Chapter 147: The Imperial Sword Bestowed by President Pei
Chapter 147: The Imperial Sword Bestowed by President Pei
"Is everyone here? Let's have a meeting."
Pei Qian headed straight for the meeting room.
The others immediately stood up and followed Wang Xiaobin inside in a quiet, orderly line.
Everyone quickly took their seats, sitting upright and stiff with serious expressions.
Ye Zhizhou couldn’t help but feel impressed.
Now this is presence!
Back when Old Liu used to hold meetings, sure, everyone acted like they were listening respectfully—but no one actually took him seriously.
Everyone was just phoning it in, doing the bare minimum. Tasks got passed down, and people half-heartedly slapped things together to get by.
After all, everyone knew that no matter how hard they tried in this environment, it wouldn’t make a difference.
But now, everything is different.
Just the arrival of President Pei—without him even saying a word—had already earned everyone’s genuine respect and recognition. That was truly remarkable.
Pei Qian shifted around in his chair a few times, feeling uncomfortable.
Shangyang Games really were stingy—everything from the office chairs to the conference room seats was cheap and awful to sit on.
‘Good thing I managed to haggle Du Ruijie down 400,000 yuan during the acquisition. I can use some of that to give everyone a little salary bump... and buy new office furniture.’
‘Once we have more funds, I should definitely give Shangyang Games a complete renovation. Could be a good way to burn through some money before the next settlement.’
The discomfort from the chair only strengthened Pei Qian’s determination to finish assigning tasks quickly and get out of there.
"I won’t take up too much time, just a few quick points."
The moment they heard "just a few quick points," everyone sat up straighter, ready to take notes and mentally bracing for a long-winded speech.
After all, when a boss says “just a few points,” it usually means they’re going to talk for hours.
Pei Qian swept his gaze across the room. “Who is Ye Zhizhou?”
Ye Zhizhou froze.
What the heck?!
Why was President Pei calling him out as the first thing in the meeting?
He quickly stood up. “President Pei, that’s me!”
Pei Qian, a little unused to such formality, quickly waved him down. “Sit down, speak while seated.”
Then he turned to look at the current Lead Executive Designer and stats specialist, Wang Xiaobin. “Wang Xiaobin, the numbers work is important. But handling both the system design and the overall project direction must be spreading you too thin.”
“Starting now, Ye Zhizhou will be the new Lead Executive Designer for Shangyang Games. Wang Xiaobin, you’ll support him fully.”
As Pei Qian spoke, he quietly observed both Wang Xiaobin and Ye Zhizhou’s reactions.
Ye Zhizhou looked completely dumbfounded.
Wang Xiaobin, after a brief moment of surprise... actually started smiling—just a little?
Although there was a hint of worry in his smile, it was definitely a sincere one.
Hmm?
This isn’t how the script was supposed to go.
Pei Qian had expected that demoting Wang Xiaobin—who had just been promoted to Lead Executive Designer—would trigger a dramatic reaction: shock, confusion, maybe even desperate pleading...
But none of that happened. In fact, Wang Xiaobin looked happy?
No scheming power struggles?
No backroom drama?
How disappointing.
Pei Qian then looked around at the other employees. A few of the older staff members clearly didn’t look too pleased.
Which made perfect sense. Ye Zhizhou had only joined a few months ago, taking over Huang Sibo’s duties as a Lead Executive Designer. No qualifications, no track record—why would anyone respect him?
As for Wang Xiaobin, the main reason he seemed relieved about being removed was because he knew he wasn’t cut out for the job and was afraid of messing it up. That’s why he was smiling, albeit with a bit of concern.
Wang Xiaobin wasn’t a very ambitious person, which was why he could take this whole situation so calmly.
But the older staff? That was a different story.
‘Why him?’
‘Why not me?’
‘That kid gets to be Lead Executive Designer? Seriously?’
One by one, their expressions grew more colorful.
Pei Qian nodded quietly.
Yes, this is more like it.
Office politics!
Internal conflict!
Rivalry and resentment!
Pei Qian actually felt a little giddy inside.
But then he thought, this wasn’t quite spicy enough.
These people had worked together for a while. Even if they were jealous, it might not escalate into anything serious. The tension just wasn’t strong enough.
It needed a little more fuel.
After thinking it over, Pei Qian added nonchalantly, “Ye Zhizhou, starting today, you have one no-questions-asked dismissal quota per month. If you want to fire someone, just send me their name.”
Ye Zhizhou was now completely stunned.
An imperial sword of absolute authority?!
And not just tattling to the boss—this was direct execution. Just send a name to President Pei, and that person would be gone, no explanation needed.
Pei Qian casually glanced at the older employees whose faces had already been dark, and now… they looked even worse.
Excellent. Exactly the effect I was aiming for.
A Lead Executive Designer no one trusted, suddenly handed immense power. Naturally, everyone would expect him to use it to retaliate against those who had looked down on him before—bully a few people, show off a little, maybe fire someone just to flex.
Give it a bit of time, and the team would fall apart. Ye Zhizhou would be left isolated, unsupported, and completely helpless to clean up the mess...
Yes. A beautiful script indeed!
Pei Qian glanced at his watch—time was tight.
As amusing as everyone’s reactions were, he still had to move things along. After all, he was in a hurry to get back home for his afternoon nap.
“Next up, Shangyang Games will be implementing a two-step strategy.”
“Step one: make changes to the two current games. Remove all monetization points, keep only one. As for how you remove them and which one you keep, Ye Zhizhou, that’s up to you.”
“Step two: everyone must come up with their own game concept and produce a design draft. I’ll select one of them to be Shangyang Games’ new project.”
“Mm… until the end of June, your focus is on Step One.”
“Then in July, submit your proposals and we’ll officially launch a new project.”
Pei Qian swept his eyes across the room. “Any questions?”
Ye Zhizhou immediately raised his hand.
Pei Qian promptly ignored him and nodded. “Good. Meeting adjourned.”
He stood up and strode out in a carefree, confident manner.
Ye Zhizhou was left frozen in place, hand still awkwardly in the air.
The rest of the team sat there, stunned.
President Pei’s “just a few quick points”… really was just a few quick points?!
Not even 5 minutes has passed….
Ye Zhizhou now desperately wanted to reject the Lead Executive Designer role on the spot. But it was like Pei Qian had read his mind—he didn’t even leave a window for discussion, just walked off.
Now, Ye Zhizhou could feel the icy stares of several senior employees drilling into his back like needles.
Shangyang Games had once been a stagnant pool of water. But now… it was more like oil on fire—beginning to bubble and boil.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Leaving Shangyang Games, Pei Qian was in a great mood.
Yes, this should be foolproof!
Even without Old Liu, promoting a junior planner with almost no experience should create the same effect. Might even be worse.
Plus, the two-step strategy would ensure a steady stream of losses in the near future.
First, to prevent Flirtatious Taoist and Blood War Anthem from making a last-minute comeback, all monetization points were removed—leaving only one. This practically guaranteed neither game could turn a profit.
Next, everyone had to submit their own game proposals.
Pei Qian was still debating whether to pick the worst proposal on purpose or just draw one at random.
After brief consideration, he decided on random selection.
After all, he no longer trusted his own instincts.
Every time he tried to make a garbage game, it somehow turned out wildly successful. That kind of irony was deeply frustrating.
Lonely Desert Road and Game Producer had taught him enough painful lessons.
So, Pei Qian decided: he’d literally draw lots. Whichever plan came up, that’s the one they’d make.
Of course, if he drew one that was too good, he’d just redraw.
Besides that, he swore he wouldn’t step foot into Shangyang Games again. He’d keep his influence on the company to an absolute minimum—let it descend into a lawless, chaotic jungle governed by pure survival-of-the-fittest.
Eventually, if the team became fragmented and uncoordinated, and Ye Zhizhou couldn’t control anyone—
Perfect.
With that, Pei Qian felt confident that nothing could possibly go wrong at Shangyang Games... right?
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