Mom and Dad, I Made Money

The meeting ended.

Although things had been a little rough at first, by the end, it had become entirely Meng Shu's show.

After Manager Liang from Infinite Network Entertainment voiced his support, no one else said anything. Deputy Director Li, in particular, never spoke again.

After explaining every aspect of Visage's design, the meeting came to a perfect close.

Xu Hong and the other two had filled three full pages of their notebooks, all of it information about the game.

Xia Nianzhen especially understood how important the Mansion was to the game as its scene designer, so she had roughly copied the sketches from the meeting for later reference.

Qiu Yuan was even more so. After seeing the game's content, he understood that the pressure was on. He was the company's only modeler, and the game's environments were clearly going to be packed with assets, which meant he would definitely be the busiest one.

Although Xia Nianzhen also knew how to use modeling software and could help share some of the workload, the bulk of it would still fall on him.

Not to mention there was one thing he found extremely uncomfortable that needed to be completed.

That was modeling Lucy's torn lower jaw in the game.

It was a challenge for him.

Although President Meng had said it did not need to be too bloody and just needed a little blood, he still saved that part for last.

As for Xu Hong, since he was the animator, his job was to direct the characters' movements and correct them in the software.

For his work, Meng Shu, as the boss, planned to temporarily hire several part-timers as actors.

The current employees were already loaded with work. Having them put on suits and record movements as well would clearly delay development.

So hiring temporary workers was the best option.

Visage also had a large number of character movements.

For example, Lucy's parents worrying and crying over their daughter's condition, Dolores caring for her child, Lacan eating, drinking water, and searching for surveillance cameras—all of it required motion-capture assistance.

So this could not be left out.

In the office, Meng Shu sat before his computer and began laying out his plans one by one.

First, modifying the game was unavoidable because it was going to be released in VR.

After all, the VR experience was completely different from experiencing it through a computer screen.

The former was far more immersive, and the game itself already had an incredibly strong sense of immersion. Combined together, it would feel almost like a real person entering the game world.

So if he did not make appropriate adjustments, scaring players into tears would be more trouble than it was worth.

Although making them cry would probably earn him more Fear Points, what if they stopped playing?

So modifications had to be added to the plan as well.

There was also the issue of the protagonist's model.

In Visage, the protagonist was a "three-no" character with no hands, feet, head, or body.

The player merely controlled a camera viewpoint moving around. Objects were grabbed with telekinesis, and walking through water did not create even a ripple.

That could not work in VR.

Players could freely turn their heads and would inevitably see their own bodies, so the protagonist needed a headless model.

There also needed to be arm models and mobility adapted to VR controllers.

These were things the original game did not have, making them original additions for the VR version.

Fortunately, his programming stat was 60+8, so it was not particularly difficult for him.

After finalizing the plan, he got up and walked out to give his only employees further instructions.

A week later, Accountant Sister Mei reported that 38 million yuan had been deposited into the company account.

When Meng Shu received the news, he laughed aloud in his office.

The money had arrived a few days later than the expected three days, but it had arrived nonetheless.

Although Infinite Network Entertainment would definitely take this money back from future sales, it was undoubtedly a huge help during the early stages.

He could hire programmers to port the game to consoles!

He could also open Dark Forest to MODs!

He could move to a better office!

And buy a house while he was at it.

As well as a car.

In short, the funds at his disposal had suddenly increased greatly.

That meant he would not need to touch the money Dark Forest had earned.

After all, strictly speaking, that money was his personal property rather than company funds.

Only the 38 million yuan transferred by Infinite Network Entertainment counted as company funds.

He did not want to move his personal money into the company account. So even though Dark Forest's sales of around 2.1 million copies had brought him nearly a hundred million yuan in wealth, the company was still a small company.

But for now, he should focus properly on developing the game.

Before that, though, he had to come clean to his family.

At seven that evening, Meng Shu took the bus home.

He carried the ingredients for dinner in his hands.

After passing through several dark, filthy alleys strewn with garbage, he arrived at the entrance of his family's old rented house.

He took out his keys and opened the front door.

Before he could even step inside, Meng Girl's voice rang out from the room.

"Big brother! Is that you, big brother? Are you back?"

Meng Shu shrugged at her words and casually answered. Then he saw Meng Girl limping out with a crutch.

When she saw the food he was carrying, her eyes immediately lit up.

Seeing her like that made Meng Shu's face darken.

How embarrassing!

"Big brother, you bought so much. What are we making tonight?"

"Hotpot."

"Really!? Did you buy tripe?"

"Of course. I know you like it."

Meng Xiaoran immediately cheered, her eyes curving into crescents.

"Long live big brother! Big brother really gets me. He knows his little sister likes tripe!"

Meng Shu's lips curled up slightly. Carrying the groceries into the kitchen, he began preparing the ingredients and placing them on the table one by one.

About an hour later, the two elders returned from overtime work.

Their faces were full of exhaustion, but before they even entered the house, they smelled the rich aroma.

When they opened the door, they saw the living room table covered with dishes, both meat and vegetables, as if a banquet had been prepared.

There was also an iron pot in the center, red oil bubbling inside and making their appetites rise.

Meng Shu came out carrying a plate of sliced beef. Looking at his parents by the door, he smiled.

"You're back? We're having hotpot tonight. It's probably been two or three years since we last had it at home."

As he spoke, he set down the beef and called Meng Girl out to eat.

The two elders exchanged looks, somewhat puzzled.

Why had they suddenly decided to eat hotpot?

But Meng Dad could not care less. After spending the entire day hauling water deliveries through wind and sun, his stomach had long been empty.

He went straight to the bathroom to wash his face, then returned to sit down and start cooking food in the pot.

Meng Mom took off her sun-protection headscarf and pulled out a chair. Looking at the meat and vegetables before her, she felt somewhat comforted, assuming it was because her son had started working and received his salary.

She did not even consider whether he could have received a salary after working for only a little over a month.

Meng Girl did not care about any of that. She picked up five slices of beef in one chopstickful and dropped them into the pot. Then she coated them in sauce in her bowl and took a bite, huffing from the heat.

"Eat slower. No one's fighting you for it."

Meng Shu took out two bottles of cold beer and handed them to Meng Dad, whose eyes lit up in delight.

He then brought out pumpkin porridge and pickled vegetables, placing them before Meng Mom.

Finally, he gave the orange juice to Meng Girl before pulling out a chair and sitting beside her.

"Big brother, hurry up and eat! Eat quickly, or I'll finish all the meat!"

Meng Girl urged him while eating.

She did not look like a pretty female college student at all. Instead, she looked like a silly, adorable wild girl, making Meng Shu smile as he watched her for a while.

"Son, did you get paid today? You're even having hotpot."

Meng Mom took small bites of pumpkin porridge. Her happiness showed on her face, though so did the marks left by time and the cracks covering her hands.

"Just eat properly. The kid's doing well and earning big money. Why are you asking so many questions, woman?"

Meng Dad raised the beer bottle and drank straight from it. After one gulp, he let out a satisfied breath thick with alcohol, then hurriedly picked up duck intestines from his bowl and ate them.

"I'm happy. Our son works at a company now. He lives better than us and eats better than us. How could I not be happy as his mother? There are three people in our family earning money now. Let's try to save some money this year and not spend recklessly. Life will slowly get better."

Meng Dad nodded at that, happy that his son could help ease the family's burden.

"Wife, after we eat, count the money and take a day off to bring Ran Girl to the hospital for a checkup on her leg. See how it's doing."

Meng Xiaoran, who had been stuffing herself, suddenly trembled slightly upon hearing that. Her expression dimmed.

Her mother's work was rather special and basically had no days off.

Even when she rested, it was compensatory leave, and it depended on whether someone else could cover her shift. There was no such thing as a holiday.

So whenever she needed time off, she generally had to request leave.

Now, because of her, the family had been burdened. Her parents had been burdened.

But she was still a student. She did not know how to do anything and could not help share the family's burden.

Those thoughts made Meng Xiaoran's eating movements become slightly stiff.

"Alright, tomorrow or the day after."

Meng Mom put down her pumpkin porridge and began cooking food in the pot, seemingly not noticing her daughter's expression.

But Meng Shu, sitting nearby, had seen everything. He shook his head, patted his sister's head, and gave her an encouraging smile as she pouted in dissatisfaction.

Then he looked at his parents and cleared his throat.

"Dad, Mom, you're both at retirement age already. Just stop working. Go resign tomorrow."

As soon as he finished speaking, the two elders' hands froze over the pot, and they looked at him in confusion.

Little Meng beside him was also full of question marks, unable to understand why her brother had suddenly said that.

Could it be...

Was her brother planning to support the family all by himself?

Under the confused gazes of the three of them, Meng Shu took out his phone, opened the bank deposit notification, and handed it to Meng Mom.

It showed that Dark Forest had sold around 2.1 million copies. After the platform cut and taxes were deducted, approximately 76 million yuan had been deposited.

Meng Mom took the phone and looked at it. She froze, rubbed her eyes, and looked again carefully. After confirming that she had not seen it wrong, her face filled with disbelief.

"Son... this... this is...?"

Meng Dad frowned and took the phone from Meng Mom. One look nearly made him drop the beer bottle under the table!

"Kid!? Don't tell me you did something illegal!?"

Little Meng was full of confusion, having no idea what her parents had seen.

But her brother's next sentence made her beautiful eyes widen.

"I started a company and earned these tens of millions. You won't have to work so hard anymore. Just resign and rest at home, and keep Xiaoran company."

The family matters had basically all been handled. There would be much less focus on them later.

Special thanks here to Little Troll Fake for the 10,000 reward! Thank you for your continued support, thank you!

And thank you to Can't Think of a Nickname for the 500-point reward.

Thanks to Little Troll Fake for the six monthly tickets, and thanks to Clear Moon Return for the monthly ticket support!