Chapter 1 Wednesday, December 7th

At the Touching Fish Internet Cafe, Pei Qian sipped his coffee while browsing the forum.

"Strange, the IOI qualifiers should be starting soon, but why is there no news about it online?"

"There are a few rumors, but nothing concrete, and they haven't made any waves."

Pei Qian was puzzled. According to the information from Shang Yang Games, the IOI qualifiers should be starting within a week.

The pre-season of the GPL league was scheduled to start this weekend. Not all clubs would participate in this pre-season, and it would only last for three weeks.

The pre-season was an opportunity for the clubs to practice and work together, and for the league, it was a chance to adapt to various unexpected situations that might occur during the competition. For the audience, it provided something to watch during this boring time and preview the GPL league.

After the end of the pre-season at the end of the month, there would be a two-week break, and then around mid-January, the GPL spring season would officially begin.

Currently, IOI was facing a huge threat from GOG. Overseas was a little better, but especially in China, IOI's every move depended on GOG's reaction.

Even IOI's new version changes were learning from GOG.

In this situation, IOI's two important competitions, the qualifiers and the World Finals, had to avoid GOG's competition times as much as possible.

If the two competitions were held at the same time, wouldn't IOI be waiting to have its popularity stolen?

Therefore, the time set by Finger Company should be to finish the domestic qualifiers this weekend and decide on the three teams to go to the World Finals; then, at the end of the month, when the GPL pre-season had just ended, hold the World Finals to avoid the popularity of the GPL and have a chance to shine.

Pei Qian completely agreed with this idea.

However, Pei Qian felt a little regretful that the IOI domestic qualifiers still clashed with the GPL pre-season: both were starting this weekend.

"It seems that Finger Company has tried very hard to avoid the GPL events, but there's no way around it. There's not enough time."

"From the start of preparations for the IOI qualifiers to the official start, the time is very tight. It's impossible to move it forward, and if it's delayed, there will be GPL games for the next twenty days, so there's no point in delaying it."

"So, it can only be a clash, which is a bit awkward."

"But despite the clash, the IOI qualifiers have such low popularity. It doesn't make sense, right? It seems that the official hasn't done much promotion."

"There's no sound at all. Isn't this handing over the popularity to the GPL?"

"These people are being too unprofessional. I have to find a way to help them and stir up the popularity."

"Hmm... how can I help?"

Pei Qian was worried for them when he saw that the IOI qualifiers had such low popularity and no one was discussing them.

If the popularity of the IOI competition didn't increase, how could it pose a threat to GOG?

If GOG's popularity continued to remain so high, how could he lose money?

Therefore, Pei Qian decided to lend a hand and help Finger Company. At least stir up the popularity of the IOI qualifiers and increase the attention, right?

This was just a matter of spending some marketing expenses, and it wouldn't cost much.

Finger Company and Longyu Group were both large companies that didn't lack money, so why were they being so stingy in this matter? This was something that Pei Qian found very puzzling.

But then he thought, maybe the preparations for the qualifiers were too rushed, so they hadn't had time to stir up the popularity yet?

Well, that was also a possibility.

Then he should help them even more.

However, Pei Qian hadn't thought about how to help specifically.

It was definitely impossible to pay out of his own pocket. With the little money he had in his pocket, he could only buy some online shills to promote it, which would have little effect.

Besides, the fundamental purpose of doing these things was to lose money and convert more personal property, but if he spent his personal property before losing money, wouldn't that be stupid?

So, he still had to find a way to get the system to reimburse him.

The problem was that the IOI qualifiers weren't a competition organized by Tengda, so how could the system reimburse him? It didn't seem to make sense.

Pei Qian stroked his chin and pondered for a long time, when a flash of inspiration suddenly struck his mind.

"I've got it! Didn't I just invest in an IOI club! I can make something out of this!"

Pei Qian had just made a trip to Shanghai on Monday and invested in FV Club at lightning speed. Only two days had passed since then.

It was unreasonable to spend the company's money to promote the IOI qualifiers, and the system wouldn't approve it. But what if he spent money to promote FV Club and, at the same time, promote the IOI qualifiers?

He could spend as much money as he wanted to promote his own club, and the system was very tolerant in this regard!

Although Pei Qian had made up his mind never to interfere with the operation of FV Club, giving it some money for advertising shouldn't count as interfering with the operation, right?

Of course, there was also a hidden danger in doing so, which was what to do if FV Club became famous, its popularity increased significantly, and there was a hidden danger of profitability.

But Pei Qian thought about it, and the possibility was too low, almost non-existent.

What was the current state of FV Club?

It had some money, but not much. Pei Qian had only given it three million, which was nothing compared to the investments of those wealthy clubs. Not to mention the people, there were only three team members left, and their strength wasn't very good.

What could such a club do, no matter how hard it promoted itself?

E-sports ultimately depended on results. Without results, no matter how much marketing was done, it would only make the audience feel disgusted and uncomfortable, which would only accelerate the loss of popularity.

Besides, the chances of FV Club breaking out of the qualifiers were very slim, and the popularity wouldn't last at all, even if it was promoted like crazy now.

In short, the popularity brought by burning money for promotion would be concentrated on the IOI qualifiers, which wouldn't have a significant impact on FV Club itself, and Pei Qian would have legitimately spent a sum of money.

Perfect, very perfect!

The more Pei Qian thought about it, the more suitable it seemed. He immediately called Wu Yue, the boss of FV Club.

"Hello, President Pei?" The call was answered after a few rings, and Wu Yue's voice was a bit sleepy, as if he had just woken up.

Pei Qian looked at his watch. It was almost 11 a.m. already, and he was still sleeping? He got up even later than me?

Good, President Pei appreciated people like this.

Pei Qian asked, "Is there enough money for the club?"

Wu Yue on the other end of the phone was obviously stunned.

Didn't President Pei just invest three million the day before yesterday? Why was he mentioning money again today?

Could it be that... President Pei knew that I went to buy team members, and he was worried that I didn't have enough money, so he wanted to give me more money?

Wu Yue couldn't help but feel a surge of warmth and gratitude. He quickly said, "Don't worry, President Pei, there's still enough money. You don't have to worry about that."

Pei Qian was very dissatisfied with this answer.

Was there ever enough money? This Wu Yue wasn't honest at all.

Pei Qian cleared his throat twice: "It's definitely impossible to have enough. If you think you have enough money, then there must be something wrong with the work you're doing!"

"I'll give you another three million."

"But this three million is for a specific purpose: marketing expenses. Use this money to promote online, and use various channels to promote FV Club and the upcoming IOI qualifiers."

Wu Yue was stunned for a moment. He quickly said, "President Pei, three million for marketing expenses is too much! I'm afraid it won't have a good effect. It's a bit of a waste..."

"How about this, take out fifty or one million to do marketing, and use the rest of the money elsewhere..."

Hearing the word "waste," Pei Qian's eyes lit up.

Waste was good!

Using it elsewhere was the real waste.

Pei Qian immediately said, "No, all three million must be used for marketing and promotion, and it must all be spent before this weekend. Not a single cent can be left!"

"Don't ask why, just spend it."

Although Pei Qian had said that he wouldn't interfere with the daily operations of FV Club, this kind of hard-selling money didn't count as interfering with the operation, and Wu Yue had absolutely no reason to refuse.

Wu Yue on the other end of the phone was silent for a long time before reluctantly saying, "Okay, President Pei, since you've already decided, then I'll use all three million for marketing."

Pei Qian nodded: "Well, spend it without worry, spend it as much as you can. By the way, be sure to remember to promote the IOI qualifiers."

Pei Qian was afraid that Wu Yue would forget. If he only promoted FV Club and didn't promote the IOI qualifiers, it would be putting the cart before the horse.

After all, Pei Qian's fundamental purpose was to let more people know about the IOI qualifiers and create popularity for IOI.

Wu Yue: "Okay, President Pei, I understand!"

...

After hanging up the phone, Wu Yue sat up from the bed.

Last night, he had rushed back from Jingzhou with several team members late at night, and he had arranged accommodation for the team members. He had been busy almost all night and had just fallen asleep at six in the morning.

He didn't expect to be woken up by President Pei's call at noon, and another three million fell from the sky.

Wu Yue instantly lost all sleepiness. He got up, washed his face, and immediately called Manager Lu to explain in detail about getting another three million for marketing expenses.

Manager Lu had also just woken up and was just as confused as Wu Yue.

"President Pei gave another three million? And he specifically stated that it was for marketing expenses? And it could only be spent on marketing?" Manager Lu also felt that this matter was a bit outrageous.

Why was President Pei so good to FV Club?

Excluding the possibility that President Pei was actually Wu's long-lost father, it was a bit difficult to explain.

Wu Yue said, "Based on President Pei's tone and recent events, I've made a rough guess. Listen to see if this is possible."

"President Pei's first sentence was to ask me if there was enough money. He must have known about our purchase of team members."

"In that case, the money President Pei gave must be what he wants us to spend on other things."

"The hard power of our team is already very good in the IOI e-sports circle. The specific results we can achieve will depend on the team's cohesion, but it's definitely no problem to compete with those strong teams."

"Since we already have a certain strength, then the thing our club lacks most now is obviously popularity and fame!"

"And President Pei specifically gave a sum of marketing expenses, which is actually a reminder to us that it's about time to stir up some popularity. Now is a good time."

Manager Lu was stunned for a moment: "But President Wu, the IOI qualifiers haven't started yet, and we haven't determined that we'll definitely make it through. If we stir up popularity now, but we don't win the competition, won't we be benefiting other clubs for nothing?"

Wu Yue shook his head: "There is that risk, but we have to take it."

"If we wait until we're sure we'll make it through to start promoting, then what's the use? The competition will almost be over, and the popularity will have already passed!"

"We have to promote and warm up in advance before the competition starts to draw the attention of netizens to the competition and our club. This way, when our team members achieve good results, we can gain more popularity."

"As for the possibility of making wedding clothes for others... we can only say that this risk must be taken."

"President Pei should also be very clear about this, so he repeatedly urged us to spend all the money within a week. Isn't that reminding us that we must stir up the popularity before the competition starts?"

Manager Lu suddenly realized: "You're right."

"Then I'll prepare now and start building momentum for FV Club and the IOI qualifiers!"

...

After hanging up the phone with Wu Yue, Pei Qian temporarily put the e-sports side of things aside and stopped worrying about it.

Although he had spent three million to help promote IOI, Pei Qian didn't have high expectations for the IOI qualifiers. It would be great if it could generate popularity and help IOI counterattack, but it didn't matter if it couldn't generate popularity.

The worst-case scenario was that the IOI qualifiers still had no popularity, but at least for Pei Qian, three million was spent.

Pei Qian began to consider the affairs in the capital.

Currently, there were two projects in the capital that Pei Qian was more concerned about. The first was the independent game incubation base that Qiu Hong was in charge of, and the second was Meng Chang's Cold Noodles Girl.

The independent game incubation base had been in official operation for half a month so far, and Pei Qian had never been there once, so he knew nothing about the situation there.

For some reason, he felt a little unsure.

What if some breakout games appeared among these independent games? What if the income from two or three games completely covered the losses of the other games and the expenses of the incubation base, and even generated profits?

Pei Qian was very aware of his own character, and this possibility wasn't non-existent, and it was actually very high.

Therefore, he was a little worried for no reason.

But Pei Qian couldn't go and see for himself, because the Dead End Plan and this incubation base currently had no connection with Tengda. If Pei Qian went himself, wouldn't he be exposing himself?

Once the "Dead End Plan" was linked to Tengda Group, various capable, idealistic, and ambitious independent game developers would come to rely on it, and the possibility of this plan losing money would be greatly reduced.

Another project was Cold Noodles Girl.

Pei Qian had also invested a lot of money in this project, and it was impossible to say that he wasn't worried at all.

For a project like this, it would be good if it lost money, but if it made money, it would make a lot of money, a bloody profit. Pei Qian hadn't seen it in person either, and he also felt a little uneasy.

Therefore, after thinking it over, Pei Qian decided to send someone to see for himself.

Go to the capital, first take a look at the game incubation base of the Dead End Plan, then take a look at the Cold Noodles Girl store, collect some information, and report back to him.

It might not be useful, but at least it could put his mind at ease.

But the problem was, who to send?

The most important thing about this person was to be realistic, not to add too much subjectivity to the judgment, and it was best not to be the person in charge of each department.

Delaying departmental work wasn't a big deal, but it wouldn't be good if the two projects were linked after watching them.

So, after considering it, Pei Qian quickly determined the best candidate.

Let Xiao Tang go!

Tang Yishu had no other work except managing the Tuition Ancestors to hold meetings and feeding the cats. Going to the capital wouldn't cause any linkage effects.

Moreover, Tang Yishu's presence within Tengda Group was very weak. Even if she showed up at the independent game incubation base, no one would guess the relationship between the incubation base and Tengda.

In addition, Tang Yishu was observing as a third party. She didn't have relevant expertise and should be able to set aside some subjective factors as much as possible and see the real situation of the independent game incubation base and Cold Noodles Girl.

The more Pei Qian thought about it, the more appropriate it seemed. He called Tang Yishu.

"Hello? Senior." Tang Yishu lowered her voice on the other end of the phone, "I'm in the study room, wait a moment, I'll go outside."

After a moment, Tang Yishu's voice returned to normal: "Senior, I'm out, what's the matter?"

Pei Qian went straight to the point: "I want you to go to the capital for the next two days to do something for me. Our company currently has some business in the capital. Go and take a look at it, investigate it, and then report it to me when you come back."

Tang Yishu's tone was a bit surprised and astonished: "Ah? Senior, I don't think I can do it. I'm a little afraid of going on a long trip..."

Pei Qian had expected it: "It's okay, this time I'll have Xiao Sun, the company's best driver, pick you up and drop you off, and find another driver to accompany you. Before leaving, check the car carefully from beginning to end to ensure that everything is absolutely safe along the way."

"When you get there, Qiu Hong will be there to receive you. You don't have to worry about anything, just inspect it for me and reflect the problems you see truthfully."

Pei Qian was very clear that Tang Yishu's luck was a bit evil, but her bad luck basically appeared on some small things, such as accidentally tripping when going out, the emergence of hidden bugs in the program, and so on.

Tang Yishu had never encountered a major danger that would threaten her health, she wasn't a local in Jingzhou, and she had never heard of train derailments or other accidents when she came here to study from thousands of miles away, so there was no need to worry too much about this.

Letting Xiao Sun drive her, as long as she was careful, there wouldn't be any problems.

Tang Yishu was still a little unwilling: "But Senior, it's almost exam week, and I have to review..."

Pei Qian smiled slightly: "It's okay, it's only two days. With your grades, the impact of not reviewing for two days is negligible, it won't delay you from getting the national scholarship."

Every time he talked about this, Pei Qian was especially envious of these super-achievers.

Why did Tang Yishu get high scores every time, but he had to struggle to pass?

This world was so unfair!

Tang Yishu hesitated for a moment, but finally agreed: "Then I'll take a trip, but I don't understand anything, so I probably won't be able to see any problems..."

Pei Qian smiled: "It's okay, it's precisely because you don't understand anything that you can see some details. You don't need to deliberately study it, and you don't need to care about what others say, just observe based on your first impression, and then tell me what you observed."

"By the way, at the incubation base, pay attention to whether there's any overtime. Overtime is absolutely not allowed."

"If there's no overtime, then take a look at their working state. If their working state is very good, then force them to play games, and they must play for ten hours every week!"

Pei Qian had learned to be smart now. He found that just limiting working hours could no longer control these people. Many departments had short working hours, but their working efficiency was very high, and the progress hadn't fallen behind at all!

Therefore, in addition to working hours, he also had to pay attention to the working state of these independent game developers at the incubation base. If their state was bursting, then he had to take some measures.

Tang Yishu: "Okay, Senior."

...

...

Chapter 2 Thursday, December 8th

At the headquarters of Longyu Group, Zhao Xuming, the head of the IOI operation cooperation department, Kletian, the head of IOI China, and related staff were holding a meeting.

Kletian introduced the work trends of the Finger Company headquarters to everyone.

"Currently, the headquarters is fully preparing for the IOI World Finals. This year's finals will be held in Los Angeles. The venue is still under preparation, and it should be fully completed by the end of this month."

"The qualifiers around the world should be launched soon, and the places to participate in the World Finals will be decided. The competition time for the World Finals is tentatively scheduled for the 24th of this month, Saturday, which is Christmas Eve, and will officially start on the day and end on January 15."

"This competition basically does not overlap with the GPL competition, which is also the suggestion I made to the headquarters."

"Although in any way, the popularity of our Global Finals will not be lower than that of the GPL League, but considering the special circumstances of the China server, we really don't need to compete head-to-head. Staggering the time can ensure the maximization of the popularity of the Finals."

"In addition, the in-depth innovation of IOI gameplay is still in progress. The next goal of the headquarters is to further absorb the gameplay advantages of GOG. I insisted on using the modified version for the competition at the Finals, to show our determination to global players, especially Chinese players."

"Director Zhao, how is the situation at Longyu Group?"

Zhao Xuming took over the conversation: "Everything is going smoothly at Longyu Group, and the progress is perfect!"

"Some time ago, because of the low-price area and the game changes, domestic players did accumulate a lot of resentment, but our delaying tactics have already achieved initial results."

"The targeted compensation for old players has temporarily quelled their anger. As for the new version, although there have been some changes in the gameplay, many old players have adapted after a period of time, so they are not so resistant."

"I believe that as time goes by, they will slowly accept it."

"Of course, the current situation cannot be blindly optimistic, and the activity of some old players has decreased. But this doesn't matter. As long as the Global Finals are done well, the popularity of IOI will soar, and these old players will definitely come back."

"As for the domestic clubs, everything is foolproof. Our Longyu Group cooperated with three old clubs to coordinate and help them strengthen their teams."

"These three old clubs are all famous clubs in China, and they are currently the strongest, so there is no problem in breaking out of the qualifiers. Other clubs have also received good transfer fees by buying players, and they can also play a certain supporting role in the qualifiers."

"This can be regarded as a win-win situation for the small clubs, the big clubs, and our organizers."

"In short, we have already prepared for the IOI World Finals!"

Kletian nodded: "Well. Among the three clubs you mentioned, is there one called FV Club?"

Zhao Xuming was stunned for a moment: "Ah? No."

"FV Club is a small club, not very famous. Even if they participate in the qualifiers, they are just escorts, and their strength is far behind."

Kletian couldn't help but frown slightly, somewhat surprised.

Obviously, there was some deviation in the information that the two parties had.

"Then why does this FV Club seem to be spending its own money to promote the qualifiers? I thought this was authorized by your Longyu Group," Kletian said.

Zhao Xuming was at a loss: "When did this happen? Why don't I know?"

Kletian was a little unhappy: "It started yesterday. It seems that Director Zhao's news has not been very accurate recently."

Zhao Xuming quickly explained: "I have been busy these past two days and haven't paid much attention to these things."

He turned his head to look at the subordinate next to him: "Do you know about this?"

The subordinate nodded: "Yes, in fact, these promotions only appeared yesterday afternoon and evening. I have already sorted out the relevant content and originally wanted to report it to you after today's meeting."

Seeing that the atmosphere was not right, the subordinate quickly took the blame on himself.

Zhao Xuming said with a cold face: "Bring it here immediately!"

The subordinate quickly got up and left. After a moment, he came back with a sorted document and handed it to Zhao Xuming.

Zhao Xuming reached out and took it, quickly browsing through it.

According to the report, FV Club has done promotion in many places, including some live broadcast platforms, video websites, forums, etc. In addition to buying hot searches and buying advertisements, there seemed to be signs of water army activities under these topics.

It did greatly increase the popularity, but all of these marketing activities were limited to FV Club and the IOI domestic qualifiers.

Moreover, because FV Club itself was not very famous, it had to use the IOI World Finals for marketing, so FV Club was not the main part of these promotions.

No wonder Kletian thought that these marketing activities were authorized by Longyu Group to FV Club.

Zhao Xuming was simply at a loss. What was going on?

Was the eunuch more anxious than the emperor?

Longyu Group did not deliberately promote the IOI domestic qualifiers, mainly because there was no need to waste money on this.

Only a few teams participated in the domestic qualifiers. In addition to the three old clubs, SUG, etc., the other participating teams were all escorts, which had been determined when the team was selected.

Moreover, the domestic qualifiers would not receive much attention, and the number of viewers would not be very large. Longyu Group did not intend to spend much money on the venue, but just found a studio to get by, thinking that it would be over after going through the motions.

In this case, why spend too much money on marketing?

If the popularity was stirred up, and the audience came in and saw that the stage was just this? The level of competition was just this? Far from GPL!

Spending money wouldn't necessarily have a good effect.

Therefore, Zhao Xuming did not forget to promote, but deliberately did not want to promote it in a big way. It would be enough to just send the three old teams to the World Finals, and then try to promote it and create popularity at the World Finals.

The money had to be spent wisely.

As a result, FV Club spent its own money to promote!

Zhao Xuming was very puzzled, wondering why this qualifier had nothing to do with them?

It would be okay if SUG and other clubs spent money to promote it, after all, they could get real popularity and traffic, but FV Club was just an escort. Isn't promoting this a pure waste of money?

Seeing Zhao Xuming's blank look, Kletian was a little unhappy.

He tapped the table lightly and said, "Director Zhao, the FV Club matter is not a good influence."

"Our own publicity is not strong enough, and many players are getting information from FV Club. There is no news from the official side, which makes us look very unprofessional!"

"I originally thought that FV Club's promotion was authorized by you, and felt that you were doing this a bit unprofessional. But I didn't expect that you didn't know anything about it? This is even more unprofessional!"

"Out of trust in Longyu Group, we have never asked about the domestic qualifiers, but the current situation seems to have betrayed our trust, right?"

The corners of Zhao Xuming's mouth twitched slightly, and his heart was speechless.

This was really unlucky!

According to the original plan, the domestic qualifiers would just be done casually, and it would be enough to pass the test. The teams were all determined internally, and no one was watching, so why make such a big show?

It was not too late to save the money for the World Finals.

As a result, FV Club was doing this, which made the official unable to back down. When the players saw that the promotion of the IOI official was not as good as that of a club, they would definitely feel that Finger Company and Longyu Group were very unprofessional.

To put it simply, Longyu Group was like a department leader who was touching fish with the entire department. Others couldn't see it too much, but they just felt that this department was not very effective.

As a result, suddenly someone in the department worked hard like he had been injected with chicken blood, working overtime every day, and all the other people in the department were exposed, becoming a group of mixed-eating and waiting-to-die wastes.

Especially the department leader, he must be the one who got scolded the most.

Zhao Xuming quickly said, "Don't worry, it's still completely possible to remedy it now!"

"The competition will not start until Saturday, and there are still two days left. We will invest some resources to promote the IOI qualifiers, so that players will think that FV Club only obtained inside information in advance and promoted it earlier than the official, and they will not think that we are unprofessional."

"Moreover, with FV Club's momentum, we should be able to achieve a better effect when we promote it again."

Kletian nodded, expressing his satisfaction: "It's best to be able to remedy it, I believe in your professionalism."

Zhao Xuming had a smile on his face and was calm on the surface, but in his heart, he was cursing.

Wasn't this FV just asking for trouble? Harming others without benefiting themselves!

This time, Longyu Group would have to take out a large sum of money to invest in this qualifier.

Not only the advertising and marketing costs, but also the venue for the competition must be rushed to work and made more fancy, right?

If the attention was up, there would definitely be more players who would pick on problems. If the venue was not good enough, it would definitely reduce the level of the competition and be more embarrassing.

Of course, there were only two days left before the competition, and the time was too tight. It was definitely too late to change the venue. He could only buy some decorations to improve the venue effect as much as possible.

Zhao Xuming still couldn't figure out why FV Club would be idle to spend money to promote itself, but he didn't have time to investigate it.

After all, time was tight, and there were only two days before the start of the competition. Zhao Xuming had to put all his energy into preparing for the qualifiers.

...

At the same time, in the capital.

Tang Yishu got out of the car and carefully stepped on the land of the capital.

This was her first time here. Although she was worried along the way, she magically did not encounter any accidents.

However, this did not make Tang Yishu feel at ease. On the contrary, she felt more dangerous.

It might be because the previous safety measures were too much in place, and bad luck did not find a chance to take advantage of it, so it all accumulated. She didn't know what kind of breakthrough would be found, and it would suddenly explode.

Xiao Sun drove the car directly to the hotel's parking lot. Qiu Hong had already booked the room and was waiting in the lobby in advance.

According to the schedule, they would eat something first at noon, rest, go to the independent game incubation base in the afternoon, and then go to the Cold Noodles Girl to take a look the next day before returning to Jingzhou in the afternoon.

Qiu Hong looked at the mechanical watch on his hand, estimating that the time should be almost up.

After waiting for two minutes, he looked up and saw Tang Yishu coming to the main entrance of the hotel.

Two drivers were like bodyguards, carefully protecting her safety from left to right, but the automatic sensing revolving door at the hotel entrance suddenly stopped turning for some unknown reason, and the three of them were stuck in place.

Qiu Hong quickly stepped forward and opened the side door next to him: "Xiao Tang, right? Come here!"

Tang Yishu and the two drivers had to take the side door, and as soon as they entered the lobby, the revolving door at the hotel entrance returned to normal.

Qiu Hong didn't care, thinking that this was just an accidental episode, and shook hands with Tang Yishu.

"You've worked hard along the way. The three of you must be tired from the long journey. The itinerary is like this: we'll go to a nearby place to eat something simple first, and then the three of you will go back to the hotel to rest at noon. At two o'clock in the afternoon, we'll gather in the lobby, and I'll take everyone to see the incubation base."

"The current time is... huh?"

Qiu Hong subconsciously raised his wrist to check the time, but found that the mechanical watch that was fine just now had stopped walking.

He was a little dazed. He had been wearing this watch for several years, and it had never had any major problems. He had just wound it up a while ago.

Why did it suddenly stop walking when it was walking so well?

Tang Yishu looked up at the sky a little embarrassed, as if nothing had happened.

...

At noon, at the independent game incubation base.

Wu Zhicheng was in the rest area eating with several independent game developers who had recently arrived.

"Look, I said that the tomato and egg stir-fry from Touching Fish Takeaway is especially delicious, right? It's different from what you get at restaurants outside, right? Touching Fish Takeaway's dishes are absolutely healthy."

"...Hmm? The work plan? Don't worry about that, it's not a deadline that must be completed, it can be adjusted. If you think there's anything new to add, you can find Xi Hao at any time."

"...Don't be afraid of him. Don't think of Xi Hao as your boss or manager. He's just the boss of the service department. He won't interfere with the project. He will only plan the work plan according to your ideas. How to do the project specifically is up to you."

"Come on, eat more vegetables."

Wu Zhicheng was like an old senior, showing meticulous care for the new independent game developers, although he had only been here for less than a month.

Originally, Wu Zhicheng thought that he would not be used to this kind of collective work, but after coming here, he realized that this was not the case at all!

After coming here, the development progress of *Ink Wash Clouds and Mist* can be described as rapid.

Wu Zhicheng also thought deeply about the differences between these two.

Now that he thought about it, he felt that he used to think that he was working on games efficiently at home, but it was completely an illusion.

Because working at home often distracted him due to some trivial things, such as how to deal with the art resources of a certain part of the game, or what to do if he suddenly found that the entire framework was unclear after doing half of a level, and he had to overturn and redo it.

Similar situations were often encountered, because Wu Zhicheng's planning for the entire project was not detailed and comprehensive enough, and these trivial matters would indeed distract him.

But after coming to this incubation base, these trivial matters were all taken care of by others. Wu Zhicheng only needed to carefully think about the creativity and do the design, so the efficiency naturally improved a lot.

Many independent game developers could not make a head start because of this problem.

There was a specialization in the art industry. Even within the planning department, designing gameplay, adjusting values, making art requests, and planning development progress were completely different in nature, and it was difficult for anyone to be fully proficient.

Once a certain part was not good at, then in order to make up for this shortcoming, a lot of energy would be involved.

But now, with the help of the incubation base, Wu Zhicheng and these independent game developers only needed to be responsible for doing a good job in creativity and game design, and other work would be helped by professionals. Under this kind of detailed division of labor, the efficiency was naturally greatly improved.

Originally, Wu Zhicheng had a little bit of social anxiety, and he was a little worried about whether he would encounter those workplace problems, but after this period of getting along, he found that he was completely worrying!

Xi Hao, as the head of the administrative department, was very clear about the positioning of his department: this was just a service department.

Therefore, there was no question of who managed whom, and naturally there were no workplace twists and turns.

On the contrary, these independent game developers were all screened by Qiu Hong. Their abilities were high and low