Chapter 27: The Celebration Banquet

“The code is about halfway done. I should be able to finish it in about three days.”

“How’s progress on your end? Will three days be a problem?”

Right now, the art progress on 《Metal Slug》 was around eighty percent, and that was only because Du Xi had worked herself half to death.

Never mind three days.

Even if she were given another ten days or half a month, she wouldn’t be able to wrap it up.

What was more, once the game was built, it still had to go through bug testing.

Launching in three days was just far too rushed.

“It’s fine. If you and Xiao Shen can’t finish, we’ll just push it back a few days.”

Su Cheng had indeed mentioned during his acceptance speech that 《Metal Slug》 was coming soon, but he had only said it would meet everyone shortly. He hadn’t given a specific date, so there was no such thing as delaying or breaking a promise.

“You don’t need to stress yourself out. Just do as much as you can in three days.”

“Don’t work overtime. It’s really bad for your health. Just work at your normal pace.”

“I’m just asking. If it’s going to take longer, just write up a proposal tomorrow and I’ll find an outsourcer.”

Su Cheng wasn’t implying that Du Xi lacked ability or anything like that. In art, outsourcing was completely routine in the industry.

But his words dealt a genuine blow to Du Xi.

Granted, the company’s art department consisted of only her and Shen Manman.

Even so, the salary and benefits Su Cheng offered already far exceeded those of an art director at a major studio.

From Du Xi’s perspective:

If she couldn’t finish it, that indirectly proved her abilities were lacking and that she didn’t deserve such compensation.

Of course.

Su Cheng himself had no such intention, nor was he trying to manipulate her.

It was just that Du Xi couldn’t get past that hurdle in her own mind.

“No need to outsource.”

“I can finish it.”

Du Xi solemnly promised Su Cheng.

Even Shen Manman, standing by, wondered if Du Xi had lost her mind.

Su Cheng hadn’t even insisted. Why was she pushing herself so hard…?

Three days.

Without working overtime, it was absolutely impossible to complete.

Unless they sacrificed quality for speed.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure,” Du Xi said, resolutely accepting the task. “I’ll finish on schedule, and quality won’t be compromised.”

Su Cheng gave Du Xi a skeptical look.

In the end, he agreed to the ‘military pledge^[1]‘ she had made.

“All right, then I’ll leave it to you and Xiao Shen. Leizi and I will focus entirely on coding over the next couple of days.”

Li Lei had no objections.

He was known for writing code that was both elegant and efficient.

In outsourcing, if you wrote code slowly, you’d probably starve to death.

Still, in Li Lei’s view, three days was far too tight.

Programming was currently at 50%, and art was at 80%.

Whether for code or art, working overtime and burning the midnight oil would definitely be necessary.

Su Cheng had clearly told Du Xi not to work overtime, yet she had taken on the task anyway.

Why push so hard?

Even he and Su Cheng might not be able to pull it off in three days.

Considering how hardworking and driven Du Xi was, Li Lei decided not to hold it against her for dirtying his new clothes.

*

After dinner.

Shen Manman had just returned to her dorm when Du Xi pinged her with a voice call to briefly coordinate their division of labor.

After washing up and getting things in order, she got ready to start grinding.

Right then, another call came in.

Shen Manman glanced at the caller’s name.

Shi Xiaoqiang.

Ever since the afternoon, Shi Xiaoqiang had sent her several text messages and called a few times.

Shen Manman hadn’t answered any of them.

It was already past eleven, and Shi Xiaoqiang was calling yet again.

Shen Manman sighed.

Torn.

Hesitant.

In the end, she still answered Shi Xiaoqiang’s call.

“The sports field. Southeast corner.”

Before Shen Manman could even speak, Shi Xiaoqiang hung up.

That commanding tone again.

She used to think the way Shi Xiaoqiang spoke was cool and domineering.

She couldn’t say she liked it, but she hadn’t minded it either.

Now, however, she disliked this tone of his more and more.

Shi Xiaoqiang never considered her situation or her feelings at all.

Take this phone call, for example.

It was past eleven, and the dorm was already locked up.

How was she supposed to get out?

If she went out, the dorm matron would definitely yell at her.

She might even get her name written down and reported to her counselor for a public reprimand.

Shi Xiaoqiang only had to flap his lips, but she was the one who had to bear all of this…

It was infuriating!

Shen Manman could roughly guess what Shi Xiaoqiang wanted to say.

She didn’t want to answer his calls, nor did she dare to.

Because she didn’t know how to face him.

She truly enjoyed the time she spent with Su Cheng, Li Lei, and Du Xi.

She enjoyed that pure process of game development.

She relished every moment of it.

It allowed her not to think about anything related to Shi Xiaoqiang.

But the moment Shi Xiaoqiang called, Shen Manman felt a wave of fear.

She didn’t know how to face him, nor did she dare refuse him.

After thinking it over.

Shen Manman still snuck out of the dorm and headed to the sports field to meet him.

Wearing a crisp, unwrinkled tracksuit, Shi Xiaoqiang sat on a bench with his legs crossed, seemingly irritated by Shen Manman’s late arrival.

He didn’t ask questions like “Why were you with Su Cheng?”, “Why didn’t you answer my calls?”, or “Why didn’t you reply to my texts?”

“Is your phone broken?”

“Yeah. Water got into it.”

Shi Xiaoqiang glanced at Shen Manman’s phone, then got right to the point to make his stance clear.

“Don’t let Su Cheng fool you.”

“He’s only after your looks.”

Shi Xiaoqiang didn’t believe there was any real feeling between Su Cheng and Shen Manman.

To put it bluntly.

Whether it was Su Cheng or any other man, most were just drawn to Shen Manman because she was pretty, had a great figure, and was fair and delicate.

Wang Yuting had already told him.

Shen Manman had already gone to a hotel and gotten a room with Su Cheng that very night.

Shi Xiaoqiang’s immediate reaction back then had been resentment.

Shen Manman, who wouldn’t even let him hold her hand, had just given herself to Su Cheng?

Fuck that!

After analyzing things calmly and objectively, Shi Xiaoqiang realized he wasn’t blameless either.

His biggest mistake was laying a hand on Shen Manman.

But that was because the alcohol had gone to his head while drinking with Su Cheng.

In Shi Xiaoqiang’s eyes, Shen Manman’s behavior was nothing but revenge against him.

Not only had Shi Xiaoqiang lost to Su Cheng at the drinking table, but Su Cheng had also fucking walked away with Shen Manman on the cheap.

Su Cheng had completely cleaned up, taking both face and substance^[2].

He felt that even if he was in the wrong, it was the alcohol’s fault, and Su Cheng’s fault.

It wasn’t that Shen Manman wasn’t allowed to have emotions. Everyone was human, after all.

Having emotions was fine, but she shouldn’t have retaliated against him like this.

“What about you, then?”

“Do you have feelings for me?”

“Isn’t it also just because I’m pretty and have a good figure that you keep me around?”

Just a few days ago.

Shen Manman never would have dared speak to Shi Xiaoqiang in such a tone.

Arrogant and distracted at first, Shi Xiaoqiang was taken aback, then stunned by Shen Manman’s words.

Was this still Shen Manman?

Had Su Cheng brainwashed her?

She hadn’t wanted to come tonight.

Yet she felt that things between her and Shi Xiaoqiang needed to be put behind them.

A long night brings many dreams^[3].

She hadn’t snuck out of the dorm to listen to Shi Xiaoqiang talk nonsense; she was here to make a clean break with him once and for all.

As for whether being intimate with Su Cheng that night was revenge…

Shen Manman felt there might have been a bit of that, but not entirely.

“If anyone did any brainwashing, you were the one brainwashing me. Why drag anyone else into this?”

“From now on, don’t contact me anymore.”

“I’m afraid Su Cheng might get the wrong idea.”