Random Chapters of MTL Novel

March 19th, Monday...

The travel-worn Bao Xu and Liang Qingfan returned to Jingzhou.

Liang Qingfan looked tired but he was still in high spirits.

"Ah, I'm finally back!"

"It's not bad to take paid leave, but it's still tiring to take such a long leave."

"However, Brother Bao, you seem to be very energetic. You're indeed a master tourist! I'm really indebted to you for taking care of this trip to Egypt!"

Bao Xu rolled his eyes silently by the side.

What the f*ck do you mean by energetic!

I finally recovered because it was not easy for me to return to Jingzhou, alright?

Bao Xu was afraid that he would become a mummy and dry out in the desert if he stayed in Egypt for another week.

All in all, this trip was finally over!

Bao Xu could not wait to go back to sleep and play games. He did not want to stay a second longer.

However, they still had to take a taxi back.

In the taxi, Bao Xu was not in the mood to chat with Liang Qingfan at all. Instead, he continued to think about something that he had been thinking about throughout the entire month.

What should I do to stop traveling?

The fact that he had been 'kidnapped' twice to travel had already made Bao Xu wary.

Initially, Bao Xu had thought that as long as he kept a low profile and hid in the gaming department and did not take charge of any work, he would not be shot in the Best Employee Selection.

However, he had already been wrong three times.

The first time was when Li Yada had gotten second place in the Best Employee Award because of her outstanding work in Tengda Games. That was why Bao Xu had been arranged to play with her.

The second time was when Huang Sibo won second place for the Best Employee Award, and Bao Xu was assigned to accompany him.

The third time was Liang Qingfan...

Forget about the first two times. What made Bao Xu the most speechless was that he was not familiar with Liang Qingfan at all!

This meant that within Tengda Corporation, getting the best employee second place to travel and find Bao Xu to accompany him had become an unspoken rule and a custom.

In that case, if anyone were to obtain second place for the Best Employee Award in the future, they would definitely look for Bao Xu to accompany them!

What's more, Bao Xu's previous strategy of keeping a low profile did not achieve his goal of hiding himself. Instead, it had the opposite effect: Everyone felt that Brother Bao did not have any very important work to be responsible for anyway. It was just nice for Brother Bao to accompany him on the tour. It would not delay anything.

Thus, Bao Xu felt that he could not continue like this. He had to make some changes!

However, what changes would he make?

Bao Xu was still in the Tengda Games department now. If he took the initiative to take on some work, he would definitely have something to do. However, the problem was that he was an old veteran. Everyone in the department had their eyes on him. Any results he made might be voted on.

Wouldn't that be very stiff?

Thus, Bao Xu felt that it was best for him to find something to do in other departments.

That way, he could reject them righteously the next time someone asked him to accompany them. "I'm sorry, I have work to do. Please find someone else!"

However, which department should he go to?

Bao Xu did not really want to transfer to another department. He still wanted to stay in Tengda Games, so it would be best if he could only help temporarily.

However, his main job was design. It was hard to say if the other departments needed his help.

Thus, Bao Xu fell into deep thought and racked his brains to escape the fate of being a traveling companion.

...

At the same time, at Tengda Corporation's headquarters.

Pei Qian was in his office, flipping through the work reports of the various departments while thinking about how to arrange and adjust the next phase of the work plan.

Pei Qian already knew about Bunny Tail's live-stream, but he was helpless.

It was ridiculous that non-official commentators were more popular than official commentators!

He could only say that Long Yu Corporation was too useless. Why couldn't they arrange such a simple thing like a competition? They had created so many difficulties for Pei Qian for no reason.

However, it was said that Long Yu Corporation was also making emergency adjustments. They were going to look for professional players from other clubs to make a guest appearance and analyze the situation. Presumably, the standard of the official commentators would also improve very quickly.

Pei Qian did not care anymore. All he wanted was for the ICL league to become more popular.

He was flipping through the work records of the various departments when he heard a knock on his office door.

Pei Qian looked up and saw a new face.

Zhang Yahui nervously introduced himself. "Boss Pei, I'm Zhang Yahui from the Cold-Faced Lady. You called me earlier and asked me to come and find you on Monday to talk about the snack market..."

Pei Qian suddenly remembered. "Ah, yes, please sit."

Pei Qian wanted to set up this snack market with the intention of poaching people from the Cold-Faced Lady and limiting her development but he still had to put on a show.

If the conditions at the snack market were not good, why would the cold-faced lady's vendors come?

Pei Qian poured a cup of tea for Zhang Yahui and said, "Actually, I only have a vague concept of the snack market at the moment. You have to think carefully about how to operate it."

"Don't worry about the funds. I'll give you ten million yuan to spend slowly. If it's not enough, you can apply again. The key is that it has to be attractive to the vendors!"

"As for the other requests..."

"The snack market must be located in Jingzhou. Also, the vendors who join the snack market have to undergo a unified regulation to ensure food hygiene and safety. Food ingredients have to be purchased uniformly. The snack market must be managed by special staff..."

Pei Qian briefly explained his thoughts.

Zhang Yahui looked surprised. "Is that all?"

From what he heard, Boss Pei's conditions were extremely good!

There was a lot of funding and there were no sales requirements. The location was okay as long as it was in Jingzhou. There were no restrictions on where it could be opened. As for unified regulation, food hygiene, safety issues, and so on, these were all the most basic. Even if Boss Pei did not say it, Zhang Yahui would still take note.

There were no other requests?

This degree of freedom was too high!

After some thought, Pei Qian asked, "What other requests do you have?"

Zhang Yahui said, "For example... should this snack market be located in the downtown area or in a slightly more remote area? Should it be next to Tengda's other businesses? What style should it be renovated in? How should the vendors' business hours be arranged? Am I the one who confirmed all of this?"

Pei Qian pondered for a moment.

He had wanted to let Zhang Yahui decide on his own. He did not have many requirements for the snack market after all. It was up to fate to make money or Pei Qian to poach people from the Cold-Faced Lady.

Pei Qian felt that there was no need to spend so much brain cells to confirm these details.

However, on further thought, he felt that he had to tell Zhang Yahui.

After all, there is an old saying that work is accomplished in diligence and neglected in play, and learning is ruined by following. The many problems that happened previously was because he was too laissez-faire. It was always right to add a few more insurances.

Pei Qian briefly considered Zhang Yahui's questions.

The location of the snack market definitely could not be in the downtown area because the food vendors' culinary skills were not bad. Such a sum of money would definitely make the dining environment not bad. If it was opened in the downtown area, the customers would be people with stronger spending power. They would definitely make a lot of money.

However, it did not seem appropriate to go to a more remote place. That was because the land prices in remote places were cheap. If the food market became popular, it might cause the surrounding land prices to rise and the surrounding industries to benefit. There would be too much room for development.

This place could not be next to Tengda's other businesses. If it happened to be near the nameless restaurant, it would definitely become a food street. Customers from all over the country would come here; or near Sloth Apartments and Fish-Catching Internet Cafe, a group of young people would come over for a snack after playing the game...

That would not be good either.

As for the renovation style, it would definitely be better if it did not match the theme of the stall; the more casual it was during business hours, the better.

Pei Qian said, "The location should not be in the downtown area, but it should not be too remote either."

"Tengda's businesses should not be nearby."

"The renovation style must be high-end, trendy, and cool. It must be distinct from the concept of 'street stalls'."

"We'll adopt a flexible working system during the opening hours. We won't restrict the opening hours too much and give the vendors ample freedom."

"That's all I want. There's nothing else."

Zhang Yahui looked confused.

What kind of request was that?

However, he had long heard of Boss Pei's style of doing things, so he was not too surprised. He could only silently memorize all these requests.

"Then... Boss Pei, shall I go and prepare now?" Zhang Yahui asked.

Pei Qian nodded. "Yes, go!"

...

Zhang Yahui was still a little confused when he walked out of the Shenhua View building.

Before the Chinese New Year, he was still an ordinary vendor. Every day, he would wake up early and work late to make roasted cold noodles to earn some hard-earned money. In the end, because he participated in a roadside food competition, he was first selected by the Cold-Faced Lady's Boss Qi to be in charge of the gourmet laboratory and promotional video. Then, Boss Pei took a liking to him and directly took charge of the snack market.

He could only say that the ups and downs of life were too exciting!

Now, he had the huge sum of money that Boss Pei had provided, but he was very confused. He did not know what the snack market would look like to meet Boss Pei's requirements.

He was still a general without an army. He could only think about it at length.

However, just as he was about to leave, he saw a taxi stop at the entrance of the Shenhua View building. It was Liang Qingfan and Bao Xu.

Zhang Yahui's eyes lit up. "Aren't you Designer Liang? I saw you on the promotional video of Sloth Apartments!"

Liang Qingfan nodded. "You are..."

Zhang Yahui said, "My name is Zhang Yahui. I'm now in charge of the 'snack market' project that Boss Pei just opened..."

Zhang Yahui was very happy and quickly explained everything that had happened since he arrived.

Liang Qingfan was pleasantly surprised. "Snack market? That sounds interesting!"

"I'm sorry, I've been taking on new tours overseas for the past month. I'm not updated about these things."

"However... The Sloth Apartments that I'm in charge of don't have much work recently. Do you want to design your snack market? I can help."

Chapter 946: ICL's Official Summary List

Zhang Yahui could not help but be overjoyed. "Of course, I can't ask for more!"

Zhang Yahui had seen Liang Qingfan in the promotional video of Sloth Apartments before. He had a deep impression of this designer who could turn something rotten into something magical.

What's more, no matter where the location of the snack market was, it had to be renovated to give customers the best dining experience. At that time, a designer like Liang Qingfan would be needed.

Coincidentally, Liang Qingfan had nothing much to do recently. He was also very interested in this snack market.

Both parties hit off immediately.

Bao Xu listened to the conversation between the two of them and could not help but think about it.

He had been thinking about how he could escape the fate of traveling.

From the looks of it now, it was no longer useful to keep a low profile. That was because everyone felt that Brother Bao did not have any urgent work to do. He would not be delayed even if he was a traveling companion. Thus, they asked him to accompany them.

Thus, if he found a job, he would be able to openly reject the invitations of those accompanying him in the future. The next second best employee would be too embarrassed to look for him.

However, the work that he had to do could not be too critical or important. Take the gaming department for example. If he worked too high and managed to take credit, he might still be voted as the second best employee.

Thus, this had to be a job that was neither too important nor too unimportant.

Wouldn't the snack market be perfect?

This was a project that Boss Pei had personally requested. He would help out. Once he found something to do, he would be able to avoid accompanying others. The person in charge of this snack market was Zhang Yahui. Liang Qingfan was in charge of renovations and brand design. No matter how outstanding his work was, he would only be a third-in-command.

No matter how he thought about it, it was impossible for him to be voted as the second best employee.

In short, everything was perfect!

The only problem was whether Zhang Yahui and Liang Qingfan would accept it.

Bao Xu coughed lightly. "This snack market project sounds very interesting! Can I transfer over to help and be your assistant?"

Liang Qingfan was elated. "Of course!"

"Oh, right, I forgot to introduce him. This is a veteran employee of Tengda Games. He has made outstanding contributions and is known as' Traveler Bao Xu '."

Zhang Yahui's eyes widened immediately. "You're Bao Xu? Nice to meet you! I might not have seen you before, but your name is well-known!"

"I think you must have eaten a lot of local delicacies and seen a lot of food markets when you traveled around the world, right? If you can participate in this project, we will definitely be like tigers with wings!"

Zhang Yahui and Liang Qingfan had no objections to Bao Xu joining.

After all, everyone knew that the employees of Tengda Games were top-notch elites. It would not be a problem for them to be the person-in-charge of the other departments. Bao Xu was a veteran. He was like a sweeping monk in the Scripture Holding Depository. He would not dare to underestimate him.

Liang Qingfan was very happy. "How about this? We'll go to the office of Sloth Apartments and talk about the specific plan of this snack market while drinking tea."

"We have to think about its location, scale, specific details, and so on.

The three of them left Shenhua View happily and headed to the headquarters of Sloth Apartments. They planned to delve deeper into the various details of the snack market.

...

In the afternoon, at Long Yu Corporation.

Zhao Xuming was checking the ICL league's schedule in his office.

Today was Monday. There would be no focal battle. Tomorrow was Tuesday, and it would be a day off.

However, there would be a FV team competition the day after tomorrow, which was Wednesday. It should be very popular.

Thus, Zhao Xuming waited anxiously.

Bunny Tail Live-Stream's commentary was so well received that the official commentator's understanding of the game was rubbed against the ground. Zhao Xuming was not only under pressure from the audience and public opinion, but also under pressure from the live-stream platform.

The official commentators were not as good as the commentators of Bunny Tail's live-stream. On one hand, it was easy to say that it was not nice and sounded like the official platform was too useless. On the other hand, it would cause viewers from other live-stream platforms to move towards Bunny Tail's live-stream.

The Vice-Presidents of the other live-stream platforms felt very wronged. We had also spent money to buy the broadcasting rights. In the end, the audience's viewing experience on our platform was not as good as Bunny Tail's live-stream. What rights did they have?

Your official commentators did not do well and caused the interests of the live-stream platforms to be damaged. How could that do!

However, this unofficial commentary rights was given to him by Zhao Xuming. Since he had signed the contract, he could not go back on his words, right?

Therefore, the official commentator had to improve their understanding of the game and their ability to interpret the game's situation as soon as possible due to multiple factors. They had to go to the official commentator's level to the same level as the Bunny Tail Live-Stream commentator.

Yesterday, Zhao Xuming had already arranged for the production team to contact the various clubs to find suitable seedlings to be commentators. Today, his assistant had even made a trip to the various clubs with the production team, seizing the opportunity to interview and screen.

Fortunately, the clubs participating in the ICL league were all in Shanghai. There was no need to travel between cities.

Zhao Xuming looked at the time. It was almost time.

He hoped to confirm the name list of the professional players who would be transferred to the commentator this afternoon. They would undergo emergency training tomorrow and then be sent to work the day after tomorrow to test the waters.

That was because there would be FV Team's focal battle the day after tomorrow. There would be a lot of attention. If the official commentary for this competition was still the same, it might cause the audience to lose even more.

The losses resulting from every night lost were irreversible.

There might be some risks if he was in such a hurry, but after careful consideration, Zhao Xuming felt that the risk should not be huge.

After all, these professional players would be appearing as "guests" at the beginning. With a professional commentator controlling the rhythm and giving them instructions, these professional players only had to honestly answer the questions and explain the game's match. That would be considered a perfect completion of the task, so the problem should not be big.

Zhao Xuming was just thinking about it when there was a knock on the door. His assistant had returned.

"Boss Zhao."

"The list of professional commentators has been confirmed. Please take a look."

The assistant handed a document to Zhao Xuming. On it were a few professional players selected from various clubs.

Zhao Xuming flipped through it and found some familiar faces.

The ICL league had already started for such a long time. All the teams had already appeared. Zhao Xuming had gone to the venue to watch a few competitions and had an impression of many players.

Most of the players here had rather lousy performances.

That was easy to understand. The clubs of the players who performed well had to keep them for the competition. How could they send them out to be commentators?

What's more, if other players could play professionally, they would not give up their careers to be commentators.

How much revenue could a commentator earn if a player could make a name for himself and win the championship? Anyone who was not stupid would understand this.

He must be a player who did not perform well on the field and felt that his career path was limited to deciding to try out as a commentator. That way he could see if he could find a way out after retiring in advance.

However, these players were still the same as the other professional players.

It was written very clearly on the information sheet. Other than a few contestants whose RANK were slightly embarrassing, the other contestants' RANK were pretty high.

Zhao Xuming nodded slightly.

Needless to say, these people's understanding of the game would definitely surpass those official commentators.

Zhao Xuming looked up and asked, "Have you done the interview? How do you feel?"

The assistant answered, "They've all been interviewed. These are the names that were selected after the interview. We've already eliminated those who were not eloquent, those who do not use the standard Mandarin, and those with unclear thoughts."

"These contestants are basically articulate and have accurate pronunciations. Even if they have a slight accent, they would definitely not make the audience feel disgusted."

"We have done some tests on our understanding of the game, but we don't know the specific effects."

"We used the recording of the previous competition to analyze it for them. They analyzed it logically but we don't know how they would compare it to the commentators on Bunny Tail live-stream."

Zhao Xuming nodded slightly. "Yes, that's about it."

The official members of the ICL league, including the director, OB, and commentators, were basically divided into platinum and diamond. However, this understanding of the game was still far from the understanding of the top players in professional teams.

Getting them to test the understanding of professional gamers was like a primary school student setting questions for high school students. They would definitely not be able to test anything.

This was indeed a little difficult for them.

However, Zhao Xuming felt that this should not be a big problem. Since these people were professional players, they should have some tactical knowledge. As long as they could express their understanding of the game smoothly according to the situation of the competition, there should be no problem.

They were all professional players. Their understanding of the game could not be much worse than the players of FV Team Two, right?

It did not matter as long as it was not a slap in the face.

After all, you have your own understanding and I have my own. A little disagreement would not completely crush the professional players in the official commentary team.

Zhao Xuming handed the name list back to his assistant. "Alright, let's use this name list."

"There is no competition tomorrow. Time is very precious. Divide these commentators into groups with the professional players. Confirm a good partner based on their characteristics and then connect more in terms of tacit understanding."

"Data analysis team, prepare the relevant data for FV Team's competition the day after tomorrow, and support logistics."

"Previously, Bunny Tail live-streaming got professional players to commentate on the competition. It was also prepared for one or two days and the effect was not bad. There's no reason why we can't achieve what they did!"

"We must make a huge splash in FV Team's competition to save the face of the official commentators the day after tomorrow!"

The assistant nodded. "Yes, Boss Zhao! I'll arrange it now."

After sending his assistant off, Zhao Xuming's heart, which had been hanging in his throat, finally settled down.

Once the standard of the official commentators improved, no one would use the bunny tail live-stream to trample on the official platform anymore, right?

There shouldn't be any more problems after this matter was resolved, right?

Zhao Xuming was speechless. He had been caught between various live-stream platforms and Bunny Tail live-streams for no reason. He could not help but sway along with the wind. He had always been blamed or implicated for no reason.

He had tried to clean up someone's mess but Long Yu Corporation had declined. On the other hand, the popularity of Bunny Tail Live-Stream was increasing. Who could he reason with?

Chapter 947: Meng Chang's New Mission

Liang Qingfan, Zhang Yahui, and Bao Xu drank tea as they discussed the details of the snack market in the office of Sloth Apartments.

"As for the location, it cannot be in the downtown area, nor can it be too remote. There cannot be any Tengda businesses in the vicinity."

"Then, the renovation style has to be trendy and cool. The vendors usually implement a uniform management and flexible working system."

"As for the rest... I don't think there is anymore. That's all Boss Pei wants."

Zhang Yahui first repeated Boss Pei's request.

Zhang Yahui still did not have a very clear concept of this snack market. That was because he was only the owner of a snack stall. He made roasted cold noodles. Even though he knew the location and the process of setting up stalls very well, designing a large snack market was completely beyond his capabilities.

However, as a designer, Liang Qingfan definitely had no problem with this.

Zhang Yahui simply repeated Boss Pei's request and asked Liang Qingfan to design. He tried his best not to limit the professional's thinking.

Liang Qingfan said, "This requirement is very clear."

Bao Xu nodded as well. "Yes, it's quite clear. Perhaps it's because you just became the person-in-charge. Boss Pei was worried that you would misunderstand, so he specially gave such clear restrictions."

A series of question marks floated above Zhang Yahui's head.

???

You call this "very clear"?

How was that clear?!

He only gave a very broad general range, but there were no restrictions at all!

Was this how Tengda interacted and worked internally?

How amazing...

Zhang Yahui was a little confused. "I don't quite understand. How is it clear..."

Liang Qingfan opened a map of Jingzhou City on his laptop. "Boss Pei said that it cannot be in the downtown area or too remote. It cannot be opened in a place with Tengda's businesses."

"There aren't many places like this. Wouldn't we be able to find a suitable location just by sifting through?"

He searched all of Tengda's related businesses on the map, including Fish-Catching Internet Cafe, Fish-Catching Take-Out, Sloth Apartments, Deposit Fitness, Upwind Logistics, and so on. After searching, he marked them on the map.

Soon, densely packed marks appeared on the map.

These industries had already undergone many rounds of expansion. What's more, they had previously been focused on Jingzhou. In Jingzhou's downtown and downtown areas, these industries were practically everywhere. There was no other space for them.

Of course, the so-called 'not next to' did not mean that they were separated by a street or were neighbors. Instead, it meant that there were no Tengda businesses within a certain range.

Boss Pei had also said that he could not go to places that were too prosperous or too remote.

After a round of selection, there were only a dozen or so locations left on the map that could be used as a snack market.

There seemed to be quite a number of places in the area, but most of them were not suitable for a snack market.

That was because the snack market needed a larger venue to accommodate a large number of people. It might also need to accommodate dozens or hundreds of vendors.

A place like that could not be built from scratch. That would take too long. It would not be in line with Boss Pei's requirements to build an open space or a few tents.

Therefore, it would be best if there were ready-made buildings.

This way, the areas that met the criteria would be further reduced. Only two or three areas were most suitable.

One only had to search online to know the current situation of these places.

Liang Qingfan pointed at two locations on the map. "There is a small shopping mall here. However, business here is not very good. Many shops have moved away. There are a few residential areas nearby, but they are relatively remote and not very popular."

"On the other side, there is a large-scale agricultural market. It is indoors. There is only one floor, but it is very high. However, this place should be very old. The environment is not very good. It was very lively in the past, but now, the human traffic is probably severely reduced."

"The other places don't look very suitable."

"What do you think?"

"If you think these two places are alright, we can go to these two places to take a look before making plans."

Bao Xu took a look. This large-scale farming market was about one or two kilometers away from Jingzhou's old industrial zone. The nearest Tengda industry was Thriller Hostel.

However, it was not close to Thriller Hostel. It should meet the requirements.

This place was definitely not considered downtown, but it was not particularly remote either. There were residential areas in the old industrial zone nearby. While they were all old buildings, there was still a decent amount of traffic.

He nodded. "We still have to do a field trip to confirm it. I think the second one is better. Such a large market might fit the characteristics of the stalls better. There would be more room for modification. If it's a shopping mall, it would give people a more closed feeling."

Zhang Yahui hesitated for a moment. "I agree, but... Boss Pei specifically emphasized that it has to be trendy and cool. It has to be distinct from traditional stalls. The second place doesn't seem to meet Boss Pei's requirements, right?"

Bao Xu smiled and said confidently, "You've made many mistakes that newbies often make. You just didn't understand Boss Pei's true intentions accurately."

"Boss Pei said that he wanted to make a clear distinction with traditional stalls. He meant that they should not be similar, but he did not say that they should be totally different!"

"There are obvious differences."

Zhang Yahui blinked, not fully understanding.

Bao Xu explained, "Look at the adjectives that Boss Pei used. They are 'trendy' and 'cool'. They are about the decoration style of the entire snack market. Thus, Boss Pei's intention is to abandon the casual, unhygienic, and simple image of the original stall."

"However, on the whole, local delicacies have to be down-to-earth. If it was in a private room with high-end exquisite cutlery, it would definitely be weird. It would not match the characteristics of local delicacies at all."

"Therefore, we should be pursuing similarity while retaining the food spirit of the roadside stalls, we should pack it well and better promote this culture."

Zhang Yahui was enlightened. "I see!"

"Boss Pei's conditions are very clear if you put it that way. It's just that I have a problem with my thinking and did not understand it."

Bao Xu and Liang Qingfan smiled. "It doesn't matter. You will be able to accurately understand Boss Pei's thoughts as long as you practice more."

"Alright, let's call it a day then. We'll go on a field trip tomorrow and see how this snack market is going to be designed."

...

...

March 20th, Tuesday...

Pei Qian went to his office as usual to check on the situation of the various departments.

The E-Sports Industry Department had submitted a report saying that the quota for GOG's overseas league had basically been confirmed. The proposal to collaborate with local companies in various regions for publicity had also been finalized. After some time, the money to sell the quota would be paid.

The difference in the quota for the overseas league was huge, and the price in many places was far less than the quota for the GPL league. However, that amount of money could not be underestimated. It was at least forty million... US dollars.

The slots in popular competitions such as Europe and Northern American Region were sold at high prices.

At first, Pei Qian was a little confused as to why it was so expensive. Didn't they say that they would start auctioning with a million US dollars?

However, after taking a closer look at the report, the reason was written on it: IOI's league in these areas started at three million US dollars. That gave the other clubs the illusion that the GOG league slots were very worth it. Thus, these clubs began to bid crazily...

They bidded the price upwards.

Pei Qian was speechless. Finger Games really could not do anything. They messed up in the first place!

He had wanted to sell these slots at a cheaper price, but he had not succeeded. He had earned another windfall.

Pei Qian sighed and continued looking at the other departments.

The artificial intelligence laboratory at Otto Technologies had already been established. It had directly bought over a domestic company that was researching artificial intelligence. It had also poached a few core technical personnels from Xunke Technologies and other companies.

These people had all moved to Jingzhou. Soon, they could continue their research in the same direction as before.

In fact, this company that researched artificial intelligence already had some results. It was just that it was slightly inferior to Xunke Technologies. However, these results were not enough to make AEEIS artificial intelligence make a huge leap.

Pei Qian was quite satisfied with this news. He hoped that the artificial intelligence laboratory could spend more money as soon as possible. After all, he had been earning too much recently and could not take it anymore.

At that moment, someone knocked on the office door.

Pei Qian looked up and saw that it was Meng Chang.

"Eh? What's the matter?" Pei Qian asked.

Meng Chang hesitated for a moment. "Boss Pei, I've already made an in-depth summary of the publicity plan this month. I've learned from my previous experience and lessons..."

"Erm, half of this month has passed. Can you give me a new mission?"

Pei Qian nodded. "That's true."

The previous publicity plans were indeed a failure. Meng Chang did not get a single cent from his commission last month. He only received a basic salary.

However, Meng Chang obviously didn't sink into it. Instead, he pulled himself together and took the initiative to ask for a mission.

It was mainly because half of the month had already passed. If Meng Chang did not take the initiative to ask for a job, the publicity plan for this month would be 0. Then, the commission for this month would be ruined.

Therefore, Meng Chang couldn't wait any longer and took the initiative to look for a mission.

After some thought, Pei Qian decided that it was indeed time to give Meng Chang something to do.

"Perfect, I have a huge job here. If you want, I can hand it to you."

"'Mission and Choice' is going to be promoted next month. You can do the publicity plan."

Meng Chang was stunned. "Huh? Boss Pei, this..."

He was a little hesitant because everyone knew that Mission and Choice was the project that Boss Pei had placed high hopes on in the past few months. Tengda Games and Fei Huang Workspace had invested a huge amount of money in the past six months.

Boss Pei was willing to hand such a project to him?

Previously, he had done publicity for Bunny Tail's live-stream. Even if it did not have any effect, it was not a big deal. After all, based on the current volume of Bunny Tail's live-stream, it could only be considered a marginalized department among Tengda's many industries. It was not developed yet, so there would not be much loss if the publicity failed.

However, if the publicity for Mission and Choice failed badly, Meng Chang would be able to comfortably get a high commission. However, Boss Pei would suffer huge losses!

At that moment, Meng Chang even felt a little sympathetic. After all, this concerned more than a hundred million yuan of funds and the nine-month-long efforts of the two core departments...

Pei Qian looked at him. "Why? Are you not confident? If you give up this opportunity, you won't have it in the future."

However, Meng Chang thought it over. What did Boss Pei's failure have to do with him?

If he did not accept this task, he would have nothing to eat this month. He would not be able to get a single cent.

Thus, Meng Chang made up his mind and nodded. "Alright, Boss Pei. Leave this plan to me. I'll go back and consider the publicity plan!"

Chapter 948: Meng Chang's Imaginary Proposal

Meng Chang returned to the publicity department after leaving Boss Pei's office.

He suddenly felt immense pressure after he sat down in his seat.

Previously, he only felt that the publicity for Mission and Choice was too important. He was a little moved, but between his conscience and commission, he chose the latter without hesitation.

However, on further thought, it was actually quite difficult to mess up this publicity plan.

That was because there was too much invested in 'Mission and Choice' . It was a game and a movie. What's more, it was said that Lu Zhiyao had participated in it as well. Such a huge production, the slightest news about it would cause a huge reaction.

It was impossible for no one to be interested in it.

Meng Chang pondered for a moment. Since the publicity plan could not remain unknown, he could only work hard to reverse publicize it to reduce its popularity.

It would be best if this publicity plan could make people feel uncomfortable and disgusted. At the same time, he could get a commission.

Meng Chang opened Qiandu and prepared to search for relevant information.

He did not know much about games and movies. He could only be considered an amateur enthusiast. However, that was not a problem. There were still two weeks to the publicity plan.

According to Boss Pei's request, they would only start promoting Mission and Choice next month. These two weeks would be enough for Meng Chang to supplement some relevant knowledge and think of a publicity plan that would be enough to make the audience feel disgusted.

"Let's see if there are any rumors about Mission and Choice online."

Meng Chang first searched for the keyword "mission and choice".

In order to develop a publicity plan for a certain product, one had to first know what everyone's attitude towards it was. If everyone had a good impression of it, that impression had to be strengthened; if everyone had a bad impression, he had to first consider reversing and changing that impression.

Of course, this was a normal publicity model. Meng Chang had to do the opposite.

"Oh? There are so many search results?"

"That's not right. I remember that Tengda has always been very good at keeping secrets. Why would there be so much news? What's more, I don't think it's on the hot searches..."

"No, that's not right. What the hell is that?!"

Meng Chang looked at the search results carefully and felt a little dizzy.

"Mission and Choice (Game Software) – Qiandu search engine"

"Do you still remember 'Mission and Choice'? Did the development of domestically-produced games really blow up in its hands?"

"The Worst Game in History, Mission and Choice"

"'Mission and Choice' is ranked first. Nine trashy games in the history of games that cheat the most money!"

The search results were all similar.

Meng Chang felt a little puzzled. He took a closer look and realized that Mission and Choice had the same name as a standalone game in the history of domestically-produced games that was known as the "disgrace of the domestic games industry"!

That was a game that had been in the 90s for more than a decade.

Meng Chang usually did not play games and basically knew nothing about the history of domestically-produced games. He only knew from the company that Boss Pei's new game was called Mission and Choice. He had no idea that there were so many secrets behind it.

He immediately perked up and read the introduction of Mission and Choice from beginning to end.

"I didn't expect this name to come from this?"

"Then... Does Boss Pei have any special intention by naming the game this way?"

"Could it be that Boss Pei wants to avenge the 'humiliation of the international game'?"

Tss...!

Meng Chang took a deep breath and felt even more pressured.

It had to be said that the saying 'to bring shame to the country' was too easy to cause a topic. What's more, it could easily trigger the patriotism of players. Once this topic was thrown out, the attention would definitely not be low.

This undoubtedly increased the difficulty of Meng Chang's reverse publicity.

"From the theme, this is an RTS game, and it's a sci-fi genre."

"There shouldn't be many people playing this type of game."

"Therefore, if we want the publicity to not have the desired effect, we have to try our best to make it 'inside the circle'."

"As long as it doesn't leave the circle, its popularity would be limited to the domestic standalone players. There would definitely be no way to recover a huge amount of investment from the RTS game. Naturally, publicity would fail."

"Then... I have to work hard on the publicity material!"

Meng Chang quickly determined the general publicity strategy. He wanted to make it as boring as possible for passers-by and make core players uncomfortable.

If the situation allowed it, he could also play some tricks to create a false publicity effect.

Of course, the prerequisite was that they did not violate the rules of the agreement or the relevant laws and regulations. How to play the game was a technical skill.

"From the looks of it, Tengda has done a good job of keeping it a secret. The outside world basically doesn't know that the game that Tengda is developing is the remake of Mission and Choice."

"This is a huge benefit to me! This way, I can use the netizens' inertial thinking to mislead them..."

"In that case, the original publicity material for Mission and Choice is not bad. What would happen if I used it directly?"

Meng Chang searched online and quickly found a lot of publicity material for Mission and Choice.

As a typical representative of false publicity, the publicity materials for Mission and Choice were also nailed to the pillar of shame like the game itself and repeatedly whipped.

At that time, the internet was not developed yet. The main publicity was in various magazines and physical posters. That provocative slogan and the Chinese soldiers in space suits left a deep impression on people.

"Your hometown, Blue Planet, has just suffered a destructive attack from the Zergs..."

"Destroy the swarm and save Blue Planet with your comrades!"

"A million yuan investment, with great hard work, create a grand scene, and model domestic products!"

Such slogans made the blood of the gamers at that point in time boil.

Of course, these slogans looked very stiff now. The image on the promotional poster was also very crude. The style of the past nine years could only be described as 'tragic'.

Meng Chang fell into deep thought.

"If we were to promote it, we would definitely put the most exciting parts of the game and the movie on it. Then, we would try our best to promote the concept of 'washing away the shame of the nation'."

"That would incite gamers to support domestically-produced games and attract a lot of attention.

"However, there would mean no hope for my commission. I have to do the opposite."

"Then, we shouldn't use any new 'Mission and Choice' game or material in the movie. We shouldn't use concepts like 'remake' or 'wash away the shame of the game.'"

"We'll just use the publicity materials for the old game so that gamers would not be able to tell that this is a remake of Mission and Choice! We'll even make them think that this is the old game from more than ten years ago!"

"Er... no, there are still loopholes."

"As long as everyone sees that this game was released by Tengda Games, they would understand that it must be a remake."

"Can we purposely not publish it in the name of Tengda Games? Can we discuss with the official platform and hide the company that created this game?"

"It might be a little strange but we can use a 'special marketing method' to avoid it. It won't violate the contract rules."

"Or, we could create a compilation with many classic old games and create an event of 'reviving classic domestically-produced games' to confuse others."

"I might be exposed sooner or later, but won't I get my commission as long as I can last for a month?"

Meng Chang suddenly realized that his previous train of thought was too rigid. There was actually more than one way to get the commission.

Previously, Meng Chang had thought that he would work hard to promote this project so that no one would care about it and it would never make money.

However, he realized now that the difficulty level was too high. That was because Boss Pei's projects often had their own popularity, especially the 'Mission and Choice' project. It was impossible to achieve.

Since that was the case, could he change his mindset?

He would create a publicity plan this month and no one would be interested in it; he would increase the intensity of the next month and still no one would be interested. In that case, wouldn't two months of commission be successfully obtained?

As for the month that the project was officially released, the effect of misleading the public was no longer effective. The project had exploded. He would still get the commission from the first two months.

Meng Chang was impressed by his own wit and immediately began writing the publicity plan.

The publicity plan this time was mainly the publicity material for the old game in the 90s. It was still the same poster and the same slogan. Nothing changed.

There were no Tengda-related icons or logos on the promotional poster. That way, everyone would not know who the game's creator was.

However, he had to add a line of words: "Repeat the classic and reminisce about the domestically-produced game from ten years ago!"

He would pack up all the domestically-produced standalone games from that era, make a compilation, and then secretly stuff 'Mission and Choice' into it.

However, before Tengda's 'Mission and Choice' was released, it had been a scammy old game that was replaced by Tengda's 'Mission and Choice'.

After that, the official platform would use a large amount of resources to publicize the compilation. The publicity elsewhere would mainly be the original publicity material for Mission and Choice.

That would create an indistinguishable effect and make everyone think that they were promoting a collection of domestically-produced games. That way, they would not be able to delve deeper into the game.

That way, he could hide for at least a month, right?

Meng Chang did not have high expectations. He would get two months of commission first.

After all, he had made so many proposals before but had not gotten a single cent of commission. His mentality was about to collapse. Thus, he did not expect to get a full commission. He wanted to get at least tens of thousands first.

Of course, this idea was just a prototype. As for how to operate it, he had to think about it carefully and plan for a long time.

However, this general direction should not be a problem.

The more Meng Chang thought about it, the more he felt that his plan was not bad. He immediately began to plan for publicity.

Chapter 949: "Repeating The Classic Domestic Games Proposal"

Meng Chang opened his laptop and quickly typed on the keyboard. Thoughts flooded his mind.

With his high efficiency, the general plan was quickly written out.

However, after scrutinizing this plan, Meng Chang felt that there were still two loopholes that had to be fixed.

This plan required ESRO's official platform and Tengda Games to work together. They would pack up these classic domestically-produced games and make a compilation. Then, they would secretly stuff 'Mission and Choice' into it.

In addition, Meng Chang had to go to Tengda Games to get the DEMO for Mission and Choice. At the very least, he had to play it a little and understand it.

As the saying went, know yourself and your enemy well and you can win a hundred battles. One of the important reasons why Meng Chang failed previously was that he did not understand the products he wanted to promote in depth. Instead, he thought about it according to the inertia of ordinary people.

In the end, a slight difference made a significant difference.

As it turned out, Boss Pei's way of thinking was completely different from ordinary people. There were many pitfalls hidden in these projects that one could step into if one was not careful.

Therefore, even though Meng Chang had not played many games himself and it was difficult to judge the game's quality, he had to at least play the game patiently to ensure that his plan was foolproof.

As for how to get ERSO's official platform and Tengda Games to cooperate with his plan, that was easy to handle.

His official identity was the person-in-charge of the advertising and marketing department after all. Boss Pei had personally arranged for him to publicize Mission and Choice.

As long as Meng Chang asked, Tengda Games would definitely cooperate fully.

Now, Meng Chang felt that his plan was just one step short of success.

Bluffing had always been his forte.

Thus, he finalized this rough publicity plan. Then, he stood up and left, preparing to head to Tengda Games to coordinate with the person-in-charge, Hu Xianbin.

...

The advertising and marketing department was also in Shenhua View. They were only a few floors away from the Tengda Games, so they arrived very quickly.

Meng Chang went straight to Hu Xianbin and explained his intentions.

Hu Xianbin took it very seriously. "Promote Mission and Choice? Of course, there's no problem! Since it's Boss Pei's idea, Brother Meng, feel free to ask for anything. We'll definitely fully cooperate."

Meng Chang could not help but smile slightly. It looked like the plan was going smoothly and was developing according to his expectations.

"First, please provide a DEMO for the game. Even though I have thought of a publicity plan, I can only finalize some details after playing the specific game."

"Secondly, we have to discuss with ESRO's official platform to organize an 'revisit the classic domestically-produced games' event. The official platform will come forward and pack all the classic domestically-produced games from more than ten years ago into a collection and sell them at a discount on the official platform."

"Of course, we have nothing to do with the sales of other games. However, we have already obtained the rights to 'Mission and Choice'. Therefore, we will still sell this game at the original price, which is 158 yuan."

"We'll replace the previous games after our 'Mission and Choice' is completed."

Meng Chang had done his homework. 'Mission and Choice' was released after 'Command and Conquest'. The original price of 'Mission and Conquest' was 160 yuan in China at the time, while the original price of 'Mission and Choice' was 158 yuan.

Of course, that was the original price. 'Mission and Choice' had the intention of making lousy money. Therefore, there were various discounts in the publicity and promotion process. The minimum price was a little more than 80 yuan.

However, whether it was 80 yuan or 158 yuan, it was a huge sum of money in the 90s.

As for why they had set a higher price back then, it had to be based on the background of the era.

At that time, the domestic games industry was in a violent turmoil. Online games were rapidly rising and piracy was gradually spreading. Domestic standalone games were forced to engage in a price war with piracy. However, no matter how much they lowered their prices, it was still useless.

On the other hand, the Development Team of Mission and Choice might have been lousy at games back then, but they knew about marketing and the market very well.

They knew that the price of this game could not be set too low.

That was because the Development Team knew the quality of this game. Once it was released, its reputation would definitely collapse. Since they wanted to make a quick buck, they had to set a higher price to earn more.

What's more, since this game was meant to sell emotions, a higher pricing could also hint to gamers that this game was on the same level as Command and Conquest. It was a high-end game, and if the pricing was low, gamers would become suspicious.

Thus, the official game of Command and Conquest was sold at 160 yuan in China. Mission and Choice had priced the original price at 158 yuan, which was symbolically cheaper by 2 yuan.

Everyone knew what happened after that. More than 40,000 sets were sold in the game. In the end, more than 30,000 sets were asked to be refunded, and the remaining 10,000 sets were angrily discarded by players.

Therefore, Meng Chang also planned to make Mission and Choice sell at the original price of 158 yuan. That would also be consistent with the historical price.

Of course, the exact price would depend on Boss Pei and Tengda Games' intentions. Meng Chang could not make the decision himself.

Hu Xianbin could not help but nod. "That's a good idea!"

"The price of 158 yuan is considered moderate. Due to the huge initial investment in Mission and Choice, I'm afraid we won't be able to recover the cost if we sell it cheaply. However, it would be too expensive to sell it for about 200 yuan. 158 yuan is a suitable price."

"However... What's the point of being tied together with the classic domestically-produced game from more than ten years ago? Why would we replace the original game after the game is released?"

"Isn't that a little superfluous? Wouldn't the gamers misunderstand?"

Meng Chang smiled slightly and was not flustered at all. It was time for his glib tongue to take effect.

"The publicity method I'm using is called setting up the stage!"

"First, we'll create this 'revisit the classic domestically-produced game'. Then, we'll publicize it and let the players reminisce about that era many years ago. That would cause a certain amount of discussion."

"Once we reach a certain level of discussion, we will cooperate with the official platform to promote the game and increase the popularity of the classic games."

"At that time, many players would definitely curse 'Mission and Choice', the 'shame of the local game', and recall the deception that the game had done to gamers. At the same time, everyone would feel sorry for other outstanding domestically-produced games."

"Lastly, we secretly replaced the new 'Mission and Choice'. Players would definitely not notice it at first, but they would definitely be very surprised when they discover it. The previous' shame of the local game 'had been washed away, and a rubbish game had been remade into the true' light of the local game '..."

"This will definitely cause a wave of excitement!"

"Compared to directly announcing that we have remade 'Mission and Choice', this would definitely surprise the players more!"

"Of course, the only problem is that the entire publicity process might take a long time. However, I don't think this problem is serious. Good food is not afraid of being late."

Meng Chang's words were half-truths. The fake part was that he wanted the entire publicity process to be delayed until after the game was released. That way, he could get at least two months of commission.

As for what would happen after the game was released, he did not care. At most, he would not want the commission for that month.

Meng Chang's words completely convinced Hu Xianbin.

"It sounded like a very good publicity plan!"

"I'll contact the official platform now and tell them about this publicity plan so that they can cooperate!"

There was no need to talk about Tengda Games' relationship with ESRO's official platform. They were treated like biological sons.

'Mission and Choice' was a huge production this time, and the official platform attached great importance to it. As long as Tengda's publicity requests were not too excessive, the official platform should be satisfied.

Meng Chang was very happy. As long as he convinced Hu Xianbin, his plan should be halfway to success.

"That's right, the game's DEMO..."

Meng Chang did not dare to forget this.

Hu Xianbin said, "Alright, alright. I'll find a portable hard drive and copy it for you. However, this game is still in the development stage. Try not to spread it or use the content inside as publicity material."

"If you have any requests for the publicity material, just let me know. I'll cooperate with the preparations."

Meng Chang nodded. "Of course. I just want to experience the gameplay a little."

After getting the game DEMO, Meng Chang immediately rushed back to the marketing department and installed it on his computer.

In the next few days, he was prepared to fight to the death with this game.

In fact, the publicity plan this time had little to do with the content of the game. However, Meng Chang's previous failure was too painful, so he had to play it safe.