"What Brother Sheng! What Brother Sheng! Is Brother Sheng a name you get to call him?"
Seeing Da Jiang return, Lu Bian immediately put on a fawning expression.
"Come pay respects to Godfather!"
Hearing Lu Bian's words, Da Jiang was briefly stunned. "Huh? Why?"
Then his face lit up. "Oh, I get it! Brother Sheng, you're treating us tonight!"
"Something even more important than that!"
Lu Bian waved Da Jiang over to sit down, then repeated everything Gu Sheng had just told him, word for word.
"Holy shit!" Da Jiang exclaimed in surprise. "That's awesome, Brother Sheng! Some sucker company actually hired students like us?"
Gu Sheng shrugged.
Even now, he did not know why Little Nezha had passed over so many experienced professionals just to hire him as a game director.
But that was the reality. A huge pie had fallen from the sky and landed right on his head.
"They didn't just hire me."
Gu Sheng grinned.
"I'm even this company's game director."
Whoa—
The two brothers across from him erupted in surprise.
Those hundred résumés Brother Sheng had sent out had not gone to waste. That cast-a-wide-net interview strategy had actually hooked a big fish.
"But right now, I'm the only person in the company in charge of a project. I'm both the director and the employee—a commander without an army," Gu Sheng added.
The two brothers nodded.
They could understand. After all, it was a new game company.
To put it bluntly, if the company had not been so small, Brother Sheng would never have gotten the director position.
After all, hiring veterans over rookies was an industry consensus in gaming.
But this was already freaking incredible!!!
"I'm short on people right now. I don't have a lead programmer or a lead artist."
Gu Sheng said to Da Jiang.
"I already talked to Bian about it. He's planning to join me as lead programmer."
"Now it comes down to you. Do you want to come work with me too?"
This...
Da Jiang hesitated a little.
Da Jiang was an honest, grounded kid. He did not have his eldest brother Gu Sheng's brilliant ideas, nor did he have his second brother Lu Bian's family resources.
His parents were ordinary salaried workers, and their connections were nothing special either.
Only after a great deal of asking around had his family managed to find him a barely decent job. If things went well, he might spend the rest of his life working in his hometown, getting married, and raising children.
So, for a moment, Da Jiang hesitated.
It was not because he was cowardly. Quite the opposite—it meant he took responsibility for his life.
There were many paths to choose from in life.
And having been influenced by his parents since childhood, Da Jiang had always chosen the safest one.
Just as his parents always said: We don't ask that you achieve anything extraordinary. We only want you to live a healthy, honest, steady life.
Seeing Da Jiang hesitate, Lu Bian clicked his tongue. "Tsk, Da Jiang, what the hell are you hesitating for?"
"We're making games, for fuck's sake!"
Lu Bian said anxiously.
"Isn't that why we studied this major in the first place? So that one day, everyone could play games made by us?"
"Now the opportunity is right in front of you, and you're still hesitating..."
Before Lu Bian could finish, Gu Sheng waved a hand and cut him off.
Then he patted Da Jiang on the shoulder.
"It's fine, Da Jiang. I respect your decision. After all, you're not like me, where feeding myself means the whole family is fed."
"And you're not like Bian, who can loaf around and still have enough family money to last two lifetimes."
"You have a family to answer to. I understand that."
"If you want, I'll always keep the lead artist position open for you. When you think things have stabilized on my end, it won't be too late to join us."
With that, Gu Sheng smiled.
Da Jiang looked at Lu Bian, then at Gu Sheng.
The dorm room fell silent for a long while!
Then Da Jiang picked up the half-smoked cigarette Gu Sheng had set down and took a hard drag. His face reddened, but he forced himself not to cough.
After holding it in for ages, he slowly exhaled the smoke and smiled.
"I've never smoked in my life. I thought one puff of this stuff would choke me to death, but it's not much after all..."
As he spoke, Da Jiang took the three cups of instant noodles he had just bought out of the plastic bag.
"How about we make do with instant noodles for lunch? Otherwise, we bought them for nothing."
Pfft—
After a brief pause, both Gu Sheng and Lu Bian laughed.
"I'll boil some water." Lu Bian stood and headed for the washroom.
"I'll go buy a couple of sausages." Gu Sheng patted Da Jiang on the shoulder and stood as well.
"Then I'll wait for you guys," Da Jiang said as he tore open a cup of noodles. "Don't you two sneak out and eat something good without me!"
Most of the time, brothers did not need words to understand one another.
It might have looked a little slapdash.
But it was stronger than anything else.
The next day!
Gu Sheng arrived at Golden Wind with Lu Bian and Xu Dajiang, the three of them reporting in right on time!
Since Chu Qingzhou, the head secretary, had gone to report work to Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li that morning, Little Nezha was the only one there to receive them.
"Let me introduce you. Lu Bian specializes in programming architecture and engine development. He'll be our lead programmer from now on."
Sitting across from Little Nezha, Gu Sheng introduced the two men beside him.
"Xu Dajiang specializes in art modeling. He'll be our lead artist from now on."
Looking at the two specimens before her, Shen Miaomiao smiled in satisfaction.
One was a director and lead designer, dressed in a Mickey Hoodie and looking like a sunny, cheerful young man, his head filled with bizarre ideas and hellish schemes.
One was a lead programmer, dressed in a flashy pink plaid shirt and looking like a carefree little rich second-generation kid.
One was the lead art director, big and burly, broad-shouldered and thick-waisted, as if he might uproot a willow tree with his bare hands at any moment.
Just look at these three standing together!
If no one told you, who would guess they were executives at a game company?
This was practically a genius development team fated to lose money!
"Very good."
Shen Miaomiao nodded.
"Let me introduce myself. I'm Shen Miaomiao, President of Golden Wind."
"At Director Gu's recommendation, we have recruited two extraordinarily promising talents into the company."
"I hope that from now on, you will give Director Gu your full support."
"And strive to make Golden Wind an industry benchmark!"
After saying that, she silently added—
A loss-making benchmark that everyone in the industry would run from on sight!
And just like that!
With Lu Bian and Xu Dajiang joining, Golden Wind's initial lineup had taken shape.
Eager to start losing money, Shen Miaomiao quickly signed contracts with both of them.
Her efficiency was so startling that Lu Bian and Xu Dajiang were stunned.
Sitting in Gu Sheng's spacious, bright office, Da Jiang clutched the contract offering an annual salary of over two hundred thousand, unable to put it down.
"Hahaha, Brother Sheng, if you'd told me the salary was this high, I would've joined sooner!"
Meanwhile, Lu Bian kept flipping through his contract, his face full of concern.
"Old Gu, is this a legitimate company? Are they going to arrange a Southeast Asia Tour for us next?"
Gu Sheng scoffed. "Da Jiang and I might have reason to worry about that. But with your kidneys, is there even any need to harvest them?"
With that, Gu Sheng clapped his hands.
"Alright, before we start work, let me make one point clear."
"You saw the company president just now. She's that Little Nezha."
"She's young, inexperienced, and knows very little about the game industry."
"But! She has immense trust in our team!"
Lu Bian and Xu Dajiang nodded.
The big boss of their company looked like she was not particularly bright, her face still carrying the innocence of a minor.
Just sitting there, she radiated a pure, crystal-clear air of stupidity from the inside out.
It was practically whatever Old Gu said went. She trusted their team unconditionally and was even willing to fully fund them.
"So whether for the company or for ourselves, we can't take advantage of a fool."
As he spoke, Gu Sheng looked at the two of them.
"No objections, right?"
Naturally, Lu Bian and Xu Dajiang nodded vigorously.
College students were ninety pounds of rebellion packed into a hundred-pound body.
The more you watched me work like I was a thief, the more I would look for chances to slack off!
But the more you trusted and left me alone, the more beautifully I would get the job done for you!
"Don't worry, Old Gu. We understand that much."
Lu Bian nodded.
Xu Dajiang echoed him repeatedly. "With this salary alone, we can't allow even the slightest mistake at work!"
"Now that's what I'm talking about!"
Gu Sheng gave them a thumbs-up.
"Then let's cut the crap. Come on, gentlemen, feast your eyes—"
"On our new project!"
Before you continue