Chapter 1 Evening at Swan Lake Restaurant

Pei Qian sat in a quiet corner by the window, waiting for Ruan Guangjian to arrive.

"I wonder if he enjoyed the roller coaster and the pendulum ride. I wonder if he got scared in the haunted house."

Pei Qian imagined Ruan Guangjian's face turning pale with fear on the pendulum ride, screaming at the top of his lungs, and felt a surge of satisfaction.

Revenge was sweet!

He checked the time. He should be here by now.

They had agreed to have dinner at 7 PM, and judging from Xiao Sun's habits, he would definitely drag the person over ten minutes early. But it was already past 7, so why hadn't he arrived yet?

Could it be that the rides were too intense, and he couldn't eat, so he went back to the hotel to rest?

But Pei Qian checked his phone, and there were no missed calls.

Just as he was wondering, Xiao Sun and Ruan Guangjian arrived.

"President Pei! Sorry, we're a few minutes late." Xiao Sun said apologetically.

Ruan Guangjian followed behind him: "It's not the driver's fault. I was having too much fun and lost track of time."

"The pendulum ride was so much fun!"

Ruan Guangjian looked like he hadn't had enough.

Pei Qian: ???

This was the first time he had seen Ruan Guangjian.

He had originally thought that Ruan Guangjian would be the artistic type, with flowing long hair and maybe even a small mustache.

But he wasn't. From his appearance, he was just an energetic young man with short hair, fair skin, and regular features, still with a bit of a student vibe.

Compared to Qiao Laoshi, that fat slob, this guy definitely looked like he belonged in the "popular kids" category.

Pei Qian's imagined scene of "Ruan Guangjian's face turning pale and being scared out of his wits" didn't happen.

On the contrary, Ruan Guangjian's face was rosy, and he was full of energy, with a hint of excitement. There was no sign of him being scared by the pendulum ride.

"President Pei! Thank you!"

Ruan Guangjian grabbed Pei Qian's hand. "I haven't had so much fun in a long time! Jingzhou's amusement park is really interesting! Especially that pendulum ride, it's comparable to the one in the Shanghai amusement park! So much fun!"

"Ah, it's a pity that we're a bit short on time, otherwise I would have wanted to ride it a few more times!"

Pei Qian: ???

This was bad. Everything had gone wrong.

This Ruan Guangjian actually liked playing these kinds of thrilling rides!

Ruan Guangjian said with emotion: "President Pei, you're really thoughtful. It seems you knew I liked these kinds of rides, so you specially arranged it and gave me a surprise, only telling me after I got on the ride."

"But I still have to say, with our friendship, doing this is a bit too formal. President Pei, you really don't need to be so polite!"

Pei Qian: "..."

Our friendship?

What kind of friendship do we have!

Pei Qian choked on an old saying, unable to say what he wanted, and Ruan Guangjian's enthusiasm shut him up, leaving him with no way to complain.

"Let's eat."

Pei Qian sat down silently.

Although the dishes at Swan Lake Restaurant couldn't compare to Ming Yun Private Kitchen, there were still plenty of good ingredients, and it was a buffet, so you could take whatever you wanted and eat as much as you liked.

Ruan Guangjian took a lot of delicious food, and soon the table was full.

Pei Qian's imagined script was that Ruan Guangjian would have been riding the roller coaster and pendulum ride all afternoon, completely out of his wits and still in shock, so he naturally wouldn't have much of an appetite. He could then enjoy the food while admiring his miserable state, relaxed and comfortable.

However, Ruan Guangjian was not out of his wits, nor was he still in shock. On the contrary, he was in high spirits and had a great appetite...

As a result, Ruan Guangjian was gorging himself and eating heartily, while Pei Qian had no appetite at all.

How upsetting!

It was like putting all your strength into a punch that landed on cotton. Pei Qian almost suffered internal injuries.

The two of them ate and chatted.

Ruan Guangjian stuffed a large piece of lobster meat into his mouth: "The pendulum ride is really too fun, too exciting, it really helps to inspire my creativity!"

"The roller coaster and the drop tower are also okay, worth the price of admission."

"In short, I had a great time this afternoon!"

"Thank you, President Pei, for your hospitality. Come, let me toast you!"

Although they were drinking beverages, Pei Qian felt a little lightheaded as they clinked glasses.

"Everything was good? Is there anything that you weren't very satisfied with?" Pei Qian asked tentatively. "If there are any shortcomings, we can continue to improve."

Ruan Guangjian thought for a moment: "If there's anything that wasn't quite right..."

"It might be the haunted house?"

"Actually, I'm a bit afraid of the dark. I was prepared to be scared to tears, but the haunted house wasn't very scary."

"But it's also good that way. If the haunted house was really scary, I might not have been able to come tonight, haha."

Pei Qian was speechless.

Look at what happened.

He had carefully prepared so many activities, but the roller coaster, pendulum ride, and other rides were all a waste.

Only the haunted house hit Ruan Guangjian's weakness, but the haunted house was too weak and didn't even scare him.

A good disciplinary measure turned into an appetizer.

Frustrating!

It's all the fault of this amusement park in Jingzhou! Who told you to make the haunted house so lame! What a disgrace!

Pei Qian silently passed the buck to the amusement park.

Before long, the two of them had eaten their fill, and the table was covered with empty dishes.

Ruan Guangjian patted his stomach contentedly and burped.

"So delicious!"

"Oh, President Pei, why don't you seem to have much of an appetite? You didn't eat much."

Pei Qian smiled. "I don't have a very good appetite today."

Ruan Guangjian nodded. "I understand, I understand. President Pei's business is so big, and the work pressure is high, so you don't have much of an appetite."

"I heard that President Pei also likes similar sports, is that right?"

"I thought it was so hard to find someone who shared my interests, but I didn't expect that President Pei and I would have such similar hobbies!"

"Let's go ride the pendulum ride together in a couple of days, it'll definitely give you a big appetite!"

Pei Qian: "... No need! You really don't need to be so polite with me!"

How infuriating! He had wanted to mess with Ruan Guangjian, but instead, he was being counterattacked?

The most annoying thing was that there was nothing he could do about it!

If they really went to ride the pendulum ride together, Pei Qian's fragile heart would be completely wrecked!

Pei Qian felt that he was facing a serious challenge.

The last time Qiao Laoshi came, Pei Qian had completely controlled him with *Turning Back is the Shore*, manipulating him at will.

Although Qiao Laoshi later launched a counterattack, at least in Jingzhou, he was still at Pei Qian's mercy.

But after Ruan Guangjian came, the script was different!

The whole roller coaster ride that Pei Qian had carefully prepared had completely failed.

This caused Ruan Guangjian's position in Pei Qian's little notebook to rise rapidly, and it was only a matter of time before he surpassed Qiao Laoshi.

Pei Qian was very unhappy.

He had to find a good way to deal with this Ruan Guangjian!

He couldn't let him continue to be so arrogant!

...

...

The next morning.

Ruan Guangjian brought his drawing tablet and computer to Tenda's office.

He had eaten well and slept well yesterday, and he woke up this morning feeling refreshed and full of inspiration.

He was coming to Tenda today mainly to communicate with the *Games of Gods* (GoG) designers face-to-face, to ensure that the character art he was going to draw wouldn't deviate from the concept.

He would gather as much feedback as possible, create the line art, and then send it to the rest of the studio to complete.

As soon as he walked into the office area, Ruan Guangjian was stunned.

So spacious!

Compared to this, Ruan Guangjian felt like his Guanghuan Studio's office environment was a pigeon coop, while this was like having a detached villa per person.

The floor-to-ceiling windows were filled with greenery, which was well-cared for and lush, and it seemed that there was someone dedicated to taking care of it.

In addition, there was a water bar, a recreation room, a snack area...

Anyway, everything that should be there and shouldn't be there was all available!

A pure black kitten with only white feet sniffed at Ruan Guangjian and then walked away without interest, as if mocking him for being a country bumpkin who had never seen the world.

Ruan Guangjian was shocked. How much rent would such a large office space cost!

Too extravagant!

His Guanghuan Studio was located in Shanghai, next to the University of Economics and Trade where he graduated. The rent for office buildings in this area of Shanghai wasn't very high, but it still felt unbearable to Ruan Guangjian.

The rent was too expensive, so the workstations naturally had to be a bit cramped, and they didn't have enough money to buy good office desks, chairs, and computers, so the conditions in all aspects were naturally much worse.

Ruan Guangjian hadn't felt anything about it before, since most companies in Shanghai were like this.

The standard workstation area was about 10 square meters. Less than that would feel very cramped, and more than that would be very expensive.

Ruan Guangjian had always thought that his studio's workstations were quite spacious, but looking at Tenda's office environment...

He instantly felt jealous.

The difference was too great!

Li Yada got up to greet him: "You're Ruan Guangjian, right? Hello, I'm Li Yada. We've chatted online a lot before."

The twin sisters at the front desk poured hot tea for Ruan Guangjian, and then Ruan Guangjian and Li Yada began to discuss some of the hero settings in GoG in detail.

While listening to Li Yada's introduction, Ruan Guangjian created the line art on his drawing tablet and constantly adjusted it.

"This Justice Guardian Modeste is designed based on President Pei. There are a few things in the previous draft that aren't quite suitable, such as the body shape..."

At Li Yada's suggestion, Ruan Guangjian constantly modified some of the details, including exaggerating the hero's body shape appropriately, adjusting the facial expressions according to his personality, and so on.

Face-to-face communication was indeed much smoother than online, and the image quickly began to approach the concept that Li Yada had expected.

Unconsciously, it was almost noon.

Ruan Guangjian habitually took out his phone: "Is it time to order takeout? Which restaurant do you usually order from?"

Li Yada quickly said: "Let me do it. We have a special work meal here. Just choose one."

"Work meal?" Ruan Guangjian took the phone with some doubt, and found that there were some very simple dishes on it, such as tomato and eggs, potato and beef, twice-cooked pork, etc. They didn't seem to be any different from the rice bowls he usually ate.

He didn't pay too much attention to it, just thinking that it was probably a meal ordered from some small restaurant on the side of the road. He randomly chose the "Healthy Meal of the Day" and didn't pay any more attention to it.

At 12 o'clock sharp, the delivery guy arrived on time.

Everyone in the office stood up from their workstations as if they had discussed it beforehand and went to the water bar to eat.

One by one, white porcelain bowls were placed on the table, which looked very much like a proper meal.

Everyone was talking and laughing, eating and chatting.

"This is yours, the Healthy Meal of the Day. Oh, it's shrimp and broccoli." Li Yada handed the transparent glass container to Ruan Guangjian.

Ruan Guangjian took it and opened it. The container was divided into three parts, and the larger part, which occupied half of the container, was the main dish.

Several large shrimp and emerald green broccoli were mixed together, interspersed with red carrot pieces, which looked colorful and not greasy.

The two smaller compartments contained two brown rice balls and a few slices of salmon sashimi, as well as a purple sweet potato milkshake.

All of these dishes were served in transparent glass containers, which looked crystal clear and mouthwatering.