Chapter 1 A Historical Step

Back in his room, Pei Qian felt like he had taken a historical step.

In a way, he had reversed Old Pei's prejudice!

Pei Qian knew that if he directly confronted Old Pei, there would definitely be more twists and turns.

But now, saying it through Director Zhu's mouth removed any conflict of interest for Pei Qian himself, making it particularly convincing!

Sure enough, Old Pei clearly accepted this argument.

Had his prejudice against games been completely eliminated? Not really.

But at the very least, Old Pei also acknowledged that games are divided into good and bad, and some good games, like movies and novels, are also a normal and healthy form of entertainment.

This was a huge step forward!

Pei Qian figured that when he really made a decent game, he could let Old Pei play it. Once he was addicted, he could reveal the truth!

Then Old Pei would definitely accept it!

Pei Qian believed that no one could escape the "fragrant" curse!

...

Pei Qian finally had a chance to look at the comments below the video.

Currently, Potato Video didn't have a danmu (scrolling comments) function; that wouldn't come for at least another two years.

But even if Potato Video had a danmu function, it would be useless, as it would soon be overtaken by latecomers and rapidly decline.

But having said that, at this point in time, it was still a very influential video giant with many excellent content creators.

There were many messages and comments below *Pei Zong's Daily Life*. Although there were a few trolls, the overall sentiment was highly praising the series!

"I thought this was just an ordinary short video, but after watching it, I realized it has a deeper meaning. Absurd, comical, but on closer inspection, it's strangely familiar, making me feel a chill..."

"This young actor's acting is really good. He perfectly portrays the image of a nouveau riche spending money like water. His acting is so natural, beating a bunch of young idols!"

"Using black humor to reflect the many aspects of society, it's thought-provoking after watching, and the satire of the industry chaos is also very incisive!"

"The expression is quite accurate, full of contempt for the secular world. So this is the world of the rich?"

"Pei Zong not only has an amazing temperament, but his expressions are also super on point. That lazy feeling of lying on the sofa is just like a big boss of a company! This is a true actor! I'm a fan!"

"Upstairs, you've removed all the parentheses, haha! So dedicated!"

"Although this video doesn't have much production cost, probably shot with a single-lens reflex camera, it's very deep and thoughtful, much better than those short films full of flashy special effects!"

"Who told you there's no production cost? Isn't the costumes and props a cost? Isn't that custom-made suit and Rolex watch a cost? I looked closely at the close-up of that Rolex watch; it's a real watch, not a high imitation!"

"Probably invested a total of 200,000 yuan, and 180,000 was used to buy the watch, haha."

"Does the video say that 50,000 yuan was spent to make a game of driving for eight hours? Could it be *Lonely Desert Road*?"

"So, there's a connection between this video and reality? Awesome!"

"It should be based on reality, right?"

"Seriously, this game really could have been made like that!"

"Hahaha, how is that possible? This is artistic exaggeration, understand? Although *Lonely Desert Road* is silly, the designer must have put a lot of thought into it!"

The silly netizens in the comments were simply opening their minds, and many people connected this video with Tenda.

But those who suspected that this short drama was related to Tenda had no evidence, so they naturally didn't cause any waves.

Pei Qian released the game in the name of Tenda Network Technology Co., Ltd. If people didn't check the legal representative of this company, no one would know that its boss was Pei Qian, let alone that he was the actor.

And now, even if ordinary people wanted to check the legal representative of a company, they didn't have a good way to do so, because software similar to Tianyancha didn't appear in the original world until four years later.

This world was still in 2010, and it didn't exist yet.

Therefore, most viewers just regarded Pei Qian as an ordinary young actor.

There were also some people who were arguing in the comments.

"Crude and incomprehensible!"

"The video author is killing me with laughter. It's simply devoid of common sense! Do you think that big bosses all wear custom suits and Rolexes? That's a stereotype. Real big bosses wear polo shirts and shorts and don't care so much about their clothes, okay?"

"Exactly, and spending 50,000 yuan to make a best-selling game is simply laughable. This is not how you ride the wave! Although *Lonely Desert Road* didn't cost much, it definitely cost more than 50,000 yuan!"

"I think you should find a middle-aged man to play the role of Pei Zong. I always feel that Pei Zong's acting is very good, but he's just too young, which doesn't match the facts!"

Although these comments were in the minority, there were quite a few people who thought so.

Pei Qian didn't care about this.

"Alas, everyone's imagination is still too poor."

"I don't believe that you can make a best-selling game for 50,000 yuan, but this happened, who can I complain to..."

Pei Qian continued to pay attention to the video's views.

Judging from the current trend, the situation was a bit bad!

Originally, there was still a glimmer of hope in Pei Qian's heart, what if everyone didn't like it? What if everyone was disgusted by this feeling of showing off wealth?

However, there was no what if!

Now, Pei Qian could only keep praying, hoping that Director Zhu Xiaoce wouldn't receive any endorsement ads!

As long as there was no advertising revenue, no matter how many views there were, it would be useless; it couldn't be converted into revenue!

...

On the fifth day of the new year, the second episode of *Pei Zong's Daily Life* was updated.

On the seventh day, Pei Qian left home and went back to work.

He wanted to replace all the appliances in his home, but no matter what he said, his parents wouldn't agree, so he had to give up for the time being.

In Old Pei's view, it was a good thing that his son could make money, but it was better to keep the 30,000 yuan he just earned for his own use, so he refused to accept it.

Pei Qian had to wait a little longer.

Just bring the appliances directly home and make it a done deal. Even if his parents said they wouldn't replace them, they would definitely replace them at that time!

Although Pei Qian could have stayed at home until the end of the winter vacation before returning, he still had to keep an eye on the company.

It wasn't because he was afraid that the company's project would fail, but mainly because he was afraid that the company's project wouldn't fail!

He finally got a taste of success last time, losing more than 20,000 yuan. This time, he would continue his efforts and lose 700,000 to 800,000 yuan at once; it wouldn't be a problem.

When the time came, he would say that he made a lot of money after the short video became popular, and then spend money for the family. His parents should have no reason to refuse.

Yes, as planned!

...

On February 22nd, the third episode of *Pei Zong's Daily Life* was updated.

This time, Pei Qian clicked it open to take a look.

Wow, all three videos basically had more than 500,000 views!

The small account with only two or three hundred followers was also constantly increasing its number of followers!

The recommended spots on Potato Video's homepage were also getting better and better, and there was a clear trend of spreading to Weibo and other platforms!

He silently closed the video.

Pei Qian tried his best to remain calm.

It's okay, it's just a short video...

All one million has been invested, and it's still early to break even.

He might not be able to receive any endorsement videos, and even if he could, the quoted price shouldn't be too high...

Pei Qian could only comfort himself like this.

As he was thinking, he vaguely heard greetings from the office area outside.

"Director Zhu is here!"

"Director Zhu, the short video is popular. Are you treating us to a meal?"

"Director Zhu, when can you open a video column specifically for me?"

Most people in the company had participated in the filming. For example, Little Lu had gotten a lot of roles. For example, he played the intern in the first episode who made a game with 50,000 yuan.

Although everyone didn't get much pay now, they were enthusiastic!

Money wasn't important, anyway, no matter how high Director Zhu's pay was, it couldn't be higher than Boss Pei's salary!

The key was to show their faces!

Who didn't want to be a big star?

So, when they saw Zhu Xiaoce coming, everyone was especially enthusiastic.

They hoped to get on Director Zhu's good side, and get more roles in the next few episodes, or start a short video column alone, such as *A Day in the Life of Boss Pei's Intern*.

Zhu Xiaoce held his single-lens reflex camera and promised everyone one by one.

"Don't worry! Everyone will definitely have more and more roles in the future!"

"Everyone will have their own series of short dramas in the future!"

"But everyone has to do their jobs well, otherwise Boss Pei won't spare me."

After pacifying everyone, Zhu Xiaoce came to the front of Pei Qian's office door and knocked gently.