Chapter 1 The Special Observer

January 28th, Friday.

Cui Geng arrived at the Shenhua Grand View building's 17th floor, the location of Tenda Games' offices, with some trepidation.

His current position was "Special Observer."

CEO Pei had granted him considerable authority:

As a "Special Observer," Cui Geng had free access to any department within Tenda, and no department head could obstruct him.

He could create his own work plan without reporting to anyone.

His salary and benefits were fully aligned with those of regular employees.

When he made requests, all departments were required to cooperate unconditionally.

This kind of authority reminded Cui Geng of the imperial envoys in the corrupt old society, wielding the sword of command. Just hearing about it made him want to show off.

However, while this authority seemed appealing, what was it actually like?

Cui Geng wasn't sure himself.

On one hand, he didn't know what he had done to deserve such importance in CEO Pei's eyes, being granted such a significant position.

On the other hand, he worried that he, as a "Special Observer," would face ostracism in various departments.

Like an imperial envoy arriving in various regions, local officials might be polite on the surface, but they would undoubtedly harbor some reservations.

Take the game department he was visiting today, for example.

Tenda's game department was the oldest business unit in the Tenda Group. Although the head of the department had changed several times, it remained powerful within the Tenda Group.

Moreover, there were several veteran employees in the department who had been with Tenda since its early days and were very familiar with CEO Pei.

Furthermore, Tenda's game department was currently the most profitable and well-regarded business unit, responsible for nurturing talent for other departments.

The people in the game department must all have a high opinion of themselves, right?

Now, suddenly, a "Special Observer" had arrived, not under anyone's control, offering no help, and yet others had to cooperate unconditionally with any requests.

Would they put on a good face?

Therefore, Cui Geng was very apprehensive and instinctively wanted to back out.

However, remembering that he had an important mission to complete his book, *Butterfly Game*, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and go in.

The layout of the 17th floor was very similar to that of the 16th floor, but the employees here were noticeably more enthusiastic about their work.

The 16th floor mainly housed departments like HR, administration, and finance. Apart from finance being slightly busy, HR and administration were relatively idle, so the overall atmosphere was relaxed, with many people watching dramas or sleeping.

The game department on the 17th floor was currently responsible for the development of gog. It had just launched its internal testing this week, and there were plenty of bugs to fix.

As a result, everyone on this floor was extremely busy, and no one even looked up at Cui Geng.

Li Yada had already stood up to greet him.

"You're Cui Geng, right? Hello, my name is Li Yada, and I'm currently the head of the game department."

Li Yada shook hands with Cui Geng and led him to the workstation next to hers.

This workstation had been vacant since Ruan Guangjian left, making it perfect for Cui Geng to use.

The atmosphere of exclusion and resistance that Cui Geng had imagined didn't materialize. It seemed that the people in the game department welcomed him, the "Special Observer," quite warmly.

Of course, it could all be a facade.

After sitting down at his workstation, Cui Geng felt that he had to set some things straight: "Regarding the duties of my position, I've already mentioned it before. I hope everyone can cooperate with me a little when I'm gathering material..."

Before Cui Geng could finish, Li Yada nodded and smiled: "Of course, everyone must cooperate unconditionally with the 'Special Observer'’s work."

"Don't worry, all departments within Tenda are fraternal departments. Since the 'Special Observer' is a position established by CEO Pei, it must be of great significance to the entire company. All departments will do their best to cooperate."

Hearing Li Yada's statement, Cui Geng felt much more at ease.

It seemed that his previous worries about the various departments not cooperating were completely unfounded!

Under the unification of the Tenda spirit, the various departments of the Tenda Group had long been united, forming a healthy competitive relationship to some extent. There was no infighting between departments.

Moreover, in the Tenda Group, CEO Pei's will was the highest standard. Even if an outsider parachuted in, as long as CEO Pei appointed them, the various departments would have the utmost trust in them.

Cui Geng couldn't help but sigh at CEO Pei's skillful management.

Leaving aside his business acumen, just this kind of managerial talent was beyond comparison for ordinary entrepreneurs.

This atmosphere also infected Cui Geng, filling him with fighting spirit.

"Then you go ahead and work. I'll sort out my thoughts a little before I start gathering material," Cui Geng said.

Li Yada smiled and nodded: "Okay, I've already arranged for a veteran employee to answer your questions. He was already here during Tenda's first recruitment and can be called a 'living fossil.' You can ask him anything you want."

Cui Geng opened his computer, intending to use the morning to finish updating his old book and roughly outline the framework for his new book. Then, in the afternoon, he would talk to this 'living fossil' named Bao Xu about the past and present of Tenda Games.

"The mission is arduous, so I must seize the time."

"According to the previous plan, if I want to publish the book during the Spring Festival, I have to finish my old book in the next few days. At the same time, I have to hurry up and build the framework of the new book. At least the basic settings and the outline of the first 100,000 words must be very complete, otherwise there will definitely be hidden dangers, and the possibility of the story collapsing midway will greatly increase."

"After the computer turns on, just create a new document and get started."

Cui Geng had already decided that he must not look at the computer configuration, otherwise, after seeing the configuration, he would definitely be tempted to play games.

The computer booted up quickly.

Cui Geng was just about to right-click on the desktop to create a new document when he suddenly froze.

The desktop was almost completely covered with game icons.

All kinds of games on the market, both single-player and online games, were available!

With a casual glance, Cui Geng saw several large games that he had always wanted to play, but couldn't because his computer couldn't handle them.

Cui Geng: "...Damn it!"

Isn't this creating obstacles for my work?

With so many temptations blatantly displayed on the desktop, who wouldn't be tempted?

Cui Geng was instantly alert: "Could it be that this is a trap deliberately set by Li Yada and the others? Are they deliberately targeting me?"

He looked suspiciously at Li Yada's desktop.

Then, to his surprise, he found that Li Yada's desktop also had a large number of game icons!

However, Li Yada could completely ignore these game icons, open documents, and modify them diligently, completely unaffected.

"I've been thinking too much!"

Cui Geng couldn't help but feel ashamed. It seemed that all Tenda employees were practitioners of the Tenda spirit.

They had achieved a perfect combination of entertainment, rest, and work. When it was time to work, they were not moved by so many games, even when they were right in front of them!

"It seems that my mental state is not up to par."

Cui Geng seemed to be infected by the Tenda spirit. He didn't dwell on the many games on the desktop anymore, but instead opened a new document and started his work.

Cui Geng typed on the keyboard, making crisp sounds that quickly merged with the sounds of keyboards throughout the office area, blending in perfectly.

In the afternoon, Cui Geng went to Bao Xu's workstation to ask him about the interesting and strange stories from the early days of Tenda Games.

Bao Xu looked reminiscent: "This matter, it's a long story. Back then, I was just an internet addict in an internet cafe..."

...

...

Chapter 2 Zero Overtime Competition

January 29th, Saturday.

Today was a work shift, and it was also the last day of work before the Spring Festival.

The Spring Festival in 2011 was on February 3rd, and the statutory holiday started on February 2nd.

But considering the problem of buying tickets, Pei Qian decided to give an extra day off on February 1st and adjust the working day of the 31st to the 29th.

This way, they could start their holiday three days earlier than other companies.

Similar adjustments were not without limitations. For example, Pei Qian couldn't change the daily working hours to two days of work and five days of rest. But within the framework of statutory holidays, making adjustments of two or three days was no problem.

Although it was the last day, there were many tasks to be done today.

The first evaluation of the Zero Overtime Competition and the Best Employee Award for February 1st would both be held today.

After completing these two evaluations in the morning, everyone could leave work and go home for the New Year.

During this period, the few tasks of the administrative and human resources departments were to prepare for these two evaluations.

The heads of various departments and key employees had all rushed to the hotel venue near Shenhua Grand View, filling the seats in the venue.

Although it couldn't compare to the scale of the annual meeting, it was already very lively.

The tables were filled with fruit and dried fruit platters, as well as various candies and chocolates, similar to what you would find on the table at home for the New Year. However, both the dried fruit and the candy were much more expensive.

Everyone cracked sunflower seeds, ate candy, drank tea, and waited for the evaluation on the big screen.

Li Yada watched the screen in front of the venue with interest and said softly: "The Best Employee Award is getting more and more formal. In the past, we just voted online, and CEO Pei would give out the awards, and that was it. This time, they even set up a special venue."

Bao Xu, sitting next to her, didn't say a word, but just cracked sunflower seeds with his head down, looking unwell.

It was almost time, and everyone had arrived.

Xin Hailu came to the big screen, said a few simple words, and then directly entered the first evaluation of the Zero Overtime Competition.

The big screen began to flash the overtime hours, number of overtime workers, and other data from various departments.

Li Yada peeled an orange, completely uninterested in the content on the big screen: "Our department definitely doesn't have a chance. We had a tight schedule this year and worked overtime several times. We'll try harder next time."

Bao Xu still cracked sunflower seeds with his head down, not wanting to express any opinions.