Chapter 1 Zhang Li Xian Realizes

Zhang Lixian suddenly understood, "So that's how it is! This thing is similar to a stress-relief artifact in some ways?"

Li Shi shook his head. "You can think of it that way, but its usage is somewhat different from a real stress-relief artifact."

"Typical stress-relief artifacts, such as bubble wrap machines, fidget spinners, and so on, all alleviate psychological stress through repetitive motions, allowing the inertia of those motions to occupy your brain."

"But the Automatic Argument Machine isn't like that. There's no set pattern to how it's used; it's not a repetitive motion. So, for some people, playing with it might become increasingly addictive."

"However, that's precisely where the Automatic Argument Machine differs from stress-relief artifacts."

"Stress-relief artifacts merely serve to channel emotions; they simply shift your attention, allowing you to temporarily forget your worries. But in reality, they don't help our thinking much, and may even make us reliant on them, causing us to become easily distracted and, at the slightest sign of agitation, subconsciously reach for a stress-relief artifact."

"The Automatic Argument Machine isn't about channeling. If you keep playing it, some people's agitation may increase. Its purpose is to induce you to figure things out, to realize the meaninglessness of your actions, and to cultivate your self-control, allowing you to restrain yourself even when you're addicted."

"So, the Automatic Argument Machine can only be controlled by people with a certain degree of self-control."

"That's why I keep emphasizing that it helps our thinking; it's not meant to numb you, but to prick you. In the long run, there's a big difference between the two."

Zhang Lixian was clearly very interested in this square black box. However, since she was still in the middle of an interview, it wasn't convenient to ask directly where to buy one. She would have to wait until after the interview.

Zhang Lixian looked around. The entire room was indeed as minimalist as Li Zong had described, even giving her a sense of ascetic practice.

But then, Zhang Lixian saw the large television in the living room.

The size of this television was rarely seen even in appliance stores; it was truly eye-catching.

Zhang Lixian found it a little strange and asked, "Li Zong, if the goal is to think quietly, shouldn't there be no television in the living room at all?"

For most people, televisions are for leisure and entertainment, whether it's watching dramas, movies, variety shows, or playing games. None of that has anything to do with thinking, does it?

Li Shi smiled. "Oh, that? Actually, if you open the inconspicuous TV cabinet below the TV, you'll see game consoles and a large number of game discs."

"That's perfectly normal, because even though President Pei has many identities, his primary identity is always a game producer!"

"The online game *gog* that President Pei produced is currently expanding into the European and American markets, accumulating millions of players worldwide, and even has advertisements in Times Square."

"And the single-player game *Struggle* that President Pei produced has already received a warm response in China. The game's thoughtfulness and depth have been praised by people in the game industry and players alike."

"As such a top game producer, how could he not play games to find inspiration?"

"I found games from various top foreign companies in the TV cabinet. This is enough to show that President Pei is neither complacent nor stuck in his ways. Instead, he is constantly striving to learn from foreign game producers and reflect on their work. Otherwise, it would have been impossible to create such an excellent game like *Struggle*."

Zhang Lixian nodded slightly, but then felt that something was wrong again and asked, "Then, why did President Pei provide all the other tenants with games as well?"

Li Shi was prepared and replied, "Obviously, this is an attitude of President Pei."

"I've seen them; these games are all foreign AAA titles, all works with good artistic merit and game mechanics, presumably carefully selected by President Pei."

"In President Pei's view, games are not just a form of entertainment; they can also have artistic expression and profound meaning. Therefore, President Pei clearly hopes that the tenants of Sloth Apartments can relax when they are tired of thinking and gain some inspiration from these excellent game masterpieces."

"At the same time, he is probably also opposing the idea of 'playing games ruins one's ambition'. President Pei is emphasizing that games can relax people while also giving them food for thought."

Zhang Lixian nodded. "I see! I heard before that Sloth Apartments seems to have many unreasonable and inhumane regulations. So, it seems that President Pei is actually using Sloth Apartments to convey this lifestyle to everyone?"

"Then why not explain it on the Sloth Apartments website?"

Li Shi smiled slightly. "How can you say something like that yourself? Wouldn't that be self-praise?"

"Thinking is a very personal thing. It's not that you can definitely calm down and think in a certain environment. This varies from person to person, and it's impossible to guarantee results."

"Moreover, President Pei never explains his actions. He only focuses on doing his own thing. As for others, those who understand will understand, and those who don't won't. President Pei never forces it."

"Why does Sloth Apartments have so many rules and regulations? Why is the Automatic Argument Machine made with such expensive materials, so meticulously crafted, and sold at such a high price?"

"Clearly, President Pei prepared it for those who can understand the deeper meaning behind it. People who understand the value will know that the price is worth it and will naturally be willing to pay for it. Those who think it's too expensive won't realize the value in it and won't compete with those who really need it."

…

Finally, the interview ended.

Zhang Lixian reviewed the content of the interview and felt that this interview seemed to have gone a bit off track.

Because it was originally an interview with Li Zong, but Li Zong talked about President Pei the whole time!

But this wasn't a big problem, because similar interview programs don't forcibly limit the content. Guests can share whatever they want. And the content that Li Zong shared this time was indeed full of substance.

Why did Li Zong insist on investing in the old industrial area when most investors and industries were not optimistic about the renovation of the old industrial area?

On the one hand, it was to follow in President Pei's footsteps, and on the other hand, it was because of this independent way of thinking.

And the development of this independent way of thinking is closely related to one's daily living environment and way of thinking. This experience of "being extremely focused when thinking" is not only suitable for people in the investment industry, but also for other mental laborers and people who need to think single-mindedly!

And the renovation of the old industrial area by Li Zong and President Pei can be used as a model to be commended.

Thinking of this, Zhang Lixian stood up and shook hands with Li Shi again. "Thank you, Li Zong, for taking the time out of your busy schedule to accept this interview. I believe that your way of thinking will definitely guide many confused young people."

The filming was over, so Zhang Lixian asked in a low voice, "Li Zong, where can I buy this Automatic Argument Machine?"

Li Shi smiled. "Just search for the name online and you'll find it. It's not hard to find."

Zhang Lixian nodded. "Well, this thing is quite interesting. I'm going to buy one for my home too. Okay, we won't bother you any longer. Goodbye, Li Zong!"

…

…

September 13th, Tuesday, evening.

Today is the last day of the first round of the *gog* Global Invitational Tournament group stage. There will be a day of rest tomorrow.

After watching the match, Pei Qian didn't go home directly. Instead, he went to Moyu Internet Cafe first, sipping a cocktail while smoothing out the mind map of Tengda's various departments on his laptop.

Actually, it wasn't that Pei Qian didn't want to go home; it's just that there was nothing to do at home.

His house was too empty, and he'd just end up playing games, but playing too many games can get boring. Unlike here at Moyu Internet Cafe, he had waiters serving him, and he could listen to singers while sipping on a drink.

The lines on the mind map were becoming more and more numerous, and Pei Qian felt that his brain was starting to become a little inadequate.

Pei Qian reluctantly connected the DGE Club, Tengda Games, and the Shared Fitness Gym.

The *gog* Global Invitational Tournament was a trigger. Those players were all crazy about hyping up the DGE Club and the Shared Fitness Gym. They had been hyping it up since the first day of the group stage, and they had been hyping it up for four days in a row.

Pei Qian saw it and was anxious, but there was nothing he could do...

He had originally wanted to go to the Shared Fitness Gym to take a look, but after thinking about it carefully, he realized that even if he went, it would only make him feel worse. What was the point?

He could only silently connect the line, declaring that it could only enter the next stage.

Keep opening branches as hard as you can. As long as you open branches fast enough, profits won't be able to catch up with me for the time being.

Pei Qian found that this cycle seemed to be a bit unlucky, especially for his brick-and-mortar stores, which were all failing one after another. First, it was Moyu Internet Cafe, then Moyu Takeaway, and now even the Shared Fitness Gym couldn't hold on!

Fortunately, Sloth Apartments was still holding strong.

Otherwise, if the only physical store left was Upwind Logistics, what would he do!

Pei Qian looked at the dense web on the mind map and felt that he could give up on this thing.

Now, let alone inferring the connections between the various departments, he couldn't even understand what he was looking at!

The dense lines and the dense small print on them were really dazzling and hard to sort out.

Pei Qian felt that his strategy of "using a mind map to infer the possible links between departments" had failed, because the links between these departments were always so unpredictable and unreasonable.

For example, Pei Qian originally asked Coach Ya Ling to take photos of the DGE players every day to ensure that they didn't have enough time to train for the game. Who would have thought that these photos would instead become promotional material for the Shared Fitness Gym?

Thinking of this, Pei Qian couldn't help but sigh silently, feeling a nameless melancholy.

…

At the same time, outside Moyu Internet Cafe.

The Internet cafe was brightly lit, and the light shone through the floor-to-ceiling windows, making everything inside clearly visible from the outside.

Ruan Guangjian came out of the Halo Studio across the street, having just finished drawing an original painting of a *gog* hero and was planning to go back to rest.

However, when he passed by Moyu Internet Cafe, he suddenly saw a familiar figure through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

"Huh, President Pei hasn't gone home to rest so late?"

"He's facing the computer... could he be working?"

Ruan Guangjian was a little curious. President Pei was sitting in a position with his back to the floor-to-ceiling windows. Looking over his shoulder, he could see that the laptop screen was lit up.

Ruan Guangjian suddenly had a flash of inspiration and thought that the composition of this angle was good.

So, he immediately took out his phone and took a photo through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

"Click."

In the photo, President Pei was facing away from the camera, his right hand on his chin as if he was pondering something. The computer screen facing him was lit up. Although he couldn't see exactly what was on the screen, he could be sure that it wasn't a game or a movie.

"World Famous Painting: President Pei at Work."

"But what is that on the computer?"

"A mind map?"

Ruan Guangjian dragged the photo to zoom in. His phone camera had high pixels. Although he didn't deliberately take a picture of the computer screen, he could still vaguely see that it was a mind map with countless dense lines and boxes.

These boxes were of various sizes. The words in the small boxes and the words on the lines were completely unclear, but only the largest boxes had words like Tengda Games, Shared Fitness Gym, Moyu Takeaway, Moyu Internet Cafe, etc. There were dense lines extending from them and connecting to other boxes.

Ruan Guangjian took a look and confirmed that there was no company secret information in it, so he was relieved.

Everyone knew about Tengda's various departments. It wasn't a secret, so it didn't matter if he posted it.

Ruan Guangjian posted the picture on his Weibo and added a sentence: "I'm off work, but someone is still working."

He had originally thought of going into the Internet cafe to say hello to President Pei, but after thinking about it, there was no need, so Ruan Guangjian turned around and left, feeling satisfied.