Chapter 42: New Game in Progress (Part 2)

After dinner, when Zhang Yang returned to Universe Technology, he saw that everyone was still immersed in the joy of success.

Everyone was staring at the game’s data as if possessed. One could easily tell from their eyes whether the current data growth was fast or slow.

In fact…

At this stage, the employees didn’t have much else to do. They just needed to focus on maintaining the system properly.

As for everything else!

There were no other hard requirements. As long as the tasks were finished, you could do whatever you wanted.

Mm…

Overall, everyone was working in a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere.

This was the advantage of a family-style workshop¹.

However, this was only temporary.

Zhang Yang didn’t disturb their joy. Instead, he went upstairs to his office to continue writing the proposal for the next game.

Before he could even start working, Zhang Yang heard a knock on the office door.

“Come in…”

Zhang Yang put down his pen and looked up.

“President Zhang, this gentleman says he wants to talk to you. I told him you were busy, but he just kept standing outside the door and wouldn’t leave. He insisted on seeing you…”

“Oh?”

Zhang Yang saw Wu Zhuang looking somewhat awkward as he led in a young man wearing black-rimmed glasses and a bowl cut. He looked like a typical shut-in.

He sized up the shut-in youth with a smile.

“Sir, how should I address you?”

“President Ya-Yang, my name is Tong Wei. I’m from the Shanyao District about three li away. I rent a place in the same alley as Brother Wang Wei…”

“Oh, oh, hello Mr. Tong. Please, come in…”

Zhang Yang glanced at Tong Wei and invited him in with a beaming face.

Seeing this, Wu Zhuang said nothing more. He gave Zhang Yang a meaningful look and then turned to leave.

“Um…”

“Mr. Tong, do you usually like going out?”

“Huh?”

“Mr. Tong, what I mean is, do you lean toward being a shut-in?”

“Huh? That… yes, I’m a shut-in. I like playing games and tinkering with digital products…”

Tong Wei was about to introduce himself and explain his purpose for coming, but he found Zhang Yang interrupting him to ask a very strange question.

For a moment, his brain couldn’t keep up.

“Oh, Mr. Tong, do you have a girlfriend?”

“I…” Tong Wei’s face turned red, and then he shook his head.

“Then, what kind of beautiful girl do you long for in your heart?”

“This…”

Tong Wei was even more bewildered.

Looking at Zhang Yang’s peculiar gaze, his head was full of question marks.

He felt that he really couldn’t keep up with Zhang Yang’s train of thought.

I haven’t even said why I’m here yet, so why is President Zhang asking me these inexplicable questions?

“Mr. Tong, please sit down. Let’s just chat like ordinary friends. Don’t be nervous… Here, have some gum?”

“Oh, oh, thank you.”

“Mr. Tong, let’s continue our topic. Looking at you, you must be a veteran shut-in. The kind who stays home all day and rarely goes out?”

“Uh, yes…” Tong Wei nodded awkwardly.

“Mr. Tong, if given the choice, what kind of girl would you choose to be your girlfriend? Cute, intellectual, mature? A loli²? An older sister type³?”

“This…”

“Be bold, think hard. Imagination has no boundaries…”

“Well, someone who can cook, and then, someone beautiful…”

“Beautiful has many definitions. What kind of beautiful exactly?”

“Like those female stars in movies. The kind where, the moment you see her, you like her…”

“Any requirements for her figure?”

“Her figure… it should be good.”

“How good?”

“The kind that’s… President Zhang, the kind in anime. Curvy in all the right places…”

“What if her voice was gentler? For example, the kind that makes you feel tingly?”

“Oh, that would be great. If it were like that, it would be even better. Ideally with a bit of cuteness mixed in…”

“Oh?”

“Just like… like a few years ago, I saw a very beautiful, pure girl on a forum. At that time, my head was filled with her image. President Zhang, to tell you the truth, sometimes I couldn’t even sleep at night…”

Tong Wei was a bit nervous at first.

But then, with Zhang Yang’s subtle prompting, he was unconsciously led astray. He began to describe his views on a future partner with great excitement.

The more he spoke, the more enthusiastic he became. He constantly refined the image of his future partner in his mind, becoming somewhat lost in it. He had almost forgotten his original purpose.

Meanwhile, Zhang Yang listened cheerfully, jotting down notes in his notebook from time to time.

“If I let you design a script, how would you plan your chance encounter with your future girlfriend?”

“Huh? This…”

“Would it be in a garden, at school, or a random car accident…”

“I… I… I’d like it to be in the school library. She’d be wearing glasses, and then she’d walk past me very gently, and then…”

“…”

Night fell.

Tong Wei spoke excitedly, so immersed that he couldn’t pull himself out. He had even picked out the names for his and “her” future children.

Zhang Yang, however, grew even more cheerful.

He kept smiling and recording.

Once he had recorded enough and Tong Wei had finished most of what he had to say, Zhang Yang finally nodded in satisfaction.

“By the way, Mr. Tong…”

“Hehe…” Tong Wei was still lost in his beautiful daydream, giggling foolishly.

He looked like a total creep…

“Mr. Tong, come back to earth. You’re drooling.”

“Cough, cough… President Zhang, you were saying…” Tong Wei awkwardly wiped the corner of his mouth, only to find there was no drool…

“Mr. Tong, if I gave you a girlfriend like that, would you treat her well forever?”

“Ah, definitely! Absolutely! I’d give her everything I have!”

“No need for everything. You only need ten yuan.”

“Ten yuan? Holy crap! For real?” Tong Wei was shocked.

“Really!” Zhang Yang said with a laugh.

“Then…”

“You just need to write down every beautiful scenario you can imagine. Remember, the more beautiful, the better. Just write it all out!”

“And if I write it, I’ll get a girlfriend?”

“Yes!”

“President Zhang, I can’t help but feel like you’re messing with me.”

“I never mess with anyone. By the way, Mr. Tong, a question just occurred to me.”

“What?”

“What did you come here for today?”

“President Zhang, I… I came here to…” Tong Wei’s eyes widened as he stared at Zhang Yang. “President Zhang, I came here to ask about mobile phones…”

“Mobile phones?”

“Yes… didn’t you mention it to Brother Wang Wei? You said the future of the mobile phone industry…”

“Ah? Why didn’t you say so earlier?”

“I wanted to, but you suddenly started asking about my girlfriend. I couldn’t find a way to interrupt.”

“Oh, right. Mr. Tong, why don’t you introduce yourself?”

“Huh? I still have to introduce myself now?”

“Yes, exactly!”

Zhang Yang looked at Tong Wei seriously, rubbing his chin.

……………………….

Late at night.

Liu Ruohan was at the airport with several assistants, preparing to board a flight to Seoul.

There were certain disputes regarding the domestic and Korean versions of Legend that required negotiation.

If the negotiations failed, the company would likely undergo a major internal restructuring.

At this moment, she felt a heavy sense of unease.

Though she knew her responsibilities were great, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being pushed aside.

The plan to acquire Zhang Yang’s company had been shelved by her father.

And Uncle Shen Yi…

It seemed everyone was intentionally pushing him out of the inner circle of power.

Liu Ruohan more or less understood why.

Shen Yi held a portion of shares in Mumaen Technology, while her father, Liu Zhongshan, wanted to consolidate power and keep it firmly in his own hands.

Of the uncles who had started the business together, many had either fallen ill without cause, stepped away from the center of power to recuperate abroad, or cashed out to pursue other ventures.

The business world was a battlefield…

She was a player in the game, yet there was nothing she could do.

After all, she was one of the beneficiaries of this power struggle; a portion of Shen Yi’s shares would eventually end up in her hands.

She was conflicted.

On one hand, she wanted Uncle Shen Yi to remain part of the family circle; on the other, she had to face her own parents. From another perspective…

She actually needed power herself. She needed it to implement the reforms she envisioned.

Her father was paving the way for her.

“Sigh…”

“If I’d known, I wouldn’t have come back.”

Liu Ruohan adjusted her glasses and stomped her foot in frustration.

Just then, her phone rang.

She answered the call.

“Hello, is this President Liu?”

“Yes, it is. And you are…”

“It’s Zhang Yang. Zhang Yang from a few days ago…”

“Zhang Yang? Zhang Yang, I’m sorry, I’m about to go abroad. Can we talk about the acquisition or investment when I get back?”

“No, no, President Liu, that’s not what I’m calling about. Could I trouble you for a few minutes?”

“Go ahead…”

“President Liu, a high-quality woman like you—beautiful, cute, great figure, pure, and wealthy…”

“Zhang Yang, stop with the flattery. What exactly do you want to say?” Liu Ruohan was speechless hearing Zhang Yang’s sycophancy over the phone again.

“Well, I want to know… what does your perfect dream man look like?”

“???”

“President Liu, you know what I mean by a ‘dream man,’ right? From the time you were a kid, through your student days, or since you entered society—have you ever met a man who made your heart race or left you truly smitten?”

“???”

(End of Chapter)

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Translator’s Notes

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1. family-style workshop: A term for a small, informal business (家庭作坊, jiātíng zuòfāng). In a startup context, it describes a company that operates with a close-knit, flexible atmosphere similar to a household, lacking the rigid hierarchies and formal procedures of larger corporations. ↩
2. loli: A term derived from the ‘Lolita’ archetype, common in ACG (Anime, Comic, Games) culture. It refers to a young girl or a character with a petite, youthful appearance. It is a standard category used in gaming and anime to describe character types. ↩
3. older sister type: Known as yùjiě in Chinese (from the Japanese onee-sama), this refers to a mature, elegant, and often authoritative woman. It is a staple archetype in ACG culture, representing an idealized ‘cool’ or ‘big sister’ figure, often contrasted with the ‘loli’ archetype. ↩