Chapter 66 Birthday Gift
Yue Qianling was not familiar with the three people Gu Xun mentioned, and had only met them occasionally.
They usually reverse their day and night schedules, often showing up at the company at around eight or nine in the evening, and disappearing again at noon the next day. Therefore, even though Yue Qianling has been in the Ninth Business Unit for several months, she is not as familiar with them as the salesperson in the coffee shop downstairs.
However, this kind of behavior is quite common in their industry, especially as core developers, who have the capital to be arrogant because of their talents.
The operating model of Gu Xun’s department is no different from other development teams, with a few core members taking the lead and driving dozens of other programmers to carry out development.
Those three people, Gu Xun and Yi Hong are the backbone of the entire team.
As soon as they left, all the pressure fell on Gu Xun and Yi Hong.
besides.
There are countless companies that have launched 3A game projects, but under the multiple pressures of funding, market and technology, most projects are buried silently on the road of exploration.
Even large game companies with abundant funds and abundant talents have given up on the 3A field due to market considerations.
In the current environment, 3A games are an uncertain gamble for any company.
Therefore, in Yue Qianling's view, those who are willing to join the Ninth Business Unit all have a passion for electronic games and are willing to make a desperate gamble with their most precious youth.
I can still vividly remember the conflict and pain in Su Zheng's eyes when he chose to leave at dinner half an hour ago.
After a long silence, Yue Qianling asked in a deep voice: "Why are they leaving? Are they just going to give up all the hard work they have put in over the past few years?"
"Innocent."
Gu Xun patted her head and looked at the car in front of him, with a bit of sarcasm in his eyes, "Do you really think that everyone comes here for sentiment? To them, this is just a high-paying job. Once there is a better reward, they will run faster than dogs."
Yue Qianling stared at him blankly, unable to speak for a long time.
She actually forgot that there is a high salary level here, which is much more important than any sentiment in the eyes of people who put profit first.
And from Gu Xun's tone, she remembered a point she had just overlooked.
These three people did not resign in an ordinary way, but rather "changed jobs".
The projects developed by the Ninth Business Unit are undoubtedly the flagship products of HC Interactive Entertainment. Everyone involved in the project will sign a non-compete agreement and will not be allowed to engage in the production of similar products within a certain period of time after leaving the company. As these three people are the top figures in the industry, when they suddenly changed jobs collectively, it was naturally impossible for their new jobs to be downgraded from 3A-level projects to ordinary stand-alone games or even online games or mobile games.
There is no need for the other company to poach the core developer of the ninth business unit of HC Interactive Entertainment for a project that is not scarce in the market.
Therefore, even if Yue Qianling did not ask Gu Xun, she could guess that the three people must have jumped to a competing company, and the other party was wealthy and could afford the high penalty for breach of contract.
What's even more sinister is that the other party chose to poach people just when the Ninth Business Unit was about to release a real-machine operation demo. Sima Zhao's intention was known to everyone.
If it was a normal job change, the pressure Gu Xun would have to bear would simply be doubling his workload, but the current situation is that those three people are likely to take away the core gameplay of the entire project.
To this end, the entire Ninth Business Unit must launch a real-machine operation video before its hard work is plagiarized in order to seize market attention.
-
Things have come to this point and everyone has to accept this reality. They don’t even have time to be angry before they have to immediately get into more intense work.
When the nest is overturned, all the eggs will be broken. No team in the Ninth Business Unit was unaffected.
Yue Qianling had not yet fully adapted to her official job transfer when overwhelming tasks came pressing down on her like a mountain.
Life seemed to have returned to the time when she had just taken over Sigrid, and going out early and returning late at night would become her norm for the next few months.
At this point, Yue Qianling finally understood why some people say that making games is a job for the young.
Older people really can't handle this kind of work intensity.
Even so, the Ninth Business Unit was still in a state of panic.
Although no one says it to each other's face, this undercurrent that everyone knows makes people feel even more stressed.
The entire Ninth Business Unit seemed to be shrouded in a thick layer of black clouds, making it hard for everyone to breathe, but no one knew whether the rainstorm would really come.
However, the real pressure did not fall on the art department. Under such circumstances, Yue Qianling felt as if a mountain was pressing down on her head. She could not even imagine what kind of burden Gu Xun was carrying.
The only thing she could see with her own eyes was that Gu Xun had lost a lot of weight during this period of time. Especially when she saw the densely packed English words on his computer, even she felt breathless.
One Sunday afternoon, everyone was working overtime, and Yue Qianling wanted to take some time to go to the tea room to make a cup of coffee.
As soon as I reached the door, I heard people whispering.
"I think the demo will be delayed this time. Gu Xun and his team can't handle the workload of five people."
"Haven't you noticed that the boss has a lot of white hair these days? Funds are tight recently. I heard that other companies want to invest, but I don't know if the boss will agree."
"What will happen if they agree to this? If the shareholders get involved, it will definitely turn into an online game. Do you believe it?"
"If that's the case, I might as well just go and make online games."
"Yeah, in this situation, how can we release a real-machine operation demo as planned?"
Yue Qianling held the water cup, said nothing, and turned away.
On the way back in the corridor, she bumped into Gu Xun head-on.
"Who made you unhappy?" Gu Xun held the same cup he bought with Yue Qianling and clinked glasses with her in a pretentious manner, "I'm going to avenge my baby right now."
Yue Qianling was in no mood to chat with him and glared at him sullenly.
"You can still laugh, do you know what I just heard?"
"Um?"
Gu Xun raised his eyebrows, "You say."
Yue Qianling dejectedly repeated what he had just heard. His voice did not sound angry, but Gu Xun had never seen Yue Qianling in such a stagnant state.
He put away the frivolous look on his face and looked at Yue Qianling seriously.
"You can completely ignore these words."
"It's not that I care, but..."
Yue Qianling wanted to sigh, but found that she couldn't even take a deep breath, so she could only let the depressed air stuck in her heart.
When a person is in a critical state, it is easy to be overwhelmed by a word from others that is as light as a straw.
At this moment, she felt powerless, forcing her to face reality.
No one is pessimistic, but there is little hope.
Without waiting for her to continue, Gu Xun asked: "But what?"
"Never mind, nothing, I'm going to get busy."
Yue Qianling shook her head and prepared to leave.
Just as she took a step, Gu Xun suddenly pulled her into his arms and raised his hand to smooth her messy hair.
"Believe me."
In his restrained embrace, Yue Qianling pressed against his chest and heard his strong heartbeat.
Some people's words are like the straw that breaks the camel's back, while others' words are like the rope in a deep well that can bring light.
For example, at this moment, only one thought was echoing in Yue Qianling's mind.
-Believe him.
-
The rain in Jiangcheng had been lingering for nearly half a month. Yue Qianling looked up in the dark and found that the leaves on the roadside had quietly turned yellow and were falling down.
But the sky will not always be gloomy, and any trough will eventually bottom out and rebound.
When the first sunny day of winter appeared, Su Zheng came back.
He wasn't even noticed when he came in with his backpack. Everyone was working hard, and the sound of keyboards and conversations filled the entire office area.
A new assistant girl was running to the printer in a hurry with a pair of ink cartridges in her arms. She accidentally bumped into Su Zheng, and the ink cartridges fell to the ground with a clatter.
Even with such a commotion, no one in the office looked up.
Until Su Zheng bent down to help pick up the ink cartridge, he asked softly, "Did it hurt you?"
The little girl didn't recognize the person in front of her and shook her head blankly, then she found that everyone's eyes were on her.
Instead of being noisy, the scene fell into complete silence.
Yue Qianling was originally discussing the drawing with the 3D modeler, and at this moment he looked at Su Zheng in disbelief.
After a moment, she blurted out word by word: "You. Are. Back?!"
Su Zheng smiled, "Yeah, after thinking about it, I still feel that I can't leave at this time."
As soon as he finished speaking, the whole audience was in an uproar and Su Zheng was quickly surrounded by his old colleagues.
Some people scolded him, some laughed, and a female planning colleague even hugged him and started crying.
Ten minutes later, he finally broke through the encirclement, took a breath of fresh air, and walked towards his original office.
Since he left, no new planner has been hired and the office remains unchanged.
When she passed by Yue Qianling, she asked, "What about your father?"
"I was discharged from the hospital yesterday."
Su Zheng stopped and said, "The old man couldn't even stand up, and he insisted on driving me back with a stick, saying that if I lost such a high-paying job, I would not be able to find money to pay for him to stay in the ICU."
He was obviously laughing when he spoke, but it made people want to cry.
Yue Qianling was obviously not a pretentious person, but at this moment, she also felt a soreness in her nose.
She nodded and said nothing more.
But for the first time, I felt like we were fighting side by side at work.
At this time, Gu Xun and Yi Hong also came out of the office.
When they saw Su Zheng, they were all stunned.
Su Zheng seemed more relaxed. He walked over and touched Yi Hong's black hair.
"What's going on? We agreed to grow old together, but you secretly masturbated?"
Yi Hong, who had just dyed his hair black, seemed to be mute. He kept saying "you, you, you" for a long time without being able to utter a complete sentence.
Su Zheng turned his head and looked at Gu Xun.
"Although I can't do much, but -" He raised his hand and touched Gu Xun's shoulder with his fist, "Come on."
When Su Zheng learned that the three main developers had changed jobs, he couldn't sleep for three nights. Every time he closed his eyes, his head was buzzing and every cell in his body was clamoring.
Let him go back to the battlefield where he had defended for 800 days and nights.
In fact, he also knew that he alone could not carry the entire banner, but he still decided to come back.
However, he didn't know that even if he was just a faint light, he could light up the darkness.
Before the dawn of a stormy night, although the Morning Star is not as bright as the sun, it will surely usher in the daybreak.
Since his return, the entire Ninth Business Unit has been like a chicken with its blood pumped up. The cracked earth quickly came back to life, the dead trees sprouted green leaves, and all progress was moving forward madly.
For the first time, Yue Qianling achieved the same schedule as Gu Xun. She was so busy every day that she fell asleep as soon as she got home. She often didn't even have time to answer her parents' calls, which made her parents think that she had been sold into a pyramid scheme.
The leader of the organization may be named Gu.
These days, Yue Qianling's measurement of time has changed from "years, months, days" to the advancement of each step. During the long winter, she was unaware of the passage of time.
Until one morning, she took a break from her busy schedule and looked at her mobile phone, and found that Ju Yunzhen had sent her a message. 【mom! 】：Baby, today is your 22nd birthday. Mom wishes you happy and carefree every day.
The moment she saw this sentence, Yue Qianling suddenly remembered that today was her birthday.
This was the first time in all these years that she was so busy that she forgot about this day.
Coming back to her senses, she quickly replied.
【Glutinous Rice Mahua】: Thank you mom, love you mua~
【mom! 】：Did Gu Xun celebrate your birthday with you today?
Yue Qianling was stunned and looked back at the conference room behind him.
Gu Xun and Yi Hong were sitting at the table looking at the projection screen with serious expressions, while the architect was holding an infrared pen and talking excitedly.
[Glutinous Rice Dough Sticks]: Of course, we are going to have a big dinner tonight.
【mom! 】：Then have fun.
Putting down the phone, Yue Qianling supported his chin and sighed.
Even she herself didn't remember her own birthday, let alone Gu Xun who was at the center of the vortex.
She also didn't want to go through so much trouble to celebrate her birthday at this time. Instead, it would be better to let Gu Xun rest for a while.
But today was her first birthday with Gu Xun after they got together, and it was spent in silence, which made her feel a little regretful.
"well……"
She picked up a marker and drew a small cake on the draft paper. "Happy birthday to me."
-
At eight o'clock in the evening, Yue Qianling was called into the office by Wei Han.
She always felt a little sleepy at this time, and yawned out of habit, so Wei Han asked, "Didn't you sleep well these days?"
"good."
Yue Qianling rubbed his eyes and asked, "What do you want to talk to me about?"
Wei Han turned the computer screen to face Yue Qianling, frowned and said, "Look at the manuscript you submitted today. There are some minor problems with the character's dynamics, but they are not serious. The main problem is that your composition is a bit wrong. Did you fully express what you wanted to plan and express? Look at this character, he has been weakened to the point of almost blending into the scene."
Yue Qianling's hand froze in mid-air, staring blankly at the manuscript she had just submitted on the screen.
Wei Han: "So I just asked you if you were too tired recently. I didn't greet you. You're really not in this state. This manuscript is not at your level at all, Yue Qianling!"
Yue Qianling lowered his eyes and admitted his mistake uprightly.
"I see. I'll go back and redraw it."
Seeing this, Wei Han realized that his words were a bit harsh, so he said, "Forget it, I've also been under too much pressure recently, don't take it too seriously."
He leaned on the table and exhaled, "I know you've been very tired these past few days. Go back early today, get a good sleep, and get into a good state before continuing."
After a moment's silence, Yue Qianling nodded.
"Okay, I'll fix it tomorrow."
When walking out of Wei Han's office, Yue Qianling hung her head, like a dejected little quail.
The circle of painters actually has many rules, and generally people won’t curse at others directly like this, and Yue Qianling’s problem is not so serious as to be beyond the ordinary.
She also knew that Wei Han was in this state only because he was under too much pressure recently.
But even so, she couldn't help but feel sad.
Not only did I regret my mistake, but I was also worried about slowing down the progress of the entire project.
After packing up, Yue Qianling took a sip of hot water and sent a message to Gu Xun.
[Glutinous Rice Dough Sticks]: I'm done with my work, so I'll go back first.
[School Prince]: Okay, be careful on the road and let me know when you arrive.
Yue Qianling's fingers paused on the keyboard for a moment, wanting to say something.
But after thinking about it, I decided to give up.
She picked up her bag and walked out gloomily.
Just as she reached the elevator, Chen Yin called her from a distance and then walked towards her carrying a bag.
"Are you leaving?"
Yue Qianling nodded: "You haven't finished get off work yet?"
"I'm working overtime today." After saying that, she handed the bag in her hand to Yue Qianling, "Here, this is your birthday present. Happy birthday."
"A birthday present?"
Yue Qianling looked at the gift bag in surprise, "For me?"
Chen Yin: "Yes, it's a gift from the company to you."
After hearing this, Yue Qianling understood.
As an HR, it’s not surprising that Chen Yin knows her birthday.
It’s just that she didn’t receive any gifts last year, but she did this year.
Is this another special treatment for the Ninth Business Unit? !
"Thanks!"
Yue Qianling looked at the HC Interactive Entertainment logo on the bag and happily accepted it. "What's inside?"
"Go back and look again."
Chen Yin patted her shoulder and said, "I'll go back and continue my work."
It was the first time Yue Qianling received a gift from the company, and she couldn’t wait to open the package as soon as she entered the elevator.
She thought it might contain some small items like a mug or headphones, but she didn't expect it to be a figurine of Sigrid.
She opened her eyes wide and looked at the figurine over and over again.
The production is so detailed that not only the colors are completely restored to the drawing, but even the eyelashes are clearly visible. How much money must this cost!
It seems that the Ninth Division is indeed the boss's biological son. Not only is he generous, but he also thoughtfully customized Sigrid for her, which has extraordinary meaning for her.
After walking out of the elevator, Yue Qianling was still holding the figurine in her hand, reluctant to let it go. Only when she saw people coming and going in the lobby on the first floor did she carefully put the thing back into the gift box.
After coming out, she did not go directly to the subway station, but walked towards the dessert shop next to it.
Since everyone is racing against time during this period, Yue Qianling comes here every night to buy some milk bread as breakfast for her and Gu Xun in order to save time.
Today, get off work ended early and there were still many people buying things in the dessert shop. Yue Qianling picked up the things and went to pay the bill with ease.
The cashier used the reader to scan her membership QR code to complete the payment, put her purchases in a bag, then bent down and took out a box of chocolates from the cabinet.
"Today is your birthday, and this is a small gift from us to our members."
Yue Qianling's eyes suddenly lit up, "So good?"
The customer experience in dessert shops is so good now!
The clerk stuffed the chocolates into a bag and handed it to her, smiling and saying, "Happy birthday."
Yue Qianling took the bag and smiled with two dimples.
"Thanks!"
Because of this little surprise in life, Yue Qianling's unhappiness from being scolded has completely disappeared, and she walks briskly towards the subway station.
Ten minutes later, she came out of the underground passage and felt that the messy street vendors looked friendly and cute.
As she was almost at the gate of the community, she lowered her head and reached into her bag to look for the access card.
At this moment, a strange female voice sounded in front of her.
"Beauty! Beauty!"
Yue Qianling raised his head and looked at the woman in front of him in astonishment.
She had seen this person before. He often sold flowers nearby. At this time, she was holding an empty bucket with only a small bunch of exquisitely wrapped roses left in it.
Yue Qianling: "Call me?"
The woman nodded and took out the small bouquet of flowers.
Seeing this, Yue Qianling quickly said, "I don't buy flowers."
"I'm not asking you to buy it, I'm giving it to you."
The woman shook her head and said, "It's so cold today. I want to close my stall and go home early. This is the only bouquet left. I might as well give it to you."
After saying that, she stuffed the flowers into Yue Qianling's arms.
Yue Qianling was caught off guard by the bouquet of flowers. She was stunned for a moment before she spoke: "This is not good. I'd better not give you money."
"Need not!"
The woman turned around and left, "I'm closing my stall and going home!"
Yue Qianling stared at her back for a long while before lowering her head to smell the fragrance of the flowers.
In fact, she doesn't have any delicate thoughts, nor is she a person who knows how to live well.
But receiving roses from passers-by on her birthday was enough to make her feel the little romance in life.
She thought that she would remember this day for a long, long time to come.
On the day when she forgot her birthday, she received so many unexpected surprises.
These people who were not even acquaintances made her feel that she was such a lucky person.
This joy slowly sprouted from the bottom of my heart, making up for today's regrets bit by bit.
-
However, the moment he came out of the elevator, the voice-controlled light came on and Yue Qianling suddenly stopped.
Each of these things seems to be just small things, but when they are connected together, isn’t it too coincidental?
She looked down at the two bags and the bouquet of roses in her hands, and suddenly thought of something.
Could it be...
With this expectation, she nervously pressed the combination lock, and the moment she held the door handle, she heard her heartbeat quickening.
Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, Yue Qianling finally pushed open the door.
However, the living room was no different from when I left this morning. There was no surprise and no Gu Xun.
But she still held on to a glimmer of hope, and reluctantly turned on the light and looked towards the dining room and kitchen.
Same result.
well.
It seems she was overthinking it.
Gu Xun has been so busy lately, how could he have the energy to give her such a series of birthday surprises.
She took a long breath and looked at the things in her hands.
It doesn't matter.
She smiled to herself.
Then these little gifts were purely unexpected surprises, and were enough to make her happy for the entire evening.
After walking to the sofa and putting down his things, Yue Qianling rubbed his neck and prepared to change clothes and take a shower.
The moment I opened the door, the lights in the living room suddenly went out.
The whole house was plunged into darkness, making the light in the room particularly conspicuous.
Yue Qianling stood there in a daze, but this time he was not afraid, but he felt something.
Her hand was frozen on the door handle, and she moved it, pushing the door open completely.
Then, a star-like light appeared before her eyes.
She looked in disbelief at the twinkling star lights in the room, one connected to another, stringing together all her surprises for the day.
She just stood there motionless, only her eyes moved slowly and saw the cake on the desk.
At this moment, the floor beneath his feet seemed to have turned into soft clouds, lifting Yue Qianling into a dreamlike mid-air.
Everything that is unreal is real.
After a while, Yue Qianling still hadn't come to his senses, but was pulled back by some kind of induction.
In the dim light of stars, she saw Gu Xun standing at the entrance, with stars reflected in his eyes.
"Happy birthday, baby."
Yue Qianling has always thought that she is a simple person.
But when I heard these words, I couldn't help but shed tears.
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