October 15th, Monday.

After confirming that *Ghost General 2* had basically no major problems and could be developed as scheduled, Pei Qian felt much more at ease.

Bao Xu would keep an eye on it for a few more days, and would soon be setting off for Shennongjia, so he wouldn't have to worry about the Suffering Travels side of things for the time being.

He could concentrate his energy on solving the key problem of this stage.

That was, poaching people!

Eric had already returned to Europe last Friday. He didn't know when he would be back, maybe in two or three days at the earliest, or a week at the latest.

Of course, it was also possible that after considering it, he still wanted to stay with the Dayak Group. This was also a possibility, but not a very high one.

Because when Pei Qian had dinner with Eric, Eric's attitude had already changed significantly. As someone who had no real power and had to take the blame, Eric couldn't possibly have no complaints.

So, next, in addition to waiting for Eric, Pei Qian had another very important thing to do: to think about how to poach Zhao Xuming, this treasure.

Having only Eric was still a bit dangerous after all.

What if he was undermined by other people under him?

You had to know that Eric was now facing the most ruthless group of employees in history. They were deeply influenced by the Tendai spirit, had a very strong sense of honor and mission, and had two big words written on their foreheads: Success!

In this environment, it would be troublesome if Eric was assimilated.

Therefore, it was also very important to bring Zhao Xuming to assist Eric, so that this golden duo could bring the "successful" experience of Longyu Group to Tengda.

Sometimes, two swords combined could exert the greatest effect.

But how to poach Zhao Xuming specifically was a big problem.

Eric had taken advantage of a loophole and didn't have to worry about the non-compete agreement, but Zhao Xuming couldn't.

He was a proper senior executive of Longyu Group, and the non-compete agreement definitely wouldn't allow him to jump ship to a domestic game company.

Should he resign first for health reasons?

These senior executives worked for a long time, and their bodies would have some problems more or less. It should be very easy to get a medical examination report to fool them.

But the problem was that Zhao Xuming could resign, but he couldn't join Tengda.

Once he joined, Longyu Group wouldn't be stupid, and would definitely sue immediately.

Moreover, he had signed an agreement in black and white, and even if he hired the most brilliant lawyer in the country, it would be useless, and he would still lose the case.

At that time, not to mention whether the system would give the liquidated damages, what if Longyu Group still demanded continued enforcement and didn't allow Zhao Xuming to work at Tengda?

This was very possible.

After thinking about it, Pei Qian felt that he couldn't do this by force.

Because morally, legally, and rationally, it wouldn't be right to secretly poach Zhao Xuming.

Then the only way was to talk to Longyu Group and exchange some benefits to make them voluntarily give up Zhao Xuming.

They were all mature companies, and they should talk about benefits when doing things. There was no need to be impulsive.

As long as the conditions given were enough to make Longyu Group tempted, they would definitely wish they could send Zhao Xuming over in a grand sedan, no, with gongs and drums.

But the problem was: what conditions could make Longyu Group tempted?

Pei Qian really didn't know.

Take out a Tengda game for Longyu Group to represent?

That definitely wouldn't work.

Longyu Group would definitely agree, but Pei Qian felt that this sacrifice was too great. It wasn't worth such a big sacrifice to exchange for Zhao Xuming.

Although Pei Qian was eager for "talent," he wasn't that thirsty.

Not to mention whether it would damage Tengda's image, the key was that it would be difficult to handle the extra money!

Let Longyu Group make the request first.

After they made the request, then he would bargain specifically. As long as an agreement was reached without violating the system's regulations, there would be no problem.

After careful consideration, Pei Qian decided to call Zhou Muyan of Tianhuo Studio.

Pei Qian wasn't familiar with the bosses and senior executives of Longyu Group, because there was no business relationship, and they had a very unpleasant experience because of IOI.

Going directly to them would be embarrassing, not to mention that the communication efficiency might be relatively low.

As far as Pei Qian knew, Longyu Group had represented Tianhuo Studio's games, and the two sides had a relatively in-depth cooperation. Zhou Muyan had a relatively good relationship with them.

Letting Zhou Muyan be the middleman to build a bridge might have a better effect.

After dialing the phone, Pei Qian briefly explained his thoughts.

The meaning was very clear: you communicate with Longyu Group. I want to poach Zhao Xuming. Let them name a price!

He highlighted being open and aboveboard, without playing any tricks.

Zhou Muyan was also very surprised, not because of President Pei's public poaching, after all, this kind of thing was not common but not uncommon.

What surprised him was that President Pei would bother to poach Zhao Xuming?

Was Tengda lacking such a person?

GOG had clearly beaten IOI to the point where they couldn't find their way around. Even if there was a vacancy in the position, wouldn't it be enough to promote someone directly from within Tengda? Why bother to poach Zhao Xuming?

In Zhou Muyan's impression, this Zhao Xuming was a reliable person, but could he be said to be very capable? So strong that President Pei specifically named him? That was not the case.

"President Pei, are you sure you want to poach Zhao Xuming? Longyu Group will definitely not let him go easily. What if they ask for a high price?" Zhou Muyan asked.

Pei Qian smiled, "That's why I came to you. I need you to have a good 'communication' with them."

"I know how much Zhao Xuming weighs, you know, and Longyu Group also knows."

"If Longyu Group makes a not-too-excessive request, then everyone will be happy, everyone will get what they need, and the cooperation will be pleasant."

"If Longyu Group asks for a high price… don't think that Tengda really needs a Zhao Xuming to function, right?"

"The 1024 Digital Festival is coming soon. If I'm in a bad mood, I don't mind doing some activities for GOG and various games a few days in advance."

"I think Longyu Group should understand this principle. If they don't understand, President Zhou, you can help them understand."

Zhou Muyan: "…"

Good fellow, he heard the threat in President Pei's words.

President Pei's meaning was very clear. If Longyu Group obediently let people go, then the two companies could cooperate. If they asked for a high price or didn't let people go, then President Pei might be unhappy and might target Longyu Group.

Of course, there wouldn't be any serious consequences. At most, GOG would do some activities, causing IOI's national server's data and revenue to plummet for a period of time, or target other games that Longyu Group was representing.

But without a doubt, these affected real money.

What Zhou Muyan had to do was to be a lobbyist, helping Longyu Group to sort out the pros and cons, and at the same time coordinate in the middle to determine a compensation that both parties could be satisfied with.

As for what Zhao Xuming meant…

Zhou Muyan felt that he shouldn't have any opinions. President Pei personally asked for someone, he should be excited to do somersaults.

Moreover, the treatment and development prospects would definitely be better in Tengda than in Longyu Group.

Zhou Muyan thought about it and nodded, "Okay, then I'll try. I'll call you back if there's any progress."

He and President Pei were old acquaintances. Tianhuo Studio itself had a GPL team, and they had received a lot of care from President Pei in recent years. This kind of small thing like making a phone call and connecting a line was nothing.

After hanging up the phone, Pei Qian waited patiently while reading the work reports of various departments.

…

More than an hour later, Zhou Muyan called back.

"President Pei, Longyu Group's condition is: President Pei, you design a game, and our Tianhuo Studio is responsible for development, and then it will be handed over to Longyu Group for operation. Our three companies will cooperate and win together, and the sharing can be discussed."

"In fact, Longyu Group initially wanted to represent a Tengda game. I said at the time that it definitely wouldn't work, and this request was too much. So after some negotiation, this condition was determined."

"I think this condition is still reasonable. What do you think, President Pei?"

Pei Qian nodded slightly. It seemed that Zhou Muyan's "communication" was quite effective.

This condition was not excessive.

In Zhou Muyan's view, asking to represent Tengda's existing games was basically equivalent to forcibly dividing the money.

Tengda's games were all successful and profitable games that had been verified by the market. If Longyu Group were to represent them, wouldn't they be lying down and dividing the money?

Even if Zhao Xuming was a senior executive, the liquidated damages would be at most a few million, and the income from a game would be far more than a few million.

So Zhou Muyan directly rejected them, telling Longyu Group to stop dreaming and not to play with fire in front of President Pei.

If President Pei got angry, he might not be able to do anything.

But the current condition was actually okay.

The development cost would be borne jointly by Tianhuo Studio and Longyu Group. Pei Qian would only be responsible for providing the design.

After the game was made, the three companies would share the money together.

Accurately speaking, Pei Qian's counted as "technical shares." Even if the game failed and lost money, he wouldn't have to bear any losses. Tianhuo Studio and Longyu Group would be responsible for everything.

Although there was a risk of failure, in Longyu Group's view, this risk was obviously almost non-existent.

Who didn't know that President Pei was a genius in game design? He made a hit with every game he made?

Even if it didn't make a lot of money, it wouldn't lose too much.

Exchanging Zhao Xuming for a game that might make money was definitely not a loss.

Pei Qian fell silent. Obviously, everyone had some misunderstandings about his game design ability…

Zhou Muyan and Longyu Group must have thought that all of President Pei's games were designed with painstaking efforts, working day and night, and taking a lot of effort.

But in fact, Pei Qian didn't put in much effort, and the designs were very casual…

Pei Qian thought for a while and said, "I can accept this condition, but I have three requirements."

"First, I don't guarantee whether the game will be successful or not."

"Second, I want to parachute a designer into your studio to complete my design, and you have to develop it according to his requirements."

"Third, hand over the person first."

Pei Qian meant that he was saying the ugly things first, and don't come looking for him if you lose money.

Moreover, the ideas that Pei Qian gave were relatively incomplete. If he handed them over to Zhou Muyan, Zhou Muyan would definitely be shocked and wouldn't know how to develop them at all.

So Pei Qian was thinking that he could just arrange a job for Min Jingchao at that time.

After Eric and Zhao Xuming took over his work, Min Jingchao would go to Tianhuo Studio to complete the design of this game. Regardless of whether it made money or not, at least the game would be developed.

That way, it would be considered fulfilling the contract.