Qiao Liang briefly browsed through the promotional materials for these old games, each one filled with childhood memories.

Back then, he had no financial means to purchase legitimate copies of games, and his memories of these games had already completely faded.

So seeing these classic games made him quite nostalgic.

“Nothing more to say—time to buy and make up for the past!”

Without looking too carefully, Qiao Liang directly purchased the collection.

This collection wasn’t cheap. It contained eight games in total, with prices ranging from several dozen to over a hundred yuan each. The collection offered a 40% discount, bringing the total price to 588 yuan.

Even with the discount, it was quite expensive, considering these were games from over a decade ago with gameplay that had fallen completely behind the times, not to mention the graphics and game mechanics.

Purely as games, this money was definitely not well spent.

But for a hardcore gamer like Qiao Liang, this expense was essentially “making up for the past,” since he couldn’t afford these games when they were first released. Now spending money on nostalgia wasn’t such a bad idea.

His improved lifestyle was all thanks to gaming, so buying a few games to support domestic game development was reasonable. Moreover, he could potentially use these games as material for future videos.

After payment, Qiao Liang looked through the games.

“‘Landlord Game’—so nostalgic, though it’s only fun with multiple players.”

“‘Gallant Heroes’ is truly a masterpiece of its generation.”

“‘Sword Romance’ was one of the better quality games in this batch, though unfortunately its sequels became increasingly mediocre.”

“‘Three Kingdoms Conquest’? This game was quite average, wasn’t it? It didn’t have many players back then and was a copy of a foreign game. If we’re picking the best of the worst, it’s barely acceptable, but it’s not what I’d call a good game.”

“…”

“I can tolerate ‘Three Kingdoms Conquest,’ but what’s this thing?”

As Qiao Liang browsed through the games, the first few had relatively normal styles. Although these games varied in type and quality—some were undisputed classics while others were more niche—they were generally acceptable.

But when he reached the end, he discovered a strange outlier had been mixed in.

“‘Mission and Choice’? Isn’t this infamous as the disgrace of Chinese gaming?”

“How is this garbage game still being sold? And for over a hundred yuan!”

“Has the official platform lost its mind?”

Qiao Liang almost thought he was seeing things.

He had never played “Mission and Choice” back in the day, mainly because he couldn’t afford it and couldn’t convince his parents to spend over a hundred yuan on a game.

Later, when the game’s reputation collapsed, there was even less reason to buy it.

Of course, the fact that Qiao Liang had never played this game didn’t mean he hadn’t heard the “shocking” legends surrounding it.

So seeing it boldly included in this collection of Chinese games felt utterly unbelievable.

“This piece of junk costs over a hundred yuan?”

“Even five yuan would be too expensive!”

“Wait a minute—could this be an improved version of the game from the official platform?”

Qiao Liang suddenly felt this matter might not be as simple as he thought.

He immediately clicked on “Mission and Choice” to see if this was a version where bugs had been fixed and gameplay improved.

—

Ten minutes later, Qiao Liang removed his hands from the keyboard and mouse, gazed at the lake view outside his window, and began contemplating life.

This game hadn’t been changed at all!

The messy graphics, perfunctory sound effects, bugs everywhere…

Qiao Liang had previously escaped the torment of “Mission and Choice,” but this time he couldn’t avoid it!

As for why he persisted for ten minutes, it was probably curiosity driving him.

He wanted to see just how terrible this game could be. Had the official platform really released it without any changes?

Now he was clear: the game was truly worthless, and the official platform had indeed released it without any modifications!

Of course, if the intention was to “enrich the official platform’s game library,” “commemorate a shameful part of history,” or “faithfully document a terrible game as a warning to all game companies,” then re-releasing “Mission and Choice” on the official gaming platform would be reasonable.

But why had the official platform mixed it with other domestic games from the same era in a collection and promoted them together?

Was it to highlight how excellent the other games were by comparison?

Qiao Liang was speechless. He switched back to his desktop and noticed that although the game collection was sold as a bundled package at 40% off, each game could be refunded separately, and the refund conditions were extremely lenient.

Suddenly it dawned on him: “Oh, I understand now.”

“This collection from the official platform actually serves a purpose of ‘remembering the bitter to appreciate the sweet.'”

“The games selected for this collection aren’t necessarily the most outstanding games of that era, but rather the most talked-about, most representative, and even most controversial games!”

“There are excellent classic games like ‘Landlord Game’ and ‘Gallant Heroes,’ relatively niche games with poor sales but unique gameplay like ‘Three Kingdoms Conquest,’ and poorly made negative examples like ‘Mission and Choice.'”

“The official platform set up individual refund options because they knew players would completely reject some of the games.”

“So players can select the games they’re not interested in for refunds, avoiding financial loss.”

“That makes sense—now it’s all clear.”

Qiao Liang quickly arrived at a reasonable explanation.

And this was exactly the effect Meng Chang wanted to achieve.

Meng Chang had anticipated that “Mission and Choice” would stand out awkwardly in this “Chinese Game Collection.”

If all the other games were classics worth collecting, wouldn’t “Mission and Choice” be too conspicuous in this collection?

So, to reduce players’ suspicions, the eight games chosen for this collection, while all classics from over a decade ago, weren’t all worth their price. For example, “Three Kingdoms Conquest” was a relatively niche game with poor sales but decent reviews and unique enough features.

By offering a specific refund option for individual games, they could minimize the chances of being discovered.

Meng Chang had considered whether to structure the collection so that all other games were sold as a package with “Mission and Choice” requiring separate purchase, which would minimize “collateral damage.”

But he realized this would effectively exclude “Mission and Choice,” making it too strange and potentially triggering odd associations from players.

So in the end, he chose this method of hiding a gem among stones.

The results proved this approach was effective—Qiao Liang had been successfully deceived.

Of course, all this was predicated on Tenda maintaining good secrecy.

The outside world didn’t know Tenda was developing a remastered version of “Mission and Choice,” and most people wouldn’t make that connection. Qiao Liang was no exception.

He opened his fan group and found a few scattered messages discussing this collection.

But it hadn’t caused much of a stir, as most gamers weren’t very interested in these antique games. People like Qiao Liang were ultimately the minority.

A few members criticized “Mission and Choice,” but their comments were quickly buried under an avalanche of other messages, soon disappearing without a trace.

Qiao Liang didn’t give it much thought. He had so many games in his “added today” list, and most of them would probably never even be opened. Today’s game collection was no exception.

Only for particularly major productions would he eagerly open the game immediately and play it through in one sitting.

After closing the game collection, Qiao Liang fell back into uncertainty.

What should he do now?

He really lacked inspiration lately and had put off updating his videos for some time.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck him.

“I’ll make another ‘Trashing Garbage Games’ video! ‘Mission and Choice’ provides perfect material, doesn’t it?”

Qiao Liang suddenly thought of a good way to produce content without much effort.

Although “Mission and Choice” had been repeatedly criticized as a disgrace to Chinese gaming, few content creators had done so in recent years. After all, the game was too old—so old that many current gamers didn’t even know about it, and its popularity had long since faded.

Qiao Liang felt that making a video criticizing it now, taking his audience on a nostalgic journey back to an incredibly terrible game, wouldn’t be such a bad idea!

With this in mind, Qiao Liang decided his next video would focus on this!

—

Meanwhile, Pei Qian sat in his car, yawning.

The sunshine outside was nice, warming him comfortably.

Normally, this would be the perfect time for a good afternoon nap, but he couldn’t rest because there was a matter he needed to attend to.

That morning, Jiang Yuan, the head of OTTO Technology, had called to say that preparations for the artificial intelligence laboratory were almost complete. He hoped Mr. Pei would come inspect it and provide some guidance.

They had directly acquired a company researching artificial intelligence and poached several technical experts from companies like Xunke Technology.

This company already had some achievements but couldn’t compare to industry leaders like Xunke. To facilitate better communication and collaboration, the company’s several dozen employees had all relocated to Jingzhou, with OTTO Technology arranging their accommodation and workplace.

Of course, some employees from the original company had resigned because they didn’t want to leave their cities, but they were the minority. After all, the premium for poaching talent was high, and everyone knew how good Tenda’s treatment was.

Although the expensively recruited team already had some research results and could operate smoothly even without management, Jiang Yuan felt it was still necessary for Mr. Pei to provide guidance and determine the research direction.

After all, artificial intelligence was connected to many of Tenda’s industries. This technology had many branches, and the specific direction of development might affect Mr. Pei’s overall layout for Tenda’s industries—not something to be taken lightly.

For Pei Qian, he indeed needed to slightly adjust the research direction of this artificial intelligence laboratory to prevent it from having too much positive impact on his current businesses. He needed to ensure these tens of millions spent wouldn’t produce too many useful results, so he could continue to confidently pour money into it in the future.

Soon, they arrived at OTTO Technology.

Jiang Yuan was already waiting downstairs and directly led Pei Qian to the artificial intelligence laboratory’s office.

“Mr. Pei, this is the head of the artificial intelligence laboratory, Shen Renjie.”

Shen Renjie appeared to be approaching forty, dressed casually, embodying many programmer traits. He seemed to be a pragmatic person.

After introductions, Shen Renjie said, “Mr. Pei, shall I call in the core members of the laboratory to introduce them and explain our current research achievements to you?”

Pei Qian raised his hand: “No need. I trust you to handle things. Let’s get straight to the point.”

Jiang Yuan nodded: “That works. Let’s go to the meeting room to talk.”

The three men went to the meeting room and took their seats.

In reality, Pei Qian wasn’t concerned about the laboratory’s personnel composition or research achievements. He only cared whether this laboratory could continuously and safely burn money for him.

So first, they needed a good name—a good omen.

Pei Qian took a sip of tea and asked, “Does the laboratory have a name yet?”

Shen Renjie answered, “Yes. Previously, our laboratory was called the ‘Qilin’ Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, because the Qilin is an auspicious beast in ancient Chinese culture, known for its intelligence and symbolizing good fortune, which aligns well with the theme of artificial intelligence.”

Pei Qian’s brow immediately furrowed, and he shook his head: “Not appropriate.”

Jiang Yuan suggested, “Then let’s simply call it the AEEIS Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. After all, AEEIS is our main artificial intelligence product currently, and the name is both pleasant and memorable.”

Pei Qian shook his head again: “Still not appropriate.”

Calling it Qilin? Really?

That name was too impressive, giving Pei Qian a strong sense of crisis.

Calling it the AEEIS Artificial Intelligence Laboratory wasn’t suitable either because AEEIS was already popular, and Pei Qian didn’t want to make this artificial intelligence laboratory popular too.

Jiang Yuan and Shen Renjie looked at Mr. Pei with expressions that seemed to say: if this isn’t right and that isn’t right, why don’t you suggest an appropriate name?

After considering for a moment, Pei Qian said, “In my opinion, let’s call it the ‘Slow Horse’ Artificial Intelligence Laboratory!”

If Qilin wasn’t suitable, then he’d go with the opposite approach!

A “slow horse” refers to a horse of poor quality and unremarkable ability, also known as a lame horse. In simpler terms, it’s an inferior horse that’s both dumb and slow.

Pei Qian vaguely remembered seeing a phrase from an ancient text somewhere: “Horses are classified into three categories: war horses, field horses, and slow horses.”

The general meaning was: there are three types of horses—those that go to war, those that plow fields, and slow horses that are useless.

Naming this artificial intelligence laboratory “Slow Horse” expressed the hope that the AI they developed would be stupid and slow, and that their research progress would be equally slow, ultimately producing nothing useful.

Jiang Yuan and Shen Renjie were stunned.

The “Slow Horse” Artificial Intelligence Laboratory?

What an uninspiring name!

Wasn’t “Qilin” a perfectly good name? How could they drop several levels in prestige like this?

Pei Qian maintained a profoundly mysterious expression. As long as he didn’t feel self-conscious, others would certainly be the ones feeling awkward.

“Well then, the name is decided!”