In the afternoon…
In the heart of Jingzhou, the Great World.
Pei Qian, Lin Wan, Zhang Yuan, and Min Jingchao arrived at the plaza outside the shopping mall.
He could see it from afar. There was a huge promotional poster hanging outside the building. The original poster for GOG’s global finals had been removed and replaced with a publicity poster for the GPL league.
Previously, GOG’s global finals had mainly been printed with GOG’s iconic heroes, such as Modest and Ruan,the Literary Genius of the Winds, as well as GOG’s first international invitational tournament.
However, the main part of the GPL poster had now become the flags of all the clubs. There were logos of various clubs on the sixteen flags. Of course, most of these logos were related to the brand of the parent company.
For example, Shenhua Real Estate’s team’s SHG had made some changes based on Shenhua Real Estate’s logo. It looked more fashionable and had the charm of an E-Sports Club.
However, through the logo and the name of the team, people could tell that this club was related to Shenhua Real Estate. It could help promote the company’s brand.
Sixteen war flags were lined up neatly in two rows. It looked like a battlefield where two armies were facing each other. The flags were fluttering in the air, looking very majestic.
It had an aura even though there were no fancy heroes in the promotional poster.
At the moment, GOG was already very influential in the country. Customers who often came to the Great World had basically linked this poster to GOG.
Thus, there was no longer a need for those fancy heroes to show up. The protagonists now were the various clubs in the GPL. The main stage was for them.
Pei Qian was very satisfied with this poster.
There was no more Modest, he was finally free!
The four of them arrived at the shopping mall. There were all sorts of restaurants, beverages, and shops.
Manager Zhang of the shopping mall was already waiting inside. He quickly walked up to them when he saw the four of them.
After introducing themselves, Manager Zhang suggested, “Boss Pei, it’s almost noon now. There are many high-end restaurants here. Which one do you want to go to? I heard that a new family has opened a high-end buffet that costs more than a hundred yuan each. Why don’t I give you a treat? Boss Pei, would you be willing to give it a try?”
Tengda had signed a long-term agreement with the Great World. What’s more, the GPL league had already been extended to so many large companies to form clubs to participate in. No matter what, they had to be on good terms with such big clients.
Pei Qian waved his hand. “No, let’s just eat something casual.”
Manager Zhang quickly said, “That won’t do, Boss Pei. You came all the way here, and it’s just time for lunch. Eating casually would make me seem like I’m not treating you well.”
Lin Wan smiled. “Manager Zhang, there’s no need to be so polite.”
“You haven’t interacted much with Boss Pei, so you don’t know his character.”
“Boss Pei has always been an extremely pragmatic person. He doesn’t like such superficial things. Otherwise, someone of Boss Pei’s status wouldn’t be able to keep eating his Fish-Catching Take-Out.”
“This time, Boss Pei wants to see how the GPL league is going. We are putting ourselves in the shoes of ordinary audiences and we’ll eat whatever ordinary audiences eat.”
“You don’t have to accompany us. We’re just walking around.”
Manager Zhang did not insist. “I see. Boss Pei, please feel free to do as you wish. You can look for me if you have any questions at any time.”
Pei Qian and the others strolled around the shopping mall and headed up. The surroundings of the escalator are already used to promote GPL competitions.
When they reached the last escalator, the flags of various clubs were hung on both sides. It was as if they were passing through a corridor with many flags, heading towards a cruel battlefield.
The GPL competition venue on the top floor had also been completely renovated according to the relevant requirements. This included the custom-made areas for the official support props that the audience responded strongly to, the custom-made figurines, props, and so on.
In fact, these had been empty spaces in the first place which were now fully utilised. That had made the game and the fighting atmosphere more immersive.
After entering the venue, Pei Qian realized that there were obvious changes.
The first was that the two areas in front of the stadium had turned blue and red respectively. This represented the fans of both sides of the competition. They could cheer and support their teams.
As for the other areas, such as the back row, they were prepared for neutral audiences. However, the back row of the red zone was more inclined towards the red side. That would also help to differentiate them.
The flags of the various clubs were hung on the walls around the stadium. The corresponding team’s flags would glow during the competition.
What’s more, the details on the stage seemed to have been rearranged. It looked like the people in charge of the GPL league had put in a lot of effort.
Lin Wan said, “I specially asked Liang Qingfan to come over. While the overall renovation style cannot be changed much, adding some embellishments would not be a problem.”
“Liang Qingfan has rearranged the stage, chairs, and walls. Compared to the international invitational tournament, the atmosphere of the entire venue is obviously much better.”
“On top of that, our broadcasting station and various on-site equipment for the live venue have also been reconfigured. For example, we just bought this rocker arm. It can help us take a bird’s eye view and show that there are no empty seats.”
“Boss Pei, is there anything else you want to improve on?”
Pei Qian shook his head silently. “No, they’re all good.”
Sometimes, the thing that made Pei Qian feel the most melancholic was that he did not have to worry about anything and his employees could do everything on their own.
There were many people in the stadium.
The Great World was originally a shopping mall in the heart of Jingzhou. There was a lot of traffic, and the GPL competition venue on the top floor had been completely renovated. It could even be said to have experienced a facelift. There might not be any competitions now but many people came to visit out of curiosity.
Pei Qian did not want to attract attention, so he just walked around the corner, keeping a low profile.
However, at that moment, Lin Wan suddenly saw a familiar figure.
A slightly bald Western man’s face stood out among the countrymen.
Lin Wan quickly said, “Eh? Boss Pei, isn’t that Eric?”
Lin Wan had only met Eric once, but he had left a deep impression on her since his beard was longer than his hair and his eyes were higher than his head. She quickly managed to identify him.
Pei Qian followed Lin Wan’s finger and saw Eric.
Eric’s side profile was facing this side at first. He was observing the flag on the wall. Then, he found a seat and sat down. He began to observe the player seats and the big screen and other equipment on the stage.
This was the first time Pei Qian had seen Eric. Before this, he had only heard his voice and not seen him.
Pei Qian was confused. “Eh? Didn’t you say that he was no longer in charge of IOI’s domestic server?”
Lin Wan thought for a moment. “This information should be accurate. He is definitely no longer in charge of IOI’s domestic server. However, it looks like he’s not in a hurry to leave. Instead, he came to scout for information.”
Pei Qian nodded. “That makes sense.”
“Boss Pei, since we’re old friends, should we go over and greet them?” Lin Wan suggested.
Pei Qian pondered for a moment. Eric was in such a miserable state; he must be in dire need of support and comfort. Thus, he nodded. “Alright, let’s go say hi.”
Min Jingchao could not help but frown when he saw Eric taking out his cell phone to take a photo. “Boss Pei, should we stop him? What if Dayak Corporation imitates us after he takes the photo?”
Pei Qian raised his hand. “No, let him take it!”
Eric held his cell phone and took pictures of the main stage and the entire studio seriously. His expression was very complicated.
It had been almost four months since he was in charge of IOI’s domestic server.
Looking back at the past four months, one could only describe it as despair!
Eric had used all his operating experience in the other parts of the world, and racked his brains to think of various methods. However, no matter how hard he tried, he could not get any market share from GOG!
The upper echelons of Dayak’s company were extremely dissatisfied with this. They felt that this was a mistake in Eric’s work and that he was lacking in ability. Eric had a hard time explaining himself.
No matter how he explained the situation objectively, the company would not be able to understand. They would only think that it was all Eric’s excuse.
Thus, Eric was not willing to take the blame. On the other hand, he became very interested in Tengda and GOG.
He was very puzzled. How did Tengda achieve this?
Therefore, Eric did not leave after the handover. Instead, he flew to Jingzhou to conduct a comprehensive inspection and research, especially on the various operations of GOG.
The global finals and the GPL league were of course the top priority of his research.
Finger Games had wanted to hold a global finals previously, but they were scared off by GOG’s international invitational tournament.
Eric felt that if he could report the operation strategy of GOG to the higher management of Finger Games in detail after he returned, he could share his responsibilities and help Dayak Corporation to complete the global finals that they were preparing for. He would be able to at least make up for it no matter whether the failure of the domestic server of IOI was his fault or not in the end.
Eric was no longer in charge of IOI’s domestic server but he still had to work at Dayak Corporation. He could not give up just like that.
After taking another photo, Eric saw a few people walking towards him.
He was shocked when he saw Lin Wan at the front.
This is bad!
I’m caught red-handed for taking photos in secret!
The GPL competition venue was completely open and anyone could take photos as they pleased, While it was not considered a secret but Eric himself was a high-ranking member of Dayak after all. It would sound bad if someone saw this.
However, Eric had been through hundreds of battles after all. He had been in all sorts of major situations with the executives of multinational companies. How could he be frightened by these young men in their twenties? That was impossible.
Thus, Eric quickly calmed down and kept his phone. “Miss Lin, what a coincidence. We meet again.”
Lin Wan smiled. “Mr. Eric, why didn’t you say anything about coming to Jingzhou? Tengda should host you.”
“That’s right, Mr. Eric. This is the Boss Pei you’ve been longing to meet.”
Eric was stunned.
He had not watched Boss Pei’s Daily Life, nor had he paid attention to Tengda’s latest news. Thus, he was only surprised. He had not expected Boss Pei to be so young.
The more he thought about it, the more he felt that something was amiss. Employees over thirty years old were extremely rare in the entire Tengda Corporation. How did this group of young people make Dayak Corporation suffer so much?
Eric no longer dared to belittle Boss Pei. He extended his hand and said, “Boss Pei, nice to meet you.”
At first, he was worried that Boss Pei would ridicule him with the attitude of a victor. After all, Boss Pei was a young man in his twenties. It was normal for him to take the opportunity to make sarcastic remarks since he had achieved such a huge victory at such a young age.
However, Boss Pei did not do that. Instead, he smiled and took his hand. “Mr Eric, nice to meet you. I’m really sorry. I was too busy with work the last time you came to Jingzhou so I didn’t have time to entertain you. How about this, if you have time, I’ll treat you to a meal?”
Eric’s expression changed looking at Boss Pei’s sincere attitude. He could not figure out what Boss Pei was up to.
Was this a courtesy unique to Asians? Or was it a type of sarcasm unique to Asians?
The cultural gap made Eric feel a little lost.