Losing Money to Become a Tycoon: Starting with Games
Chapter 410: Selection for the Zero Overtime Competition
Friday, January 28.
Cui Geng arrived somewhat nervously at the 17th floor of Shenhua Prestige, the office location of Tengda Group's game department.
At present, his position was "Special Observer."
The authority granted to him by President Pei was quite extensive:
As a "Special Observer," Cui Geng could freely enter and leave any department within Tengda Group, and no department head could stop him.He could create his own work plan without reporting to anyone.His salary and benefits were fully aligned with those of regular employees.Whenever he made a request, all departments had to cooperate unconditionally.
Such authority reminded Cui Geng of the imperial envoys of the corrupt old society who carried the emperor's sword of authority. Just hearing about it made one feel like showing off.
However, although these privileges sounded great, what were they actually like in practice?
Even Cui Geng himself couldn't say.
On one hand, he had no idea what he had done to deserve President Pei valuing him so highly and giving him such an important position.
On the other hand, he worried that as a "Special Observer," he might be ostracized when visiting different departments.
It was just like when imperial envoys arrived in local regions—those local officials would appear polite on the surface, but deep down they surely had their own thoughts.
Take today's visit to the game department as an example.
Tengda Group's game department was the oldest business department in the entire company. Although its leadership had changed several times, the department had remained strong within Tengda Group regardless of who was in charge.
Moreover, there were several veteran employees who had been there since the company's founding and were very familiar with President Pei.
The game department was also currently the most profitable and best-reputed department in Tengda Group. It even carried the responsibility of supplying talent to other departments.
People in the game department were probably quite proud of themselves, right?
Now suddenly a "Special Observer" had arrived—someone who wasn't under anyone's authority, couldn't actually help much, yet could make requests that others had to comply with unconditionally.
Would they really give him a friendly reception?
Because of this, Cui Geng felt extremely uneasy and instinctively wanted to back out.
But when he thought about the important mission he carried—he had to complete the book "The Butterfly Game"—he could only brace himself and walk in.
The layout of the 17th floor was very similar to the 16th floor, except the employees here were clearly far more enthusiastic about their work.
The 16th floor mainly housed HR, administration, and finance departments. At the moment, aside from finance being somewhat busy, HR and administration were quite idle. The overall atmosphere was relaxed, and quite a few people were watching shows or taking naps.
But on the 17th floor, the game department was currently working on GOG's development. Internal testing had just begun this Monday, and there were tons of bugs to fix.
As a result, everyone on this floor was extremely busy—so busy that no one even looked up at Cui Geng.
Li Yada had already stood up to greet him.
"Are you Cui Geng? Hello, I'm Li Yada, currently the head of the game department."
Li Yada shook hands with Cui Geng and led him to a workstation beside her.
After Ruan Guangjian left, this seat had been empty, and it was perfect for Cui Geng to use.
The atmosphere of rejection or resistance that Cui Geng had imagined did not appear. It seemed that the people in the game department were actually quite welcoming toward this "Special Observer."
Of course, it might also just be polite appearances.
After sitting down at the workstation, Cui Geng felt that some things had to be said in advance.
"Regarding the responsibilities of my position, they've already been explained before. I hope that when I'm gathering material, everyone can cooperate with me a little—"
Before Cui Geng could finish speaking, Li Yada had already nodded and smiled.
"—Of course. All of us will unconditionally cooperate with the work of the 'Special Observer.'"
"Don't worry. All the departments within Tengda Group are like brother departments. Since the position of 'Special Observer' was established by President Pei, it must carry great significance for the entire company. Every department will certainly do its best to cooperate."
After hearing Li Yada's statement, Cui Geng felt much more at ease.
It seemed that his earlier worries about departments refusing to cooperate had been completely unnecessary!
Under the unifying spirit of Tengda Group, the company's departments had long been twisted into a single rope. To some extent, they had formed a healthy competitive relationship, and there was no scheming or infighting between them.
Moreover, within the Tengda Group, President Pei's will was the highest standard. Even if an outsider parachuted directly into the company, as long as they were appointed by President Pei, every department would treat them with the utmost trust.
Cui Geng couldn't help but sigh in admiration. President Pei truly knew how to manage his subordinates!
Not even mentioning business ability—just this level of management skill alone was far beyond that of ordinary entrepreneurs.
This atmosphere also infected Cui Geng, filling him with motivation.
"Then go ahead and get busy. I'll organize my thoughts a bit first, and then start gathering material," Cui Geng said.
Li Yada smiled and nodded.
"Alright. I've already arranged for a veteran employee to specifically answer your questions. He's been here since Tengda Group's first recruitment and can practically be called a 'living fossil.' If you have any questions, you can ask him."
Cui Geng turned on the computer, planning to spend the morning finishing updates for his old novel and sorting out the general framework for the new one. Then in the afternoon, he would chat with this "living fossil" named Bao Xu about the past and present of Tengda Group's games.
"The task is heavy. I have to make the most of my time."
"According to the previous plan, if I want to release the new book during the Spring Festival, I need to wrap up the old book in the next few days. At the same time, the main framework of the new book must be built as soon as possible. At the very least, the basic setting and the outline for the first 100,000 words must be solid. Otherwise, there will definitely be hidden problems, and the chances of the story collapsing midway will greatly increase."
"Once the computer starts, I'll immediately create a new document and get to work."
Cui Geng had already decided that he absolutely must not check the computer's specifications. If he saw the specs, he would definitely be tempted to play games.
The computer booted up very quickly.
Cui Geng was just about to right-click on the desktop to create a new document, but before he could even click, he froze.
The desktop was almost completely covered with game icons.
All kinds of games on the market—large and small, single-player or online—were all there!
With just a quick glance, Cui Geng spotted several large games he had always wanted to play but had given up on because his own computer couldn't run them.
Cui Geng: "…Damn!"
Isn't this just creating obstacles for my work?
So many temptations, displayed openly on the desktop—who wouldn't feel tempted?
Cui Geng immediately became suspicious.
"Could it be… this is a trap deliberately arranged by Li Yada and the others? A trap specifically targeting me?"
He turned his head suspiciously and glanced at Li Yada's desktop.
Then he was surprised to discover that Li Yada's desktop was also filled with game icons!
However, Li Yada completely ignored them. She had opened a document and was seriously editing it, extremely focused and unaffected in the slightest.
"I misunderstood!"
Cui Geng couldn't help but feel somewhat ashamed. It seemed that all Tengda Group employees were practitioners of the Tengda spirit.
They had already achieved the perfect balance between entertainment, rest, and work. When it was time to work, even with so many games right in front of them, they remained completely unmoved!
"Looks like my mental discipline still isn't good enough."
As if inspired by the Tengda spirit, Cui Geng stopped worrying about the many games on the desktop. Instead, he opened a new document and began his work.
Cui Geng tapped away at the keyboard, producing crisp clicking sounds. Soon, the rhythm of his typing blended together with the keyboard sounds throughout the entire office area, perfectly merging into the atmosphere.
In the afternoon, Cui Geng went over to Bao Xu's workstation and asked him about the interesting stories and unusual events from the early days of Tengda Group's game division.
Bao Xu showed a nostalgic expression.
"Well, that's a long story. Back then, I was still an internet-addicted kid hanging out in internet cafés—"
…
…
Saturday, January 29.
Today was an adjusted workday, and also the last working day before the Spring Festival.
In 2011, the Spring Festival fell on February 3, and the official holiday period began on February 2.
However, considering the difficulty of buying train tickets during the holiday rush, Pei Qian decided to give employees an extra day off on February 1, while shifting the workday of January 31 to January 29.
This way, everyone could start their holiday three days earlier than employees at other companies.
Adjustments like this weren't unlimited. For example, Pei Qian couldn't change normal working schedules into something like two days of work and five days of rest. But making small adjustments of a few days within the framework of legal holidays was completely acceptable.
Although it was the final working day, there were still many tasks to complete.
The first Zero Overtime Competition selection and the February 1 Best Employee selection would both be held today.
After these two selections were completed in the morning, everyone could head home and begin their Spring Festival holiday.
Recently, the administration department and the HR department didn't have many tasks. Preparing for these two selections was practically their main job.
Department heads and key employees from various departments had all arrived at a hotel conference venue near Shenhua Prestige, filling the seats in the hall.
Although it was nowhere near the scale of the annual company meeting, it was still quite lively.
The tables were covered with plates of fruit and dried snacks, along with all kinds of candies and chocolates. It felt somewhat similar to the snack tables people set up at home during the Spring Festival except that both the dried fruits and the candies were much more expensive.
Everyone cracked sunflower seeds, ate candy, sipped tea, and waited for the selections to appear on the big screen.
Li Yada watched the big screen at the front of the hall with interest and said quietly,
"The Best Employee selection is getting more and more formal. In the past, it was just an online vote and then President Pei would give the award. This time they even prepared a special venue."
Bao Xu, who was sitting beside her, didn't say a word. He simply kept cracking sunflower seeds with his head lowered, his expression not looking very good.
Soon, it was time. Everyone had arrived.
Xin Hailu walked to the front of the big screen, said a few brief words, and then immediately began the first Zero Overtime Competition selection.
Numbers started flashing across the big screen—data such as each department's overtime hours, number of overtime instances, and other statistics.
Li Yada peeled an orange and showed little interest in what was on the screen.
"It definitely won't involve our department this time. The tasks were a bit tight this year, and we worked overtime several times. We'll just try harder next time."
Bao Xu kept his head down, continuing to crack sunflower seeds, clearly not wanting to express any opinion.
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