"Everyone's Car Grab just got an invitation code, looking for an organization."
"What is Everyone's Car Grab?"
"It seems Renren.com is internally testing a game, inviting many people to test it."
"Damn, how come I've never heard of it? Is it fun? I want to play too!"
"Report how much money you all have. The strongest among my friends already has 6 BMWs."
"I don't know who is ranked #1, I'm always thinking about his cars."
"Who's worse off than me? When changing cars, the system had a problem, not only deducted the full amount but also made me go negative."
"Passing by with 5 cars..."
"Just started, currently only one car. OP (Original Poster), private message me to add friends."
"I feel like I'll never catch up to the #1 ranked player among my friends, and I keep getting tickets, it's annoying."
"I want to play too, but I can't get an invitation code."
"Strongly urge Renren.com to expand the internal testing to allow more people to participate."
"..."
A post about Car Grab suddenly went viral.
Mainly because Car Grab expanded its first batch of 50 internal testers to 300.
Rumors had already spread on Renren.com, piquing many people's curiosity.
With mentions of "BMW" and "getting tickets," it was truly intriguing.
Preparations for the launch of Car Grab were still in full swing.
Li Xi, following the techniques taught by Chen Pingjiang, successfully negotiated with several companies using a "gambling" model, though some refused.
The technical department directly delisted those car models from the game based on feedback.
For those that couldn't be avoided, they tried to get an authorization letter, making the image design more generic.
More car companies adopted a wait-and-see attitude.
As more gambling agreements materialized and formed a scale effect, no one wanted to easily give up such an opportunity.
If it didn't succeed, there was no loss, but if the game was successful and their car models weren't in it, it would undoubtedly be a dereliction of duty for the marketing staff, and they would likely be held accountable.
Internal testers generally reported the game as fun and gave surprisingly good reviews.
This almost made Miao Bingwei doubt himself; could the game he made actually be good?
In his opinion, the replayability of Car Grab was actually very low, the production was crude, and it even had a rough-and-tumble feel.
This was not Miao Bingwei being self-deprecating; it was just difficult for him to see the full picture from his perspective.
For a social game, the most important thing is social interaction!
At the moment, Facebook's social games hadn't launched yet, so strictly speaking, Car Grab was leading a trend.
The charm of social games lies in addressing the most basic human social needs: participating in a game with friends, competing, and communicating.
To entertain oneself online with friends in one's real social circle can be said to be a revolutionary way of socializing.
.........
Chen Pingjiang looked at the house number 702, stood at the door, paced for a long time, and finally knocked.
Earlier, he received a call from Yan Yan at the company.
Just as Chen Pingjiang was about to happily chat, he heard,
"My dad wants you to come over."
This made Chen Pingjiang go silent.
He could go to Ge Mengshi's house calmly because that was fake.
But with Yan Yan, it was real.
Especially after hearing that Yan Yan's father was a cadre.
However, the two were still in a somewhat ambiguous state, having not officially "broken through that layer of window paper."
The door opened, revealing Yan Yan's delicate small face, her gaze towards Chen Pingjiang somewhat complex.
There was a feeling of "parting the clouds to see the light," but anxiety and worry were also written on her face.
After giving her a "don't worry, I'm here" look, Chen Pingjiang confidently stepped into the Yan family's home.
As he bent down to change his shoes, Chen Pingjiang felt two sets of eyes fixed on him.
Yan Liming and Li Yuhua were also a little nervous, both expectant and afraid of disappointment.
Upon seeing Chen Pingjiang's appearance, both of them breathed a sigh of relief, thinking,
"At least he's not a middle-aged man."
Chen Pingjiang looked up, and the three of them made eye contact, secretly sizing each other up.
Yan Liming and Li Yuhua were under fifty, in the prime of their lives, and very well-maintained.
Li Yuhua had a kind and approachable demeanor, while Yan Liming was somewhat stern.
Looking at the Yan family's decor, it was tasteful yet exuded an air of a scholarly family.
When Li Yuhua saw Chen Pingjiang's face, her eyes lit up.
The old saying, "A mother-in-law looks at her son-in-law, and the more she looks, the more pleasing he becomes," must be true.
In contrast, Yan Liming's gaze at Chen Pingjiang was slightly more complex.
This rascal in front of him was the little scoundrel who had "stolen" his family's precious daughter.
"Hello, Uncle, Auntie."
Chen Pingjiang greeted them with a smile, neither servile nor overbearing.
Yan Liming and Li Yuhua also put on professional smiles:
"So you're Xiao Chen, come, have a seat."
Chen Pingjiang wasn't nervous yet, but Yan Yan was already incredibly nervous, her small hands clenched so tightly her knuckles turned white.
"I heard you're dating our Yan Yan, is that right?"
As soon as Chen Pingjiang sat down, Li Yuhua eagerly asked.
Chen Pingjiang found it amusing; that was truly a poor question.
If I wasn't dating your daughter, why would you call me here?
To play mahjong, needing one more player?
Chen Pingjiang turned to glance at Yan Yan, wanting to observe her expression and try to figure out what she had told her parents.
They had "kissed" a few times, but hadn't confessed their feelings.
Strictly speaking, they weren't officially "on duty" yet.
But what he didn't know was that from Yan Yan's perspective, they had already kissed, so what did a confession or another confession matter?
"Yes, Auntie."
Hearing this, Yan Yan's lips unconsciously curved into a satisfied smile.
Chen Pingjiang's words confirmed the fact of their relationship.
Yan Liming was a bit dissatisfied that his wife was asking unimportant questions like, "How tall are you?" or "Where are you from?"
He spoke up, "Xiao Chen, what do you mainly do for work now?"
This again made Chen Pingjiang a bit unsure how to respond.
He thought,
"What's going on here?"
Did Yan Yan not mention it at home?
According to the normal process, shouldn't Yan's father first ask Yan Yan some basic information about Chen Pingjiang at home?
Little did he know that Yan Liming, who worked for the disciplinary committee, felt like he was interrogating a suspect whenever he asked questions.
So Yan Liming simply didn't ask beforehand, intending to ask after meeting Chen Pingjiang.
"I'm a first-year student at the University of Finance and Economics."
Yan Liming and Li Yuhua exchanged an inadvertent glance and breathed another sigh of relief.
"Good, he's a university student."
"How are your parents?"
"My parents are in good health."
"What do they do?"
"They..."
Yan Liming had only asked two questions, but Chen Pingjiang already understood the situation.
"Goodness, that expression and tone, question and answer, it really is like interrogating a suspect."
Li Yuhua also felt dissatisfied.
"What kind of questions are these? They're no different from what I was asking."
Both of them were novice parents-in-law, meeting their daughter's boyfriend for the first time.
Chen Pingjiang felt like laughing,
"What's going on here?"
"Why do these two elders seem more nervous than me?"
After a laugh, Chen Pingjiang proactively said,
"My parents run a small business in our hometown. I'm starting a business at school myself and have achieved some small success so far. Yan Yan and I met on the day I enrolled in university."
Yan Liming and Li Yuhua exchanged glances, racking their brains but not knowing what else to ask, which was funny because they had deliberated for a long time before Chen Pingjiang arrived.
However, they now had a preliminary understanding of Chen Pingjiang and felt much more at ease.
Objectively speaking, they had to admit that their daughter had good taste.
A first-year university student, starting a business at school, handsome, and articulate.
Yan Liming wasn't worried that Chen Pingjiang might be trying to deceive them.
If he wanted to investigate Chen Pingjiang, he could find out everything accurately, down to Chen Pingjiang's underwear.
The atmosphere became dull to the point of awkwardness for a moment.
Yan Liming "coughed," signaling his wife to continue asking, but Li Yuhua had no more topics either.
"Mom and Dad, we've arranged to go out for dinner."
Just as Chen Pingjiang was about to speak to break the strange silence, he didn't expect Yan Yan, who had been quiet all this time, to speak first.
The remaining three people in the room visibly (though imperceptibly) breathed a sigh of relief.
"Then you two go. Remember to come back early after eating,"
Yan Liming reminded.
With that, the two stood up and left the house.
Watching the door of 702 close again, they waited a while, feeling that the two had walked away.
Yan Liming and Li Yuhua stared directly at each other, a feeling welling up in their hearts:
"We didn't perform well just now, so many questions left unasked."
"Do you usually act like a leader in the office, with nothing to say to a young man?"
Li Yuhua complained.
"I asked everything that needed to be asked. What else could I say? It's the first meeting, there's such a big age gap and generation gap, and he's just a boyfriend. They might even break up later."
"Bah, bah, bah! You should hope for the best for your daughter!"
Yan Liming smiled wryly:
"I racked my brains and didn't know what to do. Continuing to ask would be like interrogating a suspect, and I didn't know how to start a conversation. I couldn't just invite him to eat and drink together, that would make him mistakenly think I was very satisfied with him."
"?"
Li Yuhua asked, puzzled:
"You're not satisfied? I think the young man is quite good."
Yan Liming gave a noncommittal laugh:
"First meeting, not much interaction, hard to judge. We'll see."
He said this, but in reality, he was still a little jealous.
As a father, and with his daughter Yan Yan still young, Yan Liming hadn't felt quite right since leading Chen Pingjiang into the house.
He then fell into a strange, torn spiral.
Even though Chen Pingjiang was good in all aspects, he always felt a voice inside picking flaws.
This was Yan Liming's first time seeing his daughter's boyfriend from a father's perspective, which made him extremely uncomfortable and deprived him of his usual rationality and calm judgment.
He just felt that Chen Pingjiang wouldn't treat his daughter as well as he did!
"In my opinion, it's just your father's pride at work,"
Li Yuhua hit the nail on the head.
She understood her husband.
Usually serious and solemn outside, he was actually a complete doting father.
Li Yuhua had no doubt that if Chen Pingjiang dared to treat their daughter badly, Yan Liming would skin him alive.
Even if the young couple broke up, no matter how much their daughter cried, Yan Liming would secretly be unable to stop smiling.
Yan Liming was instantly seen through by his wife, his expression froze, and he awkwardly took a sip of tea to hide his embarrassment.
At this point, Li Yuhua added:
"Our family is not a feudal family, nor a prominent household. As parents, we cannot go against our children's feelings. As long as Yan Yan likes him, and he's a decent person, I can't control anything else."
"But they must be careful about safety!"
(End of Chapter)
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