The night grew late, and Mu Jiahe did not appear. It was unclear whether she had already gone to another world or hadn't returned at all.
She didn't come out until the next morning.
Looking at the empty space on the other side, Xiao Xun felt uneasy. He had grown accustomed to Mu Jiahe being by his side.
Upon arriving at the company, Xiao Xun went directly to see President Mi.
The first thing President Mi said upon seeing Xiao Xun was, "President Xiao, you've worked hard! The phones have begun mass production, and once the press conference is over, we'll open for flash sales on the official website."
"President Mi, who are you planning to have host the press conference and explain the product?"
President Mi rested his hands on the desk with confidence. "How about me? Am I suitable?"
Xiao Xun looked at him in surprise. "The company's president personally going on stage for a press conference?"
President Mi nodded. "Is that not allowed? No one understands this phone better than I do."
Xiao Xun couldn't help but start applauding. "Great! It's no wonder people always praise you as a renowned genius in our industry. I've also heard you're a big name in investment. You truly live up to your reputation."
President Mi waved his hand. "Just empty titles. I'm merely working for others."
Xiao Xun praised him sincerely. "I've heard that when you were my age, President Mi, you were already financially independent and became a company president within a few years."
"You're not doing too badly either! With the achievements you have at your age, you'll definitely be a business magnate in the future."
After they exchanged pleasantries for a while, President Mi began to ask about the game's progress.
Xiao Xun thought for a moment. "I'm afraid it won't be ready for the phone launch. I tested it on my computer yesterday, and it only runs smoothly on a high-spec computer. If we were to port it to a phone, the current phone configurations definitely wouldn't be able to handle it."
President Mi comforted him. "No rush, good food is worth the wait."
Xiao Xun voiced his concerns. "But I am in a hurry! What if another game is released first and captures the market? By then, people will be accustomed to that game, and the popularity of our new game will be severely impacted."
President Mi pondered for a moment. "Does it have to be a port from a PC game? Could we develop a mobile game that runs smoothly on current phones and supports multiplayer interaction?"
Xiao Xun considered it. "I'll discuss it back at the office. If we can, I'll contact you immediately."
Upon returning to the fifth floor of the building, the staff from the two studios were still furiously typing on their keyboards. The most pressing issue now was how to make the current phones capable of running this game.
Xiao Xun called the design director and the chief planners of the two game studios into the small conference room and relayed President Mi's proposal to them.
One of the chief game planners said, "Isn't that simple? Card and board games are popular, suitable for all ages, and definitely involve online interaction."
Xiao Xun countered, "Anyone who's worked with code for a couple of years can do that. The user stickiness is too low, and there are too many similar games on the market. There's no point."
The three exchanged glances. The design director said, "If it's just a temporary mobile game, then there are plenty of options. But to increase user engagement..."
One of the chief game planners chimed in, "I have a suggestion."
The others looked at him. He confidently stated, "Many clothes and shoes these days feature collaboration designs. We could integrate popular anime or novels into the game."
Seeing everyone looking at him, he asked doubtfully, "Is that okay?"
Xiao Xun nodded. "It's okay, but what kind of game should we add it to?"
Suddenly, all four shouted in unison, "Turn-based MMORPG!!!"
After shouting, all four burst into laughter, a sense of shared vision and agreement filling the room.
Xiao Xun nodded with satisfaction, stood up, and said to the four, "This is a great idea. As I said before, both game studios will work on it concurrently. Find the most popular anime or novel themes, preferably without copyright issues, as dealing with copyright will take too much time."
One of the chief game planners said, "I have a ready-made idea for a turn-based mobile game that doesn't require copyright."
He then looked smugly at the other chief game planner. "You can't copy this, okay!"
The other chief game planner directly replied, "Stop being mysterious. It's nothing more than Journey to the West or Romance of the Three Kingdoms. What other copyright-free themes suitable for games can you come up with?"
The chief game planner who was called out scratched his head awkwardly. "Yes, it's Journey to the West. It's easy to adapt, highly playable, and accepted by many players."
Everyone nodded, agreeing with his statement.
Xiao Xun mused, "A turn-based mobile game with the Journey to the West theme is feasible, but it's not suitable for doing simultaneously."
Another chief game planner said, "Then I'll do the Romance of the Three Kingdoms theme."
Xiao Xun immediately said, "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms theme isn't suitable for turn-based games; it's better suited for strategy mobile games."
He nodded. "Then our studio will make a strategy mobile game."
With the ideas settled, the two studios temporarily suspended their existing work and focused entirely on the new game.
Everyone transformed into relentless code machines, furiously typing away.
Thanks to their previous experience, both of these games entered the testing phase in a relatively short amount of time.
A day passed by without notice. Xiao Xun didn't realize it had gotten dark until the office lights dimmed.
Just as he was about to go upstairs to see if Mu Jiahe was there, his phone suddenly rang. A familiar number filled Xiao Xun with excitement.
"Are you at the company?"
Xiao Xun suppressed his excitement. "Replying to President Mu, I've been busy all day. Is there something you need?"
"What do you mean, what do I need? It's time to get off work. Doesn't your office have a clock? Do you need me to send someone to install one for you?"
Xiao Xun's face lit up with a smile. "No need for a clock. So, what should I do now?"
"Head to the underground parking lot!" The call was then hung up.
Xiao Xun thought to himself: This woman is like the unpredictable weather in June.
As he reached the car at top speed, Mu Jiahe was already there.
Xiao Xun said, "Why did you come down so early today?"
Mu Jiahe's face was grim. "Early?"
Xiao Xun didn't dare to respond and quickly opened the car door. After Mu Jiahe got in.
"President Mu, my relative arrived last night."
"Oh? That's good."
Halfway there, Xiao Xun cautiously asked Mu Jiahe, "Who upset you today, President Mu?"
Mu Jiahe casually replied, "Nothing, just a small matter."
"There's no need to get angry over a small matter; it's not good for your health. I'm here for everything."
Mu Jiahe frowned and muttered, "It's precisely because of you?"
Although her voice was low, Xiao Xun heard it. He didn't know what to say and pretended not to have heard her.
Upon returning to the villa and parking the car, he opened the door, and a puff of smoke billowed out. The entire room was like a fairyland. Perhaps the house was too well-sealed, as not a wisp of smoke had escaped.
Xiao Xun instinctively said, "Didn't you turn on the range hood?"
Mu Jiahe's brows furrowed into a knot. "Where did you find this housekeeper? She didn't even turn on the range hood while cooking! Fortunately, I didn't install a smoke detector, otherwise, the entire house would have been flooded."
Xiao Xun quickly explained, "I'll go check. She had it on when she was cooking at noon; something must have gone wrong."
With that, he plunged into the kitchen, braving the thick smoke, while Mu Jiahe turned the air purification system to its maximum setting to clear all the smoke, requiring new filters to be replaced tomorrow.
In the kitchen, the range hood was furiously drawing in smoke, but it couldn't stop the oil fumes from continuously rising from the pot.
Xiao Xun shouted, "Yun Mei, are you trying to refine elixirs here?"