Pei Qian was stunned.
Game design?
Yes, that was certainly true to other people. Every single game that Tengda Games had created since it was established had been a success. What’s more, the company did not create two games of the same genre. The other subsidiaries had all gone through valleys, but the games department had never failed before.
Other people thought that Boss Pei had good taste, good leadership skills, and good strategizing skills. They also saw him as a success in the investment industry, physical industries, the tech industry, and the food and drinks industry. However, the most outstanding thing about him was still his ability to design games.
At the same time, Tengda Games had always been seen as the trump card of all trump cards that Tengda Corporation had. Any employee that walked out of that department could hold the fort on his own.
However, all of that was only true to the outside world.
Pei Qian really wanted to say ‘I don’t know how to design games at all!’
All this time, while developing games, he had been consistently doing the exact opposite of successful practices in the market. Yet, for some reason, his games always ended up succeeding
Still, Tang Yishu’s words had given Pei Qian a lot of inspiration. Pei Qian nodded. “Yes, I understand. There’s nothing else for now.”
After Tang Yishu left, Pei Qian made up his mind about what to do next.
He would learn game design!
That could solve all of his problems.
First of all, he had no idea how to design games at all. There was a lot of room for improvement. He would just have to understand a bit, and the System would likely conclude that he had acquired new knowledge.
Second, learning the concepts behind game design would probably not be difficult. It was not professional knowledge; he would not find himself completely lost.
Third, he would not have to take practical lessons to learn about games. Instead, he would just have to pay an awesome game designer from a local first-tier games company to conduct one-on-one lessons for him.
A big boss like that was probably drawing hundreds of thousands to millions of yuan each month. It probably wouldn’t be ridiculous for Pei Qian to pay him a hundred thousand yuan for each one-on-one lesson, right?
Last, learning about game design would help Pei Qian cover up the gaps in his mind. He had only profited in the past because of his lack of understanding of game design. Once he understood the concepts, he would be able to avoid generating profits. Then, Tengda Games would start incurring historical losses, wouldn’t it?
It was the perfect solution!
The more Pei Qian thought about it, the more reliable it seemed.
There weren’t many game developers in the country, who had both fame and fortune. However, there were a significant number of game developers who were drawing high incomes.
Pei Qian thought that being able to earn an income was a type of game designing skill. The System would probably allow it.
In any case, he would contact a few game designers first and then see how to carry things on from there. For all he knew, even if he was willing to pay, the other party might not be willing to travel to Jingzhou.
Such successful game developers probably owned their own companies, had shares in a company, or had earned a huge sum from creating a successful game.
Even if the other party was lacking funds, they might not be able to spare the time. If they were in the midst of developing a new game, they would not be able to walk away. Considering the time and effort that would be required of them, they might not even care for the few hundred thousand yuan.
Thus, Pei Qian had to find a suitable candidate before he planned any more details.
With that, Pei Qian called Assistant Xin in. “Contact a few famous games companies in the country and speak to their best game developers.
“Tell them that I genuinely want to learn about game design from them. Ask if they would be willing to give lessons in Jingzhou. The fees would be negotiable.”
Assistant Xin looked doubtful, but she did not ask any questions. Instead, she turned around, prepared to get to work.
Pei Qian added, “Don’t tell anyone else about this.”
Assistant Xin nodded and said, “I understand.”
Once Assistant Xin left, Pei Qian fell into deep thought once again.
I wonder which game designer would be willing to accept my invitation. Pei Qian tried hard to remember but soon realized that he had not contacted any game designers from other companies before. Of course, that was apart from Sun Strike Studios’s Zhou Muyan but even that was more than a year ago. The main reason was that, to Pei Qian, designing games was just one way to incur losses. He was not interested in the local game industry, and thus he did not have the motivation to form relationships with other successful game designers.
Thus, until now, Pei Qian only knew a couple of game designers.
Still, it did not matter. Tengda Games was considered quite reputable in the local game industry. If Boss Pei was genuinely seeking to acquire knowledge on game design, at least one or two big bosses would be willing to entertain him, right?
Alternatively, they could come to Jingzhou solely to get to know Boss Pei!
Jingzhou had an illustrious spirit, and there were many things to eat and do. A trip here would not be a waste of time!
Pei Qian became excited as he wondered which boss would be willing to make the trip. Thus, he began fantasizing.
About ten minutes later, he heard knocking on the door. Assistant Xin was back. Pei Qian looked at her expectantly. “Who has agreed to come?”
Assistant Xin’s expression was strange. “Er… Boss Pei, I’ve called four companies. They have… all rejected me.” Pei Qian was stunned. “Why? Is it because I haven’t offered a clear fee? Is it because I wasn’t sincere enough?”
Assistant Xin shook her head. “It’s not a matter of money or sincerity. They just don’t believe us, and they think that we’re kidding.
“I can quote what one of them said: ‘You’re kidding me. Boss Pei is the best game designer in the world. Who would dare to instruct him? Wouldn’t they be making a fool of themselves in front of the real expert?’
“Another person said: ‘I only know how to design games with paywalls. I’m nowhere near as good as Boss Pei when it comes to the artistic aspect of games. How can I go over and teach him?
“All of them expressed that they would be happy to come here and make friends with you as your guests. However, they would not teach you.
“I think the outcome wouldn’t change no matter how many companies I ask. That’s why I came to report the results without bothering to call anyone else.”
Pei Qian was speechless. “How about we ask Zhou Muyan from Sun Strike Studios?”
He was a familiar face. It should be easier to talk to him, right?
Assistant Xin smiled subtly. “I already did. His reaction was the biggest.”
Pei Qian, “…”
Look at how things had turned out…
Pei Qian was not fastidious with semantics. People could say that he was trying to learn or to make connections as long as he could achieve the same results.
However, the System’s requirements were clear. He had to learn something. What’s more, the 1.6 million yuan had to be spent as school fees or education-related expenses.
Having an exchange or being interviewed would not fulfill the System’s requirements!
Pei Qian did not expect to be rejected, much less for that kind of reason. Everyone thought that Boss Pei was too good at game design, and they were too embarrassed to teach him!
Pei Qian was obviously unhappy.
It had taken him a long time to come up with this solution. How could he give up so easily? Of course, he could not!
Since everyone was unwilling to teach him, Pei Qian would have to seek guidance under a different name!
All this time, Pei Qian had been keeping his identity a secret on purpose. Until now, very few people had seen his true face. What’s more, he had not allowed any pictures or videos to be taken of him in interviews.
In other words, even if he met a designer, they would not recognize him as Boss Pei.
Pei Qian thought about disguising as a rich second-generation heir with loads of money, who wanted to spend 1.6 million yuan on inviting a successful game designer to teach him about game design.
In any case, rich second-generation heirs did all sorts of questionable things. The game designers would not suspect a thing.
Still, that would create another problem.
The System would be the one paying 1.6 million yuan. If the sum was transferred to the other party from the company’s bank account, it would be reflected as an incoming sum of money from Tengda Corporation. What would the other party think then?
Why would a rich second-generation heir pay his education fees via Tengda’s company account?
That would not do.
After further thought, Pei Qian decided to use another identity instead. He would not be a rich second-generation heir but an outstanding employee of Tengda instead. He had performed exceptionally at work, and so Boss Pei was forking out 1.6 million yuan for him to upgrade his skills in any way.
This outstanding employee had always been interested in pursuing game design. Now that he had been given a huge sum of money, he had decided to hire an elite game designer and learn from that game designer’s success.
That meant that Pei Qian could not be an employee from the game department. Instead, he would be from… the investment department!
He had received a special reward from Boss Pei because he had made a successful investment.
Yes, that story should be believable.
Someone could ask ‘if you’re an employee of Tengda, why don’t you just learn about game design from Boss Pei?’
Then, he would reply ‘Boss Pei is so busy that he can’t spare the time.’
Although there would be gaps in the story, there would not be huge problems. In any case, he would try to bluff as many people as he could. He just had to get a game designer to agree to come down and teach him and then successfully spend the 1.6 million yuan.
What’s more, all of those things were technically true. Pei Qian could be counted as an outstanding employee of Tengda Corporation. He had also achieved outstanding results in the investment department.
He would just be hiding one simple fact: this outstanding employee was also Boss Pei.
After some thought, Pei Qian said, “How about this? Contact a few more companies and say that there’s an outstanding employee in our company’s investment department who wants to learn about game design. We’ll pay them to come and give lessons.”
Assistant Xin immediately understood his intentions. “Alright, Boss Pei.”
She knew very well that the ‘outstanding employee’ that Boss Pei had referred to was himself and that he was just trying to avoid frightening people to the point that they did not dare to teach him.
Yet, why was Boss Pei insisting on hiring a game designer to teach him?
Assistant Xin was very curious, but she still did not ask any questions. Boss Pei had always been a very unique person, and this was not the most confusing thing that he had ever done. It was not worth kicking up a fuss over. Another ten minutes passed, and Assistant Xin returned.
“Boss Pei, a game designer said he would consider.”
Pei Qian was overjoyed. “Who is it?”
Assistant Xin answered, “It’s Boss He An of Mengguo Games. He’s one of the older game designers in the country, and he has created many notable standalone games and online games. He is also very well known in the game industry. Since he’s semi-retired, he’s been flying around the country and enjoying life. “What do you think, Boss Pei?”
Pei Qian nodded his head. “Sure!”
In any case, all of the successful game designers were about the same to Pei Qian. All of them probably had a unique understanding of computer games. As long as they were willing to come down, Pei Qian was not fussed.
Assistant Xin nodded. “Alright, I’ll book his air tickets now. Boss He is now semi-retired, and he happens to be free at the moment. If all goes well, he should arrive in Jingzhou tomorrow.
“Oh, that’s right. Boss He also said that he wants to do a simple test when he arrives. He won’t teach anyone too stupid.”At that point, Assistant Xin laughed. “Of course, that would be a negligible thing to you, Boss Pei.”
Once she finished speaking, Assistant Xin turned around and left.
Yet, Pei Qian’s jaw hung low as he was stunned.
What? A negligible thing?
At that moment, Pei Qian felt like a student who had not done a single bit of review but who had just been told that he had to sit for a test.
It sounded easy, but he really knew nothing! Was it too late to review now?
Here came the problem… he had no idea what kind of questions Boss He would come up with, and he didn’t even have any materials. How could he review…?
At once, Pei Qian frowned. He began to seriously doubt his own decision.
