Chapter 1 Tian Huo Studio

Yangcheng, Tian Huo Studio.

Outside the Tian Huo Studio building, Xiao Lu and the others were visibly shocked.

Tian Huo Studio actually owned an entire seven-story office building. How impressive!

There was a large sign for Tian Huo Studio right next to the entrance, and the office building was surrounded by verdant pines and cypresses and lush trees, making for a very pleasant environment.

A game company that could afford to build its own building was definitely not short on money!

Many people secretly hoped that they could work in a similar place someday.

Pei Qian, on the other hand, didn't react much.

He was just here under the guise of a visit to spend money. Besides, it was just a slightly larger office building. There was nothing to envy.

The group arrived at the entrance, where someone from Tian Huo Studio was already there to greet them.

"Assistant Xin, hello! Is this President Pei? Hello, hello! I'm Sun Xi, the employee in charge of reception at Tian Huo Studio."

The person who came was a young man who looked to be about twenty-five or twenty-six years old, responsible for this reception work.

It was said that Zhou Muyan, the producer of Tian Huo Studio, would also meet with everyone, but as a producer, he certainly wouldn't run all the way to the front door to greet them. Pei Qian and the others weren't important enough for that.

Sun Xi led everyone inside, introducing the place as they walked.

"This is our bamboo forest in the front courtyard. Because we have ancient-style game projects, we planted a bamboo forest here. Oh, there's also a guqin (Chinese zither) over there. Sometimes there are young ladies in ancient costumes playing it."

"Further over there is the parking lot. Some colleagues drive to work."

"The front is the front hall. I'll take you directly to the reception area and the project team."

Pei Qian looked around as he walked.

Sure enough, big companies were impressive!

Building such a large place must cost a lot of money, right?

Building an office building and renovating it for no reason, planting a bamboo forest, commissioning some statues, and so on, this all cost a lot of money. He wouldn't have to worry about not being able to spend his money!

Of course, building such a large building would cost tens of millions, which Pei Qian couldn't afford at the moment.

The funds provided by the system were still at the level of 500,000, and although Pei Qian's games made him want to vomit, they had only earned a few million in total.

If he earned tens of millions or even hundreds of millions in profit a year in the future, he could consider building a building.

But Pei Qian hoped that this would never happen...

Rather than the company making tens of millions a year in profit, he would rather the company lose a few million a year.

The personal assets converted from the latter were ten times that of the former...

Assistant Xin was a person who had seen the world and was indifferent to this.

But others, like Huang Sibao, Xiao Lu, and Ma Yang, had a curious light in their eyes, like country bumpkins entering the city, everything was new to them.

Of course, strictly speaking, Tengda's office conditions were better than those of Tian Huo Studio.

Whether it was the size of the workstations or the configuration of the computers, probably no company in the country, no, including foreign countries, could compare with Tengda.

However, the area occupied by their office space was large enough, and it was their own building, so it naturally looked more wealthy from the outside!

Arriving at the front desk, everyone couldn't help but feel a little proud.

They had won a round!

Tengda's front desk was a pair of twin sisters, whose beauty crushed Tian Huo Studio's front desk. They had won!

Sun Xi led the group to the fourth floor and met Zhou Muyan, the producer of Tian Huo Studio.

Zhou Muyan was wearing a casual suit, which was already quite formal clothing in the game industry.

As a result, when he looked at the group opposite him, his eyes instantly locked on Pei Qian.

Damn, a custom-made suit!

Zhou Muyan could tell at a glance that this suit was definitely expensive, costing at least five figures!

Instead, it made Zhou Muyan feel a lot of pressure, feeling that he had lost in terms of momentum...

Zhou Muyan was also puzzled. This guy looked younger than an intern, how did he become the boss? And he even made a successful mobile game like *Ghost General*?

Could he be a rich second generation?

Yes, it must be so.

If he wasn't a rich second generation, he wouldn't be able to wear this kind of clothes.

Generally, bosses who started their own businesses were more frugal and didn't have the habit of spending money lavishly, not to mention that the game industry didn't have any rigid demands in terms of clothing.

The two exchanged a few polite greetings, saying "I've heard so much about you."

In fact, neither of them knew each other...

Pei Qian had no idea what games Tian Huo Studio had made, and Zhou Muyan only knew before that Pei Qian was the producer of *Ghost General*. Other than that, he knew nothing.

Because they didn't know each other, the two of them very tacitly skipped the commercial flattery session, and Zhou Muyan began to take the group on a tour of the studio.

"This is our recording area. The front is the recording studio, which is specially for game dubbing."

"Of course, the music and sound effects in the game are also made here."

"This is the work area. You can see our artists are working, drawing original paintings."

"This is the training room. We will regularly explain game design knowledge to the trainees."

"Here is a set of cosplay costumes, which were worn by celebrities who endorsed the game before, and later they were stored in the display cabinet."

"This wall is full of some peripheral products of our game."

"This is the rest area, this is our cafeteria..."

Zhou Muyan took Pei Qian and his group around, observing their reactions by the way.

Tian Huo Studio was a relatively established game studio in China, so the way they worked was still relatively traditional. They had their own recording studio, art team, and so on. Almost all the work in the game could be done in-house, unlike Tengda, which bought art resources and music resources from resource websites.

What surprised Zhou Muyan was that Xiao Lu and the others had excited expressions outside the building, but when they got inside, their expressions became calm...

Was he seeing things backwards?

In the past, some students came here to visit, and they were all calm outside and excited inside.

Because there were rest areas, cafeterias, water bars, entertainment rooms, and so on inside the building, which was a very good working environment, those students would be more excited after seeing these, imagining themselves working in this company in the future.

But the people from Tengda, how were they all the opposite?

Look carefully, this is an entertainment room! And a rest area!

Was this big TV not good-looking? Was this sofa not comfortable to sit on?

Why did you have no reaction at all?

Zhou Muyan was very puzzled.

It was normal for everyone to have no reaction.

Most people only had one reaction when they saw the so-called "entertainment room" and "snack area" here.

Is that it??

You have a small TV and a game console in this small pigeon cage, and you have the nerve to call yourself an "entertainment room"?

This snack area only has a few packs of biscuits and a few packs of potato chips, and there is a sign hanging on it that each employee can only take a limited amount. You have the nerve to call yourself a "snack area"?

After boasting for so long, Tengda has everything, and it's much better than yours!

Of course, everyone couldn't say anything, but they always felt a little bored in their hearts...

Disappointment, quite disappointed!

This is the working environment of a first-class game company in China?

It's several streets behind Tengda!

The building looks so good from the outside, but it's all a facade. Inside, it's obviously a mess!

Everyone's response was mediocre, and the atmosphere was a bit cold.

Ma Yang remembered Pei Qian's instructions and immediately realized that it was time for him to perform.

He couldn't let the atmosphere cool down, he had to take the initiative to ask questions! He had to give more feedback!

Thinking of this, he looked at the packed office area and asked casually, "Eh, isn't today Saturday? Are so many people working overtime?"

Zhou Muyan was a little confused.

Wasn't that a rhetorical question?

How many game companies in China don't work 996? If it wasn't for the fact that today was a normal working day, would I be receiving you at the company?

This question was so stupid that Zhou Muyan didn't know how to answer it...

Huang Sibao hurriedly smoothed things over and said, "For work, working overtime is normal."

Ma Yang nodded: "Yes, that's right, you can still earn some overtime pay. Hey, so many people are working overtime in the studio. The monthly overtime pay should be a lot, right?"

Overtime pay?

Zhou Muyan continued to be confused.

He was a little puzzled, where did this long-faced guy come from?

It felt like he didn't understand the industry at all, and only said some layman's words.

What overtime pay was there in the game industry! Wasn't it all unpaid 996?!

Seeing Zhou Muyan's slightly unnatural expression, Huang Sibao and others instantly understood.

Only Ma Yang had not realized this, and looked like he wanted to ask some new questions.

Pei Qian quickly pulled Ma Yang.

You're a pit, what kind of questions are you asking!

I asked you to ask questions, not to tear down the stage! Do you believe that Zhou Muyan will kick you out directly!

I didn't come all this way to make enemies with people!

Ma Yang scratched his head, a little confused as to why Pei Qian was secretly pulling him.

Weren't the questions I asked very normal? What, was there something wrong?

Fortunately, he wasn't stupid enough to continue asking, so he had to shut up silently.

Zhou Muyan was speechless, but he was a cultured person and did not pay attention to this small episode. Instead, he continued to proudly introduce the working environment of Tian Huo Studio to everyone.

However, everyone who had seen the cruel truth was already uninterested and had very perfunctory expressions.

Zhou Muyan was very puzzled. Logically speaking, shouldn't everyone be showing that they were looking forward to it and envying it?

The working environment of Tian Huo Studio could definitely crush more than 90% of the game companies in China!

It was unreasonable for you not to envy it!

Xiao Lu looked at the seats in the office area and subconsciously whispered, "These workstations... are so cramped."