392 Not One Person is to Leave; I'll Treat Them!
Once he accepted the fact that eight thousand words was not much, Cui Geng edited the 8,439-word chapter and split it into four chapters. Then, he opened the authors' platform and uploaded them.
Don't ask why there was an additional two hundred words. He had just added a couple of sentences and improved the transition in the passage.
After he uploaded the last chapter, Cui Geng felt slightly sorrowful.
He had always uploaded whatever he had written immediately. There would be at least two hours between each chapter as well.
Yet, now, he had just uploaded four chapters at one shot. That was four times the happiness. He felt like a rush, like water coursing out of a dam.
Cui Geng found it hard to control his own excitement but hard to express it as well. Thus, after much thought, he only added one phrase at the end of his last chapter.
"D*mn!"
When he saw that his chapters had been published, Cui Geng felt relieved.
He was pleased!
He was satisfied!
He was relaxed!
Although he had been a stubborn no-show and he had bailed whenever he wanted, he would always feel disappointment when evening came around.
He had always had the feeling that the day had passed too quickly, and there had been no time to do anything. For some reason, he would feel empty and melancholic.
However, he did not have the same feeling today. He did not feel like he had lacked time because he had written over eight thousand words!
"Time to eat!
"Everyone has free time tonight. Those who want to return to the hotel can do so, and those who want to go out to play can do so as well."
Zhu Xingan closed off their day at work and gestured at the Fish-Catching Take-Out, which was placed neatly on the conference table.
One by one, they opened their white, porcelain bowls. The hot food emitted smoke and a delicious fragrance.
The writers sat down at the table and ate as they chatted. They had all eaten Fish-Catching Take-Out for lunch as well. Thus, Cui Geng had already felt emotional from being able to eat healthy and delicious take-out then.
Zhu Xingan distributed each person's meal to them at the conference table. For some reason, this scene made Cui Geng think about the oil painting of the last supper.
As the writers ate and chatted, they talked about how many words they had written, how productive they had been, how their necks didn't hurt thanks to the good chairs, and the like.
Cui Geng had nothing in common with them. What he wanted most to say was that he had written over eight thousand words that day. However, at a place like that, it did not seem like something worth being so proud of. Instead, it was quite embarrassing.
In the midst of all the conversations going on around him, Cui Geng whipped out his cell phone to read the comments on his new chapters.
His cell phone's signal was not hindered here, but there was no Wi-Fi. Thus, everyone had to spend money on buying data.
Of course, even then, nobody spent all day on their cell phones playing games.
How could they when everyone else was busy typing away? Anyone who did that would feel guilty for sure.
What's more, they had not been forced to attend this class. If they had no interest in writing, there would be no point in forcing themselves to stay. Leaving sooner would be better than later. At home, they could do anything they wanted.
It was just like sending a student who hated studying in a study room. No matter how much he did not want to learn, his environment could force him to learn something. It would be much easier for one to study in a study room than in one's own hostel.
Cui Geng had to admit that… while he was a good slacker, he was also a good writer. A good number of people were keeping up with his novels.
A few minutes after he uploaded his new chapters, his readers posted comments.
"???"
"What am I seeing? Four chapters in a row?"
"Huh? I must have eaten too much today; I'm hallucinating!"
"Did the no-show eat the wrong medicines today? Not only did he upload four chapters in a row, but he also didn't ask for any votes!"
"He must have found a substitute writer!"
At that point, Cui Geng's heart was pounding.
D*mn it, he had been too eager to upload his chapters, and he had forgotten to ask for votes!
He had uploaded so many chapters without asking for any votes. It felt as bad as losing a hundred million dollars.
He continued reading.
"What does 'd*mn' mean? I don't think I've seen him end off chapters with this tone before."
"I guess the no-show has been kidnapped. The kidnappers must have forced him to write over eight thousand words. He's left us a clue at the end of the last chapter!"
"Kidnappers, these two votes are for you. If you see this comment, keep him for a few more days. Thank you!"
"You have a vote from me as well. Keep him for two more days!"
"Tentacled-Beast, if you've run into any problems in life, just let us know. Give us time to think of something. What would we do if your problems get resolved?"
"Is this real? No-show, if you've been kidnapped, blink! I'll thank the kidnappers!"
Cui Geng was speechless.
What do you mean you'll thank the kidnappers?!
Is that the kind of impression you have of me? Would kidnapping me be the only way to make me work hard to update my novels?
Am I that kind of person?
Eh? It does seem like it.
Ah, nevermind then.
On further thought, Cui Geng realized that had he not been trapped in a lockdown state on the computer in this class, he would not have written over eight thousand words in a single day.
Forget it, I won't bother about this for now.
I've written over eight thousand words today! Awesome!
I have to treat myself tonight!
Cui Geng wolfed down his red braised pork with a vengeance. Lowering his voice, he turned to his roommate beside him. "Brother, do you want to play tonight? I heard that there's a chain of internet cafes in Jingzhou called Fish-Catching Internet Cafe. The computer specifications are good, and so is the environment. We'll get a kick out of playing games there!"
His roommate shook his head. "I think I'll pass, Brother Cui. I'm going to go back to the room and write another chapter using my laptop. After that, I'll surf the net to prepare to write more tomorrow."
Cui Geng, "…"
For some reason, Cui Geng recalled his experience in university, when he roomed together with a nerd.
…
…
January 17th, Monday…
Pei Qian slept his fill and woke up naturally. Then, he rolled around, sat up, and rubbed his eyes.
"How annoying. It's Monday again. I have to go to work again.
"Hmm… for some reason, I feel like I have to do something. I just can't recall what it was.
"Forget it, I'll order some take-out and think while I eat."
Pei Qian whipped out his phone, ordered Fish-Catching Take-Out, and then checked his unread notifications.
Ma Yang, "Brother Qian, IOI is undergoing testing in the West! I heard that the figures are not bad. Quick, take a look!"
Oh?
Pei Qian immediately became alert.
He opened his browser and searched for news about 'Finger Games' and 'IOI testing'.
Finger Games' official website introduced IOI's merits in detail. One example was how IOI contained a professional battle network with automatic matching functions. The gamers' standards would be determined by their hidden skills values using the 'Elo rating system', and they would be sent to battle quickly. Friends playing together would be matched together, and the open ladder would also be released in the future.
Pei Qian searched for players' feedback on the forum. Although some people were complaining about bugs in the game—on the whole, people were still praising it.
Pei Qian did not read too many comments. Since his English was the standard of a fourth-grader, he thought that he probably would not understand a lot of it. Thus, he saved himself the effort.
He was more concerned about the related conversations taking place in the local forums.
Once IOI started being tested overseas, the news spread very quickly to China. Many local players were paying close attention to IOI as well. They had hopes that the game would start running tests in China and come up with Mandarin clients.
Some players even went to the United States to try the game out because they could not wait any longer.
After reading the news, Pei Qian had mixed feelings. Now, he was not sure if he should hope for IOI to become popular or fail…
Still, no matter what, the script was finally developing in the way that he imagined!
Before this, Pei Qian noticed that IOI had not been running tests in the United States and that it had been getting average feedback. He had been worried that IOI would fail.
Although IOI's failure would make ducks and drakes of Dream Realization Ventures' twenty million yuan investment, Tengda's GOG… would be in trouble.
Now, the plot was developing as he had imagined. IOI was becoming popular in the United States. That meant that it would only be a matter of time before the game became popular worldwide.
That meant that…
For now, he could relax with GOG!
Pei Qian did not have much System Funds left. Otherwise, he would have poured another huge sum of money into GOG.
After finishing his take-out, he prepared to go to the office to walk around and check on GOG's progress.
At that moment, he received another message from Huang Sibo: "Boss Pei, we've wrapped up the movie!"
Pei Qian paused. So quickly?
Oh, not really. On further thought, Pei Qian realized that the news was coming slightly later than he had expected. It was about time that they wrapped up filming.
This meant that all the camera work was complete. Although they would still have to edit the movie and finalize it, the production crew would normally split up at this point and bid their farewells.
Thus, most movies would hold their celebration feasts once filming was done. That was because it would be the last time that everyone would be present.
After reading the message, Pei Qian did not feel tired anymore. Didn't they have to eat to celebrate the end of filming?
Should they play in Jingzhou for a couple of days?
Everyone had traveled such a long way and worked so hard for the movie. As their boss, shouldn't Boss Pei give them a good treat?
He immediately typed his reply. "Not one person in the production crew is to leave yet! I'll treat them to a meal!"
