Chapter 20: Splitting the Money!

Morning.

Shen Yi angrily summoned Liu Yun to his office and scolded her relentlessly for a while.

Liu Yun felt incredibly wronged, and finally, she couldn’t help but strike back!

“Director Shen¹, I only did what an HR manager is supposed to do. You might think academic qualifications are unimportant and value personal ability more, but using degrees as a filter is the most rational method! I wasn’t wrong. It was just a stroke of bad luck!”

“I heard that at the job fair, he talked to you about various future trends in gaming. You couldn’t see his potential?”

“He’s just a high school graduate who came to me with a lot of big talk. If it were you, would you have believed him? Director Shen, if you were there facing a pile of resumes from prestigious universities, would you have picked the one full of empty talk or someone else? You might find a diamond in the rough, but isn’t time a cost? A big company like ours doesn’t have the time to interview every single person in detail! Even if you take this to President Liu, I’m still in the right!”

“Fine, fine! Then why did you tell me yesterday that you didn’t have his contact information when I asked for it?”

“Because I didn’t!”

“Why didn’t you go look for it? When we make a mistake, we have to fix it. We need to recruit talent like that!”

“Director Shen! I don’t think this Zhang Yang is all that impressive. Our company is full of people more capable than him. He’s not worth all this trouble!”

Bang!

“Are you the one in charge here, or am I?”

Inside the office.

Shen Yi slammed his hand on the desk in a fit of rage.

Liu Yun, who had never talked back to him before, was now arguing with him, refusing to yield even an inch…

He was more furious than he had ever been.

But even after he slammed the table, Liu Yun continued to stand straight before him, showing no sign of fear. “Director Shen, you are the one in charge, that’s true. But I am not wrong!”

“You…”

“Director Shen, I’ve already written my resignation. Even if you fire me, I won’t regret my actions! For a company to move forward, it must conserve its energy for more meaningful tasks. Besides, even if we did hire Zhang Yang, what position would you give him? Game Planner? We already have someone for that. It’s Jerry, a graduate from a prestigious university in California. He’s worked for several American gaming companies and has extensive experience in game design…”

“We could…”

“Could what? Make Zhang Yang his assistant? When Jerry joined, he made it clear to the company that he would bring his own assistants!”

“…”

“What other roles are there? Game Analyst? The Marketing Department? Does the Marketing Department need Zhang Yang? Mumaen Technology’s Marketing Department is already overstaffed. Are you suggesting the Marketing Manager position? Do you know why the Deputy Marketing Manager position has remained vacant? Setting aside whether Zhang Yang is even qualified for such a heavy responsibility, even if he were, it’s impossible. I heard President Liu mention that his daughter is about to return to the country. Do you know what that means? That position is reserved for his daughter. She’s only eighteen, but she’s already a PhD in Economics from abroad and is fluent in five languages. Someone like that would be highly sought after by any company. How can Zhang Yang even compare to her?”

“…”

“Director Shen, we are looking for employees, not managers or department heads! Even if we were, Zhang Yang doesn’t meet a single requirement. Even if he’s developed a hit game now, our company had games like that years ago. The company can’t just give a position to a newcomer and alienate the veterans… Besides, do you think someone like Zhang Yang, who has already seen success on his own, would be willing to come here as a low-level clerk? Someone like him probably thinks he’s the king of the world right now. Unless you offer him a Vice President role, he’ll feel like his talents are being wasted…”

“…”

“Director Shen, I’ve said everything I need to say. You don’t even have to fire me; I’ve already finished my resignation letter. I can leave at any time!”

“…”

Liu Yun grew more heated as she spoke, finally facing Shen Yi directly and slamming her resignation letter onto the desk.

Shen Yi was left speechless.

He remained silent for a long time, his head bowed, before finally looking up at Liu Yun.

The air in the room suddenly became exceptionally oppressive…

“Xiao Liu, don’t get so worked up… I didn’t mean it that way.”

“Director Shen, I did. Anyway, if there’s nothing else, I’m going back to work. President Liu’s daughter is coming, and I need to make arrangements for her in advance. As for whether I stay or leave, I’ll wait for your notice… But no matter what you decide, I still believe our company needs efficiency, faster efficiency to do better things!”

“…”

Inside the HR Manager’s office.

Shen Yi remained silent for a very long time…

After a while…

He finally made a decision!

No matter what, he had to go see Zhang Yang!

…………………………

June 25th.

Total downloads for Desert Bicycle had already surpassed thirty thousand.

This was a staggering figure.

When Zhang Yang saw the money in the company account, seventy thousand yuan remaining after accounting for rewards and various withdrawal funds, he was in an excellent mood.

This was their first pot of gold².

Early that morning, he called everyone into the office.

Calling it an office was a stretch; it was actually just the study in his rented apartment.

It was only ten square meters in total, so it felt very crowded with five or six people inside.

Brother Bao’s storefront was in a great location with high foot traffic, and using it for free was perfectly fine, but Zhang Yang didn’t actually intend to rent it.

It was too expensive and not practical.

If even a taxi driver’s wife could see that, he obviously knew it too.

So, he had brought the others to the old rental apartment and paid Brother Bao six months’ worth of rent for the place.

Outside the room.

Zhao Song and Ge Yumiao were staring at each other.

One was a cheat creator, the other was a gamer.

They sat opposite each other, occasionally glancing toward the office.

Inside the office.

“President Zhang…”

“Brother Zhang…”

“Brother Zhang, what is it?”

“…”

Zhao Hang, Wu Zhuang, and Zhong Chongwen walked into the office.

They were incredibly excited after seeing the data!

They still felt a sense of unreality.

Yes!

It felt very surreal.

Just a week ago.

They were still the kind of people who were completely ignored in the job market.

But now…

They were the developers of a hit game.

It was 2005!

For a paid single-player game to surpass thirty thousand legitimate downloads in a single week during an era of rampant piracy was nothing short of a miracle.

Their eyes were fixed on a black bag nearby.

The bag seemed to be filled with stacks of something…

That was…

“Thank you all for your hard work during this time!”

“Heaven does not betray those who persevere³! We finally did it!”

“This success is the result of everyone’s collective effort…”

“Of course, now that we have seen results, rewards and profit sharing are naturally in order!”

“I once promised you an annual salary of a hundred thousand. Now, I have fulfilled a tenth of that…”

“…”

Zhang Yang looked at them with a smile.

Then, to their shock, he opened the bag and pulled out three stacks of cash, handing one to each of them.

Zhao Hang and the others felt their hands start to tremble instantly.

It was money!

Real money!

As fresh graduates, this was the first time they had ever held so much cash.

This money!

It felt heavy, carrying a weight that was hard to describe.

Zhao Hang and Zhong Chongwen exchanged a look, both seeing the shock in each other’s eyes!

They had done the math with Zhang Yang; this game actually hadn’t made that much yet. The actual profit in the bank account was only fifty thousand yuan, yet he was giving them ten thousand each…

This…

After accounting for company operations, rent, and future development costs, Zhang Yang wouldn’t actually have much left for himself.

Even under these circumstances, Zhang Yang still fulfilled his promise, giving them the lion’s share of the profits!

This…

“Alright, put the money away. I’m not responsible if you lose it. Next, we need to organize the company, define roles, and establish departmental responsibilities. We also need to start preparing for the new game. It is going to be a lot of hard work, so everyone needs to start planning carefully…”

“…”

Just as Zhang Yang finished speaking…

His phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Ah, hello, Director Shen. Hello, hello…”

“I’m afraid I’m busy right now. We’re in a meeting. How about this, wait outside for a bit… Once we’re done sharing, cough, cough, once the meeting is over, I’ll come out…”

“…”

Zhang Yang hung up, looking a bit dazed.

“Brother Zhang, what’s wrong?” Wu Zhuang asked, stuffing the money into his pocket and looking at Zhang Yang with confusion.

“Shen Yi, the head of HR from Mumaen Technology, is at our door.”

“Huh? Would someone like that be coming here to suppress us…”

“That’s not what I’m thinking about. I’m wondering… do you think he could become our colleague?” Zhang Yang replied, stroking his chin.

“Say what?”

……………………….

Huaxia.

A young woman wearing glasses and a face mask stepped slowly off the plane.

Many men in the crowd couldn’t help but steal a glance at her.

Although they couldn’t see her face, her tall figure, her eyes, and an aura that set her apart from ordinary people made it impossible not to look. They couldn’t help but wonder what she looked like under that mask.

The girl walked into the airport terminal carrying her laptop. As soon as she connected to the wireless network…

She downloaded Desert Bicycle.

Before she could even start the game, her phone rang.

“Yes, I’m not returning to Huaxia for another three days…”

“That’s right!”

“Then I’ll have to trouble you, Sister Liu…”

“…”

After hanging up, she adjusted her glasses.

She rarely lied…

But this time…

She had lied.

(End of Chapter)

Translator’s Notes