Ma Yiqun nodded. “That’s right, Boss Pei. You can call me ‘Ma Yiqun’. That’s what they all call me.”
“En, en.”
Pei Qian began to scan through the resume while Ma Yiqun waited patiently. Actually, Pei Qian had no intention of recruiting anyone. At the moment, he had enough manpower to research and develop Game Designer.
As for whether he would recruit more people in the future and whether he wanted to research and develop two games at the same time…
Pei Qian did not want to think about it for now.
However, Ma Yiqun was recommended to Pei Qian by Huang Sibo. On his account, Pei Qian had to meet this man. If this man’s achievements were truly impressive, Pei Qian could always think of another reason not to hire him.
He quickly scanned through the resume. En, according to the record of his experiences, there was indeed nothing impressive about him. Just like Huang Sibo, he only had one previous job listed on his resume.
They both worked at Shang Yang Games before this. While Huang Sibo was the administrative planner, this Ma Yiqun was the plot planner. From the looks of it, they were both brothers in hardship. He had less than a year of work experience. Pei Qian was quite happy with this. The rest of the resume did not stand out to him at all.
According to Huang Sibo’s advice, Ma Yiqun recorded his work experience truthfully. There was nothing much to write about to begin with. That was why his resume looked relatively insubstantial.
After reading the resume, Pei Qian felt quite satisfied.
Given the current situation, Huang Sibo’s working desk had been empty recently. It would make no difference whether Pei Qian took Ma Yiqun in or not. Allowing this amateur to hang around in the office would be of no loss to him.
However, there was one thing Pei Qian was not happy with.
That was this man’s education! Huang Sibo was an ordinary university graduate, but Ma Yiqun was a graduate in Chinese Language and Literature from one of the top ten key universities. He was the perfect man for designing plots.
What’s more, the fact that he could even enter such a university showed that his IQ was not that low.
Seeing that Boss Pei had already finished reading his resume, Ma Yiqun took out another stack of documents. “Boss Pei, these are the short stories, essays, and novels that I have written. Take a look.”
En?
Something was wrong!
Pei Qian was instantly alerted. He took the stack of writings and quickly read through them, his face showing mixed emotions.
Ma Yiqun looked apprehensive.
He was worried that Boss Pei would not admit him because he could not see anything special about him. That was why he made copies of all the writing he did in university and in his previous job. He was hoping to score some bonus points with Boss Pei.
Logically, these writings would be very important considerations for people seeking to recruit plot planners. Pei Qian read through the writings. The more he read, the more excited he felt. It was a good thing that Ma Yiqun handed these writings over.
Otherwise, Pei Qian would have hired him!
A cursory scan of these writings showed Pei Qian that this man was not as his resume described him to be.
His writing was not bad! His writing flow was smooth, his vocabulary was beautiful, and he even displayed a deep understanding of Chinese classical texts! The synopses that he wrote for Shang Yang Games before this were quite outstanding, too.
For all Pei Qian knew, this man came from a family of cultured scholars. Of course, he wasn’t extremely impressive either. At the very least, Pei Qian could not tell that he was that impressive from these limited materials.
He could not hire this man. He could not take such a risk. This man did not meet the recruitment requirements of Tengda!
Pei Qian was prepared to think of another reason to turn Ma Yiqun down.
What reason should he give?
Pei Qian quickly scanned through Ma Yiqun’s resume once more, trying to find problems with it. That was when he noticed that Ma Yiqun joined Shang Yang Games in October the previous year. He did not join Shang Yang Games immediately after graduating.
He had three to four months after graduating. What did he do during that time? Did he make a mid-career switch, just like Huang Sibo? Was there something he was hiding?
This sounded like quite a good excuse.
“You only joined Shang Yang Games in October last year. Were you at another company before that?” Pei Qian asked casually.
“Oh, no. After graduating, I wrote web novels for a while. That was why I did not join a company immediately upon graduation,” Ma Yiqun responded.
Web novels?
An important revelation!
He was not a multi-talented, valuable boy, was he?
“Then why did you decide not to write anymore?” Pei Qian asked.
Ma Yiqun hesitated, and said, “This is why, Boss Pei.
“Actually, when I was in my final year, I began to write web novels. In the beginning, my novels were rubbish. Nobody recommended them or read them. That was why I wrote on and off.
“During that year, I finally gained a small number of readers. Although nobody recommended my novel online, the readers recommended them by word-of-mouth. Slowly, I grew a group of loyal readers. From the statistics, I thought that it would be well-received if I made it pay-to-read. In the end, the number of people who purchased the chapters on the first day was… thirty.”
“…” Pei Qian was sympathetic. “Perhaps the published plot was not the best? What if you write another book?
“I did not just write another book. I wrote three more books in total. All of their statistics were not bad before I made them pay-to-read. However, after I made them pay-to-read, the number of people who purchased the chapters on the first day for each novel was less than a hundred. All in all, I wrote more than a million words. Still, it was all in vain.
“I had no choice. I was going to starve to death. I had to find a place to work as a plot planner,” Ma Yiqun said, looking frustrated.
Pei Qian became suspicious. “Are you… not afraid of death? What was so wrong with your plot that caused everything to go against you?”
Ma Yiqun smiled bitterly. “I’m not sure. I want to know, too.”
“Alright, you’re hired!”
Pei Qian decided on the spot. Failing at everything he did, wasn’t that the quality Pei Qian was looking for in his workers?
You should change your surname to Huang, just like Huang Sibo1!
Ma Yiqun was stunned. He did not expect Pei Qian to hire him so decisively! Was he really appreciative of Ma Yiqun’s talents?
Huang Sibo said that Boss Pei had a very keen eye; he was good at spotting people’s special abilities just by looking at their external appearance.
“Sometimes, you would not even know you had the special abilities that Boss Pei saw in you!”
From the looks of it, this was exactly what was happening now!
Pei Qian stood up and said, “Hurry up and resign from the other company. Then, come back and look for Assistant Xin to sign the contract. In terms of salary, I will pay you five thousand yuan per month. There will also be opportunities for a pay raise.”
…
Pei Qian saw Ma Yiqun out, feeling satisfied with himself. Ma Yiqun was quite talented, and he did not quite meet Pei Qian’s requirements for recruitment. However, three times in a row, the books he wrote failed to get popular. This was no ordinary feat!
He must be destined for great things!
Pei Qian needed people like that now!
There was no other choice. Too many weird things have been happening to him; Pei Qian was starting to believe in metaphysics. Pei Qian was even beginning to suspect that his luck was too good.
There was a saying that was popular in the industry. If someone was lucky to a certain extent, it would no longer be called ‘luck’, but ‘destiny’!
Luck could only determine suc
cess or failure temporarily. That was different from destiny. Destiny was like a halo, bringing good luck to the person continuously!
Thus, Pei Qian believed that he had to recruit someone like Ma Yiqun in order to neutralize his good luck.
Otherwise, if everything he did become profitable, wouldn’t he soon vomit blood? Although this was extremely superstitious, unscientific, and unreliable; there was no harm in testing this theory out.
Chapter 107 - Don’t Give Him Any Work!
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Pei Qian wandered around and came to Lu Mingliang’s work desk. He was preparing to give Xiao Lu a heads up. Pei Qian hired Ma Yiqun as something like a lucky charm. He wanted to neutralize his own luck.
If Lu Mingliang misunderstood this and allowed Ma Yiqun to get to work like changing the entire synopsis of the game, it would be very dangerous indeed. Ma Yiqun’s writing was really not bad. If the synopsis made the game become popular, what would Pei Qian do?!
Thus, Pei Qian had to make sure that Ma Yiqun did not do anything at all.
When he saw Boss Pei wandering over to him, Lu Mingliang became on high alert. He stood up and asked, “Boss Pei, do you have any instructions?”
Pei Qian had not been coming to the office often in recent days because he had been busy. He had to continue filming for Boss Pei, and he had to run errands outside as well. School had resumed, too. Every now and then, Pei Qian still had to attend lessons.
He would also visit the internet cafe once in a while to take a look. Every time he noted that there was the risk of the internet cafe becoming popular, he had to deal with it immediately.
Thus, Pei Qian felt exhausted.
These employees were not making his life any easier either!
“There’s nothing much. I just wanted to tell you that we hired a new plot planner,” Pei Qian said nonchalantly.
Lu Mingliang immediately inferred what Boss Pei was saying. “I understand, Boss Pei! I will ask him to redo all the synopses for the three games immediately!”
“No, no, no, no! That’s not what I meant!” Pei Qian quickly shook his head. “I meant to say… he is new and unfamiliar with games. Make sure you do not give him any work this month. Let him pick things up on his own. Understand?
“Keep him away from Game Designer especially. Do not let him touch any plot or synopsis!”
Lu Mingliang was stumped.
What?
He hired a new employee but did not want him to do any work? He just wanted him to observe things? He could not even assist?
This…
The first thing that came to Lu Mingliang’s mind was that something was strange. However, on second thought, this was quite reasonable.
Who was the one who wrote Game Designer’s plot and voice-over script?
Boss Pei personally wrote it!
Even if this plot planner was experienced, his standard could not compare to Boss Pei’s. Much less if he was an amateur. All the more, this man had to watch and learn.
Given all of these, it was very reasonable for Boss Pei to give him an entire month to observe!
Lu Mingliang quickly nodded and said, “Alright, Boss Pei! I understand! I will give him things to learn, so that he will be able to understand your game design intentions!”
Understand my game design intentions? What intentions does my game design have? Persuading players to stop playing?
Alright, whatever…
Pei Qian was too lazy to explain anything more. He turned around and started to leave. However, he immediately turned back around. He caught a glimpse of Lu Mingliang’s computer screen. That was… part of Game Designer’s submitted art resources!
There were animations and models.
Pei Qian only managed to catch a glimpse of the concept drafts for the animations, but he felt like they looked familiar.
That’s strange.
Why did it feel so familiar?
Pei Qian frowned and asked, “These animations…”
Lu Mingliang excitedly answered, “Eh, Boss Pei, you could tell? That’s right, they’re done by veteran Ruan Guangjian! Boss Pei and veteran Ruan Guangjian indeed have great minds that think alike; you could recognize his work with just one glance!”
Pei Qian, “????”
What the hell?!
He turned to stare at Lu Mingliang in disbelief. “I… didn’t I ask you to find the most expensive artist?”
Lu Mingliang nodded. “That’s right. Big Boss Ruan was the most expensive artist listed.”
What the f*ck!
Pei Qian nearly vomited blood. Only a few months had passed, but Ruan Guangjian had gone from being completely transparent to an expensive artist? Even property prices did not rise so quickly!
Lu Mingliang saw Pei Qian’s astonished expression and thought that he was pleasantly surprised. Excitedly, he continued, “What’s more, Big Boss Ruan heard about your project and only took a token sum as remuneration. He was very pleasant indeed!
“Boss Pei, you did not even have to show your own face, but you saved tens of thousands of yuan for the company’s research and development fund. You really are well-known in the industry!”
Pei Qian remained stunned for a moment. Then, he asked, “Can we still edit the contract?”
Lu Mingliang paused. “Huh? Boss Pei, you mean… you want to pay him more? I think it won’t be easy to change because the contract has already been certified by the platform. We’re more than halfway done as well.
“Changing the contract will be very complicated. What’s more, Big Boss Ruan might not accept it.
“Boss Pei, if you don’t feel good, you could treat Big Boss Ruan to a meal in private. Otherwise, we could build a long-term working relationship with him according to his marketed price.”
Pei Qian, “…You can get back to work.”
Pei Qian was speechless. Initially, he did not have high expectations for the art resources for this game. He only wanted to spend more money and have it look less attractive!
The result?
He did not achieve either one of those aims!
Not only did he fail to spend the money, but the game’s art concept design was done by Ruan Guangjian, a veteran pretending to be a rookie!
Pei Qian felt a sharp pain in his head.
What is the meaning of this? There are so many other artists listed on the website for resources; why am I still being hounded by this veteran, of all people?
What do you like about me?! Can I change it?!
Pei Qian went back to his own office and slumped down on his chair.
Painful!
“Forget it, what’s done is done. I have to be positive…
“It’s impossible to break the contract. I can only wait for it to be done and review it. It’s a good thing that Game Designer is not a game that prides itself on its pictures…”
Pei Qian tried his best to calm himself down.
Knock, knock!
There was a knock on his office door.
Pei Qian looked up and saw that it was Ma Yang.
“What’s the matter? Don’t tell me something went wrong at the internet cafe?!” Pei Qian became alert at once.
Ma Yang did not come here to report good news, did he?
That would be… terribly sad!
Don’t let the saying ‘misfortunes never come singly’ come true!
Ma Yang’s expression was serious. “Brother Qian, I… I feel like I should tell you what’s happening at Fish-Catching Internet Cafe.
“Zhang Yuan already did his calculations. According to the volume of business we have been getting during this period, the internet cafe is making a loss of about three hundred thousand yuan each month…
“In other words, the internet cafe’s revenue barely pays the salaries of all the employees, as well as the utility bills. We are not making a single cent back for our biggest expense, the rent; much less the capital we poured into the internet cafe at first…
&nb
sp; “Zhang Yuan gave some suggestions that I think are worth considering. Look…” Ma Yang took out a little book, wanting to explain Zhang Yuan’s suggestions to Pei Qian. The only strategies were lowering the prices and organizing promotional activities.
Pei Qian rejoiced in his heart. At once, he raised his hand, gesturing for Ma Yang to stop talking. They were losing three hundred thousand yuan each month? Great! Indeed, brothers were the most reliable!
Ma Yang looked at Pei Qian, confused.
Pei Qian tried hard to suppress his smile and said in a stern tone, “I already told you, I don’t care about these things. This shows that our internet cafe is on the right path!”
Ma Yang was stumped. “Huh? We’re losing three hundred thousand yuan each month! How can this be the right path?”
Pei Qian nodded. “That’s right. Fish-Catching Internet Cafe’s existence has to be publicized in this classy and elegant way! Think about it. Although Fish-Catching Internet Cafe does not have many customers, have the customers all been very satisfied with the cafe so far?”
Ma Yang pondered for a few seconds and said, “I think… they are quite satisfied.”
That’s nonsense. Anyone who had a strong opinion on the price would walk away the moment they saw the sign at the door. They would not have become customers of the internet cafe in the first place. People who saw the prices on the sign and still walked in were all rich people who could afford the expenses.
Of course, these people would be satisfied with the internet cafe. There weren’t many people inside! They could pick their favorite high-end computer out of fifty; they could pick their favorite seat in the coffee area. Many times, there were more waiters than there were customers. There was almost exclusive, one-on-one service…
How could they not be satisfied?!
Pei Qian nodded, saying, “So it’s alright to incur losses temporarily. We are paying money for people to spread the word about us! When people come because of word-of-mouth, do you think we would still have a shortage of customers?”
“If we reduce the price now, we would not be attracting the right crowd. How would we raise the price in the future, then? That’s why we have to allow things to remain as they are. We have to be patient and bear with it!”
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