The laughter of the crowd still echoed in my ears, but most of the people had already left. The tables and chairs were askew, empty bottles were piled up in the corner, and most of the wooden boxes on the prize table were missing, leaving only a few standing forlornly, as if they had been forgotten.

Chen Hao plopped down at the main table, his coat half-off and hanging on the back of the chair. He wiped his face, propped his elbows on the table, and slumped halfway down.

"Finally... it's over."

Nana stood by the control panel, her finger swiping across the screen, and the projection dimmed. She turned and walked over, her steps light, and stopped beside him.

"The video has been archived. Now we will enter review mode."

Chen Hao looked up at her. "What did you say?"

"I said, now that the excitement is over, it's time to settle the score."

He snorted, "I thought I could lie down for a while."

“You can lie down,” she said, “but the data doesn’t lie down. It’s always running.”

Chen Hao sighed and sat up straighter. "Alright, go ahead, I'm listening."

Nana brought up the panel, and a picture lit up on the wall, densely packed with dots and lines.

"Forty-seven people participated, and thirty-nine actually completed the entire process. Two people dropped out midway, and five people did not trigger any collaborative behavior."

"Does that mean there were five guys who didn't speak to anyone from beginning to end?"

"To be precise, it means that no action was taken that required responding to the rules."

Chen Hao scratched his head, "Then what are they here for? To eat candy?"

"Maybe they just want to watch the excitement."

"But we don't organize events just for people to watch the spectacle."

"So that's the first problem," she said. "The promotion only mentioned 'prizes' and 'fun,' but not 'what to do' or 'how to play.' The information was incomplete, so it attracted people who were after the prizes, not those who were interested in the activity."

Chen Hao nodded, "Got it. Next time, we can't just say 'Come play,' we have to tell people what we're playing."

He paused for a moment. "Actually, I should have thought of that earlier. Last time I sent out a notice, I only wrote one line: 6 p.m., restaurant, don't be late. I didn't even write the full name of the game."

“You wrote ‘card battle’.”

"But who doesn't know what 'card battles' are? Do you think everyone has an instruction manual in their head?"

“Obviously not,” she said. “Before the second round started, three out of the seven groups were checking basic terms. Some people mistook ‘shared resources’ for ‘stealing other people’s things.’”

Chen Hao grinned, "I remember that old Zhang, he slammed his fist on the table and said, 'Isn't this robbery?'"

"He misunderstood the mechanism, which led to chaos in the team's strategy. As a result, the third group gave up cooperating for four rounds."

"So how did things get better again?"

"You squatted down and said something."

What did I say?

“You said, ‘When you two were fixing the generator, you weren’t the only ones tightening the screws, right?’ And then they understood.”

Chen Hao laughed, "You still have to rely on the old almanac to save your life when it comes to relationships."

“This shows that experience is more useful than rulebooks,” she said. “But you can’t expect everyone to remember what happened in the past. Next time, we should prepare illustrated flowcharts in advance and stick them on the table, or have someone explain them to us.”

"New player guide?"

"yes."

"That's a good idea." He stroked his chin. "Let me think...who would be suitable?"

"You can't think of one now."

"I can't think of anything."

"Because no one prepared in advance. That's the third problem."

"What?"

“We only have ideas, but no rehearsals.”

Chen Hao was taken aback. "You really dare to say that."

“To be honest,” she said, “you almost held the guitar upside down at the beginning. You stumbled three times during the introduction, one of which was because you forgot what the next item was.”

"That's because Xiao Li suddenly asked me if sachets could be used to change socks!"

"But you're the host. You can't let others sway the pace of the conversation."

Chen Hao lowered his head. "Okay... I am a little flustered."

"You're usually not flustered."

“But it’s different on the platform. There are so many people watching, if I say something wrong, the whole audience will hear it.”

"Therefore, it is even more necessary to try it once in advance."

He was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly looked up and said, "You're right. Before the next event, we need to go over the process. Find a few people to act as the audience, perform it once, and see where we go wrong."

Nana nodded. "I suggest adding a rehearsal segment, lasting at least thirty minutes."

"Write it down."

She typed in the command, and an additional command appeared on the screen.

The two fell silent. Only the sound of the fan whirring filled the restaurant. In the distance, the sounds of trash being collected and someone turning off the lights could be heard.

Chen Hao stared at the table and suddenly asked, "What do you think was the biggest failure of today?"

“It’s not a failure,” she said. “It’s that we didn’t reach the upper limit of our expectations. We made people laugh, but we didn’t get everyone involved.”

"I thought it would be enough if someone was willing to sit down and play for a while."

"Thirty-nine people have gotten involved now."

"More than I expected."

"But there are still eight people who haven't gone in. They're sitting there, but it's like there's a pane of glass between them."

Chen Hao frowned. "I remember now. There was a young man who kept his head down the whole time, holding a card in his hand, but he never actually made a move."

"He looked at the rule prompts seven times, but didn't ask anyone."

"Nobody's paying attention to him?"

No one spoke up.

Chen Hao leaned back in his chair. "We were so busy going on stage, handing out awards, and managing the event that we forgot to look at the people in the corners."

“Organizers tend to overlook the silent ones,” she said. “Because they don’t create problems or make demands. But they are the most likely to leave.”

"We need to keep an eye on these people next time."

"It is recommended to add an observer role, specifically responsible for monitoring inactive individuals."

“That’s fine.” He thought for a moment, “Or we could simply make each group consist of three people and force people to join.”

"It's feasible. The system can be set to lock the team, and the game cannot start if the team is not full."

"Then it's settled."

He looked around the empty venue again. "Actually, there's a problem with the rewards too."

"explain."

"The sachets are nice, and the wood carvings are thoughtful, but some people only come to win. When they lose, the consolation prize makes them even more embarrassed."

"For example, the technician in the fourth group received an award for 'not running away halfway,' and he blushed."

"But he smiled in the end."

“Because there was an inscription on the prize,” she said. “That sentence made him feel seen.”

“Yes.” Chen Hao nodded. “‘To be able to stand up after abstaining three times is more impressive than to stand up all the time’—that hit home for him.”

"Material rewards are just a vehicle; what really matters is recognition."

"So you can't just give out prizes randomly. You have to make people feel, 'This is talking about me.'"

"Recommendation: In the future, rewards should be accompanied by personalized comments, generated based on behavioral data."

"You can even automatically write reviews?"

"You can call up template libraries and combine them with keyword matching."

"Then try writing one for me now."

She glanced at him. "Chen Hao, you intervened in four conflict groups during this event, using analogies from past experiences to guide the discussion three times, and shifting the focus once through questioning. Conclusion: You excel at using life experience to defuse deadlocks, but lack standardized response procedures. Comment: 'You're not a host, you're a firefighter. Remember to write a script next time.'"

Chen Hao burst out laughing, "That's so mean! But it actually sounds so convincing."

After laughing, he rubbed his eyes and said, "Actually, I know myself that I'm lazy and don't like to prepare. I always think, 'I'll deal with it when the time comes.' But seeing today, I realize that if I don't make things clear, someone might really get stuck."

"It's better to realize it now than to regret it later."

"Hmm." He sat up straight. "And what's next?"

"Compile the report."

"Write a summary?"

Yes. Structured archiving makes it easy to refer to later.

"Okay, you tell me and I'll write it down."

Nana brought up the document interface, and the title was automatically generated: "Summary Report of the First Base Cultural and Recreational Activities".

The bottom is divided into two columns.

The left side lists "Success Factors," and the right side lists "Items to be Optimized."

She started entering the data.

"The first key to success: Emotional connection takes precedence over the win-lose mechanism. Data shows that the frequency of collaboration is positively correlated with peak emotional levels. The highest frequency of laughter occurs after mutual support, rather than at the moment of victory."

Write: It's more precious to be able to sit together after an argument than to never argue at all.

She typed it in.

"Secondly: The sense of ritual is effective. The opening performance increased overall participation by 18%. After the music started, the audience's focus increased and the rate of leaving the seats decreased."

"The guitar worked."

"Music triggers a collective resonance threshold, reducing social defenses."

Speak like a human.

"As soon as everyone hears the song, they feel like they're all in the same boat."

"This must be kept."

She continued.

"Thirdly: The memorable aspects of the reward outweigh its intrinsic value. Winners mentioned the engraving content most frequently, rather than the material or rarity of the item."

"So in the future, the prizes don't need to be expensive, but they have to be accurate."

"yes."

Turn to the right.

"The first area for improvement: Insufficient publicity coverage. Posters were only posted in the main passageway and dormitory area, omitting permanent work sites such as the maintenance room and storage room. As a result, twelve people were unaware that the event existed."

"No wonder Lao Liu asked me yesterday, 'What did you guys do last night?' He had no idea!"

"It is recommended to use a multi-path notification approach next time: verbal + paper + broadcast reminders."

"Add one more rule: Have each group leader call out the names of the group leaders one day in advance to relay the message."

"Record."

"Secondly: The rules are difficult to understand. Although an instruction manual is provided, it is densely texted and lacks illustrations. On average, it takes newcomers five minutes to master the basic operations."

"No wonder the game took so long to start."

"It is recommended to create a simplified flowchart and use color coding to mark the action phases."

"We can also set up a demonstration game and show everyone how it's played."

"Feasible. The system can preset teaching modes."

"Thirdly: Lack of contingency plans. When the second group reaches a decision-making deadlock, there is no standard intervention procedure, and you have to rely on your personal judgment to handle the situation temporarily."

"Didn't I already handle it?"

"It works, but it can't be replicated. What if you're not there next time?"

Chen Hao was taken aback. "That's true. We can't always rely on me to save the day."

"It is recommended to create a manual for handling common problems, with built-in prompt logic."

"For example, a reminder will pop up if there is 'no action for two consecutive rounds'."

"yes."

The document gradually fills up.

Finally, Nana stopped pointing.

"Three core lessons learned."

Chen Hao cleared his throat. "First, emotional connection is more important than winning or losing."

"Recorded".

"Second, the rules must be understandable; you can't guess them."

"The principle of visualization".

"Third, rewards must be explained. You can't just give things; you have to let people know why you're giving them."

"Personalized feedback mechanism".

She clicked save.

A prompt appears on the screen: Report generated. Do you want to burn it to a disc?

Chen Hao looked at the memorial wall in the corner, where there was still an empty space.

“Go ahead and carve it,” he said. “Just leave it there so everyone can see it.”

"The file needs to be named."

He thought for a moment and said, "Let's call it 'Don't take it too seriously the first time, but you can't not take it seriously either.'"

Nana typed.

The slab-making machine started operating, and the laser moved slowly across the rock surface.

Chen Hao leaned back in his chair and let out a long breath.

"I'm exhausted."

"You speak 20 percent slower than usual, and your eyelids are closing more frequently."

"That's because they're sleepy."

"A rest is recommended."

"Wait a little longer," he waved his hand, "until it's finished carving."

Nana stood still, the camera zoomed out slightly, the aperture narrowed, and she entered standby mode.

The words on the stone slab emerged one by one.

It was a bit windy outside, and the door, which wasn't closed properly, wobbled slightly.

Chen Hao stared at the door and suddenly said:

"You're saying... if no one comes, should we still hold the event?"