Chapter 1 A Busy Weekend

Pei Qian had a busy weekend.

He originally planned to sleep in his rented apartment, but he couldn't fall asleep no matter how much he tossed and turned. Closing his eyes only brought images of the internet cafe unexpectedly becoming a hit and making a lot of money, which made him restless.

Having no choice, he had Assistant Xin drive him to the cafe so he could see it for himself and put his mind at ease.

Of course, he logically gave Assistant Xin overtime pay.

First, he went to the flagship store of Moyu Internet Cafe, had a cup of coffee, and sat for a while, confirming that it shouldn't show any signs of turning a profit in the near future.

Next, he ran to the two new Moyu Internet Cafe locations to check on the renovations.

These two locations were even worse than the flagship store, but fortunately, they were spacious. The renovations couldn't be exactly the same as the flagship store, but he tried to get them as close as possible to the style that Pei Qian liked.

The overall style was minimalist, without too many frills, but the tables, chairs, bar, bookshelves, and so on still had a subtle air of pretentiousness.

It wasn't that Pei Qian liked this pretentious style, but that this kind of furniture was generally more expensive.

The two new store managers seemed very dedicated, both of them watching the renovation workers. Pei Qian expressed his cordial greetings and persuaded one of them to go home. The other was adamant, so Pei Qian had to give him overtime pay.

After checking out the internet cafes under renovation, Pei Qian wasn't reassured, so he took a walk around the area and concluded that the location was even worse than the flagship store's, and probably wouldn't attract many people.

On the way back, he impulsively went to the company and caught Lu Mingliang and several members of the design team working overtime.

President Pei was very angry.

Pei Qian had previously condoned Huang Sibo and the others working overtime because he thought Huang Sibo and Bao Xu were playing games.

But later he discovered that they weren't just playing games, they were actually working hard!

Therefore, Pei Qian felt that he should implement a blanket ban, absolutely forbidding anyone from being in the office outside of working hours.

This time, Pei Qian chased Bao Xu out as well, on the grounds that he should go home and rest and take care of his hairline.

Considering his previous health checkup results, Bao Xu didn't have a good reason to refuse, so he silently packed up and left.

Bao Xu had been doing much better financially recently and no longer lived in an internet cafe. He had rented a room and bought a new computer, so going home to play games was fine.

The others saw that even Bao Xu had been sent away by President Pei, so they had no choice but to pack up and leave as well.

The scene was quite tragic, with everyone walking out dejectedly. Anyone who didn't know better would have thought they were being fired.

After chasing everyone away, Pei Qian found a chair and sat down, feeling quite tired.

These people were really making him worry!

"I was thinking, should I get a new lock for the office? Or buy a more advanced electronic door lock? One that can only be opened on legal holidays with the appropriate permissions."

Pei Qian looked at Assistant Xin.

Xin Hailu hesitated for a moment and said, "Wouldn't that dampen everyone's enthusiasm for work?"

Dampen enthusiasm for work?

That would be great.

It would be even better if it wasn't just dampened, but completely crushed.

"Then it's settled. Remember to ask the administrative department if they have any similar door locks and buy one."

"Only authorized people can open the door on legal holidays. For now, let's authorize... you, me, and those few girls in the administrative group."

The administrative group had the easiest job, basically clocking in and out at nine to five, possibly arriving a minute late, but never leaving a minute late.

They were definitely never seen on holidays.

Pei Qian was very confident in giving them the permissions.

Xin Hailu wrote it down in her notebook.

Just as he finished speaking, Pei Qian thought of a new problem.

How would overtime pay be calculated?

If he simply locked the door like this, everyone wouldn't come in to work overtime, but it seemed like overtime pay couldn't be given out either.

Although this money wasn't a lot, it was still part of the "More People, More Power Plan," an important component of "increasing revenue."

One person's overtime pay wasn't much, but if there were more employees in the future, it would be a lot of money.

Pei Qian thought for a moment and said, "From now on, everyone can apply for overtime themselves, and working overtime at home will also count as overtime pay."

Xin Hailu was stunned. "How will we verify it?"

Verify? What's there to verify? It doesn't matter if everyone overreports.

Of course, Pei Qian couldn't say that.

He thought for a moment and said, "Trust everyone's self-awareness. However, if someone is found to have overreported overtime, deduct all their overtime pay for the month."

He set a penalty standard to shut up the system.

In any case, Pei Qian wouldn't really check who had overreported overtime.

Looking at the empty company, Pei Qian felt much better. He stood up from his seat, ready to go home and get a good night's sleep.

Just then, his phone rang. It was Huang Sibo calling.

Pei Qian immediately became serious.

After filming *President Pei's Daily Life*, Huang Sibo and Bao Xu were going to take a two-week break.

Calculating the time, they should have finished their break a long time ago and should be thinking about starting a new project and filming a new video.

Although Pei Qian had used his silver tongue to inspire Huang Sibo's fighting spirit and successfully persuaded him not to keep struggling with *President Pei's Daily Life* and to give up this successful IP, Pei Qian really had no idea what Huang Sibo and Zhu Xiao Ce were going to film.

This call was either to discuss something with Pei Qian or to report to him.

Pei Qian hoped it was the former.

He answered the phone.

"President Pei, I'm sorry to bother you at this hour."

"I wanted to report to you about the upcoming work plan for Fei Huang Workshop."

"President Pei's words last time were like a bolt from the blue. Director Zhu Xiao Ce and I originally planned to continue digging deep into short videos, continuing the *President Pei's Daily Life* series with a new short drama, maximizing the effect of reversals and contrasts, integrating current hot topics, and developing a series of down-to-earth star characters from the grassroots..."

Pei Qian was listening, and he was shocked.

Was this *Unexpectedness* or *Baozou Comics*? (two famous Chinese web series)

In any case, both sounded very ominous...

Huang Sibo continued, "However, President Pei's words that day made me suddenly realize something. I think we should step out of our comfort zone and continue to pursue our dreams!"

"Although short videos are a good way to monetize and can bring laughter to everyone, we always feel like something is missing."

"Director Zhu Xiao Ce shares the same opinion as me, so after discussing it, we decided that we want to make documentaries, documentaries that no one has ever made before."

"Of course, due to the current funding constraints, some large-scale documentaries are impossible, but we will seriously consider the selection of materials. We just hope to use the camera to record some meaningful things..."

Pei Qian breathed a sigh of relief, but quickly became vigilant again.

He was relieved because Huang Sibo and Zhu Xiao Ce had actually given up on short videos, which was undoubtedly great news.

If they really filmed according to their original ideas, it would most likely be another popular short video. If it really reached the level of *Unexpectedness* or *Report Boss*, then something big would really happen.

Now that Huang Sibo and Zhu Xiao Ce wanted to make documentaries, the chances of making money were reduced again in terms of subject matter, which was a good thing.