Chapter 107: Whatever You Do, Don’t Let Him Work!
Chapter 107: Whatever You Do, Don’t Let Him Work!
Pei Qian strolled around the office and soon wandered over to Lu Mingliang’s desk.
He was here to give Lu Mingliang a little... precautionary warning.
Hiring Ma Yiqun had a specific purpose: he was meant to be a mascot—someone to balance out his luck.
But if Lu Mingliang misunderstood and let Ma Yiqun go wild rewriting all the game scripts, that could be disastrous.
Ma Yiqun did have a way with words… What if his changes turned out to be popular? What then!?
No, he had to make absolutely sure that Ma Yiqun did nothing.
As soon as President Pei showed up, Lu Mingliang immediately stood up, tense and alert.
“President Pei, do you have any instructions?” he asked.
Pei Qian hadn’t been dropping by the company very often lately—he was a bit... tied up.
President Pei’s Daily Life was still in production, with lots of outdoor filming lately.
College had started up again, and Pei Qian had been auditing a few classes now and then.
The internet café also needed his occasional visits—any signs of success had to be snuffed out before they spread.
All in all, Pei Qian was feeling mentally exhausted.
‘These employees, I swear… not a single one lets me relax!’
“It’s nothing major,” Pei Qian said casually. “Just wanted to let you know that we’ve hired a new story planner.”
Lu Mingliang immediately perked up. “Got it, President Pei! I’ll get him started on refreshing the story packaging for all three games right away!”
“No no no no no, that’s not what I meant at all!” Pei Qian quickly waved his hands in panic. “What I mean is—he’s a newbie, totally unfamiliar with our games. For the first month, don’t give him any work at all. Just let him ‘study freely.’ Got it?”
“Especially, don’t let him touch anything in the script or story of Game Producer! That’s off-limits!”
Lu Mingliang was dumbfounded.
Huh?
You hire a new guy… and don’t let him do anything?
He’s just supposed to sit there and watch? Not even help out?
This felt… weird.
But after a moment’s thought, it actually made sense.
Game Producer’s script and narration—who wrote them?
President Pei personally penned them!
Even if this new story planner was a veteran, he wouldn’t come close to President Pei’s level. And this guy was a newbie?
Yeah, best if he learned first.
The more he thought about it, the more reasonable it sounded.
Lu Mingliang nodded firmly. “Understood, President Pei! I’ll make sure he’s got proper study tasks lined up. I’ll help him deeply grasp your design intentions!”
‘Grasp my design intentions...?’
‘What intentions? Trying to get players to quit?’
‘...Eh, whatever.’
Pei Qian didn’t feel like explaining any further. He turned around, ready to leave.
But just as he turned, he paused—and turned back again.
His eyes landed on Lu Mingliang’s computer screen.
It was displaying some of the already submitted art assets for Game Producer.
There were concept sketches... and even 3D models.
Pei Qian glanced at one of the concept pieces—and instantly froze.
There was something... familiar about it.
‘Weird… why does this feel so familiar?’
Frowning, Pei Qian leaned in.
“This concept art…?”
Lu Mingliang beamed with pride. “Eh? President Pei, you recognized it right away? That’s right—this is Master Ruan Guangjian’s work! As expected, you and Master Ruan really are kindred spirits. Just one glance and you knew!”
Pei Qian: “???????”
‘What the hell?!’
He stared at Lu Mingliang in disbelief. “Didn’t I tell you to hire the most expensive concept artist you could find?!”
Lu Mingliang nodded eagerly. “Exactly. And right now, Master Ruan is the most expensive concept artist!”
‘Mother——!’
Pei Qian nearly coughed up blood on the spot.
‘It’s only been a few months! How the hell did Ruan Guangjian go from complete nobody to the highest-paid concept artist in the business?!’
‘Not even real estate prices rise this fast!’
Seeing Pei Qian’s stunned expression, Lu Mingliang assumed it was due to sheer joy. He continued with even more enthusiasm, “And get this—Master Ruan heard that this project was yours, President Pei, so he gave us a huge discount! He just charged us a nominal fee for the effort. Totally generous!”
“You didn’t even have to show your face, and you still saved the company tens of thousands in development costs. That’s your reputation at work!”
Pei Qian stood there dazed for a few seconds before asking weakly, “…Can we still change the contract?”
Lu Mingliang blinked. “Huh? President Pei, you mean… pay him extra? Uh, that’s going to be hard. The contract’s already been approved by the platform, and most of the artwork is already done.”
“Modifying the contract now would be really complicated. And Master Ruan might not even accept the money.”
“President Pei, if you’re feeling guilty about it, maybe just treat him to a meal or something later. Or we could establish a long-term partnership and pay him market rates in the future.”
Pei Qian: “…Get back to work.”
He turned and walked off, utterly speechless.
When it came to the new game’s art resources, Pei Qian didn't have high expectations.
He only had two simple goals:
One, spend a lot of money.
Two, don’t let the art be too good.
But now?
He’d accomplished neither.
Not only had they not overspent, but the visual design was being overseen by none other than Ruan Guangjian—a hidden master who pretended to be just a humble newbie!
Pei Qian could feel his brain throbbing.
‘Why? Why is it that, out of the hundreds of concept artists on the platform, I keep ending up with these hidden bosses?!’
‘What exactly did you see in me? I’ll change it, okay?! Just tell me!!’
Dragging himself back to his office, Pei Qian collapsed into his chair like a broken puppet.
“Screw it. It’s already done. Gotta stay optimistic…”
“Canceling the contract is out of the question. All I can do now is push forward and see what happens.”
“Thankfully, Game Producer isn’t the kind of game that wins people over with visuals…”
Pei Qian tried to calm himself down with deep breaths.
Knock knock knock
A knock came from outside the office door.
Pei Qian looked up—it was Ma Yang.
‘Oh no. Don’t tell me something went wrong with the internet café too?!’
Pei Qian immediately snapped to attention.
‘Ma Yang… he wouldn’t be here to report “good news,” right?’
‘That would be… absolutely heartbreaking.’
‘Please, just this once—don’t let it be another disaster-in-disguise!’
Ma Yang's expression was grim.
“Brother Qian… I think I should report the current situation at Moyu Internet Café.”
“Zhang Yuan ran the numbers. Based on our revenue over the past few weeks, we’re projected to lose roughly 300,000 yuan a month in net losses…”
“In other words, the café’s income is barely enough to cover employee salaries and some utility bills. The biggest cost—rent—is basically a complete write-off. And don’t even talk about recovering the upfront investment…”
“Zhang Yuan had a few suggestions. I think they’re worth considering. Here, take a look…”
Ma Yang pulled out a small notebook, ready to go over the ideas: mostly things like lowering prices, running promotional campaigns, that kind of thing.
But before he could continue, Pei Qian raised a hand, signaling him to stop.
Three hundred thousand yuan in pure losses per month?
Perfect. Absolutely perfect!
‘Ah, only a true brother could be this reliable!’
Ma Yang was visibly confused by Pei Qian’s reaction.
Pei Qian struggled to suppress the smile tugging at his lips. He put on a stern face and said, “Didn’t I tell you not to worry about these numbers? This just proves that our internet café is heading in the right direction!”
“…Huh?” Ma Yang was stunned. “We’re losing 300,000 a month! And that’s the right direction?”
Pei Qian nodded with conviction. “That’s right. Moyu Internet Café is more than a business—it's a statement. It’s a premium, high-end brand image we’re building!”
“Think about it—sure, we don’t have a ton of customers. But aren’t the ones who do come in generally pretty satisfied with the experience?”
Ma Yang thought about it. “…I guess… yeah, they seem pretty happy.”
‘Well, duh.’
Anyone who had a problem with the pricing wouldn’t even step inside. They’d see the rate card at the entrance and turn right around.
Only those who could actually afford the high-end rates would make it through the doors—and for that crowd, Moyu Internet Café was heaven.
Fifty high-spec PCs, all yours for the picking. Top spots in the coffee lounge? Yours. Half the time there were more staff than customers, providing literal one-on-one service.
What’s not to love?
Pei Qian nodded in satisfaction. “Exactly. This short-term loss is fine. We’re investing in reputation. We’re spending money to buy word-of-mouth! It’s all part of the plan.”
“Once the reputation is solid, we won’t have to worry about customers anymore.”
“But if we slash prices now and attract a bunch of people outside our target demographic, we’ll be stuck. We won’t be able to raise prices again later. Then what?”
“So, let’s keep things just as they are. Stay calm. Stay patient.”
Ma Yang scratched his head, trying to wrap his brain around it.
“…You know… that kind of makes sense…”
“…Alright then, I’ll do as you say…” he muttered, deflating like a balloon.
Pei Qian leaned back in his chair, pleased.
Finally! Something that was truly, unquestionably, losing money at a reliable pace.
A beautiful, bleeding business. Just the way he liked it.
Comments (0)
Please login or sign up to post a comment.