Chapter 180 Painting

After hanging up the phone, Pei Qian found Ruan Guangjian's phone number.

However, before calling, Pei Qian had the whim to search for the keyword "shared phone booth" on Qiandu.

Soon, there were many search results, a large portion of which came from local Jingzhou residents on Tieba, forums, and Weibo.

"Today, a genius came up with a brilliant entrepreneurial idea: shared phone booths! You can scan a QR code and go inside to make a call!"

"Are you crazy? If you have a phone and can scan a QR code, why not just use your phone to make a call?"

"LOL, I even took a picture. It feels like performance art. [Photo]"

"This broken phone booth is quite big, but it feels like it was made by hand. Is this really an industrial product? The details are a bit rough."

"This is... paying to be imprisoned, and separated by glass for people to watch?"

Pei Qian scanned the results and felt even more relieved.

See, the eyes of the masses are discerning!

Since this phone booth is so unpopular and unprofitable, he should let Ruan Guangjian paint a few more and turn this phone booth into a purely public welfare cultural symbol.

Yes, wonderful!

With that in mind, Pei Qian dialed Ruan Guangjian's number.

…

…

January 10th, Monday.

Ruan Guangjian temporarily settled the work at Shang Yang Games, gave modification suggestions to the art team at Shang Yang Games and the outsourced art teams, and then went to the nearby art supplies market to buy brushes, paints, and other necessary materials before heading to Cosmic Heaven Street.

Because it was Monday, the flow of people in the mall would be a little less.

But even so, there were still many people taking pictures next to the shared phone booth.

Presumably, after the silly news about the "shared phone booth" spread yesterday, many people came to see it.

Ruan Guangjian had just come up from the escalator when he saw a strong, long-haired muscle man approaching.

"Master! Hello, hello!"

"Master is so young, very different from what I imagined."

Zhang Wang had been waiting for a long time. Seeing Ruan Guangjian carrying various painting supplies, he immediately confirmed that this was the artist that President Pei had invited.

However, from the outside, Ruan Guangjian did not have the long hair and beard like the artists Zhang Wang had imagined, nor did he have earrings, studs, tattoos, or other decorations. He looked clean and tidy, no different from an ordinary student.

On the contrary, Zhang Wang himself had long, flowing hair, which was more in line with the general public's perception of an artist.

Ruan Guangjian looked at the shared phone booth, which looked no different from the photos, but seeing it in person made it seem larger.

After Ruan Guangjian sized up the phone booth, Zhang Wang asked expectantly, "Master, how long will it take to paint such a picture?"

Ruan Guangjian thought for a moment, "That can't be generalized."

"Painting is a creative work, and the time difference is very large. If it is a simple oil painting, and the things to be painted have already been conceived in advance, and the painter's technique is relatively skilled, then it may take ten or so hours to complete."

"However, if a master paints a high-level oil painting, it may take a year, three years, five years, or even longer."

"This includes time for sourcing materials, creating, and revising, and there is no upper limit."

Zhang Wang quickly said, "Three or five years? That's definitely not necessary, just paint casually. Master, if you paint too well, I'm worried someone will steal it."

"After all, this phone booth is detachable."

"But with the help of the mall security guards, the possibility of that happening is very small, haha."

Zhang Wang told a cold joke, and Ruan Guangjian didn't quite get his joke.

But at least he understood one thing, that this painting definitely didn't need to be so detailed, and didn't need to be regarded as a top-notch work of art.

However, it definitely couldn't be too casual either, after all, President Pei was generous and a close friend, so how could he rip off President Pei?

Ruan Guangjian thought for a moment, "I heard that this is just the first one, and a total of 20 phone booths will be painted?"

Zhang Wang nodded, "Yes, the others are still in production."

Ruan Guangjian examined the size of the paintable area of the phone booth and asked, "What themes are you thinking of painting? Do you have any ideas?"

Zhang Wang shook his head violently, showing that he had no opinions at all: "No! It's all up to you, Master, what you want to paint!"

Ruan Guangjian considered carefully, "Well... twenty paintings need to be painted, and the workload for each one is not small."

"After all, this painting is nearly two meters high, and the workload is at least three to four times that of an ordinary oil painting."

"Even if I can use my own style to paint, without being so particular about details, it will still take three or four days to complete one painting."

"And that's under the premise that I am very familiar and skilled with the things to be painted."

"Besides, this phone booth is a project invested by President Pei, so the theme of the painting should be somewhat related to President Pei's company, right?"

"Considering this, there don't seem to be many suitable themes..."

"Got it!"

Ruan Guangjian suddenly had a flash of inspiration and thought of a good idea.

He could paint the original art for *gog* heroes!

Coincidentally, there were more than twenty heroes in the first batch of *gog*, and their original art had already been completed.

The designs of these original arts were all done by Ruan Guangjian, and after repeated modifications, painting them again would be easy.

Moreover, these original arts belonged to Tengda's new game, and this phone booth was also an industry invested by President Pei, so there was a very close connection between the two.

Hero original art was also more friendly and interesting to young people who came to the mall to shop, compared to traditional oil painting themes.

The more Ruan Guangjian thought about it, the more suitable it seemed.

The only thing that needed to be changed was the specific form of expression of the original art.

Originally, the original art of *gog* was very detailed and concrete, because the modelers needed to create game models according to the original art. If some places were painted vaguely, the modelers would have to fill in the details themselves.

However, the paintings here could be regarded as concept art or promotional art, which could be more artistic.

Ruan Guangjian considered using his own style, using impasto techniques, on the one hand, to blur the details and save time, and on the other hand, to enhance the artistic appeal of the painting and make it more eye-catching.

With that in mind, Ruan Guangjian prepared to start work.

As for which hero in *gog* the first original art should depict...

Was there even a need to consider it?

…

In the office, Pei Qian yawned.

There were less than three months left until the settlement.

Many projects were underway at the same time, but by next week, the film should be officially completed, and a rough cut version should be available before the end of the month; and according to the current progress of *gog*, a closed beta version should be released by the end of the month to test the waters.

It was certainly impossible to finish everything at the haunted house. The two largest projects might not be completed before this settlement, but the smaller projects of the second major project should be completed by the end of this month.

At that time, he would first let Ruan Guangjian experience it to curb his arrogance!

In short, Pei Qian looked at the schedule and realized that this week should be the most relaxed week in the near future, so he had to quickly seize the time to read books and study.

What if Old Ma managed to pass the exam on his own, while President Pei still had to rely on in-game purchases to pass? Wouldn't that be embarrassing?

Looking at the junior Tang, she came to work every day and, apart from scooping poop, feeding the cats, and taking care of them, she sat quietly at her desk reading books. It seemed like a sure thing that she would get a scholarship.

Pei Qian couldn't help but sigh, "Ah, if only I could hire someone to study for me."

"I can only say that knowledge is priceless!"

As Pei Qian sighed, he realized that another half hour had passed, and he quickly opened his notes and began to study.

After studying for less than an hour, someone knocked on the door.

Pei Qian looked up and saw that it was Ma Yiqun.

"What's the matter?" President Pei, who had been interrupted in his studies, was a little unhappy, but he also knew that Ma Yiqun rarely came, so if he did come, it must be for something important, so he didn't say much.

Ma Yiqun said, "It's like this, President Pei. Zhongdian Chinese Network has made another sum of money recently..."

Pei Qian: "???"

Can you guys always secretly and unexpectedly earn money? Can't you let me prepare myself mentally in advance?

Pei Qian originally thought that this week could be a little more relaxed, but another unexpected incident occurred.

Zhongdian Chinese Network had gone through several stages of development since its establishment, and now it had turned a profit.

From the beginning, the website increased the full attendance bonus and guaranteed the rights and interests of low-level writers;

Later, the website subsidized mid-level authors, so that they could obtain the same level of income as high-quality authors;

After that, the website cooperated with *Return from the Brink*, unified the Tengda accounts, and diverted a large number of Tengda game players to the website.

After this period of operation, the website's traffic had increased. Although the overall website scale and the income of top authors still could not be compared, at least the middle and low-level authors were living a decent life.

Therefore, how to spend the money they had earned had become a problem.

"Don't hand it in, just spend it yourself." Pei Qian, based on the principle of "whoever pollutes, governs; whoever earns, spends," gave a perfunctory instruction to Ma Yiqun's report.

"Ah, okay, President Pei." Ma Yiqun knew that President Pei would most likely have this reaction, but what President Pei said was one thing, and what he did was another.

Even if he knew that President Pei would most likely let the website invest the money in website construction, this process of asking for instructions could not be omitted.

After all, this was different from the website's collaborative activities and involved a sum of money.

If it was a collaborative activity with *Return from the Brink* like before, Ma Yiqun, as the person in charge of the website, could make the decision himself, because it wouldn't cost much money.

"Wait a minute."

Ma Yiqun was about to turn around and leave when he was stopped by President Pei again.

Pei Qian casually asked, "Where are you planning to spend this money?"

Originally, he didn't plan to interfere with these things, but Pei Qian suddenly realized that it seemed like he had to...

If he let Ma Yiqun spend money freely, who could guarantee that he would definitely spend the money on useless things!

Therefore, Pei Qian decided to ask a few more questions.

Ma Yiqun smiled and said, "President Pei, I've considered it."

"Currently, our website is very attractive to middle and low-level authors, and it has also attracted some loyal Tengda game players. The game channel is very popular, forming a 'self-sustaining' effect."

"I think the key at the moment is that we lack top authors!"

"Therefore, I'm considering using this money to poach a few top authors who are not satisfied with the current situation, especially those authors in unpopular categories who have strength but are not valued."

"It may be difficult to poach the god-level authors, but those authors who earn thirty to fifty thousand a month and have difficulty becoming god-level authors, as long as we are willing to spend money, we should still be able to poach a few."

Pei Qian fell silent.

That sounded very reliable!

If they could selectively poach a few potential authors, choose the book with the best data, and then use the entire network's resources to promote it wildly...

Maybe it could really take Zhongdian Chinese Network a step further!

Thinking of this, Pei Qian coughed lightly and said, "Inappropriate."

"The real god-level authors rely on solid hard strength and on good works to gather readers, not on being built up with the website's resources."

"Poaching authors from other websites will definitely require a high buyout price. For authors, not adapting to the new environment and changes in the reader base may not be able to continue their previous popularity; and for the website, the cost-effectiveness of a high buyout is very poor, and the benefits are difficult to guarantee."

"If a buyout is signed and the book's data is required to meet the standards, then it would be a bit rogue, and it would not be morally justifiable. For authors, the attraction would not be great."

"In short, this approach can't be said to be wrong, but it doesn't quite fit the development direction of Zhongdian Chinese Network."

"In my opinion, it's better to continue spending this money on middle and low-level authors. If you want to create gods, you can dig from your own author base, why do you have to poach from other websites?"