Chapter 14: The Project

“Busy Friday night, let’s talk now.”

When he got to work, Shen Siyuan sent Ding Youguang a message directly through the company’s WeChat.

Ding Youguang quickly replied.

“I’ve found a money-making opportunity, want to talk about it?”

“A money-making opportunity? With me? I’ve only got two kidneys that are about 80% new, and you’re trying to make a move on me?”

“Who wants your kidneys? They’re too smelly. I’m serious here.”

“Oh, alright then, let’s talk during lunch…”

Shen Siyuan was quite puzzled. What kind of money-making scheme could Ding Youguang have that he sought him out?

This kid—could he be trying to sell him off to northern Myanmar?

The operations job was actually quite easy. Besides communicating with programmers and handling special event developments on holidays, the main task was dealing with player feedback and assisting with customer service issues, which also involved liaising with programmers to help players.

Though the work was light, the pressure was significant, because operations were responsible for the revenue of a game, with monthly revenue targets affecting the team’s income.

In the entire operations department, almost everyone was in charge of a single game. Shen Siyuan was no exception; he managed a fantasy martial arts game. His team included himself as the operator, one customer service rep, one programmer, and one artist.

So the monthly revenue affected not only his income but also that of the others.

Thus, Shen Siyuan wasn’t idle all morning. He played several newly released games, ostensibly to study competitors.

He also caught up on a few novels, claiming it was to relax his mind.

And just like that, a “busy” morning passed.

As noon approached, Wang Chao was the first to raise his voice.

“I’m ordering takeout. Who wants to join?”

The chubby Tian Yunrui sitting opposite immediately looked up and asked, “Which place?”

“Micro Kitchen downstairs. Their food tastes great and portions are generous.”

Hearing “Micro Kitchen,” others quickly asked Wang Chao to order for them too.

Though Wang Chao had a sharp tongue, he was generally warm-hearted and would help others whenever needed.

For example, he was patient when taking lunch orders, asking everyone what they wanted.

“Shen Siyuan, what do you want for lunch?”

“I’m good, I’m going downstairs to eat,” Shen Siyuan replied.

Then Li Wenjuan, sitting behind, immediately said, “Shen Siyuan, bring me a portion of cold noodles.”

“Sure, I’ll bring it back after I eat, might be a bit late.”

“No problem, I’m not very hungry anyway,” Li Wenjuan said.

This girl either ate cold noodles, rice noodles, or some light salad every day, claiming it was for dieting, though Shen Siyuan never saw where she needed to lose weight.

“Wenjuan, you might as well order from Micro Kitchen with me,” Wang Chao promptly suggested.

This guy clearly had a girlfriend but was overly friendly to all women.

It was unclear whether to call it charm or something more sinister.

“They’re not hygienic,” Li Wenjuan said.

Shen Siyuan, having firsthand experience, immediately said, “That’s true. I’ve found cockroaches in their food twice. Each time I got a replacement, but is a replacement really clean?”

“You’re just picky. None of us ever found anything,” Tian Yunrui retorted.

“Heh, that’s not guaranteed. You eat slower; are you sure you didn’t?” Shen Siyuan joked.

Tian Yunrui’s face turned green, then he defended it as high-protein food common in Guangdong.

“Guangdong people even eat Fujian people, why don’t you eat a Fujian person then?”

The office filled with laughter.

At noon sharp, Ding Youguang appeared at the operations department doorway.

“Brother Shen, let’s go…”

Shen Siyuan grabbed his phone and stood up. Chen Hao immediately called out, “Brother Shen, bring me a bottle of Coke.”

“Isn’t there a vending machine in the company?”

“Long gone! The damn tech department grabbed everything as soon as it was restocked this morning,” Chen Hao cursed.

Coke was the programmers’ spiritual sustenance, so it always ran out quickly.

“Alright then.”

As Shen Siyuan agreed, others chimed in:

“Brother Shen, bring me one too.”

“Me too.”

“Damn, can’t you guys go down yourselves?”

“Nope~”

Now it was Shen Siyuan’s turn to curse.

“What’s this all about, so mysterious?”

“We’ll talk during lunch.”

“Lunch is only an hour and a half; I wanted to rest a bit.”

“Don’t worry, I already called the restaurant. The food will be ready as soon as we arrive, so no delay.”

Ding Youguang had everything well arranged; Shen Siyuan couldn’t protest further.

At a stir-fry restaurant downstairs called Huaguang Restaurant, just as they sat, dishes started arriving one after another—two meat dishes and two vegetables.

Huaguang didn’t do delivery, only dine-in. It was their favorite spot for private gatherings.

Ding Youguang ordered stir-fried pig liver, braised pork, potatoes with eggplant, and dry-fried green beans—their signature dishes with generous portions, enough for two.

“Alright, spill it. What’s this mysterious business?”

“I found a way to make money. Want to join?”

“What way? You’re actually being nice enough to include me?” Shen Siyuan stopped joking and spoke earnestly.

“Because I can’t do it alone,” Ding Youguang said.

“Explain in detail. What exactly is it?”

“TV games,” Ding Youguang said excitedly.

“TV games?” Shen Siyuan paused, then started to catch on.

Smart TVs nowadays were basically enlarged smartphones, with almost identical functions except no calling feature. Games playable on phones could technically run on TVs. The only consideration was the less convenient TV controls.

They needed gamepads for operation, though simple games could be played with the remote.

Shen Siyuan quickly understood and said, “Seems doable, but there’s one problem.”

“What problem?”

“Channels. You have access to all the company’s channels, but those are all for mobile games.”

“No channels mean no traffic, everything else is just empty talk.”

“Heh,” Ding Youguang smiled slyly.

“You’ve got a hookup?”

“Yes. I have a buddy at the telecom company who handles set-top boxes. He also introduced me to several companies that develop apps for these boxes. Our game could go straight to their channels…”

“Awesome, sounds like you really can pull this off,” Shen Siyuan said, visibly excited.

Though fewer people watched traditional TV, the user base was still huge. If their game spread there, they might not make huge money, but small income would be steady.

“I also did some research. There aren’t many companies making TV games, and the games they do make are trash. Here’s their monthly revenue…” Ding Youguang handed his phone to Shen Siyuan.

Shen Siyuan looked. The screen showed several companies with detailed monthly download numbers, registered users, paying users, and revenue.

The highest earned five to six hundred thousand a month; the lowest two to three hundred thousand.

“You got all this info?” Shen Siyuan was amazed.

This was company confidential data, unlikely to be leaked.

“My friend gave it to me,” Ding Youguang said proudly.

Clearly, the friend was the telecom guy; only those with upstream channel access could obtain such detailed revenue data.

“So, what do you think? Can this work?” Ding Youguang pressed.

“It can,” Shen Siyuan gave a firm answer.