, Shangyang Games, Fei Huang Studio, and OTTO Technology’s R&D staff only comprised a small portion.
Pei Qian treated all his employees equally – whether brain work or physical labor, everyone participated in the annual party and enjoyed identical benefits.
Of course, some employees not in Jingzhou couldn’t attend.
Those at the incubator bases, Cold Noodle shops, and Slackin’ Internet Café and Delivery outlets in other cities received budgets for their managers to arrange locally – whether for meals or directly distributing annual party gifts, as long as all money was spent on employees.
With this massive group of nearly 1,800 people, Pei Qian truly didn’t know where to hold the annual party.
Last year’s party had reserved an entire hotel with 100 tables, barely accommodating everyone.
But this year with nearly double the staff, even the largest hotel probably couldn’t fit them all.
Though if they split people across multiple halls or into private rooms, that seemed odd too. They needed to draw prizes at the annual party – surely they couldn’t have separate drawings in different halls?
So Pei Qian didn’t know exactly how Assistant Xin had arranged things. Since he’d forgotten the plan in his office yesterday, he’d have to find out at the venue.
Just before 11 AM, Xiao Sun arrived downstairs punctually, picking up Pei Qian to head straight to the annual party venue.
Sitting in the car, Pei Qian played with his phone for a while. Looking up, he suddenly felt the route seemed strangely familiar.
Not being a driver himself, Pei Qian naturally didn’t memorize routes. Despite living in Jingzhou for over two years, he remained unfamiliar with the city.
But today’s route felt extremely familiar, as if he’d traveled it many times.
Looking more carefully, wasn’t this the way to Yuanda Tiandi?
Yuanda Tiandi was Jingzhou’s second-largest shopping mall, and also the venue for the GOG World Invitational and GPL Spring Season.
Pei Qian almost asked if they’d taken the wrong route, but realized Xiao Sun was always reliable – he wouldn’t make such basic mistakes.
This meant the annual party was at Yuanda Tiandi?
“It makes sense. The GPL Spring Season is on break until after holidays, so the GPL venue is free, with more than enough seating for prize drawings.”
“But… where would we eat?”
Pei Qian felt slightly confused but couldn’t ask directly. After all, as a boss not knowing the annual party arrangements on the actual day would look bad.
He could only pretend everything was under control.
Xiao Sun parked in the underground garage, and they took an express elevator to the mall’s 8th floor.
One floor up was the top-floor GPL competition venue. Pei Qian guessed the 8th floor must have a reception area.
The mall operated normally today, but being Friday morning, foot traffic was light, maintaining a balance between uncrowded and lively.
Soon they reached the 8th floor.
As Pei Qian and Xiao Sun exited the express elevator, they received an enthusiastic welcome.
Staff from Administration and HR waited at all elevator entrances on the 8th floor for reception duties. Like last year, people handed out tokens.
These tokens were game coins. Last year, each employee received a small bag with 50-60 tokens, able to play 10-yuan capsule machines with one token each, as much as they wanted.
This year’s token distribution included not just token bags but also a stack of vouchers. These vouchers bore Tenda and Yuanda Tiandi Mall’s logos – one lunch voucher, one dinner voucher, and five shopping vouchers worth 200 yuan each.
Plus the participation gift – still a thick red envelope. Last year gave 1,000 yuan per person; this year had to exceed that, raised to 1,888 yuan.
Additionally, there was a small brochure detailing the annual party venue and schedule as a guide.
Seeing this card, Pei Qian breathed easier. Good, this thoughtful arrangement finally let him know the annual party plans.
Pei Qian sent Xiao Sun away to enjoy himself with others, then wandered around while reviewing the annual party schedule.
This year’s attendance nearly doubled from last year, so normal hotel halls couldn’t accommodate everyone.
After consulting everyone’s opinions, Assistant Xin found most people didn’t care much about the dining part, so this year’s annual party was held directly at Yuanda Tiandi Mall.
The top-floor GPL Spring Season venue was reserved for Tenda’s use. Additionally, they rented the entire 8th floor for internal employee activities, similar to previous years’ games like crane machines and ring toss.
The overall annual party schedule went like this:
First, collect tokens, vouchers, and participation gift red envelopes on the 8th floor, followed by three hours of free time from 11 AM to 2 PM.
All employees could freely explore the mall, either with departmental colleagues or friends.
Using lunch and dinner vouchers, they could eat at any mall restaurant, ordering buffet-style with company covering all costs, provided no food waste.
The 1,000-yuan shopping vouchers allowed free shopping mall-wide, with the only restriction being they couldn’t convert to cash – must be spent entirely in the mall.
After 2 PM, everyone could return to the 8th floor to continue gaming.
The 8th floor was redecorated with various arcade games including crane machines and ring toss, playable with tokens.
Similar to last year’s game section, but larger scale.
Also, after noon, the GPL venue opened for pre-organized internal teams to play exhibition matches, giving everyone a taste of professional competition.
Until 4 PM, after sufficient gaming and exhibition matches, all employees gathered in the top-floor competition venue by department sections for the final prize drawing.
This year’s prizes exceeded last year’s variety, including headphones, keyboards, gaming consoles, cameras, phones, computers, plus cash prizes and practical items like vacuum cleaners and robot cleaners.
The drawing lasted one hour, ending at 5 PM.
Afterward, everyone dispersed for free dinner at various mall restaurants, then headed home for official holiday.
After reviewing the complete annual party schedule, Pei Qian felt thoroughly satisfied.
Assistant Xin had perfectly arranged everything, very impressive.
Who says annual parties must include group dining?
Annual party meals rarely suit everyone’s taste. With so many attendees preferring Chinese, Western, Japanese cuisine… it’s impossible to satisfy all preferences, usually settling for a menu most find acceptable.
Moreover, annual party dining mainly involves conversation within the same table – cross-departmental mingling is rare, even less necessary in Tenda’s atmosphere.
Why force everyone into one dining hall?
Let people eat what they enjoy – the mall offered every restaurant type, all company-paid without limits. How comfortable!
Then gather for prize drawings at GPL’s competition venue, watching prizes displayed on esports-grade screens for a full hour. How perfect!
This year’s annual party maintained last year’s style – no formalities, no motivation speeches, no one forced to perform. Everyone came to eat, drink, and enjoy.
Eat happily, play thoroughly!