Chapter 41: New Game in Progress (Part 1)

“Eighty-six thousand!”

“Eighty-seven thousand!”

“Ninety thousand!”

“…”

Inside the lobby of Universe Technology.

A crowd of people stared at the flickering data on the screens.

Their eyes burned with a fiery intensity, cheering for every jump in the numbers as if they were watching a championship match. They looked as though they were seeing a glorious future unfolding before them.

No one craved success more than they did.

Zhang Yang walked downstairs. Seeing the excited expressions on every face, he simply gave a calm, rhythmic round of applause along with them.

He stepped out of the building and felt the sunlight wash over him. Chewing a piece of gum, he began to ponder his next move.

Before he knew it, he had wandered onto the main street.

He subconsciously watched the endless stream of traffic.

July.

It was indeed a sweltering season.

He saw many pretty young girls on the street wearing miniskirts, showing off their beautiful legs as they walked back and forth…

Staring at their retreating figures, Zhang Yang couldn’t help but get lost in the view, finding it exceptionally pleasant.

Long legs, shapely figures, miniskirts, white shirts, uniforms…

The sheer variety of beauties left Zhang Yang dazzled.

However…

His only regret was that cute, pure-looking “glasses girls” like Liu Ruohan were rarely seen on the streets.

He rubbed his chin.

Beat the Grass Mud Horse was indeed a minor hit right now.

But this kind of small-scale popularity was mostly driven by the novelty factor. Once players had their fill of the new experience, it wouldn’t likely last very long.

He pulled out today’s download statistics and looked them over with his head down.

It was clear that while the initial download numbers for Beat the Grass Mud Horse were explosive, today…

The download rate was starting to slow down.

After all, this was a small game under 1GB. It was aggressive on the first day, but by the second day, its momentum was already showing signs of flagging.

A sharp drop-off in the coming days would be perfectly normal.

One hundred and thirty thousand downloads.

That was roughly the target Zhang Yang had estimated in the back of his mind.

What should the next game be?

Maybe…

Zhang Yang’s gaze drifted back to the beauties on the street, a thought flashing through his eyes.

…

After wandering the streets for a while…

Zhang Yang turned his attention toward the nearby A-Wei Mobile Store.

The shop was packed today. A crowd of people stood outside, pointing and talking about the photos displayed there.

The young owner, Wang Wei, had already put up a sign designating the shop as an official “Beat the Grass Mud Horse” landmark.

He was busy shouting out various sales pitches to the crowd.

An idea formed in Zhang Yang’s mind.

The year was 2005.

In Huaxia, a series of packaged “shanzhai¹” knock-off phones had already begun to appear.

Meanwhile, in America, products similar to the iPhone seemed to be in their infancy, but they hadn’t reached mass popularity yet, let alone become the status symbols they would eventually be.

The true king of the era was the “Novia” mobile phone.

The brand “Novia” was essentially the equivalent of “Nokia” from Zhang Yang’s original world.

Right now, it ruled the market.

“Reliable quality,” “long standby time,” “excellent performance across the board,” and “prices for every budget.”

These were the strengths of that brand.

Zhang Yang stood by the mobile store for a long time. He watched as Wang Wei sold one flashy phone after another—models with colorful “racing lights²” and “high-volume MP3” speakers—and a profound look flickered in his eyes.

As the trends of the era pushed forward, mobile phones were gradually evolving from mere communication devices into entertainment tools.

His future series of games would eventually be ported to mobile phones, becoming mobile games.

“Oh, President Zhang? You’re here! Please, come in, come inside…”

“Haha, business looks good today, President Wang.”

“It’s all thanks to you, President Zhang. Today, many customers came specifically because of the game’s reputation, clamoring to take photos. It’s brought in a lot of business, haha…”

“That’s good.”

Zhang Yang stared at the phones on Wang Wei’s counter, lost in thought.

“President Zhang, what’s on your mind?”

“President Wang, have you ever thought about making your own phones?”

“What? What was that?”

“Making your own phones!”

“Ah! No, no, no, I can’t do that. What do I know about high-tech stuff?” Wang Wei’s eyes widened, stunned by Zhang Yang’s words. He looked at Zhang Yang in disbelief.

“You know how to repair phones, don’t you?”

“I do, but I don’t understand anything about mobile software, and I don’t have any distribution channels.”

“If I’m not mistaken, you don’t actually need to develop the software right now. You just need to buy the components, assemble them, slap your own brand on it, and sell them…”

“Huh? This… this…”

Wang Wei’s eyes went wide as he listened to Zhang Yang.

He felt that such an idea was far too unorthodox, even terrifying.

“Currently, I see that the foreign Android OS seems to have entered Huaxia. As long as you use that system, it’ll work…” Zhang Yang narrowed his eyes, continuing to watch Wang Wei.

“I… I…”

Wang Wei lowered his head, his speech stuttering. This bombshell had left him completely stunned.

“Are you really content to spend your whole life here selling phones? Anyone can sell phones. But in the future of Huaxia, the ones who will truly become the backbone of the country are always the high-tech industries, those at the source. This era is one where the ground is covered in gold. It just depends on whether you have the courage to pick it up…” Zhang Yang sat on a small stool, his eyes narrowing further.

“…”

Wang Wei remained with his head down, torn.

However, after a long silence, he finally looked up at Zhang Yang.

He shook his head.

He was doing quite well now. Business was good every day.

If he saved for a few more years, he would have enough for a down payment on the outskirts of Yanjing…

That was just how people were…

The concept of the frog in boiling water existed for a reason.

If one was content with comfort, they wouldn’t want to take risks.

“President Zhang, if you have a phone channel in the future, I can help with the sales…”

“Oh, well, that’s fine too.”

Seeing him shake his head, a flicker of disappointment passed through Zhang Yang’s eyes. However, he quickly replaced it with a smile and stood up.

“President Zhang, it’s not that I don’t want to do it. It’s just that I’m nearly thirty now, I’ve got a girlfriend, and my savings aren’t that substantial. I was planning to save for a few more years and buy a house…” Seeing Zhang Yang stand up, Wang Wei suddenly felt an indescribable urge to explain himself.

“President Wang, if I told you that you won’t be able to keep up with future housing prices, and even if you did, you’d regret it, what would you think then?”

“Ah, that’s impossible. I just listened to Professor Xie’s lecture. Professor Xie said that Huaxia’s future housing prices will be regulated and that they’re going to drop…” Wang Wei hesitated for a moment before shaking his head quickly.

“Do you believe Professor Xie’s words?”

“Professor Xie is a specially appointed professor of economics at Capital Normal University. He has a very sharp eye, certainly better than ours…” Wang Wei said weakly.

“Oh, perhaps he’s right.” Zhang Yang looked at the newspaper clipping of Professor Xie’s lecture that Wang Wei had pulled out, a strange glint flashing in his eyes.

He gave a light cough, waved a hand at Wang Wei, and turned to leave, heading back to his own company.

…

The sun set in the west.

Wang Wei closed up his mobile phone shop and returned home.

Even after he arrived, Zhang Yang’s words continued to echo in his ears.

He felt suddenly conflicted.

He felt as if he were standing at a crossroads in his life: take a gamble, or maintain the status quo and focus on buying a house safely.

He tried to discuss it with his girlfriend…

“You mean you don’t believe Professor Xie anymore? You’re actually going to trust some guy who makes games?”

“…”

“We need to face reality and be a bit more steady… Professor Xie is a proper academic, after all! It’s impossible for him to lie to us. Besides, housing prices are so high right now that it’s a struggle for us to buy; they’re bound to come down in the future!”

“…”

In the residential compound.

Wang Wei’s girlfriend continued to lecture him incessantly, feeding him various theories about why housing prices would fall and citing a series of Professor Xie’s quotes.

Just then…

A young man nearby poked his head in, interrupting her.

“Brother Wang, did Zhang Yang really say that?”

“Yes, Zhang Yang said it. Why?”

“Brother Wang, are you sure you don’t want to give it a try?”

“Ah? Maybe… maybe I’ll just forget it…”

“Brother Wang, I think you should listen to Zhang Yang. I think what he said makes sense. In the future…”

“Tong Wei! Why don’t you find a job first? You spend all day at home playing games; what right do you have to tell our Wang Wei what to do? Don’t go ruining his future! Just because you’re a failure doesn’t mean you should drag everyone else down with you!”

Before Wang Wei could speak, his girlfriend snapped, unable to hold back her temper.

She couldn’t stand people like Tong Wei – shut-ins who stayed home all day tinkering with who-knows-what.

Tong Wei opened his mouth to say something, but in the end, no words came out.

Finally…

He hesitated for a moment, then, as if having made a sudden resolution, he sprinted out of the courtyard like a madman.

“Stay away from people like that from now on. They have no future, you know?”

“…”

Watching him run off like a lunatic, Wang Wei’s girlfriend shook her head in disdain.

(End of Chapter)

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Translator’s Notes

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1. shanzhai: Literally meaning “mountain fortress,” this term refers to Chinese imitation or counterfeit goods. In the mid-2000s, the “shanzhai” industry was known for producing feature-rich, low-cost mobile phones that often included flamboyant hardware additions not found in major brands. ↩
2. racing lights: A translation of “pǎomǎdēng” (跑马灯), referring to the colorful, chasing LED strips often found on the edges of Chinese “shanzhai” phones in the 2000s. These were a hallmark of the era’s flamboyant and low-cost mobile design. ↩