Chapter 187: Selfishness and Their Different Paths to the Same End
The atmosphere was quite awkward. Unfortunately, the male employee who came in didn't understand the mood. He looked at Chen Fei and then at Xu Sirui, and frankly admitted, "Yes, we have known each other since college."
Xu Sirui & Chen Fei: "..."
Zhu Yingning showed a look of understanding and nodded slowly. He did not express any opinions on the matter, nor did he look at Xu Sirui's reaction. Instead, he took the initiative to introduce himself and politely asked how to address him.
He told her truthfully: "Zheng Boyu, Zheng He's Zheng, Bo's Bo, and Yu's Yu."
Finally, Zhu Yingning turned to look at Chen Fei: "Chen Fei, can you ask your senior brother to show us around the workstations outside?"
Chen Fei was already on pins and needles, and after being reminded of this by her, he couldn't tell whether she was angry or not. He could only lower his head and say submissively, "Uh...Okay. Senior Brother, let's go for a walk outside. Can you tell us about your daily life here?"
"Okay, okay." For Zheng Boyu, taking his junior sister on a tour was a natural thing to do, so he didn't need to ask Xu Sirui's opinion. He led them out enthusiastically.
The workstations weren't much to look at. Zheng Boyu briefly introduced the divisions and responsibilities, then quickly said, "Let me show you the lounge."
"We just saw the yoga ball in the lounge," said Chen Fei.
Zheng Boyu smiled and shook his index finger: "No, you are looking at Lounge 1. We also have Lounge 2, Lounge 3, and Lounge..."
"?"
Zhu Yingning pointed at the row of neatly renovated small rooms and asked in surprise, "You mean... except for one conference room, the rest of this row are all lounges?"
"Yes." He answered as if it was a matter of course.
As he got closer, he saw that Lounge 2 was actually a reading room. Inside, there was a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf crammed with books. Zhu Yingning took a closer look and saw that, in addition to professional books, there were also a number of humanities and social sciences books. A few beanbags were scattered across the empty space opposite the floor-to-ceiling bookshelf.
Lounge 3 is a gym, which is equipped with a treadmill as standard, as well as an elliptical machine, dumbbells, etc. What shocked Zhu Yingning the most was that one of the walls of this lounge was actually made into a rock climbing wall.
She had fully prepared herself mentally for what would be in Lounge 4, and thought she wouldn't be shocked to see a mobile karaoke bar or a spa. However, when she opened the door, she saw that it was empty, with nothing placed inside. Zheng Boyu said that he was encouraging Xu Sirui to turn this room into an e-sports room.
"When do you come here to rest?" she couldn't help but be curious.
"Any working hours are fine, you can do it yourself." He said, "All our tasks are divided into weekly blocks. Xu Sirui has set the tasks we must complete each week. If we fail to complete them, he will..."
He made a gesture of wiping his neck.
"But as long as we complete the weekly tasks within the specified week, he doesn't care about how we allocate our time. For example, if you suddenly feel lazy on Monday and want to leave the work for Tuesday, he won't mind if you run for an hour at the gym. Or if you work very efficiently on Tuesday and want to relax on Wednesday and read martial arts novels in the reading room for the afternoon, he won't say anything. We must strictly follow the working hours and punch in before completing the weekly tasks, but if we complete the weekly tasks ahead of time, we don't need to come that week."
"Don't you need to come?" she asked with interest. "If you're efficient, can't you have three days off and four days off a week?"
"Four days off a week is impossible," Zheng Boyu laughed. "Xu Sirui isn't stupid. Our company has to make money, right? If he regularly gets four days off a week, it means the workload he assigns us is too low. He'll manage it himself anyway. He's very sensitive to these numerical allocations. Basically, I get three days off a week, and it's about the same for everyone else. Many people use this time to go on short trips."
"Are you working overtime?"
“No.”
"No overtime pay?"
"It's true," Zheng Boyu said, "Xu Sirui doesn't allow us to work overtime."
She was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter: "What if the mission cannot be completed?"
"Then use the lunch break to catch up on the work. Our lunch break is quite long anyway."
"I thought game companies would often work overtime, because even the best games have bugs. Aren't you worried about being criticized by players if you don't fix the bugs in time?"
Zheng Boyu chuckled. "If you check out TapTap or any other platform, you'll see that 80% of our negative reviews come from us being too slow to fix bugs. There's nothing we can do about it. After 8 p.m., the studio is completely empty. Xu Sirui works faster than anyone else. I was worried at first, but he said that as long as we do our job well and keep our game innovative, with unique features that other games can't match, then even if players criticize us, they'll still play along."
This is a good attitude, she smiled.
Glancing at the conference room, Xu Sirui was still inside, so Zhu Yingning lowered her voice and asked, "Are you happy working here? What's your impression of Xu Sirui?"
"It's a bit corny to say I'm happy," Zheng Boyu shrugged. "But I'm actually quite comfortable. It's mainly because Xu Sirui never engages in formalities. Our studio doesn't have a corporate culture—though we're certainly not a company yet, haha. There's no need to introduce yourself on the first day, and there aren't any team-building activities on Saturdays and Sundays where you're told you're not sociable if you don't sign up."
"You might think Xu Sirui treats us like friends, but that's not the case. He's quite...distant in that regard. He simply treats us like employees and is responsible for us. He doesn't say things like 'the studio is your home.' As long as we complete our work on time, he's very tolerant, but no matter how tolerant he is, he won't be friends with us. He rarely chats or jokes with us. If we don't complete our work, he can be quite terrifying when he gets angry. Anyway, we all work for him because we trust his ability and character."
She smiled as she listened, feeling that these were indeed things Xu Sirui could do.
He hadn't changed, accustomed to being a lone traveler amidst a crowd, never involuntarily involuntarily if he could avoid laziness, valuing efficiency over ineffective effort. Another point—born in the city, he'd been exposed to elite education, and on the surface, he seemed like a proponent of elitism, spouting nonsense and presenting himself as shrewd and snobbish. But peel back his quirky exterior and you'd find he was, from beginning to end, an idealist just like her.
If it weren't for the ideal, I wouldn't manage a team like this.
The more he communicated with the employees here, the more his ideals became concrete in front of her, like shining gold, brilliant and warm.
When she left the office building with Shen Fei, she fell into deep thought in the elevator.
If Xu Sirui's initial words about being worried that everyone's work would disrupt the overall rhythm of the studio sounded more like a pretense to gain profits to her, now she was sure that what he said was true.
He really doesn't want to disrupt the original rhythm, break his own principles, and let his employees bear the hard work of overtime and unknown risks.
She sighed softly.
However, Chen Fei misunderstood her meaning. After walking out of the elevator, he stiffened his neck and apologized to her, "I was wrong, Captain. Go ahead and hit me. Don't keep it in your heart."
Zhu Yingning was stunned for a moment before reacting. She said with a smile, "Why would I hit you? I'm not angry."
"Are you really not angry?" Hearing this, her stiff back relaxed and she looked at Zhu Yingning's expression cautiously.
"Really." She walked forward side by side with her. When Shen Fei felt relieved, she suddenly changed the subject and said, "Although I'm not angry, I have to settle accounts with you."
"Floor lamp? Ergonomic chair? Bird's nest and shark fin?" She read out the names of these items one by one, glancing at Chen Fei with a half-smile in her eyes, "...are these all sent by your mother?"
Chen Fei instantly wilted: "Captain, I was wrong after all."
But she burst out laughing, holding her stomach, and stopped laughing.
"What are you laughing at?" Shen Fei twisted his fingers, trembling with fear.
"I just think it's funny that Xu Sirui has been your 'mother' for half a year." The more she thought about it, the funnier it became, and her laughter gradually turned into a loud laugh.
Having said that, Chen Fei himself found it quite funny.
The two of them held each other's shoulders and laughed for a long time. When the laughter died down, Zhu Yingning wiped away the tears from her laughter and asked, "How did you and Xu Sirui meet? You didn't go to the same university, did you?"
"Oh, this is mainly because of my senior brother..."
In her second semester of her freshman year, she learned that a renowned professor in her department was recruiting new undergraduate students for his lab. Because of her strong GPA in her first semester, she applied and was eventually accepted into the professor's team, which included Zheng Boyu, a first-year graduate student. At the time, they were working on an outsourced project for a gaming company, with Zheng Boyu as the primary contributor. The professor asked her to shadow him. At the time, she hadn't yet fully grasped her aspirations, but she agreed out of a desire to experiment.
After working with Zheng Boyu for a while, she quickly realized she didn't have much talent or interest in gaming, unlike Zheng Boyu, who was both blessed with a natural talent and a passionate love for games. Her interest gradually shifted to web development. However, with a commitment to seeing things through, she diligently completed the tasks Zheng Boyu assigned her, and she also learned many useful programming ideas from him.
Then……
At the beginning of their sophomore year, Xu Sirui suddenly showed up. Although they were both in Shanghai, they were in different schools and rarely visited each other.
His purpose of coming here was very clear - to poach people.
To be precise, we are here to dig out Zheng Boyu.
Xu Sirui said that he became interested in development through the game trailer released by the original company of the outsourced project that Zheng Boyu was working on. After checking the information, he found out that it was actually made by college students, which made him even more interested.
It sounds very strange. After all, Xu Sirui was only a sophomore at that time, and he was still several years away from graduation. Let’s not talk about whether he could dig it out or not. Even if he could dig it out, by the time Xu Sirui graduated, who could say for sure?
Although Zheng Boyu felt that this kid had an extremely weird personality, even weirder ideas, and - he was so handsome that he got angry at the first sight, but after a serious conversation, he was surprised to find that their ideas and even programming habits were very compatible.
Xu Sirui showed him the project he was working on. After seeing it, Zheng Boyu slapped his thigh and madly regarded him as a close friend.
However, a confidant is a confidant, "I will not go with you." Zheng Boyu hugged his chest.
Xu Sirui shrugged to show that he didn't care.
He and Zheng Boyu have kept in touch ever since, occasionally discussing programming problems or their respective new developments and ideas online. Xu Sirui would sometimes come to see Zheng Boyu, earning the nickname "three visits to the thatched cottage" from the lab staff and their advisors. As time went by, he became a familiar face to everyone in the lab. Sometimes, advisors like Chen Fei and the others would even force Xu Sirui to come over to discuss academic matters with them.
As graduation neared, Shen Fei became busy with her own work and went to the lab less often. One day, she was browsing her WeChat Moments and discovered that Zheng Boyu had actually joined Xu Sirui's team. She also posted a message on WeChat Moments to celebrate her success in the targeted recruitment process.
Maybe it was because he saw that post on WeChat Moments, but a few days later, Xu Sirui came to chat with her privately and asked her where she was assigned.
She told the name of the village.
The message on the other end kept saying "The other party is typing...", and the icon appeared and disappeared, disappeared and reappeared. Finally, he sent a message saying, "Can you help me keep an eye on someone?"
"Who?" She had a hunch that there was something fishy going on. Although she was not usually a gossipy person, she couldn't help but feel curious since it concerned her.
"Her name is Zhu Yingning, and she's your team leader," Xu Sirui said. "You don't have to keep a close eye on her. Just tell me what you need, and I'll send her some. You can share it with her. Just don't tell her it was me who sent it."
"Oh, sure." Shen Fei agreed readily, considering that Xu Sirui had helped him solve several bugs and several difficult A-level problems in advanced mathematics. "But what kind of person is she? Let me know first."
He didn't comment on what kind of person Zhu Yingning was, but only said, "You'll understand once you get along with her."
A few minutes later, another message came, "Anyone who has been with her will like her."
She thought the statement was exaggerated and wanted to ask jokingly, "Do you like her too?" But she felt that the question was a bit offensive, so she put her phone down.
After attending her grandfather's funeral and setting off for the village, she was on the plane and once again remembered what Xu Sirui had said - everyone who had been with Zhu Yingning would like her.
Chen Fei secretly guessed that the other party must be a great beauty, and most likely the kind of beauty with a particularly gentle personality. However, when they actually met, Zhu Yingning was far from her imagination.
She couldn't be considered pretty, her clothes were even simple and a bit rustic, her face was completely unmade up, and there was no scent of sunscreen, just a bare face - the first impression was that she was ordinary in every aspect.
But after spending a few days together, she gradually understood why Xu Sirui said that.
Zhu Yingning possessed a unique aura: practical, sincere, reliable, and stable. As long as she was by her side, she felt like even if the sky fell, she could always find a way to mend it. It might sound insulting, but Chen Fei felt from the bottom of her heart that Zhu Yingning embodied her grandfather's aura: the sincerity and simplicity, the perseverance and integrity of the older generation.
She thought about it for a long time and found a poem that could describe her.
I am willing to be a servant to the children.
Since then, Chen Fei tried to reveal to Xu Sirui that Zhu Yingning seemed to be in need of a desk lamp.
He guessed based on the lack of lamps and asked, "Where are the desks and chairs?"
"It's okay. It works."
"Usable" means it's usable, but not very useful. After Xu Sirui finished interpreting it, he quickly sent a large amount of things over.
When she opened the package, Chen Fei was stunned. She'd thought Xu Sirui would just send a desk lamp, but what the hell was this?! A desk, an ergonomic chair... and he'd even bought one for her and Wen Wenxu. Wasn't this just a deliberate attempt to make her feel guilty, forcing her to continue her spy work out of guilt?
In this way, because of the short-term debt, Chen Fei had to continue to be an undercover agent for Xu Sirui.
Every time he went on a business trip with Zhu Yingning, Chen Fei would tell him in passing, down to the details of where they would be arriving on a certain day.
When they met Nong Dayun, she and Xu Sirui both put on a show of acting, pretending not to know Zhu Yingning. In order to give them some space to be alone, she even took the initiative to find an excuse to slip away.
As for this trip to Xu Sirui's studio, if she only had to face him, she believed that she could continue to maintain her acting skills and perform at the same level as last time. However, the reason she hesitated on this business trip was because of Zheng Boyu's failure.
Her senior brother was a simple-minded person, and everything was written on his face. If she told him the truth in advance and asked him to help with the disguise, he would definitely respond nicely, and then when Zhu Yingning arrived, he would give her a meaningful smile, with an expression that said, "So you are Zhu Yingning."
But if I don't tell him in advance, he will be exposed as gorgeously as today.
Chen Fei had thought about not going on the business trip at all, but when she thought about how she was the only one in their team who knew computers, and she was avoiding the business trip for such a small matter, she despised herself very much.
So I came here with a nervous attitude, thinking of giving it a try.
Then, as expected, Zheng Boyu revealed the truth with just one sentence.
After explaining the whole process, Chen Fei looked at Zhu Yingning with a dry laugh. Zhu Yingning looked at the busy road in front of him and sighed again.
"Captain, why do you keep sighing? Are you really not angry with me?" Shen Fei was frightened by her frequent sighs and began to reflect on herself again.
"I'm really not angry with you." Zhu Yingning turned his gaze back at her helplessly. After a moment of thinking, he softly said what he was thinking, "Chen Fei, I have decided not to cooperate with Xu Sirui. Let's find another game studio or company."
Shen Fei was stunned.
This result is even more terrifying than being angry with her. She hesitated and asked, "...So you are actually angry with Xu Sirui?"
"Not really." She was both amused and annoyed. "Where can I get so much anger from?"
"Then why are you suddenly not cooperating with them? Didn't we evaluate and find that they have the best conditions?"
"That's true, but..."
but.
But what?
She couldn't even explain the reason herself.
Because she did not make this decision from the perspective of a qualified businessman or negotiator. It was purely because after listening to Chen Fei's narration, she had a clearer premonition that Xu Sirui's step-by-step pressure today was, after all, just an act for her - pretending to be at ease, pretending to be a businessman who only cared about profits and not feelings.
However, he will definitely agree to cooperate in the end.
But it was not because he was interested in their development prospects, but because she was the one who made the request, and he was prepared to agree even if he was prepared to suffer losses.
And she didn't want to use this to embarrass him.
If she were a qualified village official, she shouldn't care at all whether Xu Sirui would be embarrassed or not. The only thing she had to do was to fight for the greatest rights and interests for her village. As for how much psychological pressure Xu Sirui would face after taking on this project, this should not be within her consideration.
But she couldn't do it.
He was the only selfish thought in her open, fair and selfless heart.
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The author has something to say: Today is also two-in-one
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