Chapter 1 The Computer

That computer was right next to Zhu Xing'an's, so everyone could see the screen with a glance. It was under everyone's watchful eyes.

Cui Geng had noticed it before. There was indeed an empty computer in the room, but at that time, he thought it was an extra and didn't think much about it.

Now he understood, that's what it was for!

You could watch movies and play games on that computer, but that also meant operating under the noses of the editor-in-chief and all the other authors.

Binge-watching dramas?

Think too much!

With so many people watching, how could you have the nerve to hog the computer for yourself to binge-watch dramas or movies? It was for all the authors to share, and others needed it to collect materials!

Cui Geng originally wanted to say that one computer wasn't enough, and he hoped Zhu Xing'an would prepare two more.

But then he thought about it, and he didn't even believe himself.

Because eighty or ninety percent of the information could be found on his own computer.

The code-writing software's small dark room mode also came with a Baidu search engine and a web browser, but it couldn't play videos, download software, and some websites and forums were blocked, such as Infinite Chinese Network, Starting Point Chinese Network, Tieba, Weibo, and the like.

So, it was impossible to read novels or browse forums all day in the small dark room.

Just the search function could solve eighty or ninety percent of the research needs.

And in individual cases, if he wanted to get material from a movie, he only needed to download the movie on the computer next to Zhu Xing'an and drag the progress bar to watch the section he needed. It wouldn't take much time.

Moreover, as a shared resource, most people wouldn't be embarrassed to occupy this computer for a long time, so everyone's usage efficiency would be very high.

So, sharing this one computer was no problem and wouldn't delay things.

But for Cui Geng, whose essence was to slack off, this was very painful!

He sat down silently, recalling the agreement he had signed before.

No wonder the agreement only stipulated working hours and didn't stipulate the number of words to be produced at all!

Ma Yiqun's meaning was very clear: you have writer's block for a day, and you haven't written a single word, it doesn't matter, we don't care. As long as you can face the wall in the small dark room for a whole day without collapsing, that's fine.

Cui Geng was speechless.

He had been tricked! Bamboozled!

Cui Geng instinctively wanted to leave. Tearing up the contract would at most mean he couldn't enjoy those benefits anymore, and there was no penalty for breach of contract.

Being locked up like this for a month would be too much to bear.

But then he thought about it and felt it was inappropriate.

He had come all the way to Jingzhou, and was he going to run back in disgrace for this reason?

When the news spread among his friends, other authors, and his reader group, what would everyone think?

The other authors in the training class were all seriously coding, and he was the only one who deserted on the first day...

It wouldn't sound good!

After weighing the pros and cons, Cui Geng calmed down a little and decided to wait and see. Even if he wanted to leave, he had to symbolically persevere for two days.

Moreover, he had asked for leave yesterday and hadn't updated today, so he really should update a chapter or two to perfunctorily appease his readers.

After much deliberation, Cui Geng sighed softly and reluctantly prepared to start coding.

...

...

In the office, Pei Qian was flipping through his notes while considering his recent work.

On the side of the shared phone booths, the phone booths commissioned for production these two days should all be delivered, and they would be erected in major shopping malls in Jingzhou one after another.

After the weekend, Pei Qian planned to visit the major shopping malls to see the situation of these phone booths.

Although, judging from the last situation, this thing was completely ignored, but it's better to be safe than sorry, who knows if it will suddenly turn over?

He still couldn't relax his vigilance.

As for Shared Top Student, he had already arranged for He Desheng to handle it. There were now many companies specializing in the production of educational software, so he could just contact one at random and ask them to help make a simple app first, it shouldn't be too troublesome.

However, it wouldn't cost much money to make a simple app.

Pei Qian planned to spend more money on publicity at that time, running advertisements, distributing flyers, and appropriately sending out red envelopes to subsidize it, which would easily burn a lot of money.

And then there was... he didn't know how Li's "Mingfu Family Banquet" was doing.

Pei Qian especially hoped that this high-end restaurant could quickly make a name for itself and effectively divert some of Ming Yun Private Kitchen's customers, so that Ming Yun Private Kitchen would no longer make so much money.

Pei Qian and Li had each other's contact information, but Pei Qian had been too lazy to contact him before, so the few times the two met were all chance encounters at Touching Fish Internet Cafe.

But this time, Pei Qian couldn't help but want to call Li Shi.

Soon, the phone was connected.

"Hello? Mr. Li, oh, it's nothing, I'm just calling to chat. Oh, right, I wanted to ask, how is the situation at Mingfu Family Banquet? Is it too popular, so you've been very busy recently?"

Pei Qian's attitude was sincere and full of anticipation.

Li's helpless and tired voice came from the other end of the phone: "President Pei, please don't make fun of me."

"You have such good connections, how could you not know about this?"

"There were problems on the second day of opening, and many of the first batch of customers were dissatisfied. Although there were discounts and free orders, it still had some impact after all."

"In the past few days, I can only say that I'm trying my best to eliminate this impact..."

Pei Qian was stunned.

Problems?

That shouldn't be possible. Mr. Li and the others should have hired experienced chefs. Even if they couldn't reach the level of Ming Yun Private Kitchen, they shouldn't have "problems," right?

Suddenly, Pei Qian thought of something.

He had taken Xiao Tang to the last gathering!

At that time, everyone was happily eating and didn't notice any strange effects, so Pei Qian instinctively ignored it.

Now it seemed that the impact had all occurred in the kitchen!

What a mess.

Pei Qian suddenly felt that he was very sorry for Mr. Li. He had said that he was going to support him, but he accidentally injured him!

Pei Qian hurriedly asked, "Is the impact serious?"

On the other end of the phone, Mr. Li smiled politely: "It's not serious, they're all small problems."

"The quality of the restaurant is there, so it won't lose money, but it's impossible to become popular in the short term."

"Looking back, I didn't know there were so many tricks to opening a restaurant until I opened one."

"I originally thought that as long as there was enough money to open a high-end restaurant, but now I know that I was thinking too simply."

"President Pei, you've always acted so calm and relaxed, as if opening a high-end restaurant is a very easy thing. It seems that this is all a smokescreen, a trick."

Pei Qian: "...?"

What did I do to deserve this?

I really didn't manage Ming Yun Private Kitchen much when it opened. Anyway, it became popular inexplicably, and I was also very innocent!

How did it seem like I misled you!

Pei Qian thought for a while and said, "Mr. Li, please be patient. I think opening a high-end restaurant is a technical job that requires a certain amount of experience. Mingfu Family Banquet lacks a little bit of experience, this is only temporary, and it will definitely get better."

"How about this, I'll book the place again next week to take care of your business!"

Pei Qian thought about it, and didn't have a better way to compensate. He couldn't tell Li that the bad start of Mingfu Family Banquet was all because of one of his employees, right?

How could metaphysical things be discussed in public!

He could only take his employees to eat a few more meals to make up for it a little.

Of course, he definitely couldn't take Xiao Tang this time. If Mingfu Family Banquet closed down, it wouldn't do President Pei any good either.

And he couldn't bring those people who had a meal this week, frequent meals in the same department, the system wouldn't allow it.

This time, he would change to another department, such as Flying Yellow Studio or Upwind Logistics.

This was the benefit of having many people in the company, he could rotate different departments!

Pei Qian couldn't help but let his thoughts run wild: If he could develop to more than 30 departments in the future, based on the principle of one company meal per month, wouldn't he be able to eat big meals every day?

Well, it sounded pretty good...

Mr. Li on the other end of the phone was silent for a moment before saying with some emotion, "Thank you, President Pei."

"I had some small misunderstandings about you before because you didn't cooperate with us to open a restaurant."

"Now I understand that business is business, and personal friendship is personal friendship. President Pei is very clear about it."

"In short, I will definitely remember this kindness! If there is a chance in the future, I will definitely repay it!"

Pei Qian: "?"

Please don't overthink it, I'm just going to have a meal and spend some money!

Even if I don't go to your restaurant, I will go to Swan Lake Restaurant, it's not because of our friendship, it's just because your place happens to be more expensive!

Moreover, we don't have any friendship, don't get the wrong idea!

Ten thousand alpacas ran wildly through Pei Qian's heart, but he couldn't express these inner thoughts and could only hold them in his chest, almost making him want to hiccup.

"Mr. Li, it's just a meal, you really don't have to take it too seriously. If you really want to thank me, open Mingfu Family Banquet well, make it popular, and surpass Ming Yun Private Kitchen as soon as possible!"

Pei Qian said earnestly.

Li Shi: "Hehe."

"President Pei, I'm busy first, you are welcome to come anytime."

After hanging up the phone, Pei Qian was very melancholy.

Unexpectedly, he had good intentions, taking everyone to eat to support them, but inadvertently injured a friendly force, causing the situation at Mingfu Family Banquet to be not optimistic.

Really, everything was going wrong!

It was very uncomfortable, but seeing that it was already Friday afternoon, there was nothing he could do.

"I must do something next week to reverse the decline!"

"Also, next Monday, I must remember to check the situation of the shared phone booths."

Pei Qian recited it a few times to deepen his memory, and then continued to read and review.

...

6 p.m.

A melodious ringtone sounded.

However, the dense sound of mechanical keyboards still showed no signs of stopping. Many authors were still intently staring at the screen, their hands frantically typing on the keyboard.

Zhu Xing'an stood up and clapped his hands: "Okay, it's time to get off work, everyone hurry up and finish up. The power will automatically turn off in ten minutes."

"Please arrange your time tomorrow, it's best to stop everything at 6 o'clock."

Cui Geng, who was sitting in the innermost part, let out a long sigh and leaned back in his ergonomic chair, stretching.

He glanced at the number of words displayed on the screen.

8177 words.

Cui Geng silently exclaimed, I didn't expect that as a pigeon, I could achieve a daily update of 8,000 words in my lifetime!

Although he could check the number of words he had written in real time, and Cui Geng had long expected this number, he still felt a little unbelievable at this time.

Because he felt that his efficiency today was quite low.

Not being able to open web pages, watch videos, or play games made him feel uncomfortable all over.

Moreover, although the chairs and tables were very comfortable, the display was very large, and the keyboard was also very easy to use, it was not his familiar environment after all, so his state would naturally be affected to a certain extent.

He also had writer's block for a while in the middle.

If he were in this state at home, Cui Geng felt that he would at most write 4,000 words, which would already be very good.

As a result, he actually coded 8,000 words here!

Cui Geng felt very proud and wanted to shout: Is there anyone else???

Just then, two authors sitting across from him stood up.

"I feel that coding together in this place really improves efficiency!"

"How much did you write?"

"Just reached 10,000, how about you?"

"13,000."

"Awesome!"

"Hey, no, no, I feel like I can improve even more."

Cui Geng: "..."

He could only silently bury the words he wanted to show off in his heart.