The exclusive interview was published on February 24th. That was yesterday. Once it was published, many people forwarded it to their friends and rapidly spread it around Weibo and other similar platforms.
There were already tens of thousands of comments. Obviously, news of the interview had spread like wildfire.
“Lu Zhiyao’s acting skills in the movie weren’t criticized!”
“It looks like this film has become quite popular. It won’t be fitting to call him the ‘toxicity in the box office anymore’!”
“At first, I didn’t want to watch the movie after finding out that Lu Zhiyao was the main actor. However, the start scene of him drinking beer shocked me. I couldn’t believe my own eyes!”
“I think it really isn’t easy being Lu Zhiyao. He’s not like other young actors, who always say they work extremely hard, but who never improve even after a long time. Lu Zhiyao has always been silently working hard. Now, he’s finally achieving a breakthrough!”
“He’s attracting so many fans. I’m going to watch the movie again! I want to observe his acting skills!”
“I really want to know who he was referring to when he said an ’eminent person’ helped him. He already thanked Zha Zhuti before that. I don’t think it’s him, right?”
“Could it be Director Zhu Xiaoce?”
“I don’t think so. If it were the director, he could have just thanked him directly. Why should he refer to him as an ’eminent
person’?”
“Not only did the person offer him acting advice, but he also offered him life lessons… that person doesn’t sound simple at all!”
“What I want to know is whether Lu Zhiyao can become a movie king based on his performance in this movie or not. Even if he can’t get awards at overseas film festivals, he should have hopes of getting local ones,
right?”
“We can’t tell for sure. What if this movie catches the attention of overseas judges?”
ero
After reading a few pages of comments, Pei Qian’s expression turned dark. The corners of his lips kept twitching.
‘Acting normal is the most difficult’? ‘Just act whatever the role is?
Were those my exact words?
My exact words were these: ‘just act normally’ and ‘the male lead is an ordinary person, just act ordinary’!
This Lu Zhiyao not only misunderstood me, but he also injected some kind of philosophy in my words…
Obviously, Lu Zhiyao couldn’t remember what Pei Qian had said before. He only made it up on the spot, based on his foggy memory. That was how he had come up with those lines in the interview.
What’s more, the ’eminent person’ obviously referred to Pei Qian!
“Lu Zhiyao, Lu Zhiyao… I can’t say anything about you ridding yourself of toxicity or about you achieving a breakthrough in your acting, but couldn’t you have stopped yourself from achieving this with my movie…?”
Pei Qian realized that his fear that ‘Lu Zhiyao drinking beer’ would become a hot search had turned into reality. However, the process had been slightly different from what he had imagined
Knock, knock!
Pei Qian was leaning back on his chair, daydreaming, when he heard someone knock on the door. He was stunned. “Delivery? No, I didn’t order anything recently.”
He opened his door and saw that it was Ma Yang.
“What are you doing here?” Pei Qian asked, surprised.
School was not going to reopen for some time. The company had opened for business again, but He Desheng could handle Dream Realization Ventures. Pei Qian had also been keeping an eye on their main investments so it made no difference whether Ma Yang was there or not.
Pei Qian had thought that Ma Yang would stay at home until the end of the holiday before coming back to work.
Ma Yang sat down on the sofa, looking concerned. “I heard from He Desheng that Brother Qian hasn’t been to the office for a few days. That’s why I came to check on you.”
Ma Yang looked at the bags of snacks on the table. Pei Qian had eaten them all when he felt bored over the past few days.
Ma Yang’s expression turned somber. “Brother Qian, I have to scold you. You’re the Chairman now. You cannot put everything on your own shoulders now!
“Take Dream Realization Ventures for example. It’s true—I didn’t have enough time to work because of the upcoming examinations, but you didn’t have to handle all the investment matters on your own!
“Look, you’re under so much stress! You’ve been eating so much junk! It’s too harmful to your body!”
As Ma Yang spoke, he grabbed the half-empty bags of chips and started to munch on them noisily. “Chinese New Year is over, and I am back! I’m going to share your burdens!
“Brother Qian, assign the tasks to me!”
Pei Qian looked hurt and sorrowful.
I’m indeed very burdened, but I don’t think you can help me…
Old Ma, Old Ma… I trusted you before, but how can you explain the twenty million yuan you invested in IOI?
If you hadn’t made that unreasonable investment, would I have taken over Dream Realization Ventures’ work? I would have left everything to you to mess up!
However, on further thought, Pei Qian realized that he had no right to criticize Old Ma. Ma Yang had spent twenty million yuan on shares in Finger Games, but IOI had not even been released in China at this point.
Look at Pei Qian’s investment projects on the other hand: the shared phone booths and the ‘Top Student, Come Quick’ application… Forget it. He was too ashamed to scold Old Ma. He had done even worse after taking over from Old Ma.
Pei Qian sat down on the couch, thinking about giving Old Ma a second chance. A split second later, Pei Qian tried asking, “Old Ma, if I gave Dream Realization Ventures another fifty million yuan, where would you invest the money?”
Ma Yang finished a bag of chips, looked at an unopened bag of prawn crackers, and asked, “Fifty million yuan…?
“Investing in Finger Games turned out to be a good idea before. I would continue to invest in it.”
Pei Qian, “…”
He’s being pigheaded!
Pei Qian’s heart hurt excruciatingly. “Old Ma, stop eating. Stand up!” Ma Yang, who had just grabbed the bag of prawn crackers, jumped to his feet. However, he still stuffed a handful of prawn crackers into his mouth subconsciously.
Infuriated, Pei Qian asked, “Didn’t you eat before you came over?!”
Ma Yang nodded. “I didn’t. How did you know that, Brother Qian? Should we order some take-out? Do you eat fried chicken?” Pei Qian, “…”
“What was I saying? Oh, that’s right. I’m very unhappy with your response! “What’s the name of our investment company?”
Ma Yang immediately answered, “Dream Realization Ventures, Brother Qian!”
Pei Qian nodded. “What is Dream Realization Ventures’ mission?”
Ma Yang, “Er… to invest in dreams!”
Pei Qian continued. “Does Finger Games look like a company that needs investments to fulfill its dreams? They’re not even incurring losses! It’s critical that we invest whatever money we have now into projects that would fulfill people’s dreams!
“For example…
“Forget it, you can think about it.”
Pei Qian had wanted to say ‘projects like the shared phone booth’, but on further thought, the shared phone booths were now generating profit. Thus, he could only silently swallow his words. Ma Yang stopped talking and fell into deep thought. As he pondered, he snuck two prawn crackers into his mouth and chewed softly.
Pei Qian, “…Alright, go and look for some dreams to fulfil. Once you’ve found some, let me see them. Then, I’ll decide how we should invest the money.”
Ma Yang quickly nodded. “Alright, Brother Qian. I’ll share your burdens! You really don’t want take-out?”
Pei Qian was exasperated. “What time is it?! Go to Fish-Catching Internet Cafe and eat by yourself. I have work to do.”
“Oh, oh… alright. I’ll make a move, then, Brother Qian.” Ma Yang turned to leave but turned around again almost immediately-as if he had just recalled something. He picked up the bag of prawn crackers from the table. “These prawn crackers are quite yummy. I’m leaving, Brother Qian!”
Pei Qian had mixed feelings watching Ma Yang leave.
“Old Ma, get yourself together! I’m pinning my hopes on you!”
In the afternoon, at Tengda Games…
“All in all, once Bao Xu and I leave, we’ll leave all of GOG’s matters to you. Try as hard as possible to make it a dual-terminal game and come up with the designs for our current heroes.
“The tasks that you have been in charge of during this period are alright. Even if something messes up along the way, you don’t have to panic. Think carefully about what Boss Pei has said. You’ll be able to find the solution for sure.”
Li Yada was assigning jobs to Hu Xianbin and his two other companions. She and Bao Xu would be leaving the country on March 1st. Over the past few days, she had gotten visas and air tickets, booked their accommodations, planned their itinerary, and made all other preparations. Of course, she had also handed over the appropriate tasks to Hu Xianbin and the others.
It was Friday today. It was the last day of work for both of them. Each of them had already handed over their work to someone else.
Once everything was done, Li Yada glanced at her phone. She had sent a message to Boss Pei earlier, saying that she had completed the handover and was going to leave the country on holiday. Boss Li only replied with two words: ‘Go ahead.’
At first, Li Yada had felt worried. However, after realizing that Boss Pei was still going to be here to supervise the game, she calmed down and decided that it was no big deal. The words ‘go ahead’ were very simple, but they felt like a calming pill to Li Yada. Once she read them, she immediately relaxed.
Zhang Nan returned to her desk and discovered a new concept art from Ruan Guangjian’s workspace. She quickly opened it.
Zhang Nan’s job was mainly to take charge of the heroes’ skins. Before this, she had worked in costume design. Coincidentally, she knew unique principles that could also be applied to skin design in the game.
This time, the concept art was for ‘Modest in Dan Dao Hui’. It was also the first legendary skin for the hero, Modest.
On the artwork, Modest was dressed in a costume out of Beijing operas. He had long sideburns, a long mustache, and a long beard; making him look extremely imposing. Behind him were many flags. As a legendary skin, it would be customized with unique animations, unique voice-overs, and special effects. Gamers would find it worth every cent for sure.
This skin was related to a traditional form of art-Beijing operas. In Dan Dao Hui[1], Guan Yun-who had ruled over Jingzhou for a long time-attended dangerous military meetings alone. This story turned into a legend almost immediately.
In the employees’ hearts, Boss Pei—who had been the inspiration for Modest—was very similar. He had contempt for his enemies, remained calm in the face of trouble, and was bold and heroic. He was also outstanding in courage and wisdom. That made him very similar to Lord Guan.
The flags in the skin matched the ‘Beijing Opera’ theme but also represented the various weapons that had been stuck in Modest’s back. It was very apt indeed.
[1] This is the name of a well-known Beijing opera.