Chapter 55: How Could He Possibly Be a Deadbeat? (Part Two)

Yanjing.

Mule Technologies.

Liu Ruohan had returned to China. After reporting on Legend to her father, Liu Chongshan, she left the office.

Liu Chongshan wore an expression of extreme anger—a fury born of being controlled yet finding no outlet for release.

Was he not the savior of the game Legend, for goodness' sake?

If he hadn't licensed and brought it over, Legend would practically have been dead in South Korea!

To this day, he could still remember how those people had groveled in gratitude, practically treating him like a father!

And now...

Legend had blown up in popularity in China, and the South Korean game company was changing its tune all over again.

They claimed the licensing fees must be increased; otherwise, not only would they refuse to push out version updates, but they wouldn't even lift a finger against hackers and private servers!

This negotiation had been an absolute failure!

In all his life, the thing he hated most was being blackmailed.

How could he not be furious?

He stared fixedly at the feedback materials sent by the South Korean side.

For a long time, he could not utter a single word.

Of course...

Liu Ruohan cared little for Liu Chongshan's state of mind as she stepped out of the office.

She only felt that the company seemed increasingly unfamiliar.

Many people had been replaced; a thorough purge had taken place.

At that very moment, she happened to brush past Liu Yun.

As they passed each other, she suddenly stopped.

"Manager Liu."

"Hello, Vice President Liu." Liu Yun's gaze was deeply respectful upon seeing Liu Ruohan.

"Uncle Shen—um, has President Shen really retired?"

"Yes, he has retired."

"Does the HR department report to you now?"

"Ah, not temporarily. President Liu will probably invite someone senior in to take over..."

"Oh, I see. By the way, Manager Liu, is the information regarding Zhang Yang true?"

"It is. Zhang Yang didn't always go by Zhang Yang; his name was Zhang Lin... Two years ago, right after turning eighteen, Zhang Yang became a guarantor for a loan company. At the same time, his ID card was repeatedly used as collateral, several of his micro-loans have long since passed their grace periods, and currently, his credit card and bank accounts are all restricted from making purchases... Um, it seems he dropped out during the first half of his second year in high school without even getting his high school diploma. The high school resume he showed me before was likely fabricated..."

"How can someone like that run a company?" Liu Ruohan found it unbelievable.

At eighteen years old...

His credit was already ruined to this extent...

What on earth had he done?

"The legal framework in this regard isn't entirely airtight, so he might have exploited a loophole. Theoretically, however, any money he earns from his business, aside from the bare minimum required for survival, must first be used to pay off his debts until they are cleared."

"What on earth did he do at eighteen?" Liu Ruohan was shocked upon hearing this.

"That can't be checked for the time being," Liu Yun shook her head. "However, I did manage to unearth some fragmented pieces of news. It seems he owns no property whatsoever in Erlonghu Village, Nanmin County, Zhangjiakou. His family used to have a house, but it was sold for ten thousand yuan, and all their relatives have completely cut ties with them. His mother passed away when he was around fourteen; the exact cause would require further investigation..."

"And his father?"

"There's no news on that; we'd have to check with the local public security bureau... In short, the company's shareholders are intensely opposed to acquiring his studio due to this background. I heard Sheng-Teng was originally interested in an acquisition, but the moment they looked into these records, they dropped it immediately. This fellow is far too complicated." A trace of coldness flickered in Liu Yun's eyes as she said this.

She felt she hadn't done anything wrong.

"..." Liu Ruohan fell silent upon hearing this.

***

July 11th.

Early in the morning, a light rain began to fall outside the window.

Listening to the soft patter of the rain, looking around the spacious office with its brand-new desk and the latest LCD computer playing new tracks by Zhou Yang and other artists...

In an instant, Zhang Yang felt completely refreshed, body and soul!

Now, this looked like the kind of office a tech company ought to have!

He walked over to the glass partition and caught a glimpse of his reflection.

"Hmm, looking somewhat like the CEO of a Fortune 500 company..."

"A bit young, though."

"Still, youthful and promising..."

"..."

Whether it was due to the improved lighting in the new office or the uplifting spirit of moving into fresh quarters, the more Zhang Yang looked at himself, the more satisfied he became.

He was rather handsome, especially his eyes—narrowed into a smiling crescent, carrying a touch of gentle roguishness mixed with a hint of scholarly aura from a distance. If he wore a pair of glasses, anyone would believe he was an elite university student.

And besides...

At his age, wasn't he right around the stage of a freshman or a sophomore in college?

At this thought, Zhang Yang's smile froze slightly, and feeling a sudden drop in enthusiasm, he picked up a piece of chewing gum and unwrapped it.

"The company needs to draw up a three-month plan next..."

"First of all, regarding this romance game, *God of Dating*, there's the matter of the plot..."

"The plot..."

"What kind of role will the player assume?"

Zhang Yang sat back down in his chair, picked up a pen, and began recalling some of the romance games and storylines from his original world.

Then, he started scribbling away.

Barely a minute or two into his writing, Zhang Yang heard a knock on the door.

"Come in!"

"President Zhang, these are the job seeker resumes our company has received, and there's also a college sophomore who says she wants to come take a look at the company..." Ge Yumiao walked in carrying a stack of resumes.

In just over a month...

Ge Yumiao had transformed overnight from a pathetic internet denizen into the Planning Department Director wearing a "Cosmos Technology" employee badge.

Dressed in a sharp suit, he had clearly styled his hair, slicking it back into a glossy pompadour where every single strand seemed meticulously cared for.

He also wore a pair of frames perched on the bridge of his nose. Standing respectfully beside Zhang Yang with the stack of resumes, he bore the uncanny resemblance of some slick-looking corporate elite.

"Oh, alright."

Zhang Yang nodded.

"President Zhang, also, after two days of screening through questionnaire surveys in our planning department, we've roughly pinned down the character elements for *God of Dating*. We've already coordinated with Manager Zhao's art department. President Zhang, do you have some free time around nine o'clock? If so, we'd like to temporarily form a *God of Dating* project team, and you can make the final call on our proposal. Oh, and this is the tentative game progression stats and design scheme I've drafted..."

"Well, well, Brother Ge, one must look at each other with new eyes after three days apart!"

Zhang Yang was pleasantly surprised when he saw the proposal handed over by Brother Ge.

The proposal was meticulously crafted, and every single sentence within it seemed to have been painstakingly polished before being finalized.

His guess had been spot on.

Brother Ge was truly a talent!

"Heh... President Zhang, I constantly remind myself that I'm a department head now. After all, I'm a man of status now, and whatever I do must live up to that status..." Ge Yumiao instantly broke into a wide grin upon hearing Zhang Yang's praise.

"Hahaha, good. You can head back down first. Let me look over these resumes, and once I'm done, I'll come over for the meeting..."

"Will do!"

Ge Yumiao nodded and left the office.

Once Ge Yumiao was gone, Zhang Yang glanced down at the resumes.

In truth, these resumes mostly belonged to old acquaintances who had previously submitted work to him on the Tieba forums, people who already came with portfolios in hand.

After skimming through them, Zhang Yang saw that these individuals were basically solid choices.

Just as he was about to check the resumes for interns, he received a phone call from a number originating in Shenzhen.

Without hesitation...

He picked up.

"President Zhang! I've met so many people down here..."

"This place is simply a paradise for the second-hand digital market!"

"My eyes have truly been opened. Who would have thought the principles behind the MP3 and MP4 players we used before were actually this simple..."

"After tinkering with things for a while now, I can basically handle some simple mobile phone system issues..."

"It turns out that so many random mobile phone brands on the market are just a bunch of off-the-shelf components assembled together and slapped inside a casing to be sold..."

"I met a middle-aged man who makes phones. After I relayed everything you told me to him, he became extremely eager to meet you in person!"

"..."

On the other end of the line.

It was mostly Tong Wei's excited voice pouring through.

Having arrived in Shenzhen, his horizons had seemingly expanded, and he had awakened to the colossal market potential within the mobile sector.

He said he had found a company, worked hard there, and happened to run into a middle-aged man who shared a remarkably similar vision to Zhang Yang.

That middle-aged man seemed to have quit his job now, and if possible, he planned to fly to Yanjing tomorrow to meet and chat in person...

After listening to Tong Wei chatter on endlessly, Zhang Yang finally hung up the phone.

He looked at the light, drizzling rain outside the window, then glanced at the time displayed on his vintage black-and-white handset.

"This era—what a truly wonderful era it is!"

"Right, time for the meeting!"

"Better finish writing these notes quickly and head to the meeting..."

A wave of emotion washed over him, suddenly filling him with boundless fighting spirit.

He picked up his pen once more, lowered his head, and scribbled down a few more plot points for the new game, *God of Dating*.

***

"Hello..."

"Hello, you're Song Qingqing, the one who called just now, right?"

"Mmm-hmm, yes!"

"You're still a sophomore in college? How young."

"Yup, I'll be a sophomore when the semester starts in September."

"I have a question, though. You're a law major at Peking University; what made you want to intern at our company? We're a game company, so your major doesn't really match... To be honest, we don't have any immediate need for legal talent, so you might be overqualified here."

"Um, I'd like to talk about these questions in person with President Zhang when I see him..."

"Oh, alright. President Zhang might be in a meeting right now, please have a seat and wait a moment."

"Okay."

At nine o'clock in the morning.

A long-haired girl carrying a backpack walked into the new offices of "Cosmos Technology."

Dressed in jeans and possessing a fresh, refined appearance, the girl radiated youthfulness.

She curiously looked around at everything brand-new within the company.

Finally, her gaze lingered on the office in the distance.

From inside the office, Zhang Yang's voice could be faintly heard.

"In the year 2012..."

"The gates of hell fly open, and spirits, attempting to evade capture by the messengers of the underworld, possess human hosts and feed on negative emotions..."

"Our protagonist—well, the player—will play the role of the God of Dating. Facing various cold, aloof senior students (both male and female) and shy underclassmen, you must use love to dispel their negative emotions, thereby assisting the underworld messengers in capturing the spirits. That's the backdrop of our romance game..."

"Once the romance meter is full, our player will kiss the other person..."

"..."

"..."

Hearing this voice, the girl froze for a moment.

Then, she obediently took a seat.

Roughly an hour later, the meeting concluded.

The door swung open.

The girl sprang to her feet instantly.

"Senior?"

Seeing Zhang Yang, she called out instinctively.

"Huh? Hello, you are..."

Zhang Yang turned his head slightly, looking at a vaguely familiar girl standing before him.

"I'm Song Qingqing."

"Ah, are you an intern colleague?"

"Senior, don't you remember me?"

"I have an impression, but... I can't quite place it." Zhang Yang stared at the girl for a moment, looking somewhat bewildered.

She did look familiar.

But...

Who on earth was this?

"The law department. Senior, didn't you say back then that you were going to take the entrance exams for Peking University's law department? During my first year of high school, you were the one who brought me into the school grounds... My grades weren't good back then, and you tutored me for a fee. You even made me buy you all sorts of snacks, and you told me to lie to my dad, saying I was going through a growth spurt and needed extra money, that girls needed to be raised with luxury, and that you needed the funds..."

"Cough, cough, cough... Let's talk in the office, too many people out here..." As if suddenly recalling something, Zhang Yang's weathered face flushed crimson with extreme embarrassment as he quickly waved his hand.

"..."

(End of this chapter)