Losing Money to Be a Tycoon c1-883

by Inebriation-seeking Blue Shirt, 青衫取醉

  Glabella, whose afternoon nap had been disrupted, ran to Tang Yishu’s legs and started meowing as if trying to show its displeasure or cursing Pei Qian.

  Pei Qian had just sat down for a while when he heard a knock on his office door.

  Hao Yun walked in and said, “Boss Pei, preparation for the recruitment examinations has been more or less completed.

  “The papers have been set and sealed away. The seals would only be removed on the day of the examination.

  “We’ve booked an auditorium in a hotel to hold the examinations. The hotel will set it up in the examination format on the day itself. It’ll be able to hold hundreds of people.

  “As you had instructed earlier, we have also booked accommodation for applicants coming from other cities.

  “We’ve also discussed with the postgraduate students from Handong University regarding invigilation and marking of the papers. Their remuneration has been set for three hundred yuan per day. “If there are no other questions or issues, we can set the date and make the relevant announcements.”

  Pei Qian nodded. “Thank you.”

  Actually, he was not that anxious about recruitment. However, the HR department had been extremely efficient throughout the entire process. Everything had been put together much quicker than he had expected.

  All in all, the preparation had taken them less than a month.

  Although Tengda’s recruitment inbox was practically overflowing, Pei Qian guessed that not many people would come down to take the examinations.

  That was because Pei Qian had created too long a process. After taking the examinations, applicants would have to wait for the papers to be marked. After the results were released, applicants would be called to attend interviews. Only after the results of those were out would applicants be considered selected by Tengda.

  Yet, even then, they had to pass the Tengda Spirit compatibility test.

  The entire process was written very clearly on the recruitment website where applicants had to print their entry proof. Foreign applicants looking for a job at Tengda would have to travel back and forth at least twice-once for the written examinations and another for the interview.

  Although Tengda would cover their accommodation fees, they still had to waste a considerable amount of time.

  Since many applicants were already working at another job, they would find it difficult to apply for leave. Furthermore, even if they expended all the necessary time and effort, they could end up failing and wasting it all.

  Applicants with rich working experience would not be more advantaged compared to fresh graduates in a recruitment process like this. Thus, their willingness to be put through the process would likely be significantly reduced.

  Thus, the first recruitment drive would likely not be large-scale.

  Pei Qian glanced at the calendar. “Let’s set it for next Monday. It may be a bit rushed, but we can’t drag this any further. We have to try and finish the recruitment process by December.”

  If they delayed it any further, companies would have held their year-end meetings and distributed the year-end bonuses. In other words, more people would seek to switch jobs, and there would be more talents in the market.

  Hao Yun nodded. “Alright, Boss Pei. I’ll set a time based on your instructions and send an announcement to the applicants.”

  Immediately after Hao Yun left, Li Yada entered.

  “Boss Pei, there are two things I need to ask you.

  “First, more and more bugs have been appearing in our games for some reason. What’s more, they’re not just appearing in our new game, GOG. They’re also appearing in our earlier games… “Can we allow our design team to work overtime over these few days?”

  Instinctively, Pei Qian wanted to turn down the request. However, on second thought, he realized that slowing down the entire research and development process could prevent the game from being released before settlement.

  He was allowed to leave one project unreleased during this cycle, but there were other projects which would possibly not be completed in time such as the cell phone.

  Thus, he had to make sure that settlement would not be delayed as a result of the game’s research and development progress.

  Pei Qian nodded. “Alright, ease up the overtime limit, but make sure you keep track of how much everyone is working. This won’t just be for the sake of distributing overtime pay; we also have to make sure everyone has enough rest. We have to strike a good work-life balance, understand?”

  It looked like Tang Yishu’s halo effect was not only slowing down the game’s research and development but also allowing Boss Pei to distribute more overtime pay. It was so worth it!

  Li Yada nodded. “Alright. The second thing is that Big Boss Ruan Guangjian is intending to come to Jingzhou. Should we house him?”

  Pei Qian frowned.

  Ruan Guangjian?

  There was no need to flip his little notebook to confirm this; he was Pei Qian’s second target after Teacher Qiao.

  “What’s he coming to Jingzhou for?” Pei Qian asked.

  Li Yada explained, “We have been working with him all this time, right? We’re also working with him to design GOG’s characters now.

  “However, while designing our heroes, Ruan Guangjian increasingly felt that long-distance communication was inefficient and inadequate for explaining a lot of details. He became worried that he would not fully capture our ideas for our heroes.

  “After all, this game would be different from all the others. Designing original heroes would be much more complicated as well since Ruan Guangjian has no existing images to refer to. The slightest difference could lead to huge losses.

  “That was why he decided to come over to improve communication. He could even visit you while he’s in the city.”

  Once again, Pei Qian was at a loss for words.

  “We’ll host him; of course, we’ll host him! Book Ming Yun Private Kitchen and all the roller coaster rides! These exciting activities can give him more inspiration for sure!

  “Don’t inform him about it either. Let it be a surprise!”

  Li Yada was shocked. “Oh… alright.”

  Pei Qian leaned back in his chair, obviously pleased with himself.

  Ruan Guangjian is coming to Jingzhou? Hmph, watch how I set you up once you arrive in my territory!

  Pei Qian watched more shows for a while and began to feel bored. There hadn’t been much for him to do recently. That was because nothing had been produced, and he could not interfere in anything.

  The only project he could oversee was Fei Huang Workspace’s production of the movie. He could cause some trouble there.

  However, a careless ‘word of advice’ from Pei Qian had helped improve Lu Zhiyao’s performance last week. Now, he did not dare to return.

  Pei Qian felt melancholic.

  All of a sudden, he recalled Tang Yishu and wondered if the little girl was getting used to working in the company. Harboring genuine concern for his employees, Pei Qian sent a message to Tang Yishu, asking her to come into the office.

  Half a minute later, a figure appeared outside his door. She reluctantly reached out and then put her hand down again as if she was plucking up the courage just to knock on the door.

  “Come in,” said Pei Qian. Tang Yishu carefully pushed the door open and walked in with her head lowered. While pinching her fingers nervously, she greeted Pei Qian. “S-Senior.”

  “The down jacket looks quite nice.” Pei Qian casually praised her. “Are you getting used to working here?”

  Tang Yishu nodded and softly replied, “Yes, it’s just that… I have nothing much to do.”

  Pei Qian pondered for a moment and realized that it was probably true.

  Cats generally did not require much attention or care. All Tang Yishu had to do was clear its poop once and feed it twice every day.

  Unlike dogs, cats did not have to be walked or bathed.

  After some consideration, Pei Qian said, “If y
ou see stray cats outside in the future, you can bring them into the office as well. Of course, you must first bring them to the vet to be vaccinated and rid of any fleas. If you need to incur any expenses, feel free to report it to the finance department.”

  Tang Yishu answered, “A-Alright, Senior.”

  Pei Qian was merely using Tang Yishu to produce the halo effect. At the moment, it looked like it was working pretty well. The money was very well-spent. Since Tang Yishu was feeling bored, Pei Qian did not mind taking in more cats. In any case, they would only produce a bit more poop. It wouldn’t make much of a difference to Tang Yishu.

  Pei Qian was just about to ask Tang Yishu to go back to work when he realized that she was looking quite conflicted. It looked like she wanted to say something, but she was also holding back her words.

  “Do you have something to say?”

  Tang Yishu hesitated for a couple of seconds and finally plucked up the courage to speak. “Senior, do people in this company try to steal business secrets?”

  “Steal business secrets?” Pei Qian looked shocked for a moment, and then he smiled. “What are you thinking about? You don’t have to worry about this at all.”

  Tang Yishu heaved a huge sigh of relief. “Alright. That’s all I had to say, Senior. I-I’m going back to work.”

  Pei Qian could not help but smile and shake his head as he watched Tang Yishu leave his office.

  This girl was really simple and honest. She must have watched too many dramas to think that people in the company would steal business secrets. They were just an ordinary games company. What kind of business secrets were there to steal…?

  Pei Qian went back to watching his shows. All of a sudden, he realized that there was a problem.

  “That’s not right. Tang Yishu had only started work last week. Why would she be worried about others stealing business secrets?

  “Had she noticed someone acting sneakily?

  “That’s not right either. On normal days, everyone would be working hard at their desks. No matter who Tang Yishu noticed, she would probably not think that they were stealing business secrets, right?

  “Why did she suspect that someone was stealing business secrets?

  “…Wait a moment. Did she see someone over the weekend?”

  All of a sudden, Pei Qian realized that things were not as simple as they seemed!

  Chapter 344 - How did Boss Pei Know I Like Those?

  The intelligent Boss Pei quickly conjured up an entire drama in his head.

  Over the weekend, Tang Yishu came to the office to clean up Glabella’s poop as she was meant to. Logically, the office should have been empty; nobody should have been there.

  However, Tang Yishu noticed someone sneakily working on something at his desk. She began to feel worried that this person was stealing business secrets.

  Although Pei Qian knew for a fact that there were no business secrets worth stealing in the office, Tang Yishu had purely thought that way because she had no working experience. However, this proved that somebody had been sneakily working overtime over the weekend!

  Who was it?!

  Boss Pei had instructed everybody time and time again that they had to formally apply for permission to work overtime. They could only work overtime if Boss Pei approved it; otherwise, working overtime was strictly prohibited.

  They could work overtime from home by editing documents in secret. If they handed it in on Monday, Boss Pei would have no way of finding out. He could turn a blind eye to the entire situation.

  However, coming to the office to work overtime without permission was more than Boss Pei could tolerate. He could not let this slide!

  After all, hardly anyone could be efficient or productive while working overtime from home. For all Boss Pei knew, they would get distracted by other things after only working for a short while. The amount of harm that could be done was limited.

  However, working overtime in the office could improve one’s productivity in many ways. It could also breed a bad culture. The potential harm caused was incomparable to the former.

  At first, Pei Qian thought about asking Tang Yishu about this. However, he soon realized that Tang Yishu had only started work a while ago. She probably did not even know many colleagues. It would be difficult for her to identify who it was she had seen over the weekend. “That’s easy. I can just check the platform.” Pei Qian immediately accessed the platform to check the access log for the main door and the upload log for the design file. Only two people accessed the office on Saturday: Tang Yishu and a man from the administrative department.

  Four submissions were also made on Saturday, and they were all done by Li Yada.

  After some thought, Pei Qian sent a message to Little Zhou from the administrative department and Li Yada, asking them to meet him in his office.

  When both of them arrived at the office, they exchanged a look as if realizing something.

  They were not even from the same department. They hardly met during work. What else could Boss Pei be summoning them for?

  Although both felt slightly apprehensive, they tried to remain calm.

  Pei Qian looked at Little Zhou first. “It shows on the records that you worked overtime on Saturday. Did you come to the office to work?”

  Little Zhou quickly nodded. “That’s right, Boss Pei. I wasn’t done with some work for the recruitment drive, and so I came to work overtime.”

  Pei Qian fell silent. That was a pretty good reason.

  Part of the administrative department had been working closely with the HR department to organize the recruitment drive, and Little Zhou had been a part of that group.

  Furthermore, the administrative department normally did not have much to do during working hours. Thus, Pei Qian trusted them a bit more. He had never attempted to oversee their working habits and had never requested for them to ask for permission before working overtime.

  Pei Qian turned to face Li Yada. “You worked overtime, too?”

  Li Yada quickly replied, “I didn’t. I only made minor edits to a few documents while I was at home.”

  The upload and editing records for various documents only revealed who edited the documents and when. They did not reveal which computer the edits were made on.

  Pei Qian nodded slightly.

  Maybe I’m overthinking.

  Someone had come into the office on Saturday, but it was only Little Zhou from the administrative department. There was no problem with that. After all, he had not been placed in charge of any huge, profit-generating projects. The upload log could be explained by Li Yada making edits from home. This did not seem like a huge problem either. Pei Qian nodded. “Alright, there’s nothing else. You can go back to work. Remember to take note of your overtime hours so that the finance department can remunerate you accordingly.”

  em

  Both of them heaved a sigh of relief, turned around, and left the office.

  Pei Qian went back to watching his shows.

  All of a sudden, he realized something else was wrong. There was an obvious gap in his current management model!

  What if someone used the access card of someone from the administrative department to enter the office on weekends?

  He could not rule out this possibility!

  At that thought, Pei Qian sent a message to Tang Yishu. “I’m giving you a task.”

  Tang Yishu answered, “Alright, Senior.”

  Pei Qian said, “When you come into the office over the weekend, count the number of people in the office. Record the number down and report to me on Monday.”

  Tang Yishu asked, “Senior, I can’t remember everyone’s name. Should I ask around?”

  Pei Qian answered, “No, no, no! You mustn’t do that. I’m just trying to reward those who work overtime with a small gift. It’s supposed to be a surprise. If you let them know, it would be spoiled.

  “You don’t have to remember their names. Just note down any special characteristics. For example, you could write ‘m
ale, short, and skinny’, ‘male, receding hairline’ ‘female, huge-frame spectacles’, or something similar.”

  Tang Yishu responded, “Alright, I understand, Senior.”

  Once again, Pei Qian asked, “Can you try to describe the person you saw last weekend first?”

  Pei Qian did not receive a reply, even after half a minute.

  Tang Yishu was struggling on the other side.

  She glanced at Bao Xu, who was nonchalantly playing games, and then looked in the direction of Pei Qian’s office.

  The situation was getting confusing.

  “This big brother with a receding hairline did tell me not to inform Senior that he had worked overtime. Yet, Senior is asking me about it now…”

  Tang Yishu felt very conflicted. After a few more seconds of consideration, she finally answered. “Senior, you’re going to reward this person, right? You’re not going to punish him, right?”

  Pei Qian said, “That’s right!”

  Tang Yishu pondered a bit more and said, “Can I ask him if he wants to be rewarded first?”

  Pei Qian, “?”

  Ask him if he wants to be rewarded? Won’t you be revealing my intentions then?

  He quickly said, “There’s no need for that. Just tell me his special characteristic.”

  Tang Yishu answered, “I can’t do that, Senior. I promised I wouldn’t tell you.”

  Pei Qian, “?”

  Something was indeed up! He had almost been kept in the dark!

  All of a sudden, Pei Qian became Sherlock Holmes and ran over the facts that he could confirm.

  Tang Yishu had indeed someone else when she came back to work over the weekend. What’s more, the person was probably not Little Zhou from the administrative department.

  That was because Little Zhou was permitted to work overtime. There would have been no need for him to emphasize to Tang Yishu not to inform Boss Pei about it.

  Someone must have taken Little Zhou’s access card to come to the office and work overtime. What’s more, Little Zhou had covered up for the person!