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    ## Chapter 81: A Small Rebate Creates a Big Shock

    It was Monday evening.

    In the office of the game director at Golden Wind Game Company, Gu Sheng was engrossed in a game, his eyes fixed on the screen as he gripped the controller.

    Officially, Golden Wind’s workday ended at 5 PM.

    But Gu Sheng was more accustomed to staying in the office until 7 or 8 PM before leaving. He wasn’t working, he just preferred to spend more time at the company. He’d scroll through his phone, brew a cup of tea, watch videos, or, like today, plug in a controller and play a few rounds of Vampire Survivor.

    He was a single man with no responsibilities.

    It was better to stay at the company than go home to an empty apartment and stare blankly into space. At least, he could pretend he was working when he was the only person left in the office.

    *Whoosh* *Whoosh* *Whoosh* – *Clang!*

    As the Grim Reaper’s scythe sliced through the small skeleton on the screen, Gu Sheng lowered his controller. He glanced at his Mickey Mouse watch – it was nearly 8 PM.

    “Time to go home,” he muttered, putting away the controller, and getting up to leave the office.

    But as soon as he stepped out!

    Gu Sheng couldn’t help but exclaim: “What the… Did I just see the underworld?!”

    He saw that light was emanating from the conference room at the end of the corridor.

    The conference room at Golden Wind was usually just for show. They rarely used it, maybe once every two or three months.

    It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Xiao Na’zha used it as a personal cinema more often than they held meetings.

    They never turned on the lights in the conference room, so it was usually empty and dark.

    But today! It was almost 8 PM! The conference room was brightly lit!

    And most importantly, why was the light red?

    The office was shrouded in the night, the corridor empty except for the terrifying conference room at the end, bathed in red light.

    *Gulp*.

    Even Gu Sheng, a man known for his courage, couldn’t help but swallow nervously. He had just celebrated Qingming Festival a week ago, and he couldn’t help but wonder:

    “What the… Is this some kind of memorial service for the seventh day after death?”

    He slowly crept towards the red-lit conference room door. He pushed it open slightly and peeked inside.

    He saw an iPad placed on the conference table, with a red candle on each side. In front of the iPad, there was a disposable paper cup with three thin cigarettes stuck in it.

    Xiao Na’zha, illuminated by the eerie red light, was standing in front of the iPad with her hands clasped together, muttering something under her breath.

    For a moment, Gu Sheng didn’t know what to do.

    Just as he was deciding whether to turn around and leave or push the door open and ask what was going on,

    Xiao Na’zha finished her muttering, bowed three times to the iPad, and then opened her eyes.

    Their eyes met.

    A moment of silence.

    “AAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHH!!!”

    As if her tail had been stepped on, Shen Miao Miao screamed and jumped to her feet:

    “Gu Sheng, why do you look like a ghost?!”

    “Me? Like a ghost?”

    Gu Sheng couldn’t believe his ears. He stepped into the conference room, opened the front camera on his phone, and pointed it at Shen Miao Miao:

    “Come, let me show you something…”

    “My god!”

    Seeing the distorted face on the screen, with its eyes glowing an eerie red – a ‘female ghost’ – Shen Miao Miao staggered backwards, falling onto the sofa with a thud:

    “Ghost!”

    “That’s you, you idiot.”

    Gu Sheng was speechless. He turned around and switched on the light in the conference room.

    He looked at the disposable paper cup incense burner on the table, then at Shen Miao Miao who was still clutching her chest and gasping for breath.

    “So…”

    Gu Sheng was truly confused:

    “Were you summoning something?”

    “What are you talking about? It’s called a ‘spiritual ritual’!”

    Shen Miao Miao was offended. She stood up from the sofa, crossed her arms, and gestured at the iPad on the table:

    “The God of Wealth is watching, don’t talk like that!”

    Gu Sheng turned to look, and saw that the iPad was displaying a picture of Guan Yu, the God of Wealth.

    “……Whoa.”

    Gu Sheng remained silent for a long time before finally exclaiming:

    “That’s a damn cool way to burn incense.”

    “Conditions…are limited, you know,”

    Shen Miao Miao was a bit embarrassed. She scratched her head:

    “It’s all about sincere devotion.”

    “Well, let me give it a try too,”

    Seeing Shen Miao Miao’s embarrassed expression, Gu Sheng found it funny. He went and stood in front of the ‘digital’ Guan Yu, clasped his hands together, and said:

    “God Guan, bless Golden Wind to have endless wealth and for all our games to be a huge success…”

    “Hey, hey, stop it!”

    Hearing this, Shen Miao Miao was horrified. She rushed over and pulled Gu Sheng away.

    Then, she grabbed the iPad and slammed the screen off!

    Why are you always so sarcastic?!

    Shen Miao Miao glared at Gu Sheng, her nose wrinkled in annoyance!

    What kind of wish is that? So unlucky!

    Gu Sheng was bewildered.

    “You put the God of Wealth inside an iPad…?”

    “Because it’s my God of Wealth!”

    Shen Miao Miao hugged the iPad tightly, afraid that Gu Sheng might make some other unlucky wish:

    “You can’t use my God of Wealth to make wishes!”

    “……Alright, alright, alright, it’s your God of Wealth,”

    Seeing Shen Miao Miao’s angry face, Gu Sheng raised his hands in surrender and asked:

    “So, can I ask about your ‘spiritual journey’ here in the conference room at night? When I came out of my office, I thought I saw a memorial gathering for the seventh day after death.”

    “Because the first week’s sales figures for Survival Road are coming out!”

    Shen Miao Miao raised her chin proudly:

    “I asked the God of Wealth to bless us, is that okay?”

    “Ah… well, we don’t need to bother the God of Wealth with this…”

    Gu Sheng shrugged:

    “Our current sales figures are already ahead of the pack. We’re definitely going to make a profit, what’s there to pray for?”

    Gu Sheng was right. From a company and market perspective, the success of Survival Road was undeniable.

    After all, the only FPS game that could really compete with them, released around the same time, was Fearless Sniper from Guangyao Studio.

    But now, thanks to the Creative Workshop module, Fearless Sniper, which had been relentlessly chasing after them, was now firmly under their control.

    It was safe to say that they had no rivals in the domestic FPS market for games released around the same time.

    That’s why, no one at Golden Wind was really paying attention to the first week’s sales. Everyone had gone home to relax on the day the results were released.

    But Shen Miao Miao had a shocking revelation.

    “You’re all too small! You have too little vision!”

    Xiao Na’zha crossed her arms and declared with righteous indignation:

    “What I care about is whether we can break even in the first week!”

    To a certain extent, she wasn’t being unreasonable.

    After all, she held a 100x Rebate Card. If the game lost even one yuan, she would get one hundred yuan in her little vault.

    So, she prayed to the God of Wealth to help them lose a little, even if it was only 10,000 yuan, she would get 1 million yuan in return.

    But in Gu Sheng’s eyes!

    Her image suddenly became tall and bright!

    “Whoa!”

    Hearing this, Gu Sheng couldn’t help but gasp.

    True to her noble family heritage!

    While they were all content with the current success of Survival Road!

    The CEO was already dreaming of the game breaking even in the first week!

    Look! Look!

    Her position! Her vision! Her perspective!

    High! Solid! High and solid!

    Gu Sheng felt more grateful than ever to have joined Golden Wind!

    He had an abundant supply of funds to play with, making the games he loved, even upgrading those classic games!

    Moreover, the company offered a comfortable environment, with plenty of food, drinks, and salary, and he could even slack off at work!

    The CEO was even reluctant to give them any KPIs! The only expectations were expressed through a mystical ‘spiritual ritual’!

    Where else could you find a company like this?!

    Gu Sheng asked himself.

    Even if he started his own company, he couldn’t be as friendly and open-minded as the CEO!

    Such a great boss…

    Just then, he heard Shen Miao Miao carefully asking:

    “Old Gu, so you think our game… will break even in the first week?”

    “Hmm…”

    Gu Sheng became serious, pondering for a moment:

    “If Fearless Sniper hadn’t been competing with us, breaking even in the first week wouldn’t have been difficult,”

    “But their initial promotional efforts, along with their subsequent efforts to sabotage us, did affect our sales to a certain extent,”

    “But don’t worry, even if we can’t break even in the first week, it won’t be by much.”

    Gu Sheng’s words made Shen Miao Miao both happy and nervous!

    After all!

    Old Gu was always right about market predictions.

    If he said it was difficult to break even in the first week, then it probably wouldn’t be possible.

    But he also said that even if they didn’t break even, it wouldn’t be by much…

    So, how much was that ‘much’?

    But heaven forbid it was like the Vampire Survivor situation, where they lost a couple of yuan and received hundreds of yuan in rebates!

    If the final results came out and they were down by just one yuan, giving her a one hundred yuan rebate, she would have jumped out the window!

    Just then!

    *Beep beep beep* *Beep beep beep*

    Shen Miao Miao’s alarm went off.

    Gu Sheng checked his Mickey Mouse watch: “One minute left, shall we take a look together?”

    “Yeah!”

    Shen Miao Miao took a deep breath and nodded firmly.

    Then, they both turned to face the projection screen in the conference room!

    There, on the screen, was the ArtTour developer backend page!

    Ten, nine, eight, seven…

    Shen Miao Miao nervously swallowed, her heart pounding. She closed her eyes: “Old Gu, Old Gu, you tell me the figures.”

    “Okay,”

    Gu Sheng nodded, and then softly counted down the last three numbers:

    “Three, two, one…”

    *Click!*

    The backend page refreshed with the latest data.

    Gu Sheng saw the final weekly sales summary and pursed his lips, then said in a deep voice:

    “The cost of Survival Road was 10,850,000 yuan, with a price of 85 yuan per copy. The final first-week sales figures are:

    158,088 copies, total sales revenue of 13,437,480 yuan. After deducting commission, the final profit is…”

    “10,750,000 yuan,”

    “……Too bad, we were just ten thousand yuan short of breaking even.”

    For a full five seconds!

    There was complete silence in the conference room!

    Then!

    Shen Miao Miao, who had been keeping her eyes closed, spoke in a trembling voice: “……You said… how much?”

    “10,750,000 yuan.”

    “No, I meant the last part.”

    “I said… too bad, we were just ten thousand yuan short of breaking even. If that stupid Fearless Sniper hadn’t been competing with us, we would have definitely broken even in the first week…”

    Shen Miao Miao couldn’t hear the rest of what Gu Sheng was saying.

    She slowly opened one eye, and peeked at the projection screen.

    It showed their first-week results, just as Gu Sheng had said.

    The next second.

    Shen Miao Miao heard a beautiful, crisp sound in her mind.

    【Ding! Time’s up! Investment settlement for this round is complete!】

    Immediately, the system settlement interface appeared –

    【Ding! Project loss detected!】

    【Project: Survival Road】

    【Project investment amount: 10,850,000 yuan】

    【Project loss amount: 100,000 yuan】

    【Ding! Super Base Card activated! 100x Rebate bonus used!】

    【Project rebate amount: 10,000,000 yuan】

    【Remaining settlement time: 0】

    【Ding! Loss settlement complete. Rebate has been sent to your personal bank account!】

    Then, Shen Miao Miao’s phone vibrated.

    *Buzz buzz*

    【Your debit card account 1118 has received a deposit of 10,000,016.00 yuan through mobile banking on April 15th…】

    One… million!!!

    Thick! Gift! Crab!

    Shen Miao Miao felt her head spin.

    She looked at the bank account deposit amount twice.

    Meanwhile, Gu Sheng was still looking at the screen, analyzing:

    “Not bad. While we didn’t reach profitability in the first week, the total investment in the game is clear,”

    “The larger the investment, the longer the profitability cycle,”

    “Furthermore, during this time, Guangyao Games has been constantly obstructing our publicity efforts, which has led to insufficient media promotion for us. We’ve basically relied solely on word-of-mouth from players,”

    “This means that in the future, we need to increase our publicity efforts as much as……”

    “Old Gu!!!”

    He hadn’t finished his sentence!

    Shen Miao Miao’s voice interrupted him, filled with suppressed excitement.

    “Ah?”

    Gu Sheng didn’t turn around but continued to look at the screen, analyzing in his mind and casually responding:

    “What’s wrong?”

    “These sales figures are exciting enough.”

    Shen Miao Miao put away her phone, her big, watery eyes fixed on Gu Sheng, a sparkle in them, and a slight smile curving her lips, as if she was about to burst out laughing.

    “Yeah,” Gu Sheng answered distractedly, as if he were thinking about future plans: “Really exciting?”

    Shen Miao Miao nodded vigorously: “Really exciting!”

    “Oh, how exciting?” He added, just to keep the conversation going.

    Then, he heard Shen Miao Miao’s voice behind him: “As exciting as…”

    Just then!

    Shen Miao Miao took two steps backwards, then bent her knees slightly, as if preparing to jump long jump.

    She then aimed at Gu Sheng, took a few quick steps, and then launched her petite body into a leap!

    “Hey! It’s *that* exciting! Hahahaha!!!”

    Shen Miao Miao’s sneak attack was successful, and she immediately found herself a mount!

    Ten million! Ten million!

    After all!

    Since she got the system, almost a year had passed!

    And in that year, the largest rebate amount she received was only fifty yuan!

    So, how could she not be excited and thrilled to get a full ten million rebate!

    “Oh, what the…”

    Gu Sheng felt a wave of peach-scented air rush past him.

    Then, two slender arms wrapped around his neck.

    By the time he regained his balance, he realized that Shen Miao Miao was already clinging to him.

    “What? You’re excited so you’re going to ride me?!”

    “It’s called being ‘elated and riding a steed with a flourish’! Just cooperate!”

    Shen Miao Miao patted Gu Sheng’s shoulder:

    “Forget it, you wouldn’t understand. Giddy up!”

    “That’s like boss-bullying an employee!”

    Gu Sheng protested in disapproval.

    “Bullying my ass!” Shen Miao Miao retorted: “I weigh less than ninety pounds, not ninety kilos!”

    “But I’m a director, after all. I’m a high-ranking official. If people see this, it’ll affect my…”

    “I’ll treat you to dinner. Order whatever you want.”

    “Well… I’ll only carry you to the ground floor then.”

    “Can I order a song?”

    “That’s going too far, Shen Miao Miao! Have you ever seen a mount that can talk? I’m not a rocking horse!”

    “Add a fancy ice drink!”

    “My father’s father is my grandfather…”

    “Hahahahahaha……”

    Just then!

    Gu Sheng’s phone rang.

    Amidst Shen Miao Miao’s excited chattering, Gu Sheng answered the phone:

    “Hello, this is Gu Sheng.”

    He heard a male voice on the other end of the line: “Hello, Mr. Gu. I apologize for interrupting you. I’m calling you today to…”

    “I don’t need it, thank you.”

    Gu Sheng recognized it as a telemarketing call. He apologized and hung up.

    Then, he opened the door, taking Xiao Na’zha with him, and they left the conference room…

    ——

    **PS:** Xiao Na’zha waves to everyone as she rides her director mount: “Can I get a monthly ticket?”

    (End of chapter)

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