Chapter 10: First Employee

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Pei Qian suddenly felt that his future was brightening up!

Previously, he only had 50,000 yuan on hand. It would be slightly ridiculous if he wanted to look for an employee with that amount of money.

But now, Pei Qian had 300,000 in his System Funds!

It wouldn’t be ridiculous to hire an employee with this, right?

Reflecting on his painful experience, Pei Qian concluded from his failure that it was because of a few things.

Firstly, he was way too unlucky!

Who would have guessed that a trashy game he created casually would have been spotted by a slightly popular UP Master of a games section?

If not for that Teacher Qiao, wouldn’t he have made a loss successfully?

Also, Pei Qian was having doubts towards his own capabilities.

Could it be because I’m too smart that I’m going about losing money the wrong way?

There were some people who would always fail and lose money no matter how hard they try at earning money.

At the same time, there were people who could spend all their time thinking about losing money but yet fail to lose it!

Pei Qian felt that he belonged to the latter group.

Therefore, he felt that it was time to look for help.

To recruit people!

As long as he were to recruit a bunch of slackers to take charge of all these jobs, wouldn’t he be able to lose all that money with ease?

At that thought, Pei Qian was no longer pissed at Ma Yang any longer even despite being dissed by the latter earlier on.

“Ma Yang is a gift sent to me by the heavens!”

“Such a talented slacker! Isn’t he the perfect employee I’ve been waiting for?”

“Should I consider the other schoolmates too? What does one more matter? In fact, he could even lose more money by giving more wages!”

“N-No! The rest are way too reliable!”

Pei Qian had wanted to consider his other schoolmates but gave up on that thought before long.

Handong University was a key university after all and those who could enter it weren’t all that stupid, everything else aside.

A slacker like Ma Yang was an anomaly that one could only come across serendipitously.

If he were to look for more, they might just end up making the job a success. By then, Pei Qian would truly be grieving.

After he was decided, Pei Qian called Ma Yang out of the dormitory privately.

“What’s up, Brother Qian? Are you going to share with me some secret strategy?” Ma Yang looked at Pei Qian hopefully, thinking that the latter was going to discuss gaming strategies with him.

“I’ve been making a game myself recently. I need some help, are you interested?” Pei Qian was direct. After all, someone like Ma Yang wasn’t conniving and making things complicated might backfire.

Stunned for a moment, Ma Yang shook his head. “Are you messing with me? We’ve got so much workload to deal with in the semester, let alone have time to play with all these other stuff.”

He paused for a moment before continuing, “Don’t tell me that you’re fooled by the illusion caused by that messed up indie game as well?”

“A large reason why The Lonely Desert Road got popular was due to luck as well! Besides, it costs a lot of money to create games! Where would you get your money from?”

Pei Qian coughed. “I won’t hide it from you, but I’m actually a rich second-generation heir. My family gave me 300,000. Is that enough?”

Ma Yang’s mouth dropped wide open and he only spoke after a long time, “Are you serious? You’re not kidding me?”

Ma Yang did not know Pei Qian’s family background well, but he knew that Pei Qian wasn’t the type of guy who would pull pranks on others for fun – there was no need for him to lie to him with such a low class joke.

It was only then that Ma Yang started taking the preposition a little more seriously.

“Other than money, what about the other issues?” Ma Yang asked.

Pei Qian reversed the question. “Are there any other issues other than money?”

Ma Yang froze momentarily. “Do you know about art resources? Do you know how to code?”

Pei Qian shook his head. “No, but is that an issue? Those resources could be bought online with money and I could hire professionals to settle them.”

Ma Yang opened his mouth, finding it hard to express his current emotions.

Wasn’t that too naive?!

Even if you’re rich, that’s not the way to spend money!

Pei Qian patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry about everything else. The only question I’m asking is if you’re willing to join in. If you are, I’ll leave you a position on the design team.”

Hesitation spread across Ma Yang’s face. “Brother Qian, given our close relationship, I should naturally be helping you with this non conditionally.”

“But, the both of us know nothing about creating a game! Even though the 300,000 was given to you by your family, I think you should still give this a second thought instead of making a decision so lightly.”

“I’m afraid that I would have really let you down if we make ducks and drakes out of the 300,000. I truly can’t join you.”

Pei Qian was speechless. He had not thought that Ma Yang’s conscience would actually be an obstacle…

But on second thought, indeed, even though Ma Yang was rather dumb, his character wasn’t bad – he was a typical mister nice guy.

Pei Qian could not reveal the origins of his money and could only claim that he was a rich second-generation heir and that the money was given by his family. Yet, that had Ma Yang reluctant to join out of fear that he would cause Pei Qian to lose money.

Left with no choice, Pei Qian could only prove himself with his previous success. “Actually, I’ve already made a game and it has already earned money.”

Ma Yang was stunned. “What game?”

“C-Cough,” Pei Qian coughed. “The Lonely Desert Road.”

“Pfft!” Ma Yang nearly spat out.

“You’re the one who made that lame game?!” Ma Yang was astounded.

He had even complained to Pei Qian about it previously that it was a game created by a wicked as*hole! To think that he was scolding the exact person…

Pei Qian was exasperated. “It really was made by me.”

It was an extremely awkward situation.

Ma Yang blinked his eyes and suddenly raised a thumbs up. “Nice! That works, Brother Qian! I couldn’t tell that you had such talent in designing games! You’re really a genius for the game to get that popular! No wonder I felt such an intimate feeling to the game when I played it previously. So, it’s because of this.”

Pei Qian did not know to laugh or to cry – this Old Ma changed sides way too quickly!

“Alright, enough of the bootlicking. Same question, are you in? I’ll give you a salary of 3,000 a month. Whether we profit or make a loss, you don’t have to take any responsibility,” Pei Qian offered.

Ma Yang’s attitude was completely different this time round as he nodded his head furiously. “Of course, of course! I’m definitely with you, Brother Qian! You know that even though I’m nothing great, I’m a reliable guy!”

After he found out that Pei Qian had created a successful game, Ma Yang felt that this was no longer child’s play. On the contrary, this was something with bright prospects that he couldn’t wait to join!

Pei Qian extended his sincere approval to Ma Yang. “That’s right, it’s exactly because you’re a reliable man that I want you in! Now, don’t let the others know about this. Of all the schoolmates I know, I think you’re the most talented. I haven’t even approached anyone else.”

Ma Yang was beaming brightly. “Of course, of course!”

“Alright, that settles it,” Pei Qian had nothing else to talk about. “There’s still a lot of preparatory work to be done. Go and get started with some things on your own, I’ll update you when there’s progress.”

Ma Yang nodded excitedly. “Sure, don’t worry! I’ll head to the bookstore this afternoon to see if there’s any technical books I can get to start learning! Don’t worry, I’ll definitely not be a burden!”

Ma Yang turned back to the dormitory and packed his stuff, preparing to head out.

“Actually, you don’t have to get any technical books to learn from…”

Pei Qian replied mentally. However, he raised his hand and ended up not saying anything.

He wondered if it was a right choice to get Ma Yang in.

Was someone so responsible and reliable truly a good fit for him to reach his goals…?

But on second thought, based on his understanding of Ma Yang as a person over the years, Pei Qian knew that while this man was reliable, his capabilities were limited.

Letting Ma Yang take a look at some technical books shouldn’t affect the bigger picture.