These viewpoints were what Pei Qian had racked his brains to come up with.

If he wanted to cut corners, he could have let the paid commenters freestyle, but he completely distrusted their professional standards.

What if they made it too obvious and people discovered it? Wouldn’t that be counterproductive?

Fortunately, after such a long period of systematic learning, Pei Qian had acquired some professional knowledge in the gaming field, allowing him to write this content as guidelines for the paid commenters.

This should create a convincing effect, making it difficult for most people to detect traces of paid comment activity.

Hu Xiao didn’t ask many questions—having this document would make things easier for his team, which pleased him.

“Good, then it’s settled. I’ll assign the task to them right away and get them working!”

Just as Hu Xiao was about to arrange the work, he saw another message from the other side.

“Wait, we’ve cooperated so many times. Can you give me a discount?”

Hu Xiao was stunned.

A discount?

This didn’t seem like this big shot’s usual style.

In the past, this client had always given the impression of being wealthy and generous, never bargaining. Why was he suddenly asking for a discount?

Could it be that the person behind the account had changed?

It wasn’t impossible. These official accounts might be managed by several people simultaneously. Perhaps the previous manager had left, and the new person in charge was more cost-conscious. That would be understandable.

Hu Xiao didn’t think too much about it: “Sure, you’re an old customer. I’ll give you 20% off this time!”

Pei Qian: “Great, thank you.”

Hu Xiao was a bit surprised. Why was this big shot being so polite today? Had the person really changed?

He quickly replied: “No need for thanks, it’s the least I can do!”

Seeing the words “20% off,” Pei Qian felt much better.

There was no way around it—this time, he couldn’t get the system to reimburse the cost of hiring paid commenters, so it had to come out of his own pocket. Every cent saved was a cent earned.

When it comes to daily expenses, you have to be frugal, right?

This time the battlefield was concentrated in Qiao Laoshi’s video comments, so the paid commenters should show results relatively quickly.

Pei Qian waited patiently.

…

At dinner time, Qiao Liang woke up.

Having stayed up too late to complete the video, he had been sleep-deprived. Now, after catching up on sleep, he had finally recovered his energy.

The Slackin’ takeout had been delivered on time. Qiao Liang opened the elegant food boxes, took out the various dishes, and then opened his video on his phone to check the audience reactions.

Eating while watching video responses made the meal more enjoyable.

However, after casually browsing through the comments below the video, Qiao Liang froze, his hand with chopsticks poised to pick up food stopping mid-air.

“What’s going on?”

Qiao Liang was completely confused.

During the first dozen minutes after the video was published, he had briefly looked at some comments, and the audience seemed quite satisfied with this episode.

How had the tone of the comment section changed so dramatically after just a few hours?

The entire comment section was filled with skeptical voices, with two camps arguing fiercely.

Some viewers stood on Qiao Liang’s side, basically defending the views in the video, while another group seemed to be contradicting it in various ways.

Many people in the comments were saying that “Mission and Choice” wasn’t a “milestone” at all and had nothing to do with the “industrialized model.” They claimed these were concepts Qiao Liang had invented to exaggerate the significance of “Mission and Choice,” lacking objectivity and being quite inappropriate.

These comments had high numbers of likes, clearly developing into a force that couldn’t be ignored.

In fact, among these comments were not only paid commenters at work but also some genuine viewers and players mixed in. They had been influenced by the paid commenters’ viewpoints, swept up in their opinions.

This was normal because humans are creatures very susceptible to influence. Comments and bullet screen messages often act as “amplifiers,” greatly affecting individual judgment.

For example, someone might originally think a certain movie is quite good, but when everyone around says it’s terrible, they unconsciously lower their evaluation of the film, even changing their mind to agree that the movie is terrible, and continue to spread this concept.

Problems that didn’t originally exist in many people’s minds become real problems when emphasized enough by those around them.

What was happening in the comments of this video was similar. Originally, many viewers hadn’t found anything wrong with Qiao Laoshi’s statements, but many paid commenters were stirring things up in the comment section, liking each other’s comments. When the number of likes increased, it became a kind of “majority opinion,” influencing those who originally thought there wasn’t any issue.

Of course, many people still insisted on their own views, leading to intense arguments and irreconcilable disputes.

No one convinced anyone else because the topics being argued were difficult to verify.

Whether it was truly a “milestone” or qualified as an “industrialized model” was actually a matter of differing opinions. Arguments could be found for either side, but online debates often devolve into people talking past each other and attacking one another. So the comment section was in chaos, with no one able to convince anyone else.

For the paid commenters, this was exactly what they wanted, as their job was to muddy the waters and mislead more viewers.

So, the more this situation developed, the more it showed they were doing their job well, and naturally, they would intensify their efforts.

Qiao Liang frowned deeply.

“These people are questioning my professional integrity?”

“How outrageous!”

“I’ve studied the history of domestic game development and understand so many game design concepts. My interpretation of ‘Mission and Choice’ is very objective and responsible.”

“Why are these people talking as if I’m just trying to create sensation?”

Qiao Liang took two bites and lost his appetite completely—he was too angry to eat!

He wasn’t angry for himself; he was angry for Mr. Pei!

As an ordinary video creator, Qiao Liang cared about view counts and donations. Even though the two camps arguing represented controversy around his video, it would also increase its popularity.

So, from a video creator’s standpoint, Qiao Liang had no reason to be angry.

But from Mr. Pei’s perspective, this was completely unacceptable!

Mr. Pei had invested huge amounts of money to remake “Mission and Choice.” How much pressure must he have endured, how much ambition must he have had!

As an already successful game developer, Mr. Pei didn’t lack money or fame. He could have chosen more easily successful games for more stable profits.

But Mr. Pei had still resolutely invested heavily to wash away the shame of this former “national gaming disgrace.” What a fearless, heroic spirit!

As domestic game players, even if they didn’t like Tenda’s games, shouldn’t they maintain a basic level of respect?

However, Mr. Pei’s actions were not understood by these people, which was such a sad thing!

Qiao Liang felt that as a video creator, he might not speak up for himself, but he must speak up for Mr. Pei!

He absolutely could not let a hero bleed, sweat, and then cry!

So… what should he do?

Qiao Liang knew very clearly that clarifying or arguing now would be meaningless, equivalent to repeating what he had already said.

He needed more convincing evidence, such as… opinions from industry insiders, or even people within Tenda!

“It would be best if Mr. Pei himself could make a statement, but…”

“Mr. Pei definitely wouldn’t agree.”

“Because Mr. Pei has always had the attitude of ‘whether people slander or praise me, I just smile it away.’ He doesn’t care about external attacks and slander, so he definitely wouldn’t speak up for something like this.”

“Then I can only settle for the next best thing—find the person in charge of this project.”

“Hmm, let me ask around.”

Qiao Liang didn’t know exactly who was responsible for developing “Mission and Choice.” Logically, it should be Hu Xianbin from the gaming department, but for such a major investment project, it was likely that some other people were involved as well.

It didn’t matter if he wasn’t sure—Qiao Liang was friends with many Tenda employees, so he could find out with a little inquiry.

…

…

April 17, Tuesday.

As soon as Pei Qian got up, he picked up his phone to check the situation in the comment section of the new “Masterpiece Series” video.

Then, a smile appeared on his face.

“Good, the money wasn’t wasted!”

Although he got a 20% discount, he had purchased high-quality paid commenters, and Pei Qian’s small personal fund had taken a big hit, spending tens of thousands of yuan. But the effect was indeed immediate.

The trend in the video’s comment section had clearly reversed!

Voices questioning whether “Mission and Choice” deserved the “milestone” and “industrialized model” labels had grown louder. While they hadn’t become mainstream yet, they at least stood on equal footing with the praise.

It was impossible to completely control the narrative, of course. After all, Qiao Liang had many fans, and there’s strength in numbers. Dreaming of silencing all these voices with just a few tens of thousands of yuan worth of paid commenters would be delusional.

But achieving the current result was satisfactory enough for Pei Qian.

The key was to mislead those uninformed bystanders.

Many people watching videos don’t have particularly clear opinions. They find Qiao Liang’s words very reasonable after watching, but they also find the differing opinions in the comments very reasonable.

As long as the bystanders wavered between the two viewpoints and maintained some reservations, the video wouldn’t go viral, and Pei Qian could minimize his losses.

Pei Qian was scrolling through the video comments when he suddenly received a phone call from Huang Sibo.

“Hmm?”

“Why is Huang Sibo calling?”

“Could it be more good news from the movie side?”

“That can’t be right—it hasn’t even been a week since the release. I checked the box office numbers the other day, and they weren’t very high. There’s nothing to celebrate, is there?”

These days, Pei Qian had been keeping an eye on the box office performance of “Mission and Choice.” Although the numbers were decent, they were far from “highly profitable.”

Because this movie had relatively little pre-release publicity and a low screening rate, despite high attendance rates, the short two or three days weren’t enough to generate explosive box office growth.

With some confusion, Pei Qian answered the call.

“Mr. Pei, there’s something I need to ask you about.”

“Qiao Liang says he wants to ask me a few questions about ‘Mission and Choice,’ saying it’s related to his new video.”

“This shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

Pei Qian was stunned.

Hmm?

Qiao Liang wanted to interview Huang Sibo?

Pei Qian was very astute and immediately understood Qiao Liang’s intention.

Obviously, Qiao Liang wanted to get Huang Sibo to endorse his video! He wanted to use Huang Sibo’s words to find evidence for his “industrialized model” theory and prove himself right!

Pei Qian’s instinct was to refuse, but then he reconsidered, and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly.

Qiao Liang, aren’t you walking right into the line of fire?

You probably never imagined that from the project initiation to development to release of “Mission and Choice,” no one ever mentioned the so-called “industrialized model,” did you?

This interview would clearly be an official slap in the face!

Pei Qian immediately said: “No problem, go ahead with the interview.”

“However…”

“When answering questions, you must be objective and truthful—just say what you know, understand?”

As long as he spoke truthfully, Qiao Liang should understand that “Mission and Choice” had nothing to do with the so-called “industrialized model,” and that the development process for all Tenda games had never changed.

Asking for a hammer and getting hit with it—wouldn’t that be perfect?

Huang Sibo: “Alright, Mr. Pei, I understand!”