March 20th, Sunday…
At Ming Yun Private Kitchen…
The weather was slowly turning warm, and today was a bright, sunny day. The sun shone brightly in the afternoon. In the yard of Ming Yun Private Kitchen, tables and chairs had been set up. There were also umbrellas attached to the tables. Altogether, there were more than ten additional seats compared to before, and the restaurant could accommodate more people.
The sky was clear, and there was a cool breeze. The atmosphere outside was entirely different.
At that moment, the core members of Tengda’s various departments were gathered. They drank heartily and caught up happily while the waiters kept serving dishes and pouring wine for them. The restaurant was filled with joy and laughter.
The heads of the various departments warmly welcomed Ruan Guangjian and made everyone from Halo Workspace feel at home.
Many department heads also took this opportunity to thank other department heads. Take Chang You of Otto Technologies for example.
Otto Ei’s success had to be attributed to the various departments’ support and investment. It was true-Director Lin had been the one who obtained those things. It had all been a part of Tengda Corporation’s development strategy, and Otto Technologies would compensate them with the profits generated by the cell phones.
However, Chang You still refused to take their support for granted. He thanked the other departments on behalf of all the other core members of Otto Technologies, to set a firm foundation for deep cooperation in the future.
Huang Sibo of Fei Huang Workspace was another example.
The creative advertisements and logos in the film had been completed with the combined help of all the other departments. Although the other departments had all more or less benefited from the success of the movie, Huang Sibo still wanted to thank everyone for their support.
On top of that, everyone warmly welcomed several new faces.
For instance, they welcomed the three new heads of Tengda Games: Hu Xianbin, Min Jingchao, and Zhang Nan.
After taking over from Li Yada and Bao Xu, the three of them had performed exceptionally well. The mobile version of GOG became very popular, and all of their skills became widely recognized throughout the company.
A few old friends also took this chance to catch up with one another and share how work had been going.
As for Pei Qian… he did not attend the gathering. Obviously, Pei Qian had predicted how the celebration would go. If he forced himself to attend this feast, there would only be one possible outcome:
He would have salt rubbed in his wounds!
Just the thought of being caught in an awkward situation, where all the department heads toasted him and said that they would not have succeeded if not for Boss Pei’s wise advice, made Pei Qian’s heart ache.
Thus, he decided not to turn up altogether.
As the saying went… out of sight, out of mind. There would be many opportunities to feast at Ming Yun Private Kitchen in the future. There was no need for him to have this particular meal.
All the department heads knew about this from the start, but the other core members who attended the gathering did not.
That was why many people asked questions not long after the celebration began.
“Eh? Director Lin, why isn’t Boss Pei here?”
“That’s right. Boss Pei has always attended gatherings.” “Is Boss Pei busy today?” “Tss… today is Sunday. Could Boss Pei still be working? He keeps instructing us not to work overtime, and yet he’s doing work for the company during the weekend?”.
Many people looked worried and guilty. They were worried because they were not sure if Boss Pei’s body would collapse under the immense work pressure. They were guilty because they found it inappropriate to be feasting and celebrating in the restaurant while Boss Pei was working so hard.
Lin Wan raised her glass of red wine and smiled as she said, “Don’t worry, everyone! Boss Pei isn’t here today, but I don’t think it’s entirely because of work. There are other considerations.”
The noisy crowd quieted down considerably as everyone turned their attention to Lin Wan and asked, “Director Lin, do you have insider information?”
Lin Wan shook her head. “I don’t, but I can guess! I think Boss Pei isn’t here today for two main reasons and motivations.”
Everyone listened intently.
“Firstly, Boss Pei hopes to give all of us enough personal space.
“Perhaps he thinks that, as a boss, his presence at this celebration would cause all of us to be tense. We might maintain a serious expression if our boss is around, and the atmosphere might be more somber.
“Thus, Boss Pei stayed away on purposes, so that all of us can celebrate naturally and without stress. That would allow us to experience full relaxation and joy after our success.”
Everyone nodded one by one, thinking that it made sense.
Boss Pei was approachable, and he never put on airs. However, a boss was still a boss at the end of the day.
What’s more, Boss Pei had great foresight and was a meticulous planner. All the department heads could almost see a halo above his head. Naturally, it was almost impossible for everyone to see him as an ordinary person.
Given that, Boss Pei’s presence would surely alter the atmosphere slightly.
Boss Dei had purposely stayed away from this particular gathering for another purpose: to ensure that all of them completely relaxed as they feasted and connected with one another!
Lin Wan smiled and continued speaking. “Additionally, Boss Pei is undoubtedly working, but I think his work is different from what everyone is thinking.
“It’s been so long. Haven’t you all noticed something extraordinary? Boss Pei is always the busiest once all the projects have been completed!”
Everyone recalled the past and realized that it was true.
At the beginning of each project, Boss Pei would only give a general direction. After that, the departments would be allowed to freely express their creativity while Boss Pei sat back.
During research and development, Boss Pei would ask the occasional question. However, he would not rush the process nor alter any details. Instead, he would strictly punish those who went against the Tengda Spirit by blindly rushing work or working overtime.
On the other hand, once the projects achieved success and everyone began relaxing, Boss Pei would get busier. He would often go into hiding, but no one would know what he was up to.
What’s more, Boss Pei would always look very worried and troubled at this stage. He always seemed to be deep in thought.
“Why’s that?” Someone asked.
Lin Wan sipped her red wine and said emotionally, “How can we enjoy peace for so long? It’s because someone is always defending the frontlines for us.
“As the saying goes, he who gives no thought to far-flung problems soon finds suffering nearby. Do you think it was purely coincidental that all our projects succeeded?”
The question stumped everyone.
Why had their projects succeeded? Was it because they had all worked hard? Of course, that was part of the reason. However, many other companies worked hard, and yet not every company succeeded. As for Tengdevery time they worked hard, their chances of succeeding increased. In fact, they were much higher than all the other companies! Take this cycle for example. They had produced two games, a cell phone, a film, shared phone booths, and ‘Top Student, Come Quick’. The projects that they had worried about at first had achieved success. This could not be simply explained by ‘hard work’ or ‘good luck’.
Lin Wan continued speaking. “All of you should have realized that the projects succeeded because we got the right directions. All the businesses and departments also helped one another out along the way, thus increasing our chances of success.
“If we had invested in a film or tried to develop a cell phone last year, our chances of success would be much lower because of the lack of help from other departments!
“Obviously, Boss Pei had already planned these things in great detail from the beginning. He has thought hard about which projects can and cannot be done.
“Why is he always the busiest once we complete our projects? That’s because he would have to start planning the projects for the next stage.
“Think about it, everyone. He has to set a good direction for the projects and the effect of the various departments cooperating. There are a plethora of things to tackle and complications to account for, and the work cannot be done in just one or two days.
“What’s more, Boss Pei is always giving us a perfect plan to execute within the first one or two weeks. He can even give us a slight push when assigning the work to us. One can only imagine how difficult it would be to achieve this!
“Boss Pei is so young, and yet he can plan so meticulously and achieve so much. His outstanding capabilities can be attributed to his raw talent, but we must also give him credit for his hard work.
“In every second of every day, Boss Pei is thinking about what we would never have thought of, in areas that we cannot even see. “I think we can all learn something from Boss Pei. We shouldn’t just be celebrating after our projects succeed. Instead, we should think about our plans for the future. That would help us to significantly upgrade our skills!”
Everyone nodded, deeply agreeing.
“That’s right! That must be it!”
“It’s no wonder that Boss Pei always looks to be in deep thought in good times!”
Lin Wan spoke again, “Of course, I think we all don’t have to worry about Boss Pei’s health as well.
“As the founder of the Tengda spirit, Boss Pei knows how to balance work, rest, and health better than any of us. He instructs us time and time again to rest more and have more fun. He understands the importance of taking care of his body and his health better than any of us. “Rest assured, everyone. Given Boss Pei’s current situation, he can probably continue to lead us for forty more years! That just so happens to be our country’s retirement age!”
Everyone looked very blissful.
“Alright!”
Someone in the crowd shouted, and everyone began clapping
That’s right. Boss Pei was only twenty this year. Many well-known businessmen continued to do business actively, even at seventy or eighty years old.
Even if Boss Pei felt satisfied with his impressive achievements in the future that he wanted to retire, he would still have to wait until he was sixty, right?
There were still forty more years to go!
The company had already achieved so many great things under Boss Pei’s leadership over the past two years. What could become of Tengda in forty more years? What could become of everyone’s careers?
Just thinking about it made everyone tremble!
Under a boss like Boss Pei, everyone would be willing to fight for the rest of their lives, much less for forty more years!
As people trembled in awe, the atmosphere in the restaurant became even livelier.
Boss Pei had been catching up on sleep after working so hard on GOG. All of a sudden, he jolted awake to see the blazing, afternoon sun. Then, he quickly calmed down.
“Why am I having nightmares in broad daylight? “That’s terrifying. I dreamt that, even after working hard all my life, I failed to incur losses and become a tycoon. At sixty years old, I was still being backstabbed at work by countless employees!
“What a failure! If that really happens, I’ll kill myself by crushing a tofu into my head!
“That’s alright… dreams are always the opposite of reality. It’s impossible…”
Pei Qian yawned, turned around, and went back to sleep.