TNSFC – Chapter 23

Que Yining didn’t know that someone on the other end of the phone was hesitating to send her a message. After some data preparation and on-site investigation, Que Yining planned to borrow money from Papa Que first.

The amount needed for now wasn’t too large; after all, she didn’t plan to rent an office in the CBD right from the start. The initial R&D would take some time, and there was no need to rent in the central business district at the very beginning. Such places weren’t hard to find in Lu Su City; what she needed first was funding.

Que Yining didn’t formally express her thoughts face-to-face with Papa Que. Although she believed her acting skills were sufficient, when facing the original owner’s parents, she always felt an urge to shy away.

Que Yining specifically chose an evening when Papa Que wasn’t so busy to tell him her intentions.

Que Hanyi was lying on the bed in his room and was a little surprised to hear Que Yining’s words: “Ningning, why do you suddenly want to play around with a project? Are you planning to set up a studio? What kind of studio?”

Que Yining sat on a chair, her voice sweet and coquettish, but her expression showed no actual softness. She said, “It’s for games. I want to develop one myself for fun. I don’t need to borrow too much money, and I’ll definitely pay you back when I earn it.”

Que Hanyi’s voice turned serious: “Ningning, if you talk like that, Papa will be unhappy.”

Que Yining’s heart skipped a beat. Could it be that he didn’t like her saying she was taking money to “play around”?

The next moment, Que Hanyi burst out laughing: “Pay back what? Just ask Papa for it. Why talk about borrowing? What wouldn’t Papa give you if you asked?”

“I’ll give you ten million first. If it’s not enough, ask Papa for more. Go ahead and do it boldly. This is the first time our Ningning wants to do something big, so I must support it! Play however you want. If you don’t understand something, you can ask Papa. Although Papa doesn’t know much about games, you can also ask your Big Brother and Second Sister. They should know a little, right?”

Que Hanyi laughed happily, and that thick, undisguised fatherly love washed over Que Yining.

Que Yining dreaded such scenes the most because this love wasn’t for her; holding onto it felt exceptionally heavy.

Que Yining actually envied the original owner a little. If her parents were still alive, perhaps her life would have been different.

Unfortunately, there was no turning back. Que Yining reined in her thoughts and responded to him.

Que Hanyi: “By the way, Ningning, are you used to living outside? If not, just come home.”

Que Yining: “I know, Papa. I’m doing fine living outside.”

Que Hanyi rambled on: “That’s good then. If you need anything, just ask Papa. The most important thing is to be happy.”

After he finished that sentence, his voice suddenly became somewhat difficult to read emotionally: “By the way, Ningning, in a couple of days, Papa will be attending a charity auction. That Fu family boy will also be there. Do you want Papa to take you?”

Que Hanyi actually disliked Fu Wenjing and was even very prejudiced against him. Although he rationally knew Fu Wenjing was an outstanding person who hadn’t done anything heinous, his daughter was the apple of his eye, his precious darling whom he cherished. He doted on her at home, fearing she’d fall if he held her, or melt if he kept her in his mouth, yet she was disliked and detested outside. Even if Fu Wenjing wasn’t a bad person, he couldn’t reconcile himself to it.

But there was nothing he could do. He had tried to persuade her, but his daughter wouldn’t listen. She cried and insisted on that person. What could he do? He could only create some opportunities, hoping in his heart that Fu Wenjing would soon discover his daughter’s good qualities and marry her, or that his daughter would come to her senses and turn back from her misguided path.

Que Yining’s first reaction was not to go. She had no feelings for Fu Wenjing. But then she remembered: this was a book.

Because she didn’t know the plot, she wasn’t sure which events were part of the book and which weren’t.

Many things would happen around the protagonist, big and small. Not every trivial matter would be written down, but Que Yining felt that if the plot truly existed, then the female lead should always appear around the male lead.

Just like that night they went to dinner, Fu Wenjing was also there.

Just like the banquet that afternoon, Fu Wenjing was also there.

Que Yining thought for a moment and still refused.

Forget it. She had other ways to meet Gu Shanxue; she didn’t need to create such tightly orchestrated “coincidental” encounters every time.

Besides, she wasn’t worried about what kind of sparks might fly between the male and female leads without her knowledge. Que Yining was confident in her own charm. If someone she was interested in took the bait and developed feelings for her, they wouldn’t go for someone else’s lure.

If it was someone who could easily develop feelings for another person, then no matter how interested she was, she’d rather not have them.

Que Yining refused, and Que Hanyi on the other end was shocked.

“What? Did Papa hear correctly? Ningning, are you really not going?!”

Que Hanyi waved at his wife, quite excitedly saying, “Lanqing, come quickly! Our daughter seems to have changed her ways!”

You Lanqing, with a face mask on, glared at him and said, “What’s the matter? Making such a fuss.”

When Que Hanyi told her about it, You Lanqing even forgot about the mask on her face.

“Really? Quick, quick, put it on speaker.”

Thus, the topic of conversation between Que Yining and them shifted from borrowing money to discussing relationship issues.

Que Yining didn’t definitively say she would never like Fu Wenjing again, because she didn’t know if the original owner of her body would ever return. She didn’t make her words too absolute, merely saying she had temporarily come to terms with it.

Que Hanyi and You Lanqing were so happy they felt like setting off firecrackers. Having reached their current position in life, they didn’t have great ambitions or desires. They weren’t seeking to climb higher, just hoping to spend their later years peacefully and for their children to be happy. Hearing Que Yining say she had come to terms with it made them truly overjoyed.

They chatted like this for over half an hour before the other side reluctantly hung up the phone.

When Que Yining woke up the next morning, she saw many extra zeros in her bank account balance. She sent a thank-you message to Papa Que and went out.

Today, she needed to report to the driving school first and get her driver’s license.

Zhang Shiyu, on the other hand, was so busy outside that her feet barely touched the ground. Currently, she was Que Yining’s only secretary, juggling multiple roles. Two days later, she reported her progress to Que Yining.

Perhaps because she had been running around outside all day, Zhang Shiyu’s makeup had mostly worn off. She handed Que Yining the documents she had printed out.

“Boss, according to your requirements, preparations are underway to set up the studio. While scouting for talent, I came across a game studio on the verge of disbanding. I believe it has significant value, but the situation is a bit special. Look, the information is here.”

Que Yining took the paper documents and read through the information about that studio.

It was a small-scale game studio. The studio owner was also responsible for game programming, and including planners and others, there were only eight people—indeed a very small operation.

Zhang Shiyu: “The owner of this studio, as the person in charge, has released two games. One of them had a relatively good reputation, but the second one showed serious signs of trend-following and imitation, and was even somewhat shoddily made.”

“The situation is like this…”

Zhang Shiyu explained everything she had learned. The person in charge was quite talented and very serious and meticulous about his games. The first game went through a long preparation period before officially entering the market. However, due to insufficient funding, it couldn’t gain widespread recognition. But because the game was made with care, it was still promoted within a small circle.

A company saw the potential of their studio, so they signed them and invested heavily in promoting that game, increasing their visibility.

However, they couldn’t rely on one game forever, so the company required their studio to conduct further R&D and start working on new games.

The person in charge progressed very slowly. All proposed ideas were rejected by him; he wanted his games to be meticulously crafted products. This attitude dissatisfied the company, so they demoted him from his leadership position to an ordinary programmer, and someone from their own company took over as the main leader of the game studio.

The resulting game was terrible, clearly just a cash grab. It was neither well-made nor bug-free, and it plagiarized ideas from other games. Players who came because of the previous game left disappointed and even criticized it on game forums, which made the original person in charge very upset.

Zhang Shiyu: “The studio head is preparing to resign, and a few others are also planning to leave. However, that company offered higher salaries and managed to retain the others. In the end, only two people intend to leave.”

Zhang Shiyu pointed to the documents, indicating who the second person was.

Zhang Shiyu pushed up her glasses and continued, “The reason I said this studio is on the verge of disbanding is because I think the core lies with this person. Boss, as long as we can poach him, I believe the prototype of our studio will be established.”

Zhang Shiyu hesitated here, “It’s just that…”

Que Yining looked at her: “Speak plainly.”

Zhang Shiyu: “But this person might be really meticulous, to the point of being slow. With constant polishing, efficiency might be very low. It took him three years to release that game…”

It took three years to produce one good product. And although that game was good, the revenue it generated probably wasn’t particularly high, at least not compared to other industries. For Zhang Shiyu, who specialized in other areas, three years was a very long time. It was unknown how much they would lose in the early stages, and it might not be cost-effective.

Que Yining’s lips curved slightly: “I’m not afraid of him taking his time. I have a plan. As long as he’s outstanding enough, we’ll poach him.”

Que Yining naturally had her ways of managing subordinates. If this person’s abilities were indeed excellent, then she wouldn’t mind him polishing some details—of course, they had to be crucial details.

Zhang Shiyu put away the documents: “Okay, I’ll contact him right away.”

As Zhang Shiyu was about to leave, Que Yining stopped her.

“This is for you,” Que Yining took out a small blue tin from the drawer. “Apply some. Look how chapped your lips are. Make sure to rest. Although efficiency is important, your health is also important.”

Que Yining had noticed Zhang Shiyu’s chapped lips when she came in. It was common in winter, and if not taken care of, it could be quite uncomfortable.

“Thank you, Boss!”

The fatigue from Zhang Shiyu’s several days of running around suddenly dissipated somewhat. Her spirits lifted, and she left, touched, with the item.

There was progress with the studio, and there was also progress with the venue Que Yining was looking at.

She had found a building specifically for office rentals. It was conveniently located near a subway entrance. There were two floors of offices, on the ninth and tenth floors, that someone was preparing to sublet. She had contacted them immediately and given them her offer.

Because of its good transportation links, many people should have inquired about that place. However, since the owner was renting out both floors together and didn’t allow them to be split, it reduced some of her competition. Judging from the other party’s attitude, her offer was likely the highest among those who had contacted them so far.

Two floors of office space—Que Yining wasn’t afraid of it being too big. She wasn’t just thinking about the game market.

Hidden beneath a beautiful exterior was the greedy heart of an ambitious capitalist. Que Yining had rich experience from her previous life and was far from satisfied with just a small piece of the cake.

When Que Yining arrived, the person in charge was a tall, thin man in his 30s, wearing a suit. He invited her into the office and poured her a cup of tea.

The man’s attitude was very enthusiastic, but there was something else hidden within that enthusiasm. As soon as he spoke, Que Yining knew what was going on.

“Miss Que, your offer is currently the most suitable. However, two hours ago, someone else contacted me, and their price might be slightly higher than yours, so…”

Que Yining understood. She knew what he meant and said, “I understand. I wasn’t fully prepared to secure it for sure anyway. But you probably haven’t made a decision yet, have you?”

Que Yining was sure he wasn’t trying to rush her off. His tone suggested that the competitor’s offer wasn’t necessarily much higher than hers. This person in charge of subletting just wanted to see which of the two parties would offer a higher price; perhaps he even hoped they would get into a bidding war, as that would be most advantageous for him.

“Of course not. I think both of you are very suitable tenants, so it’s a bit difficult to choose right now. I still need to think about it carefully.”

Que Yining: “Fair enough. I can add this much.”

Que Yining made a “five” gesture with her hand. She could add another fifty thousand. This was the mid-range of her estimated value for this place. She still had some leeway in her mind and could add more, but if it exceeded the number she had in mind, she would feel it wasn’t worth it and would rather look elsewhere.

The man smiled: “We’ve felt your sincerity. I will talk to the other party again and give you a final answer.”

Que Yining knew that this amount should be slightly higher than the other party’s offer. If the other party raised their bid again, her cost would be even higher.

The middle-aged man’s phone rang, and he quickly answered it.

“You’ve arrived? Good, I see you now.”

The middle-aged man looked at Que Yining and suggested, “Why don’t you sit for a while longer? The other interested tenant has also arrived. Perhaps we can quickly discuss and reach a result.”

Que Yining knew what he was up to. She nodded and sat still, waiting for the competitor who would soon enter.

Hopefully, the other party wasn’t a fool. If they insisted on a price exceeding her final offer, she would have no choice but to look elsewhere.

A few minutes later, the office door was pushed open again. Que Yining turned her head and saw someone whose appearance had recently brought her joy.

Que Yining didn’t know whether to be happy or unhappy. The other party wasn’t a fool; on the contrary, she was a smart person.

Of all people to come and compete for the place, it had to be Gu Shanxue.

---

I’m looking for suggestions and recommendations on compelling novels that would be great candidates for translation, any genre, or era are welcome!