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    Chapter 90: I Say, CEO, You’re Brilliant!

    Heh.

    Gu Sheng’s question caused Shen Miao Miao to let out a quiet laugh in her heart.

    Why am I dumbfounded?

    What the hell, how could those words come out of your mouth? The knife stabbing my back is still in your hand, and you’re asking me why I’m frozen?

    Why don’t you ask the Magic Conch?

    Your promises, your stretcher… No, I mean, your cooking?! Didn’t we agree? Cooking game, cooking game, how did it suddenly turn into an FPS?

    And!

    Seeing the cheering of the partner companies and the media, Shen Miao Miao wasn’t hard-pressed to judge—Old Gu’s innovative move was even more astounding than the previous *Survival Road*!

    Shen Miao Miao scratched her head, wanting to die.

    Originally, everything was going smoothly!

    Whether it was the campus recruitment or the cost investment.

    Although there were some minor flaws, they were insignificant.

    Because there was such a brilliant idea as a “cooking game,” the final results wouldn’t be particularly ideal.

    She had already won the game!

    But!

    Unexpectedly!

    The so-called cooking game was actually a feint by Gu Sheng!

    Dogthing!

    Shen Miao Miao hated him with every fiber of her being.

    However, upon further thought, it didn’t make sense.

    Gu Sheng didn’t know that she wanted to lose money on purpose, so there was no need for him to deceive her on this.

    Thinking about it, Shen Miao Miao couldn’t help but turn her stiff neck and ask Gu Sheng:

    “I remember you mentioned… didn’t you say that the *PUBG* project was a cooking game?”

    “Did I say that?”

    Gu Sheng pondered for a moment and remembered:

    “Oh right, I think I did say ‘it’s a cooking game in a way’, your memory is really good, hahahaha.”

    You ha-ing a hammer! You ha-ing!!!

    Shen Miao Miao’s fists clenched, if not for her strong restraint, she would have punched him right there!

    Nonsense!

    My memory isn’t bad?!

    Not only do I have a good memory, I’ve been tricked by that statement for a whole month!

    His grandma!

    Thinking about it, Shen Miao Miao regretted it!

    If only I had taken a look at the game plan with him during this month, I wouldn’t be suffering this bolt from the blue!

    “So?”

    Shen Miao Miao, like a volcano on the verge of eruption, pointed to the promotional poster on stage:

    “What’s the meaning of this?”

    “Hey, I was just talking casually back then,”

    Gu Sheng chuckled and waved his hand, laughing:

    “Think about it, this game has a hundred people participating, and there are weapons and vehicles, so there will be all sorts of bizarre ways of dying,”

    “And this is a competitive game, so it’s fun to compete with people,”

    “So, when the game is released, there will definitely be all sorts of talented people, doing all sorts of mind-boggling operations,”

    “As the saying goes, this competition isn’t just plain water, there are many chefs cooking,”

    “So, to call it a cooking game isn’t wrong, hahahaha…”

    Speaking of which.

    Gu Sheng looked at Little Nezha with a smile and teased:

    “What, you didn’t really think I was going to make a game about praising cooking?”

    “Hahahaha, that would be too stupid, how much of a moron would I have to be to choose such a moronic theme? That’s a surefire way to lose money, you wouldn’t agree, right…”

    After speaking, Gu Sheng raised an eyebrow at Shen Miao Miao, turned his head, and continued to exchange production experiences with Li Xiaofeng, the director of *Angry Flames*.

    S嘶—

    Shen Miao Miao took a deep breath!

    Where’s my goddamn knife?!

    How can you be so cheap… I’ll just kill you, you filthy beast!

    Shen Miao Miao’s face was about to change into all sorts of colors, she wished she could die with Gu Sheng now.

    She didn’t care about the company’s money, after all, it wasn’t all hers.

    She only took 40% of the 10% of the profit, more or less wouldn’t matter to her.

    But don’t forget!

    The five million cost of this project included her own one million stash!

    One million!

    That’s fifty of the mascot’s brothers and sisters!

    I just got it, it hasn’t even warmed up yet!

    And I threw it all into this project!

    Most importantly, this one million was a free investment by her!

    Because according to the system rules, the “Project Investment Amount” in the system only calculated the internal investment amount of the host’s company.

    Others, like bank loans, dividend investments, external loans, were not included in the system’s investment amount.

    That was why Shen Miao Miao first went to her father to beg for money, and then paid out of her own pocket when the project lacked funds.

    But from beginning to end, she didn’t attract investments or go to the bank!

    Because her father’s money and her own money didn’t need to be repaid, they could be incorporated into the company’s internal funds as a free investment.

    This effectively increased the project investment amount!

    For example, the *PUBG* project was short of 10 million at the beginning.

    If Shen Miao Miao had taken out a loan from the bank, the total cost of the project in the system would be 40 million.

    But if she paid out of her own pocket as a free investment, the system would show a total cost of 50 million.

    It was clear which one was easier to lose money on.

    Just!

    She calculated everything except for Gu Sheng’s move of turning cooking into shooting, which completely disrupted her plans!

    This won’t do!

    Thinking about it, Shen Miao Miao’s expression became serious!

    I have to save myself!

    At the very least, she had to lose one million in this five million investment project!

    Because only then could she rescue her own stash!

    This time!

    Shen Miao Miao didn’t want to make much profit, she just wanted to get her money back.

    But!

    How to lose a million within a week was a problem!

    Because from the current situation, even if their *PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds* didn’t win the championship, their sales would definitely be good.

    After all, their previous work, *Survival Road*, had already proven one thing—

    In most cases, projects that attract other companies are bound to sell well!

    So, she couldn’t just sit back and wait for the project to lose money.

    She had to do something.

    Actually, it was simple to do this—

    She just needed to go back and pick holes in the project like crazy, making Gu Sheng and the others redo it, endlessly repeating the process, and deliberately delaying the project progress.

    When the five-month production deadline arrived, the organizing committee would directly declare them disqualified.

    At that time, they would lose the publicity and promotion of the Asian Competition Association, and they would also lose the “Full Access to Asian Mainstream Sensory Pod Platform” policy provided by the organizing committee.

    When they released the game then, and activated the system, it would be easy for a game with a five million investment to lose money.

    But Shen Miao Miao couldn’t do that.

    Firstly, this method was too ruthless and dark, even though she wanted to lose money, she wasn’t that heartless.

    Secondly, if she did that, it would definitely make Gu Sheng see through her, or even directly anger him, causing him to resign and leave.

    At that time, her system would be useless, and it would be a lose-lose situation.

    But if she didn’t delay the progress, Shen Miao Miao was worried that Jiang Yun and his group of fanatics would be too aggressive, making the project too perfect.

    Therefore, she had to find a balance.

    A balance that could complete the project, but not make it too perfect.

    After all, she didn’t want to lose much this time, she just wanted to lose one million and get her money back.

    But the problem was, she was an outsider and couldn’t grasp such professional time management.

    And she couldn’t directly ask Gu Sheng, that would be too obvious.

    For a moment, Shen Miao Miao couldn’t help but frown slightly.

    Who should I go to for a discreet inquiry?

    Just then!

    She heard the host’s voice sound again on stage.

    It turned out that after the last company’s project presentation was completed, after a collective vote by 200 media outlets and 500 players from the whole venue, the “Most Anticipated Game Award” of the entire venue was awarded. Without a doubt, *PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds* won the award with its innovative gameplay and design.

    Gu Sheng went up to receive the award.

    Shen Miao Miao also rolled her eyes, seizing the opportunity to stand up and sit in Gu Sheng’s seat, nodding and smiling at Li Xiaofeng beside her:

    “Director Li.”

    “Oh, Ms. Shen,”

    Li Xiaofeng nodded politely.

    Although *Golden Wind* wasn’t very big, Shen Miao Miao’s background was not small, Li Xiaofeng didn’t dare to neglect her:

    “What instructions do you have?”

    “Not really instructions, I just want to ask Director Li something,”

    Shen Miao Miao chuckled:

    “Do you think… our project… can be completed within the deadline?”

    Hearing this, Li Xiaofeng laughed:

    “Haha, Ms. Shen, you really share the same mind with Director Gu, we were just discussing this matter,”

    “Regarding the development progress, Director Gu has also expressed his concern,”

    “For a work like *PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds*, a five-month production time is indeed tight, without overtime, it should only be enough for your company to produce a basic prototype,”

    “Normal gameplay should be fine, but many details won’t have time to be polished,”

    “Actually, if your company had a few more people, or a little more budget, you could effectively solve this problem,”

    “But as the saying goes, even a clever woman can’t cook without rice, your company’s current financial situation is also difficult,”

    “Therefore, I also made a suggestion to Director Gu just now,”

    “In this special period, your company can completely adopt some special methods to solve the urgent problem,”

    “For example—using project profit-sharing to fully mobilize employee enthusiasm,”

    “Whether your project can win the championship I can’t say, but it definitely won’t lose money,”

    “Incentivizing employees to work overtime by using project profit-sharing seems like giving up a part of the company’s profits,”

    “But in fact, it’s much higher than the revenue of a rushed release,”

    “After all, a work that hasn’t been polished will definitely affect the player experience to a certain extent,”

    “For example, details are not in place, sensory motion delay, constant minor bugs, unstable game operation, etc.”

    “These things seem insignificant, but they will directly affect game sales.”

    Speaking of which!

    Li Xiaofeng nodded slightly to Shen Miao Miao with a smile:

    “Of course, this is just my opinion, I’m a straight-talker, please don’t mind.”

    “Director Li, where are you going? I’m grateful you said this.”

    Shen Miao Miao extended her hand and sincerely thanked Li Xiaofeng.

    He was indeed sincere.

    The words just now were all from the heart, truly standing on the side of *Golden Wind* and helping them brainstorm solutions to their problems.

    And!

    Director Li’s analysis helped Shen Miao Miao a lot!

    Especially the last sentence—

    A work that hasn’t been polished will definitely affect game sales!

    This is exactly what I want!

    Shen Miao Miao’s eyes lit up!

    Moreover, Director Li’s analysis helped her measure the scale—whether to work overtime would directly affect game sales.

    A smile returned to Shen Miao Miao’s face.

    Things suddenly became simple!

    Now, she only needed to strictly prohibit overtime, and she could perfectly control the project progress, allowing *PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds* to be released in its basic prototype form!

    After that, as long as she dragged it for a week, waited for her to lose money and get her money back, then let Old Gu improve and fix it.

    In this way, the company wouldn’t have to work overtime, the game would be released on schedule, she would lose money, and the game’s reputation wouldn’t collapse.

    Killing four birds with one stone, it was a perfect result with the smallest cost.

    Everyone was happy!

    Just as she was feeling happy!

    Gu Sheng also came back from accepting the award.

    As soon as he came back, Gu Sheng spoke.

    Nothing else, just four words—encourage overtime.

    Yes, after discussing with Li Xiaofeng, Gu Sheng also believed that the only way to pull out the time to polish the game was to release an incentive mechanism and encourage employees to work overtime.

    As soon as these words came out, Shen Miao Miao was delighted!

    Good boy, you fell into my hands, hahahaha!

    I just finished talking with Director Li, how could I agree to you?!

    So, she put on a stern face, furrowed her brows!

    “Little Gu, you shouldn’t say things like that, it’s not good for unity.”

    Gu Sheng: ???

    “Project profit-sharing incentives? Why isn’t it good for unity?”

    “Tsk, think about it,”

    Shen Miao Miao spoke in a meaningful tone:

    “Just half a month ago, when the new employees just joined, I said that our company has always adhered to a relaxed, free, and humane work philosophy,”

    “Do you think you’re being fair to employees by setting up project profit-sharing incentives and using the banner of voluntary overtime to give them money?”

    “Wrong, Comrade Gu, you’re openly encouraging involution!”

    “Put yourself in their shoes, if you were an employee, and you saw other colleagues working overtime late at night for profit-sharing, what would you think?”

    “Even if you don’t want this profit-sharing incentive, would you dare to leave?”

    “Moreover, we only have so many people in our company now, and the game project is one that requires close coordination,”

    “Some people work overtime, others don’t, that won’t guarantee smooth workflow, won’t that be wasted overtime?”

    “Furthermore,”

    “Since we’ve chosen this challenging project, we must accept its imperfections,”

    “Mount Everest is right there, even if we can’t climb it today, we still have tomorrow, and the day after,”

    “A game, especially a game that needs to be maintained and updated later, is definitely not perfect in its early stages,”

    “We’re not just making the game and then ignoring it,”

    “It’s better to release it on time than to waste time and be disqualified by the organizing committee.”

    “Do you think what I said makes sense?”

    S嘶—!!!

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

    What the hell, your logic is so tight!!!

    Gu Sheng was shocked!

    I can’t refute!

    He looked at Little Nezha in surprise, as if he had never seen her before.

    Little Nezha’s words made so much sense!

    Although!

    According to her, the game would be released with flaws due to lack of polishing.

    But from the employee’s perspective, Little Nezha was genuinely thinking about them!

    Gu Sheng opened his mouth three times, but couldn’t find a single flaw, he couldn’t speak at all!

    Seeing Gu Sheng’s appearance of wanting to speak but not speaking, and speaking but not being able to, Little Nezha’s heart was about to burst with laughter!

    It’s true!

    When it comes to interests, human minds are extraordinarily clear!

    I! Shen Miao Miao! Brilliant!

    Just one sentence, “You’re encouraging involution, it’s not good for the company’s unity,” directly choked Gu Sheng to death!

    Say it?

    Shen Miao Miao raised an eyebrow.

    You say it!

    Let me see what else you have to say?

    You won’t be able to work overtime today!!!

    “Do you have any more suggestions to say?” Shen Miao Miao raised her head towards Gu Sheng.

    For a long time!

    Gu Sheng hesitated and stammered, and finally couldn’t find a foothold to refute Little Nezha, so he could only nod his head and bow:

    “I say—CEO, you’re brilliant!”

    (End of Chapter)

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