Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Based on his memories, Pei Qian looked for Bao Xu at the internet cafes near the west entrance of the school.
His traits were obvious.
It was autumn but while everyone else were wearing long sleeved shirts and pants, he was wearing a sweater with a thick coat hanging off his chair.
It wasn’t because he was afraid of the cold, but that he had been wearing the same thing since the previous winter…
Other than him, there was truly no one else who could do something as such.
Bao Xu was dazed in front of the computer monitor at the moment.
On screen, his character was seated on a flying chair, idling lazily above the main city.
When Pei Qian approached Bao Xu, he caught whiff of a faint, oily scalp smell.
It wasn’t severe but it may have been due to Bao Xu’s receding hairline which was so severe that he barely had much hair left.
‘Hmm, if I can persuade him to leave the internet cafe, I’ll definitely stuff him some money to get a shower and a change of clothes.’
“Bao Xu?” Pei Qian asked in a testing manner.
Frozen for a full ten seconds, Bao Xu turned around squarely after. His eyes that were enclaved by two huge dark circles suddenly blinked. “You’re looking for me?”
After confirming that he had the right guy, Pei Qian sat down beside Bao Xu.
“I’ve got a job available. Would you be willing to take it on?” Pei Qian asked.
Bao Xu turned back slowly and continued to stare at the monitor blankly. “Manager of the internet cafe? Not interested.”
“No, not a manager. A designer to design your own game,” Pei Qian replied.
Bao Xu’s face turned to Pei Qian slowly once more as he sized up this person.
Eventually, he came to the conclusion that this was just an ordinary student.
“Don’t try to pull a prank on me,” Bao Xu was not convinced.
Speechless, Pei Qian wondered if things would have been better had he worn a different outfit.
However, his suit had not arrived yet.
Not wanting to drag things out, Pei Qian took out 500 yuan from his pockets.
“If you’re willing to join, this will be advance payment for your salary.”
Looking at the five scarlet 100 yuan notes, a sparkle appeared in Bao Xu’s eyes.
He was slightly convinced that Pei Qian was for real.
If this was a scam, Pei Qian would be the one asking for money – why would he be the one giving out money?
Not just that, it was 500 to boot.
For someone like Bao Xu in 2009, 500 was considered a large amount. After all, the price of internet cafes ranged around 2-3 yuan per hour back then.
“Not just that, our company’s computers have the best specifications with dual monitors. You can play games at any time you wish,” Pei Qian added decisively.
Bao Xu’s gaze was twinkling all of a sudden.
He did not have to pay money and he could play games on a high-end computer at any time!
Wouldn’t that be even more comfortable than internet cafes?
That was akin to throwing a small fish to a desperate, hungry cat!
“You’re not kidding? What would my job be then?” Bao Xu asked in bewilderment.
“Your job would be to play games! The position I’m offering you is called a game tester!”
“You have to test the games of others as well as our own. If you discover any issues, you’ll have to report it to me at the first available moment.”
“Of course, you can take part in the design process and give your input as well.”
“I think that you’re definitely capable of taking on this role. Don’t you think so?”
Pei Qian revealed a bewitching smile.
Pursing his lips, Bao Xu’s throat trembled.
Wasn’t that the life that he had dreamed of?
To play games while earning money at the same time? What could be better than that?
“I’m willing… ugh, I’m willing to consider it. If it’s truly as you’ve said, I… can consider giving it a shot.”
Bao Xu’s initial reply was ‘I’m willing’. However, on second thought, he wondered if this was a scammer.
That was why he left some breathing room for himself – he would only decide upon it after checking out the actual work environment.
Pei Qian was certain that he had already managed to convince Bao Xu.
There was no reason for the latter to reject such amazing terms.
“Alright, what you need to do now is…”
“Take this 500 yuan and go get yourself a good shower, haircut and buy a change of clothes.”
“Our company’s at Shenhua View. Given your current image, the security guards would definitely stop you from entering thinking you’re a vagrant.”
“You should be able to start work within the next two days. I’ll give you a call by then.”
“Just make yourself available.”
Pei Qian turned around and walked away after he was done.
Looking at the 500 yuan in his hands, tears brimmed in Bao Xu’s eyes.
“Someone… has finally recognized my talents…!”
He gripped the 500 yuan tightly and sprawled on the desk before him, sobbing.
As his half bald head reflected light off the monitor, it shone with warmth.
Everyone nearby could not help but wonder what had happened.
Did he manage to get a rare equipment drop? Was that the reason for his elation?
…
…
After settling Bao Xu, Pei Qian was overjoyed.
He had gained yet another trusted aide!
With Ma Yang and Bao Xu, his left and right hand men were settled and things would be much easier from there on.
Pei Qian wasn’t afraid that Bao Xu might abandon ship. After all, there was no way Bao Xu could have faked that expectant expression earlier on.
There was also no way he would reject such amazing terms.
It was only a pity that he couldn’t get talents similar to Bao Xu.
Pei Qian still had to hire people online.
He spent five minutes and typed out a couple of hiring requirements on his mobile phone before sending it to Xin Hailu and having her post a hiring notice online according to his wants.
There were three positions open.
The first was for game design and the requirements were passion for games. Those who were well versed in using the cloud editor would be prioritized.
The second was for art design and the requirements were that they had to have a certain artistic flair such that they could fully understand the intents of the game designers and be able to communicate with the outsourced team as well.
The third was for administrative work and the requirements were that they had to be female with decent looks and poise.
The salary offered was higher than the industry average and the actual sum would be negotiated when they met.
He did not look for programmers because the games could be completed with just the cloud editor and templates alone. Operating the cloud editor was a job mainly for the game designers and it was an issue of how they executed it, that’s all.
For specific requirements, they could request for it through the cloud editors where specialized programmers would complete it remotely. They would pay these people on a freelance basis and there would be no need to hire their own programmers.
As for the art designers, they would be in charge of communicating as well.
There were many art resources within the cloud editor and they could request for custom-made ones with specific design teams too.
The specific process would require experts to negotiate and discuss and these experts would need to have artistic flair. Otherwise, they would not be able to understand one another and the efficiency would be extremely low.
As for the administrative positions…
It wouldn’t be overboard to recruit a couple of beautiful women as receptionists after they’ve gone through the effort to make the office so swanky, right?
Xin Hailu was not just Pei Qian’s assistant, she was in charge of various other matters through the office as well. It was only right to assign her some admin staff to lighten some of the trivialities.
Pei Qian’s requirements for the job were extremely vague.
Take the game designer positions for example, he had merely mentioned that they had to love games and those who knew how to operate cloud editors would be prioritized.
That was a barrier of entry that was almost non-existent.
If he had set the barrier too high, the people recruited would be elites of the industry and that wouldn’t work out.
He had to lower his requirements so that he could get a couple of trashes to shortlist.
With that, all his preparation work was almost completed.
His office space was settled and the office equipment would be set soon as well.
He had also done up his outfit.
His trusted aides, Ma Yang and Bao Xu, were in.
Xin Hailu had managed the company impeccably.
As long as he were to finish the recruitment of new hires, he would be able to open the company officially and start losing money!
Thinking about his amazing future, Pei Qian’s heart went all fuzzy.
Chapter 35
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Tuesday afternoon.
Huang Sibo arrived at the entrance of Shenhua View and found himself dazed.
This gaming company, Tengda Network Technology Co., Ltd., was truly based at Shenhua View!
He knew that Shenhua View was a high-end office building and companies that operated here had no lack of money.
Before he even bolstered the courage to enter, he was met with a couple of talented youths.
All of them were tall and suited up. The men were handsome and the women were gorgeous with poise.
These were the young employees working at an investment firm in Shenhua View.
From a distance, one could already tell that these were people bound to be successful in the future.
Huang Sibo found his confidence shattered slightly right away.
He was stunned!
During the weekends, he had come across a hiring notice by Tengda Network Technology Co., Ltd. by accident online.
He felt that he fit the requirements rather decently and hence he sent his resume in.
Before long, he got a reply as a sweet sounding female assistant informed him to reach at 10am on Tuesday for an interview on Shenhua View’s 17th floor.
The female assistant even sent him an email swiftly that detailed the exact location.
The moment Huang Sibo heard Shenhua View, he was stunned – wasn’t that the most high-end office building?
However, despite spending a long time searching online, he could not even find the official website of Tengda Network Technology Co., Ltd.
It was only after he researched online that he realized this was the company that had created The Lonely Desert Road and Ghost General!
That had Huang Sibo feeling a little ashamed. He had tried both games before and yet he did not know that the company which created them was based in Jingzhou City…
He did not know much about the company but he garnered that the terms offered by them wouldn’t be bad since they had a couple of successful games and had set base at Shenhua View.
Even though that assumption may not hold true, he was sure that as long as it wasn’t overly bad, it would definitely be better than his current company’s.
However, he was worried as to whether he would be employed.
Huang Sibo was someone who had made a switch of career midway and he had just joined the industry for a mere six months so far. He was holding onto the lowest position – an administrative planner who was paid 1,500 monthly.
Because of daily overtime, he was already showing early signs of balding.
That was the reason why he decided to give this company a shot after chancing upon their hiring notice.
Even if he were to jump ship maintaining his current salary, Huang Sibo would be thankful if he had to do less overtime.
However, he knew that his resume wasn’t impressive and there was a high chance that he would be skipped through.
Even within the small gaming circle of Jingzhou City, he was considered as part of the bottom dwellers and wasn’t even as welcome compared to fresh graduates.
After bumping into those investment elites wearing their suits earlier on, he felt even more inferior as he was wearing nothing but a t-shirt and shorts.
He checked the time – he was slightly early.
Huang Sibo had left home earlier and took a public bus, afraid that he might be late. However, because there were no traffic jams, he ended up arriving earlier.
Deciding that waiting outside wasn’t exactly an option, Huang Sibo bolstered his courage and entered the majestic lobby.
After explaining his purpose of arrival at the front desk, the staff registered his name and made a temporary access card for him.
As he waited for the lift, Huang Sibo felt his heart pound furiously.
He was even more nervous than he had been for his high school exams.
Probably due to the extremely high ceiling and majestic design of the place, Huang Sibo felt insignificant and out of place, suddenly losing his courage.
Ding.
The door to the lift opened.
As he prepared to enter, Huang Sibo caught sight of a familiar face and was stunned.
It was his head at his current company – chief planner, Old Liu!
The previous afternoon, Huang Sibo had just given Old Liu a call asking to take an emergency leave and the latter agreed to it.
Yet, both of them bumped into one another at a place as such.
It was a rather awkward situation.
Both of them were speechless.
However, since they had bumped into one another, it wouldn’t be appropriate for them to pretend as though they had not seen the other as well.
Besides, both parties were clear as to why they were at this place.
They were both interviewing for Tengda Network Technology Co., Ltd.!
The way Old Liu looked, Huang Sibo was certain that he was just done with his interview.
Both of them were just going to take part in the same process.
Huang Sibo had no choice but to start the conversation, “Brother Liu.”
Old Liu’s expression was rather terrible – it was clear he wasn’t in a good mood.
He was extremely pleased with the working environment at Tengda. However, the young punk that was conducting the interview had asked him to return and wait for their call!
Furthermore, during their casual conversation, the young punk interviewer didn’t seem particularly interested; it was as though he was daydreaming.
There was a high chance that he had failed this interview.
Because of that, Old Liu was displeased.
‘It’s rare to find someone with my experience and capabilities in Jingzhou City’s gaming circle. Yet, that young punk interviewer dares to look down on me?’
‘He’s most likely a bloody rich second-generation heir that’s just looking for fun! A company like this is bound to fail sooner or later!’
Of course, there was a tinge of bitterness to his emotions.
Bumping into Huang Sibo had Old Liu feeling even more pissed off.
For the past six months that Huang Sibo had entered the industry, he was Old Liu’s underling the entire time.
And he was bad at everything.
Because of that, Old Liu was always fuming and did not allow Huang Sibo to knock off until the latter finished all his work. When he was unhappy, Old Liu even increased Huang Sibo’s workload.
Yet, this fool was thinking of jumping ship?!
At
the same place as himself?!
Did this guy even know about his place in the scene?!
Old Liu could not help but sulk. “This place has high demands. It’s not for you.”
“Since you have the time to come for an interview, it must mean that your current workload is too little. Recompile the data set when you return.”
Pouting, Old Liu left.
“…”
Huang Sibo felt that he was in deep shit.
This place had such high demands that they would not even want an experienced planner such as Old Liu?
If that’s the case, there was no way they would want a newbie to the industry such as himself!
Furthermore, Old Liu was bound to increase his workload after he returned.
Yet, Huang Sibo could not even complain to his boss about the situation.
If he were to complain… “Boss, Old Liu went to interview at another company stealthily!”
If the boss were to ask… “How did you know?”
Wouldn’t he have to reply… “Because I bumped into him while heading there for an interview too!”
That wouldn’t do.
Otherwise, his only option was to quit.
He could just quit and look for another job slowly while scrimping with his savings.
If he had no other choice, he would have to do that.
All of those thoughts flashed through Huang Sibo’s mind.
As he pondered, the lift arrived at the 17th floor.
The moment he got out of the lift, Huang Sibo caught sight of Tengda Network Technology Co., Ltd.’s signboard.
Looking inside, he was rattled.
‘This place is too classy!’
Two beautiful receptionists waited behind the gigantic front desk.
And they were twins to boot!
While Jinzhou wasn’t a city that was extremely huge, it wasn’t small either. For the company to have a pair of twins managing the front desk was no small feat.
That was a clear indication of the company’s power!
Huang Sibo was the classic example of someone who overthought things.
When Pei Qian was hiring, he had not thought much into it and merely wanted a couple of beautiful receptionists to hold the front desk.
However, Xin Hailu had managed to dig out a pair of twins from out of nowhere claiming that it would help raise the company’s image.
Losing Money to Be a Tycoon c1-883 Page 20