Chapter 14: Probably Not The Female Lead
“I shouldn’t have done milk tea back then! Even if milk tea, I shouldn’t have joined this kind of chain store, paying that huge franchise fee. Even if I opened the chain store, I shouldn’t have chosen this location…”
Saying this, the shop manager exerted force and patted his own head, as if he wanted to pat out all the water that had gone into his head back then.
Seeing him like this, Wang Heng didn’t have the nerve to ask in detail.
And the shop manager was still muttering: “I only knew that the profit margin on a cup of milk tea is very high, but I didn’t know that this crappy store eats up cash flow so much, and the shelf life of various materials is so short! The rent isn’t high, but the reason it’s not high is because there’s not much foot traffic! And the first batch of employees I hired were all full-time, and they weren’t as honest as you and Xiao Xuan; they actually stole money from my cabinet, can you believe it…”
This topic shouldn’t have been brought up; once started, it was simply a tear of bitterness.
Wang Heng asked: “Since you’re not running the milk tea shop anymore, what are you going to do in the future?”
The shop manager covered his face with both hands and said in extreme frustration: “I’m increasingly feeling that I’m not suited for business, not suited for entrepreneurship; I can’t even run a milk tea shop…”
Wang Heng comforted: “It’s okay, don’t start a business for now, just find a job.”
“Find a job?” The shop manager’s voice still carried thick frustration. “No need for that; I still have three houses at home.”
Wang Heng: “…”
The shop manager sighed helplessly: “From now on, I can only be a waste who sits and collects rent.”
Suddenly, there was no sympathy at all.
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Meanwhile, thousands of kilometers away, at the headquarters building of Penguin Group, it was still as busy as usual.
The network empire that rose with this place as its core had swept across the national game and communications fields, and even occupied a considerable territory in the global internet. Any staff who could stand firm here generally had enviable salary treatment.
And Lu Qi, in such a company, had become a core backbone of the game department at just over twenty years old, which could be called SSR across the entire internet circle. As a programmer, she not only had a solid code foundation, but was also full of energy, exceptionally intelligent, and maintained strong curiosity about games. She wasn’t a hardcore player but had contact with various game types, was the same age as mainstream players, and could have common language with art and planner… Such a game programmer was really too rare.
Of course, Lu Qi’s appearance was also delicate and pretty, with quite some fighting power in terms of looks. But compared to her outstanding abilities at work, this appearance wasn’t that important in the leader’s eyes. Moreover, the shelf life of a programmer’s appearance often wasn’t easy to say…
Lu Qi walked into her superior’s private office and knocked twice on the door: “Boss, you wanted to see me?”
Looking at this trusted subordinate, the leader asked full of expectation: “Are you interested in mobile games?”
Lu Qi was momentarily stunned: “What?”
“Recently, a mobile game project was set up above, and they want the strongest person to go over. I thought about it for a long time, and the most suitable is you.”
Compared to the previous client game projects, mobile games were undoubtedly much simpler. But Lu Qi didn’t let her guard down and asked: “What type of mobile game?”
“Similar to LOL.”
“Mobile version of LOL?”
“Yes, but copyright can’t overlap, so although the mode is that mode, the specific gameplay and hero characters all need to be original. And to adapt to phones on the market and mobile gamers, there will definitely be a lot more work.”
The leader didn’t explain in detail, but from these simple few sentences, Lu Qi sniffed a hint of something unusual.
“How important is this project?” she asked in a low voice.
“Very, very important.”
Lu Qi nodded: “Okay, I’ll go.”
“Good that you’re willing… But the studio responsible for this project isn’t here; it’s in Rongdu.”
“Rongdu?”
For this city, Lu Qi had no impression. She grew up in Imperial Capital since childhood, then studied abroad for a few years, and when she came back, she directly onboarded at Penguin and lived in Shencheng. She had never been to an inland city like Rongdu.
Seeing her seem somewhat hesitant, the leader immediately added: “The treatment will be increased by another 30% for you, and since you’re following up this project from the beginning, you’ll definitely get the most bonus later!”
Lu Qi was still a bit hesitant: “But I still have some things not handled on hand…”
“That’s no issue; the official transfer is next month. You can hurry this month and have the people below do some overtime.”
Lu Qi’s eyes showed some reluctance: “Boss, they’ve already done overtime for over two months. Three colleagues can’t even take care of their girlfriends, like Xiao Liu, who’s already turned back into a single dog.”
“Then outsource to a few!”
“…Okay.”
After finishing talking about the position transfer, Lu Qi left her superior’s private office and walked toward her workstation.
Just as she sat down, a tray appeared in front of Lu Qi.
“Sister Lu, lychees for afternoon tea; I specially saved a portion for you.”
Holding the fruit tray and waiting like guarding the stump for a rabbit was Xiao Liu, who had broken up with his girlfriend just last month. Although he called Lu Qi ‘Sister Lu’, his real age was actually older than Lu Qi’s. But since his position was lower, his posture naturally had to be a bit lower.
Lu Qi took the tray and casually said: “Thanks. Oh right, how’s the debugging of that collision box going?”
Xiao Liu’s face stiffened: “I…”
Lu Qi glanced at him: “What’s wrong?”
“Sister Lu, I don’t want to do overtime this week…”
“You have something?”
Xiao Liu had a bitter expression and lowered his voice: “To tell the truth, I want to find a girlfriend. But with overtime like this now, only a ghost could get out of singlehood!”
Lu Qi pursed her lips: “Is romance as important as games? As important as work? Don’t forget, you’re a boy.”
Xiao Liu was very unconvinced: “Boys can want romance too!”
Lu Qi: “Sure, and I think overtime doesn’t affect it?”
Xiao Liu: “Whether it affects or not depends on the person! For example, you—as long as you want to find one, you can get a whole football team in minutes. But for someone like me, a fat otaku who dies in the light, then…”
Looking at her subordinate’s bitter-gourd-like expression, Lu Qi couldn’t help but feel a twinge of compassion. She softened her tone and said: “The game is about to update soon, and everyone’s bonus is tied to this, including your own bonus. Of course you don’t have to do overtime this week, but can you handle it without overtime?”
Xiao Liu: “…Can you take my bonus out and hire an outsource?”
Lu Qi adjusted her glasses and sighed with her eyes closed: “Why are you all always thinking of pushing work out?”
Xiao Liu: “Because there’s really too much work.”
Lu Qi: “But the quality of outsourced programmers can’t be guaranteed.”
Xiao Liu slapped his thigh: “Sister Lu, that’s your bias! I just saw an outsourced page; young guy, but the code he posted is very smooth!”
Lu Qi snorted disdainfully: “If he’s really skilled and young, would he do outsourcing? He’d have been snatched by big companies long ago.”
Xiao Liu: “But he’s only 18 and still has to go to university, so he can’t formally onboard at a company…”
Lu Qi’s eyes widened instantly: “What did you say? Say it again, how old?”
Xiao Liu scratched the back of his head: “Eighteen…”
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