He could reject all other jobs; however, he would definitely not reject something from Boss Pei! After all, Boss Pei was his patron; and he was grateful to Boss Pei!
If not for Ghost General, Ruan Guangjian might still be bitterly looking for a job now! Furthermore, collaborating with Boss Pei was a win-win situation. If a game exploded in popularity, the animation artist naturally would gain recognition as well. Money and other material things weren’t that important in comparison!
Ruan Guangjian immediately replied.
This time, it wasn’t Boss Pei that had contacted Ruan Guangjian; it wasn’t even the subsequent designer of Ocean Stronghold. It was someone new called Lu Mingliang; he had recently been promoted to Chief Planner.
Look at this, the speed at which talent was rising! After conversing with Lu Mingliang, Ruan Guangjian finally knew Tengda’s current situation.
Simply put, it was never better!
When he had been working on Ghost General, Tengda had just been a small company. Pei Qian was just an independent game developer. Now, Tengda had already become established. After Ocean Stronghold’s success, it was already working on a new project.
What Lu Mingliang hoped that Ruan Guangjian would collaborate to work on was Game Designer.
Ruan Guangjian considered for a moment but didn’t agree immediately.
“Could I have a look at the rough design manuscript? I don’t mean anything bad. If it’s Boss Pei’s project, I will definitely agree unconditionally. I’m not trying to reject; I’m just afraid that it might not be within my capabilities, and my work might not be outstanding.
“Could you let me take a look at the design manuscript? If I feel that I am up for it, I’ll do it. If not, I will recommend someone in the circle that is an even better and more suitable animation artist.”
Lu Mingliang soon sent the design manuscript over.
Ruan Guangjian swiftly glanced through it, and he thumbed the table, expressing his praise.
Indeed, Boss Pei was really something!
A powerful and unconstrained design!
Although Ruan Guangjian didn’t really understand game design, he could sense that the irony this game had for the games industry as a whole was filled with dark humor!
This wasn’t a superficial, no-brainer game for players. Although it looked like it was mocking players, it actually wanted to bring gamers into the gaming industry, to understand the heart of designers, as well as to debunk any myths about the gaming industry!
It wasn’t just a game that was very entertaining; it was a work of art!
Furthermore, the artistic importance of portraying the abstract concepts into actual animation in the game design was evident!
This completely played to Ruan Guangjian’s strengths!
Perfect!
After deliberating for a short moment, Ruan Guangjian decided.
“Alright, I’ll take this job! If it’s a job from Boss Pei, I will give it my all! As for money, you don’t have to give the market rate. When Boss Pei unilaterally decided to increase my pay back then; I still remember this to heart. I still owe Boss Pei a favor; you only have to give a token!”
Ruan Guangjian suddenly felt as if a ball of fire was burning in his chest!
Producing animation for other companies… that was work. However, doing so for Boss Pei was an artistic endeavor!
Since the theme was so good, Ran Guangjian really wanted to pull out all stops!
The two hit it off immediately and agreed to start work officially after the holidays were over and start producing the important concept design map!
…
…
February 12th…
It was soon going to be the holidays. All company business had been settled, and the seven-day-long holiday was about to begin. Pei Qian had already packed his luggage and was ready to head home. Although Pei Qian had been reborn and had gotten the system and—from all aspects—looked like the perfect protagonist, he did not come from an orphanage.
His parents were well and healthy. However, as they had always pursued a care-free mindset with him, he didn’t really feel them as his parents. The first few days that he had been reborn, Pei Qian had called home. After making sure his parents were doing well, he had not contacted them ever since.
As for opening a company…
He also didn’t want to tell them for now.
There were two reasons. One, Pei Qian had to explain clearly how he had gotten the initial fifty thousand yuan. He only had a thousand-odd yuan as allowance; it was barely enough for him to eat. He couldn’t possibly have saved up fifty thousand to start a company and develop games.
He couldn’t possibly say he had taken a naked loan1, right?
Second, Pei Qian’s dad—Old Pei—was a very conservative person and so was a little old-fashioned. He had a preconceived notion of games! Old Pei had once said at the dinner table that games were very harmful to people and should not be allowed!
Although he was drunk, he probably really believed in that.
Old Pei was very representative of some elders in this generation; this was a common phenomenon. If not, there wouldn’t be a case of people trying to ‘combat internet addiction’. Of course, Old Pei only had a prejudice against games; his motivations were fundamentally different from those professors and experts raking in money from dealing with internet addiction.
All in all, this was a generation gap.
Regardless, if Pei Qian told his own parents that he had established his own gaming company, made money, and sold an 888-yuan Red Kilin…
A storm would brew in his home.
Thinking about this, Pei Qian was rather pained.
Since it was normally better to avoid unnecessary trouble, he didn’t want to make this matter public just yet. As for Old Pei, Pei Qian had to slowly and gradually change his thinking.
Chapter 92 - A Small Lie
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Pei Qian’s family resided in a small county near Jingzhou City; it wasn’t that far away. After getting off a hired car, Pei Qian took a look at his bearings; he wanted to see if there were any loose ends. The suit, the leather belt, the leather shoes, etc. that he wore normally had all been left in his rented apartment; he had not brought any of those along.
Especially for things like a Rolex, he could never bring them home.
In the bag that he carried were also some daily necessities. That Alienware computer that cost 10,500 yuan; he naturally couldn’t bring it home. The notebook that Pei Qian had now was the one he had bought when he entered school.
It wasn’t that Pei Qian was overly cautious; the crux was that his parents were both super sleuths.
Did anyone really think that they could hide anything from their parents?
This person would be too naive and young.
Pei Qian did not want to start a huge debate with Old Pei about ‘whether games were mental opium or not’ if he was really found out.
After checking himself and his belongings, Pei Qian found that everything was in order. Pei Qian then walked to the apartment, took out his key, and opened the door. Once he entered, he immediately smelled an aroma of cooked food.
“Son, you’re back?” Pei Qian’s mom, who was cooking in the kitchen, heard the door open and asked as she continued cooking.
“Young brat is back? Come, come. Come and savor the tea leaves that your big uncle had specially brought back.” Old Pei was just arranging the tea set on the table.
It was still a familiar sight; nothing had changed. It seemed as if he had returned to ten years ago. Pei Qian noticed that at that time, his parents did not have so much white hair.
“I’ll put my bag down first. Where are my slippers?”
“I’ve kept them for you. Old Pei, go into the cabinet and take out your son’s slippers! I’m quite busy now,” Mom shouted from the kitchen.
Old Pei begrudgingly got up from the sofa. “Which cabinet?”
“The bottom of the closet in Son’s room!”
Pei Qian changed into his slippers, placed down his bag, and leaned into the sofa.
Comfortable!
Although this sofa at home wasn’t that expensive, it actually felt so much more comfortable than the tens of thousands of yuan sofa in the company guest room! Home-cooked food smelled so much better than the few-hundred-yuan buffet that he had eaten before during cohesion!
As for the tea leaves at home…
Pfft, what lousy tea leaves!
Pei Qian took a sip of this special tea that Old Pei said some big uncle had specially brought back as he almost spat it out.
It was so hard to drink!
He drank good tea in the company daily, and his taste buds had been spoiled; he found it so hard to drink this ordinary tea.
“How is it? This tea is not bad, right?” Old Pei sipped his tea as he smiled and asked.
“En, not bad.” Pei Qian quietly pushed his teacup away. It seemed like he had to find some chance to get some good tea for Old Pei to taste. He couldn’t take from the company as that was company assets; it could only be used to entertain guests and not for personal use.
However, Pei Qian wasn’t broke anymore; he could easily use his tens of thousands of Personal Wealth to buy a box of good tea for Old Pei. Thinking about his house’s condition, Pei Qian’s desire to generate more of his Personal Wealth grew exceedingly strong.
His family lived in an ordinary two-bedroom apartment; it was around a hundred square meters. Furthermore, as this was a rather recent purchase, his parents were still paying off a housing loan.
Although his mom had kept it sparkling clean—whether it was the furniture, electrical appliances or furnishings; everything was a little old. His family was an ordinary working-class one; while there weren’t financial difficulties, his parents were still rather thrifty.
Pei Qian looked at the television at home.
“Dad, should we change the television at home? It’s quite small.”
Old Pei squinted, “Why should we change it? It’s still usable! Furthermore, your mother and I do not watch much television normally.”
“How about this washing machine? Shall we get one with a drum?” Pei Qian asked again.
Old Pei still shook his head. “One with a drum? How expensive would that be? Furthermore, this one has served as well. If we changed to a new one, where are we going to put this one?”
“Our toilet’s floor is also not flat. Whenever this washing machine shakes, it feels as if it is going to fall apart; it’s quite disturbing,” Pei Qian said. “You two don’t have to worry; I’ll buy one as well as some support pads so that there wouldn’t be noise when it operates.”
“Support pads?”
“They can be used to adjust the height of the washing machine’s four legs. At that time, when the washing machine is placed flat, it wouldn’t shake uncontrollably anymore,” Pei Qian explained.
“Well, I think we can buy some support pads. However, we don’t have to use your money, little brat. Aye, wait, no, something’s not right.”
Old Pei thought about it and asked, “Why are you thinking of buying a washing machine on your own? Where are you getting this money from?”
Pei Qian knew that Old Pei would definitely ask this. He replied, “It’s like this. I got a job as an actor for a small-scale show. The director is giving me thirty thousand as remuneration.”
“How much? Thirty thousand?!” Old Pei blew out air as he continued, “Don’t lie to me! Even you can be in a show? The remuneration is also thirty thousand? More like you paying people thirty thousand to be in a show!”
“Dad, how can you say that? For someone like your son, don’t you think thirty thousand yuan is reasonable?” Pei Qian replied unhappily.
“Don’t even try; I don’t believe you!” Although Old Pei was evidently happy, he still said adamantly, “Unless you show me the clip!”
“The clip? It hasn’t been uploaded yet. I’m raising this matter to tell you guys that I can earn my own money now; you guys don’t have to give me allowance anymore,” Pei Qian said.
Old Pei shook his head. “We’ll still give you your allowance as usual. It’s good that you are earning your own keep. However, don’t put too much financial pressure on yourself; studies are still the most important, understand?”
As the two were talking, Mom shouted from the kitchen, “Time to eat!”
Pei Qian and Old Pei hurriedly washed their hands and brought the dishes out.
On the dinner table, Pei Qian—who normally didn’t like to drink—made an exception and accompanied Old Pei to drink two glasses of bulk-purchased baijiu1 with wolfberries. He also ate more than normal.
Home was still the best!
Old Pei evidently drank a little more than normal as he started to educate Pei Qian about things and even bragged to Pei Qian’s mom about how his son had been hired to shoot in a show—how that was because of his superior genes. Mom kept on rolling her eyes as she then mentioned that someone was going to wash the dishes tonight.
After eating, it was almost nine at night. Pei Qian had wanted to wash the dishes. However, he was forcibly pushed into his room by Old Pei who said that he must be tired from traveling and to rest soon.
It wasn’t too late to start doing chores tomorrow.
Pei Qian did not argue with Old Pei as he went back to his room and started to surf the internet.
Pei Qian was very clear that he could not keep hiding his company from his parents; he would be exposed sooner or later.
Before that happened, he had to make preparations first.
Pei Qian had more than fifty thousand yuan in Personal Wealth; changing some household electric appliances for his family was within his abilities. However, he had to be able to explain clearly where he got the money from.
If he said that he earned it from games, Old Pei was going to go all out against him. Hence, Pei Qian thought about it and decided to first let Old Pei know about the short videos to lay the groundwork. He wanted to let Old Pei know that he was able to earn his own keep now so that Old Pei would not persistently ask about his source of monies.
After that, Pei Qian would try to slowly change Old Pei’s thinking… to not have such a strong bias against games. He would then tell Old Pei the truth after that, saying that he had opened his own games company.
After surfing the internet for a while, Pei Qian felt very sleepy as he washed up and slept very early.
Chapter 93 - Breaking Old Pei’s Stereotypes!
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Nothing much happened over the New Year. All they did was visit relatives or have relatives visit them. On the third day of the Lunar New Year, Pei Qian finally got to settle down. He sat on his couch and watched the television.
“Son, have your short videos been released?” Pei Qian’s mother handed a peeled apple to him.
Pei Qian reached out, received the apple, took a bite, and replied, “Aiya, it’s not like you can watch these short videos immediately after filming. They still need to edit it and do some late-stage finalization. You’ve asked me this eight times just today.”
“Go and ask the director,” Pei Qian’s mother said, not giving up now that she had already fed the family.
Pei Qian was frustrated. He had no choice but to send Huang Sibo a message.
Before long, Huang Sibo replied: “Boss Pei, it was uploaded yesterday! You will see it the moment you enter Potato Web. It’s under ‘Comedies’, Boss Pei’s Daily Life.”
It was really out.
How efficient!
Pei Qian took his own laptop, logged onto Potato Web, and went to the ‘Comedies’ section.
It was really under the recommendations! It was not the most eye-catching show, but it was not bad.
Before this, Zhu Xiaoce said that he had a senior who worked at Potato Web and that he could get the show under the list of recommendations. He really did what
he said he would!
Of course, this probably did not come for free. He most likely paid an advertising fee.
Pei Qian clicked on it, and his heart immediately fell.
The video was only uploaded the day before, but it had already reached two hundred thousand views!
This was a new account at that!
Pei Qian glanced at the comments below.
How lively!
After a cursory scan, he found that the entertaining netizens were particularly lively. There were already tens of pages of comments alone!
Finished. What he feared had come true!
Pei Qian tried to stabilize his own emotions so that his parents would not notice that something was wrong with him. Then, he acted nonchalant as he handed the laptop over. “This is it.”
His parents placed the laptop on the coffee table and leaned over it at once.
“Boss Pei’s Daily Life?” Old Pei looked at Pei Qian suspiciously.
“Hehe, that’s the name of the series of short videos. I act as the company boss in these shows,” Pei Qian explained.
The video then started.
“I looked at my Rolex, not to look at the time, but to subconsciously let you know that I’m a whale.
“Today, I am going out on a whim. I want to make a new game; a game that would make all the players pay as much as they can.”
The uninteresting BGM1 coupled with the monotonous narration made this video particularly outstanding!
In the video, Pei Qian was dressed in a suit and had on a Rolex. He was lying down on the sofa in the office’s guest room. On the coffee table beside him, there was a high-class tea set and tea. Everything looked so natural.
Even Pei Qian’s expressionless face looked realistic!
Boss Pei’s Daily Life’s style was very similar to Zhu Yidan’s Boring Life’s.
Losing Money to Be a Tycoon c1-883 Page 50