April 18th, Wednesday.
Pei Qian arrived at the company early in the morning, ready to begin a busy day of work.
Two employees in the office area had probably woken up a bit late and hadn’t had time for breakfast. They had just picked up two cups of coffee and some snacks from the coffee bar, intending to eat at their workstations. On their way back, they happened to run into Mr. Pei.
“Ah, good morning, Mr. Pei!”
The two quickly greeted him.
Pei Qian nodded, but after glancing at the snacks in their hands, he slightly furrowed his brow. “Haven’t had breakfast?”
The two employees were taken aback. “Ah… um, yes.”
Pei Qian’s expression grew serious. “How can you eat these snacks as breakfast? Hurry downstairs to Slackin’ Internet Café for a proper breakfast before getting back to work!”
“We’ll go right now.”
The two employees, clutching their pile of snacks, were momentarily confused.
But they quickly caught on, placed their coffee and snacks at their workstations, and under Mr. Pei’s watchful gaze, obediently went downstairs to eat.
After watching the two employees leave, Pei Qian returned to his office to begin the day’s work.
Exiting the elevator, the two employees were still a bit bewildered.
“Why does it feel like Mr. Pei isn’t in a good mood today?”
“He startled me. I thought Mr. Pei was angry because we weren’t working, but it turns out he was worried we might be hungry…”
If they were at any other company facing any other boss, the employees would definitely interpret these words as passive-aggressive, but at Tenda Group, that clearly wasn’t the case.
The two chatted as they walked toward Slackin’ Internet Café.
“It feels like Mr. Pei hasn’t been in a good mood lately, like he’s under pressure.”
“Strange, isn’t ‘Mission and Choice’ quite successful so far? The movie’s screenings and box office numbers are constantly rising, reviews are good, and the game is being praised to high heaven. But why does Mr. Pei look like he’s under so much pressure?”
“Who knows? Maybe this is just what Mr. Pei is like during good times!”
“Could it be that the success of ‘Mission and Choice’ has actually put enormous pressure on Mr. Pei, pushing him to strive for even higher goals?”
“I feel ashamed. Mr. Pei works so hard, yet here we are taking time off work to eat breakfast. That’s really not appropriate!”
“Let’s eat quickly and get back to work!”
The two had initially felt that their recent work wasn’t particularly urgent and had been a bit lax, but seeing that Mr. Pei maintained his fighting spirit even in such favorable conditions, what right did they have to slow down?
It just goes to show how Mr. Pei’s influence subtly changes his employees.
…
Meanwhile, Pei Qian was scratching his head in his office.
Although he had just done another small good deed by sending two employees to eat breakfast, delaying their work and spending a bit more money, this couldn’t change his current anxious state of mind.
Those two employees guessed correctly—the current state of “Mission and Choice” was indeed putting enormous pressure on him.
If he didn’t do something soon, there would be no way to lose money this cycle!
Fortunately, since “Mission and Choice” was a project spanning two cycles, and since it had launched relatively early, there was still quite some time before final accounting. There was still a chance to salvage the situation.
Currently, Pei Qian had three lifelines in hand. If all of them could function as intended, the situation could still be turned around.
The first lifeline was the soon-to-be-established Shenhua Games department, which could burn through a large sum of money. Moreover, the games produced by this department wouldn’t be restricted by accounting cycles, which could relieve a lot of pressure.
The second lifeline was the (reverse) sales department currently being planned. Pei Qian had already asked Assistant Xin to scout for suitable candidates for this department, though he wasn’t sure if she’d be able to find the right people.
The third lifeline was the “deterrent mode” that he had forcibly arranged for Rabbit Tail Livestreaming. Users would have to use Focus Mode or Study Mode for one hour each day before they could watch entertainment content on Rabbit Tail. This anti-user feature should be completed and launched soon.
With these three lifelines in hand, Pei Qian felt that there might still be hope for him this cycle.
However, before arranging these three tasks, Pei Qian suddenly remembered that he should check on the comment section battle in Qiao Laoshi’s video.
Although buying trolls to infiltrate Qiao Laoshi’s video comment section absolutely couldn’t reverse the current state of “Mission and Choice,” Qiao Laoshi’s “masterpiece” was still a key node for promotion.
If he could completely suppress this key node, reducing some of the hype would mean reducing some sales, which would ease the pressure to make money.
Every little bit helps—details determine success or failure.
Pei Qian thought that by now, Qiao Liang would most likely be playing dead.
Because Pei Qian had already instructed Huang Sibo to answer Qiao Liang’s questions factually.
Therefore, Qiao Liang should understand that the so-called “industrialization mode” he had been praising in his video was complete nonsense—Tenda had no such concept internally.
Qiao Liang wouldn’t slap his own face, but he also wouldn’t go against the tide and make things up, so his only option was to play dead.
Then, the video’s comment section would still be full of controversy, which could at least deter some uninformed onlookers.
Pei Qian opened the AiLiDao website and checked Qiao Laoshi’s account activity.
“Huh? He actually posted an update?”
“Not a video, but an article.”
Pei Qian was surprised. Had Qiao Liang been riled up by the trolls and decided to fight back against the tide, battling with the trolls for hundreds of rounds without any supporting evidence?
That would be truly irrational!
The article wasn’t very long, only about a thousand words.
It began by briefly addressing two very critical points of contention from the previous video: the “milestone significance” and the “industrialization mode.”
Then Qiao Liang said that to verify these two points, he had specifically sought out Huang Sibo—the overall person in charge of the “Mission and Choice” project, movie producer, game designer, head of Fei Huang Studio, and Mr. Pei’s number one design apprentice—for an exclusive interview.
Being able to interview an insider with so many titles would make anyone want to show off their connections.
Pei Qian was surprised—did this Qiao Laoshi really dare to publish the interview content?
Wouldn’t that be self-destructive?
However, after reading the content below, Pei Qian was stunned.
Things started to feel off when he saw Huang Sibo mention “sharing a few small stories,” and after reading these stories and seeing Qiao Liang’s conclusions, things felt even more off!
Qiao Liang had used the details from these small stories to smoothly present his own summary.
“Previously, I said that Tenda is currently trying to use an ‘industrialization mode’ to make games, and that is indeed the case. In fact, Mr. Pei’s thinking is even a level higher than mine!”
“The so-called ‘industrialization mode’ refers to breaking away from workshop-style production methods, no longer staking the success of an artistic work entirely on one person’s inspiration. Instead, there should be a complete production process, with each department performing its own duties, ensuring that all works produced are above the quality baseline.”
“Hollywood blockbusters use this mode, as do foreign AAA games, while our country’s film and game industries still have some distance to go before reaching this point.”
“Previously, I only saw Tenda’s attempts to move toward the ‘industrialization mode’ during the production of ‘Mission and Choice,’ but after this interview, I discovered that Mr. Pei had clearly grasped the essence of this model, which is talent!”
“This mode can only work with many professional top talents.”
“So, Mr. Pei has actually been consciously cultivating professional talents in various fields from the very beginning, teaching according to their aptitudes. The heads of Tenda’s game departments can be described as burning brightly together yet shining like stars when apart. It is precisely because of Mr. Pei’s careful nurturing over such a long time that the birth of ‘Mission and Choice,’ which is completely different from previous styles, was possible…”
Although the small stories Huang Sibo told weren’t directly connected to what Qiao Liang was saying, Qiao Liang still managed to discern the “truth” hidden behind them through his meticulous analysis and bold judgments.
He analyzed the characteristics of games like “Turn Back to Shore” and “Struggle,” analyzed how Mr. Pei assigned tasks according to individual abilities at that time, the guidance he provided to the lead designers, and emphasized the objective fact that many leaders brainstormed together to finally determine the design scheme for “Mission and Choice.”
It was reasonable and convincing.
Pei Qian was a bit dumbfounded.
Because although these points were fragmented, they were undeniably facts!
Strictly speaking, what Huang Sibo said was factual enough, but this completely went against Pei Qian’s original expectations!
In the article’s comment section, public opinion had clearly become one-sided.
“Well done, officially confirmed!”
“It feels like Director Huang was still being considerate of those haters by not acknowledging the ‘milestone’—mainly because he’s humble and low-key, just like Mr. Pei. But these small stories, anyone with eyes should understand, right?”
“Indeed, in reality, if Tenda was like other companies, using one lead designer to death, where would others get opportunities for growth and training? Without previously training so many excellent designers, how would there be the collaborative effort and success of ‘Mission and Choice’? Ultimately, this is all due to Mr. Pei’s foresight!”
“Mr. Pei not only thought of the ‘industrialization mode,’ but he had already started laying the groundwork when Tenda was just established and making ‘Sea Fortress’?”
“Whew… Mr. Pei’s planning ability is terrifying! With such long-term vision, what couldn’t he succeed at?”
“Great, the nitpickers can finally shut up. Earlier they were saying that Mr. Pei might not even know about the ‘industrialization mode,’ which I found ridiculous. Mr. Pei is the helmsman of Tenda Group—doesn’t he know more than some keyboard warrior? If you could understand what Mr. Pei is thinking, I suggest you start your own company from scratch and challenge Tenda!”
“Shouldn’t the focus be that just one day after being annoyed by nitpickers, Old Qiao went to interview the lead designer of ‘Mission and Choice,’ Director Huang, to slap their faces? Brothers, show your respect on the screen!”