Pei Qian was completely speechless. He was now a hundred percent sure that this reporter had misunderstood him. What’s more, it was probably a grave and ridiculous misunderstanding. Pei Qian was frantic. Yet, his good sense told him to remain calm.
Whether this reporter had misunderstood him or not, Pei Qian could not forget his original motive.
He had to try his best to reduce his popularity! He had to make himself look bad among gamers so as to reduce his sales volume. It would be best if he could even cause his next game to fail! At that thought, Pei Qian regained his composure and gestured for Xia Jiang to carry on with the interview.
Xia Jiang asked, “Many professional critics have commented on Repent and be Saved. Did you expect the professional critics to say whatever they did about the game?”
Pei Qian shook his head profusely. “Not at
all!”
Xia Jiang smiled. “Had you originally thought that the game’s meaning was extremely well-hidden, then? Were you prepared for people not to understand it?”
“Huh? No.” Pei Qian shook his head again. “I didn’t think people would over-analyze the game to this extent.”
“Over-analyze it?” Xia Jiang picked up her pen again. Pei Qian nodded. “That’s right, they’ve gone overboard. “The storyline they are praising was not created by me. I just found random literature graduates from school and made them come up with whatever they could.
“The game was not made difficult for immersiveness either. I only wanted to torture players with that game. Seeing players suffer is my guilty pleasure.
“Do you understand what I mean?”
Pei Qian looked very serious.
Xia Jiang nodded, equally seriously. “I understand, I understand.”
Pei Qian was speechless.”…” Xia Jiang picked up her pen and began writing some notes. However, sensing that something was missing, she asked, “What’s with the Pudu, then?”
Pei Qian answered truthfully. “It was a weapon I created for myself to cheat. Players found out about it by accident.”
Xia Jiang nodded. “So you played the game as well.”
Pei Qian was silent.
What should he say? He didn’t play it?
There was no need to lie about such a simple question, right? What’s more, nobody would have believed him.
Should he say he did, then?
Yet, that seemed inappropriate as well. He had already said that the game was created to torture gamers. If he said he played it as well, wouldn’t others mistake him for a masochist?
Thus, Pei Qian found himself momentarily at a loss for words.
Xia Jiang gave him a knowing look and continued writing in her notebook.
‘Boss Pei’s sense of humor has left a lasting impression on me.
‘Perhaps successful and mentally strong men like him all have an innate sense of humor. Even a normally boring and formal interview could become fun and amusing with him.
‘Boss Pei had straightforwardly admitted that Repent and be Saved was meant to torture gamers.
‘However, before he tortured others, he tortured himself first. While players suffered through the game, most would not guess that the creator of the game had gone through the exact same experience as they did beforehand.
‘He said that the Pudu was meant for himself, but who’s to say it was not meant for everyone else?
‘He had to produce a way to save everyone before he could be viewed as a savior.
‘If not for the great mercy and sacrifice of someone like him, how could Repent and be Saved have been created?’
Pei Qian had already put everything plainly. However, looking at the serious Xia Jiang writing diligently in her book, he suddenly felt helpless. It’s useless! She’s not listening! She doesn’t understand me at all! We’re on completely different frequencies!
Pei Qian had no idea how to answer the next question anymore.
Xia Jiang finished taking notes and prepared to ask the next question. However, Pei Qian quickly lifted his hand to stop her. “Chief Editor Xia…” “Yes? Go ahead, Boss Pei.” Xia Jiang looked earnest.
Pei Qian tried hard to find the right words. “Don’t you think that you could have… misunderstood whatever I just told you?”
Pei Qian had thought he had already done a good job of expressing doubt in Chief Editor Xia’s abilities. Yet, Xia Jiang did not look mad at all. Instead, she smiled as she nodded.
“Boss Pei, I understand.
“Your thinking is too deep. As hard as I try to guess the true meaning behind your words, I can only be partly correct at most. “This can be likened to the sea of stars in the sky. No matter how far we try to look, we will only be able to see specks of light. Still, an entire galaxy of beauty exists behind the darkness, and we fail to appreciate it. “I’m sorry, Boss Pei. I’m trying my best.”
Pei Qian was confused. “?”.
Did I doubt how hard you’re trying? You are trying hard indeed-you’re trying hard to misunderstand me!
Why can’t I get through to you?!
No, this interview absolutely cannot carry on any longer. If this carries on, who could say what the final product would look like?!
Pei Qian was just about to think of an excuse to leave when his cell phone rang. He retrieved it and saw that it was his 10 AM alarm to get out of bed.
Normally, if there was nothing to attend to in the office, Pei Qian would sleep until 10 am. Since the interview had been set for 9 am, Pei Qian had set an additional alarm to get out of bed earlier today.
Now, the 10 AM alarm was ringing. Pei Qian quickly switched it off and then raised his phone to his ear, acting like he was answering a call. “Oh, okay. Give me a while. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
After putting his cell phone away, he acted apologetic and said, “Chief Editor Xia, it’s really unfortunate. I have to tend to some work matters.
“Can you interview my employees instead? I have to make a move.” Chief Editor Xia nodded quickly. “Ah, alright, Boss Pei! I’ve already gained a lot from today’s interview. Please do what you have to.”
Pei Qian silently turned and left.
Forget it! If I can’t fight, I’ll take flight!
If I continue with the interview, I might be made into a god to worship. I have to leave as quickly as I can!
As Xia Jiang watched Boss Pei leave, she quietly wrote another line in her notebook.
‘The scariest thing in the world is a genius who works even harder than ordinary people.’
Once she was done, Chief Editor Xia gestured for the camera crew to grab their cameras.
“Let me see who we should interview first.”
Chapter 298 - Chemistry between the Interviewer and the Interviewee
Pei Qian walked out of the guest room, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
One could say he had seen this coming. The interview team did indeed have something up their sleeves!
Pei Qian had thought he could easily deal with the problem by patronizing them. It was just an interview after all. He intended to casually say a few things for the reporter to take down and the readers to read. He would do the minimum required and then pretend that all of this never happened.
He never thought that Chief Editor Xia would be so good at twisting the facts!
From the looks of the current situation, this was no small problem. If he did not handle this well, there could be dire consequences!
Pei Qian quickly pulled Assistant Xin aside. “Who is Chief Editor Xia planning to interview?”
Assistant Xin pondered for a moment and said, “She’s going to interview the more outstanding employees in Tengda-people like Huang Sibo, Bao Xu, Lin Wan, Lu Mingliang…”
Pei Qian took in a cold breath.
These were the people who constantly gave Boss Pei trouble!
Most of them were outstanding employees, who had been sent away, and problematic people like Bao Xu, who Pei Qian had to keep a close eye on.
; What’s more, all of these back-stabbing employees had one thing in common: wild imaginations. Huang Sibo, Bao Xu, and Lin Wan were all infuriatingly imaginative monsters.
If Chief Editor Xia interviewed all of them, the effects of their wild imaginations might not simply be a matter of addition. Instead, it might be a matter of multiplication or exponential growth.
Could anyone read the interview then? It would probably be so filled with praise that Boss Pei would have a heart attack.
Pei Qian wanted to arrange for others to be interviewed instead, but he realized that would be inappropriate.
For one, he could not guarantee that the other employees were not as imaginative as those few. Moreover, if he sent ordinary employees at the lowest level to be interviewed, they might expose their own ranks to Chief Editor Xia. That would be unacceptable as well.
Chief Editor Xia would surely be curious as to why Pei Qian had not arranged for core employees to be interviewed. She might even suspect that he was trying to hide something.
If Chief Editor Xia went on to interview the imaginative freaks in secret, Boss Pei would have a huge surprise.
Just the thought of that terrified Pei Qian. He could hardly imagine it.
Thus, he decided to allow those people to be interviewed.
As for how he could save himself…
After some thought, Pei Qian said, “Tell them not to mention me at all during the interview Even if they do, they cannot say a single good thing about me, understand?”
Xin Hailu was stunned. “Boss Pei, this… sounds quite difficult.”
Pei Qian waved his hand. “This is an order. They must do it. Go and tell them now.”
Xin Hailu nodded, retrieved her cell phone, and quickly highlighted the employees who were about to be interviewed. Then, she added them to a group and sent Boss Pei’s instructions to them.
After that, Assistant Xin went to the guest room to leave Chief Editor Xia some brief instructions.
Even then, Pei Qian could not relax.
However, he had already told Chief Editor Xia that he had other work matters to tend to. That meant he could not remain in the office for much longer.
Thus, despite not being able to relax, Pei Qian left the office. He decided to take his time in coming up with a solution tomorrow-after today’s interviews were completed.
Huang Sibo walked into the guest room and saw a set-up that he had never seen before. He could not help but feel slightly nervous.
There were three cameras: one on a tripod and two roaming around to film scenes from different angles. In addition, Chief Editor Xia looked exceptionally professional. All of these showed how high the standards for this interview were.
It was reasonable for Huang Sibo to be the first to be interviewed since he had also been the first to win the Dream Fund.
He had thought that this would be an ordinary interview where he would only have to answer questions straightforwardly. He did not think too much of it.
In any case, Boss Pei was the main subject. As long as he painted an accurate picture of Boss Pei and answered whatever questions the interviewer had for him truthfully, he would be fine, right?
Yet, reality was different from his expectations.
Before Huang Sibo entered the guest room, he received a very important message, telling him not to mention Boss Pei at all during the interview. Moreover, even if he absolutely had to, he was not allowed to praise him.
Tense
Immediately, Huang Sibo felt immense pressure.
He did not suspect much. Boss Pei’s ways had always been inexplicable and unique. Every seemingly illogical action and request had a deeper and more complex meaning.
Huang Sibo and most employees in Tengda were already used to this by now. He would not be allowed to praise Boss Pei, but he definitely could not insult him either.
Only retarded people would diss their own bosses in important interviews like that.
What’s more, all of them owed Boss Pei a lot. They would be guilt-stricken if they badmouthed him during the interview.
Thus, Huang Sibo decided not to mention Boss Pei at all.
Yet, what if, by following Boss Pei’s requests; he failed to complete the interview?
After all, three cameras were facing him. Many gamers would watch the final video. He could not possibly blow smoke in front of hundreds of thousands of gamers for the sake of following Boss Pei’s instructions, right? He would embarrass Tengda in front of all of those people!
Huang Sibo was in a dilemma.
Thus, he thought hard about what exactly he should say in order to satisfy Boss Pei’s requests and complete the interview properly to avoid drawing suspicions.
He could not come up with anything brilliant in such a short time. He had no choice but to listen to Chief Editor Xia’s questions and think quickly on his feet.
While this was happening, Xia Jiang flipped through the list of employees who were going to be interviewed as if she was preparing to fight a formidable enemy.
Xia Jiang had obtained this name list before the interview. She had all the information she needed, including the employees’ resumes, the businesses they were in charge of, and their outstanding achievements.
That could save the team a lot of time trying to dig out information from the interviewees, and they could thus be more productive.
Assistant Xin had informed Xia Jiang that Boss Pei did not want his employees to talk about him during the interview. Instead, he wanted the interviews to focus on these outstanding employees’ inner worlds.
Xia Jiang seemed to understand. Boss Pei was a low-profile person who did not want to overshadow his employees. Thus, he left all his facetime to them instead.
This was an extremely rare and valuable quality! If someone else had done this, Xia Jiang would have suspected their motives. However, Xia Jiang thought it fitting of Boss Pei to give instructions like that. Thus, she decided to respect Boss Pei’s intentions and avoid mentioning him as much as possible.
Yet, was that enough?
Xia Jiang did not think so.
Boss Pei could remain completely indifferent to material rewards and avoid competing for fame. However, as a professional reporter, Xia Jiang had the power to show everyone Boss Pei’s lofty and unsullied character! She also had a duty to expose the truth to her audience!
How could she respect Boss Pei’s wishes for her not to mention him and put his lofty and unsullied character on display for the world to see?
It would be an extremely difficult task, but Xia Jiang was already prepared.
Huang Sibo sat down on the couch. Xia Jiang quickly flipped through his resume and then commenced the interview.
Smiling, Xia Jiang said, “For a reason we both are aware of, there will be some changes to the contents of today’s interview. “You’ll just need to voice your thoughts and answer my questions truthfully, alright?”
Huang Sibo quickly nodded.
Indeed, Xia Jiang was a professional reporter. She had already solved his problems. His worries had been unfounded.
“We all know that you’re an old employee of Tengda. The company had probably not been established for long before you joined. Can you tell us why you joined a company like that back then?” Xia Jiang asked.
Huang Sibo recalled what it was like at the time.
“Back then, I was doing odd jobs at another game company in Jingzhou. I was being paid very little for the work I was doing, and I happened to come across Tengda’s recruitment advertisement online. I decided to try my luck.
“When I went for the interview, I bumped into my previous chief planner, Old Liu. I found out that he did not pass the interview. That made me extremely apprehensive.
“When I walked into the office, I realized that it was a start-up. However, the working environment looked very good. That made me want to work there all the more.
“I introduced myself, my current job at the time, and my skills truthfully. Then, I was offered a gene
rous salary that far exceeded my expectations. That’s how… I started working here.”
Huang Sibo carefully avoided mentioning Boss Pei as he recounted the story.
Xia Jiang seemed to notice that and nodded. Then, she asked a few specific questions about what Huang Sibo described.
“The company chose you, and not your previous chief planner who had much more experience than you did?”
Huang Sibo nodded. “That’s right.”
“At the time, Tengda was only a start-up, and yet the working environment was extraordinary, right?”
“Yes.”
“You said you were offered a salary that far exceeded your expectations. How was this communicated to you?”
After some thought, Huang Sibo said, “Er… I mentioned a figure, and then I was offered double of that.”
Xia Jiang shot Huang Sibo a look of approval.
That’s right! That’s the feeling I wanted to create!
Now that they had established some chemistry, the interview became much smoother.
“Before you started working on Ocean Stronghold, its general framework was already set, right? The game’s advertising method… you weren’t sure about it at first,
right?”
“After Ocean Stronghold was completed, you left Tengda Games. Can you briefly tell us about that?”
“In the beginning, Fei Huang Workspace was incurring losses. Yet, you insisted on turning low-end partnerships down unlike most other content creators. That was because someone had given you a warning against them, right?”
The questions came one after another. Huang Sibo answered every question that Xia Jiang asked, and the conversation progressed pleasantly.
It was not until noon that Huang Sibo’s interview finally came to a close.
Xia Jiang was very satisfied with this interview. She stood up and shook Huang Sibo’s hand.
“Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to be interviewed. I hope your work will go smoothly and that you will continue to achieve success!”
Fish-Catching Internet Cafe…
Pei Qian, who had been playing games, glanced at the clock. It was almost noon. The first interview should have been done by now, right?
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