As he held the test, He An explained each question to Pei Qian.
“You answered a few questions well!
“For example, you referred to Ghost General’s artistic style as ‘epic ink oil painting style’ and Game Designer’s central idea as ‘a speaker’s fate was to be misunderstood’. They were both very accurate and appropriate descriptions, and they sounded very professional! “Some of your answers were quite misleading, but you’ve got the general idea.
“Take the last question, for example. You said that Repent and be Saved’s epitaph reflected the designer’s wish to dissuade gamers at all costs. I can’t say that that answer is wrong, but it’s not correct either.
“The correct answer is one level deeper. The designer wanted to dissuade gamers to play hard to get. You should have answered ‘it reflected the designer’s firm grip on the gamers’ hearts’.
“A few other questions were answered very ridiculously.
“For example, you said that the designer should give up his own requirements and allow the concept artist to express himself freely. Of course, you cannot do that! That is, unless your concept artist is a real artist.
“Yet, who can guarantee that the random artist that you engage for your game has the standards of a professional artist? Thus, you have to ensure that your list of art resources is accurate and detailed enough.
“You also answered that The Lonely Desert Road was meant to make gamers so bored that they would give up on the game altogether, that the main reason that the Red Kilin was priced at 888 yuan was to dissuade gamers from purchasing it, and that Game Designer’s sales technique was shoddy.
“All of those are ridiculously wrong!
“I’ve totaled up your score for all the questions. Although I still can’t tell what your real standard is, I have a rough guess.”
He An looked very confident as if he had everything under control. All of a sudden, Pei Qian felt curious about what he was going to say next.
Could this boss really see so deeply into Pei Qian with just a few simple questions? “Please go ahead.” Pei Qian was very sincere because he really wanted to know what kind of standard he was at and how much he really knew about games.
He An rubbed his chin, looking every bit like a detective.
“It is not like an outsider who’s focusing on the investment industry to be able to summarize the artistic style and central idea of games so accurately. That’s unless you heard of those phrases somewhere and took them down.
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“The misleading answers show that you don’t have a deep understanding of games; you only have half the required understanding, and you are lacking in the spirit of delving deeper. Of course, you’re not lacking in determination, but… you don’t prioritize delving deep into things. You don’t reap much benefit from doing so.
“As for the questions that you got ridiculously wrong… they’re worth ruminating over.
“Logically, even an outsider who knows nothing about the game industry would at least understand the relationship between the concept artist and the designer, right? Answers like ‘the game was meant to dissuade gamers’ would also seem very illogical. Those answers contain a lot of subjectivity.”
He An’s eyes were bright as he looked at Pei Qian craftily and confidently. “It looks like you’ve set a riddle for me as well, right?”
Pei Qian looked shocked.
Is he really that amazing?
Can he tell so much from my answers? Can he tell that I’m Boss Pei, the designer of the games?
Pei Qian’s mind was filled with countless questions. At that moment, he was at a loss for words.
He An could not help but laugh. “I knew it! I was right!
“Boss Ma, I guessed that you and Boss Pei are good friends in real life. Your relationship is not as simple as that between superior and subordinate. Instead, you’re more like friends or brothers, right?
“You probably heard the accurate summary of the games’ artistic style and central idea when you were chatting with Boss Pei, and that was when you made notes.
“Delving deep into the game industry is not your priority because you’re busy with the investment business. You can’t afford to spare time and energy to find out more, and that’s why your understanding is incomplete.
“As for your ridiculously wrong answers… perhaps he cracked a joke with you while both of you were talking and said that the game was meant to dissuade gamers; perhaps he was being modest and said that Game Designer’s sales technique was shoddy. Yet, because your understanding of game design isn’t deep enough, you were taken in!
“The fact that you and Boss Pei can chat nonchalantly and joke around shows that both of you are quite close.
“The fact that you were taken in by Boss Pei’s jokes shows that you’re excessively honest…
“Am I right? Boss Ma?”
Once He An finished, he looked at ‘Ma Yang’ confidently.
Without a doubt, Pei Qian knew that if He An had facial hair, he would be stroking his beard and looking pleased with himself by now. However, he did not have facial hair. Thus, he continued rubbing his chin. The look on his face said that he knew there was only one truth.
At that moment, Pei Qian had no idea how to respond.
There was one thing that He An did not know, and he had started on the wrong footing from the beginning. Yet, for some reason, he had arrived at an accurate conclusion…
He had guessed Ma Yang’s special habits and characteristics correctly. He had even managed to guess that Ma Yang and Pei Qian were as close as brothers.
The accuracy of his hypothesis was very strange.
What’s more, He An had started off on the wrong footing, and he had applied solid logic and reasoning
That was even more amazing.
Pei Qian could not help but feel emotional. “Boss He, your reasoning skills are very impressive.”
He An sensed ‘Ma Yang’s sincerity and could not help but smile. “Back then, I worked on a detective game. This is just one of my negligible merits. It’s not worth boasting about.”
Pei Qian asked, “Boss He, did I pass the test, then?”
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Still smiling, He An replied, “If you were an outsider, I would not bother wasting my time with you. Yet, Boss Ma is a good friend of Boss Pei’s, and you are very sincere. There’s no reason for me to reject you.
“I’ll do my best to teach you. Boss Ma, how much you learn from this would depend solely on you.”
Pei Qian, “…”
Pei Qian had not expected that, at the end of the day, he had passed the test based on his own reputation.
I counted on myself?
Pei Qian felt incredulous. The entire situation exuded dark humor from beginning to end. It was almost as if he had been wrong to decide to learn about game design, and things had only gotten worse from there…
Yet, since he had already reached this point, he decided to go ahead anyway!
If he could acquire knowledge about game design, he could take fewer detours in the future and generate fewer profits!
He An continued speaking. “Boss Ma, I have limited time. I can only come to Jingzhou once a month. What’s your plan?”
Pei Qian cleared his throat. “Boss He, this is what I was thinking. It’s not convenient for you to come to Jingzhou, and you would be imparting valuable lessons to me. To save your time, I’m thinking of having one long lesson each month.
“There’ll be five lessons in total, and I’ll pay you two hundred thousand yuan per lesson. Apart from that, I’ll pay for all of your air tickets and expenses in Jingzhou!”
That was the maximum amount allowed by the system.
Two hundred thousand yuan per lesson sounded ridiculous, but it was very reasonable.
It was normal to pay Economics professors and outstanding people about two to three hundred thousand yuan just to give a speech.
He An was the boss of a games company, and he had developed many successful games. Although Mengguo Games was no longer doing as well as it used to, He An was still worth hundreds of millions of yuan.
In other words, if he had refused to come, he would not have changed his mind because of a few hundred thousand yuan.
He An’s status in the game industry was far higher than Economics professors. What’s more, he was not giving a speech to a room full of people. Instead, he was going to teach Pei Qian one-on-one. Pei Qian would be free to ask any questions and interact with He An as he pleased. Paying him two hundred thousand yuan per lesson would not be excessive.
Thus, Pei Qian expected to spend a million yuan on the lessons before settlement.
As for how he would spend the rest of the money… he would think about it in the future.
He An smiled and nodded. “Alright, that’s a deal.”
Although the remuneration was not particularly important to He An, it still represented Pei Qian’s sincerity. Two hundred thousand yuan per lesson added up to a million yuan per class. He An would not be working in vain.
“Alright then, Boss Ma. That’s all for today. It’s my first time coming to Jingzhou, and I want to tour the city. I’ll also prepare the teaching materials. How about this? Let’s have our first lesson next Thursday, on the 28th.
“We’ll set the remaining lessons on the last Thursday of each month.”
Pei Qian nodded. “Alright, I’ll accommodate your schedule.”
After walking He An out, Pei Qian could not help but feel sorrowful. He wondered what he would learn from the big boss during his first lesson next Thursday…
April 23rd, Saturday…
Tang Yishu led a group of young and innocent students to the 16th floor of Shenhua View. After entering the dazzling office, the students tried hard to restrain their expressions and hide their shock. However, they still could not help but size up the office.
All their faces displayed unrestrained curiosity and a hint of shame.
After all, successful people dressed in suits were walking around the dazzling office in style, and they were only a couple of embarrassingly poor students.
Tang Yishu led all of them into the conference room. “Please wait here, everyone. Boss Pei will arrive in a while.“I’m going to feed a cat first.”
Once Tang Yishu left the conference room, everyone began whispering to one another. “The working conditions are excellent. I thought that this was a set of a television show.”
“Do all offices look like that?”
“What do you think?! This is Tengda, for goodness’ sake!”
Obviously, some of the group understood Tengda’s situation better than the others, and some had been more engrossed in learning and were thus less informed.
“What are we supposed to do as Management Trainees?” Someone asked a very sharp question.
No one knew the answer to that question. Even Tang Yishu could not explain the answer clearly to them.
That was because Pei Qian had no intention to clarify the matter with her either.
