Chapter 1 Cayenne

The Cayenne stopped at the south gate of the school.

Pei Qian prepared to push open the car door and get out.

Xin Hailu, in the driver's seat, reached over a slender, jade-like hand, holding a small card case.

"This is what you instructed earlier. I've rented a two-bedroom apartment for you near the school. Inside are the access card and the keys."

Pei Qian didn't take it immediately, but observed the system's reaction.

Well, the system didn't say it was forbidden, so it must be allowed!

Buying clothes and renting a house seemed unrelated to the company's business, but it also involved the boss's personal image.

He couldn't very well pile the clothes he bought in the dorm, could he?

And what if he needed to work overtime or go on business trips in the future? What if the dorm lights were turned off and he wasn't allowed to go out in the middle of the night?

So, renting a house was perfectly reasonable!

Besides, the rent wasn't expensive. He'd already bought a suit worth tens of thousands; how much could renting a house cost?

This was 2009, after all. In Handong, the rent for a high-end, well-furnished two-bedroom apartment would be, at most, less than two thousand yuan.

Unlike ten years later, when even an old, run-down one-bedroom in the Imperial Capital would cost seven or eight thousand.

Since the system didn't say it was forbidden, Pei Qian felt no mental burden and reached out to take the card case.

He flipped it open slightly. Inside were the keys, an access card, and a small piece of paper with Xin Hailu's delicate handwriting, writing the address of the apartment.

The apartment complex was not far from the school's south gate, just a few dozen meters away.

"Well then, please rest well. The newly purchased clothing will be delivered to your residence within the next few days."

The Cayenne drove away.

Pei Qian felt great.

The system didn't prohibit these behaviors; it was still very loyal to him!

Swiping the access card, he entered the high-end residential area near the school.

When he was a student, Pei Qian had only seen it from afar, never having been inside.

Following the address on the note, Pei Qian found his two-bedroom apartment.

Opening the door, Pei Qian was a little shocked.

Although it was called a two-bedroom, the actual area was not much smaller than a three-bedroom, estimated to be one hundred thirty or forty square meters.

Furniture, everything was complete.

Even the sheets, bedding, toiletries, and so on were all prepared.

It was a true move-in-ready situation.

He didn't even need to bring a bag to move in.

Pei Qian sat down on the sofa, and his butt never wanted to move again.

Compared to this place, the dorm was simply a birdcage!

No, even a birdcage was more spacious and cooler!

After lounging comfortably on the sofa for a while, Pei Qian cheered himself up again, preparing to start doing serious business.

He couldn't become complacent and forget his dreams!

He hadn't lost all the money yet!

Pei Qian summoned the system to check his current financial situation.

[Wealth Conversion System]

[Host: Pei Qian]

[Surplus Conversion Ratio 100:1, Loss Conversion Ratio 1:1]

[System Funds: 271145.5 (↓228854.5)]

[Personal Assets: 1957.6]

The first week's revenue was more than 500,000, the second week's revenue was more than 700,000, and the third week's revenue hadn't arrived yet, but it was estimated to be around 700,000 or 800,000.

It seemed that Pei Qian's estimate of a monthly revenue of five million was quite accurate, though he had underestimated it slightly.

Renting office space cost him more than 700,000 at once, and in the future, he would have to spend more than 300,000 more each month.

The purchased office supplies were around 800,000, which he hadn't spent yet. Pei Qian planned to spend it all as soon as the next week's revenue arrived.

As for the expenses of buying clothes, renting a car, renting a house, etc., adding up to more than 100,000, Pei Qian didn't even care.

There were still system funds left, but considering the original standard of 500,000, this was already a loss of more than 200,000!

The results were gratifying!

Of course, there were still things to do next.

The office space was rented, so he had to hire employees. Otherwise, leaving such a large office space idle would be a violation of the rules, and the system would warn him.

"Consider, what kind of people should I hire?"

"Those who are too excellent definitely won't work; they'll affect my plan."

"Those who are too trashy won't work either; the game still has to be made, otherwise the system's requirements can't be met."

"Hmm… this is a technical task; I have to consider it carefully."

The more Pei Qian thought about it, the more difficult it seemed.

But for the sake of his current and future happy life, the more difficult things were, the more he had to try.

After thinking it over, Pei Qian first confirmed one thing.

That was, employees couldn't only be recruited online; he had to dig them out himself!

Posting job information online would only attract "people who think they can meet the job requirements."

Some people that Pei Qian had his eye on would back down on their own and not dare to apply.

In other words, the lower limit wasn't low enough.

Job postings online had to be written properly.

Pei Qian couldn't blatantly write "come be a freeloader" in the job description; the system would definitely warn him.

One "confidant" like Ma Yang wasn't enough.

Where else could he find talents like Ma Yang?

After thinking it over, Pei Qian suddenly thought of someone.

If he could get him to come out of seclusion, great things could be accomplished!

…

After searching three internet cafes near the school, Pei Qian finally found the person he was looking for.

This person was a bit homeless, but overall, he was either at this internet cafe or that internet cafe; either at the internet cafe, or on the way to the internet cafe.

Perhaps he would feel tired of always surfing the internet at the same internet cafe, so he would occasionally change the environment and stay at another internet cafe for ten days or half a month.

This amazing person was called Bao Xu. People in the internet cafe liked to call him "Bao Su" (meaning "Bao who stays overnight").

The term "liver king" (a term for someone who grinds at games excessively) only became popular in the next few years.

But based on Bao Xu's performance, calling him a "liver king" was a bit of an understatement.

He should be called a "Super Liver King"!

The current Bao Xu was not yet known to the public.

But soon, his name would spread throughout the school, and everyone would know him.

Two things about him were widely circulated.

The first thing was that during his freshman year, from the end of winter and the beginning of spring until summer, he stayed in the internet cafe every day, constantly grinding maps and playing games.

When the hot summer came, everyone else was wearing shorts and short sleeves, but he was still wearing a sweater and long underwear, with his coat draped over the back of his chair.

Because he had never returned to the dorm, and didn't have time to change clothes.

When he was sleepy, he would put the chair down and half-lie down for a nap.

After waking up, he would go to the bathroom to wash his face and continue grinding.

In this way, he ignored the four seasons.

After this incident, he was called "Long Underwear Bro."

The second thing was that during his sophomore year, he was kicked out of school because he failed too many subjects.

After being kicked out, he continued to stay in the internet cafe.

His family couldn't contact him and thought something had happened to him and he had died.

Bao Xu made a living by power-leveling, farming, and selling equipment, and lived in the internet cafe for two or three years.

That was such an amazing person.

Of course, in the eyes of ordinary people, this person was in the late stages of internet addiction and needed to be electrocuted.

But Pei Qian could see his shining points.

This kind of person was a true hardcore player.

He was familiar with most games on the market and could answer any questions about the details of their settings.

Would it be reasonable to hire such a hardcore player to be an employee?

Of course, the premise was to get him to take care of his personal hygiene.

Moreover, Pei Qian also valued another characteristic of him, which was that he was good at playing games, but didn't understand design!

This kind of person was very easy to go astray.

To give a simple example, if a person wants to become a good chef, then he must be able to taste the quality of the food.

But conversely, if a person can taste the quality of the food, and has very strict tastes, will he necessarily become a good chef?

The answer is often no.

Even people who are overly picky about food are less likely to become a good chef.

There is a degree here; too much is as bad as too little.

Making games does require passion and love for games, but too much is not good.

If you love games too much, you often can't maintain enough reason and objectivity, and easily mistake your understanding of games for the understanding of most ordinary players.

Therefore, Pei Qian felt that Bao Xu was a person who met his requirements.

On the one hand, he was a fanatical game enthusiast, a game god. Hiring him to be an employee and giving him more salary wouldn't be a violation of the system.

On the other hand, he wouldn't be too good at design, and there was a very high probability that he would get into a dead end and screw things up.

Look, what a perfect employee!

However, Pei Qian wasn't sure if he could persuade him.

After all, this was a person who, two years later, would make his family think that something had happened to him and he had died.

It was hard to imagine what would have to happen for him to leave the internet cafe.