TNSFC – Chapter 58

Que Yining browsed through the information, her eyebrows arching higher and higher.

The information Lin Zhen provided was arranged chronologically and included some audio recordings made during their inquiries.

The woman was named Jiao Shanyue, a student Hou Manni had once sponsored.

She had come from a mountainous region and, with Hou Manni’s help, attended high school and then university in Lu Su.

She and Que Chuling were high school classmates and also university classmates. They had a very good relationship, and the file included an old photo of them together.

In the photo, Jiao Shanyue looked quite pretty, with bright, sparkling eyes and an air of youthful innocence.

At that time, Que Chuling still had long hair and was smiling brightly, arm in arm with Jiao Shanyue—a stark contrast to her current cold demeanor.

After graduating, Jiao Shanyue went to work at Hou Manni’s perfume company.

A few years later, Hou Manni’s father was subjected to disciplinary investigation, her company subsequently went bankrupt, and Jiao Shanyue disappeared.

There was a large gap in the timeline, but according to audio recordings in the file, Jiao Shanyue had remained in contact with her family during those years.

After Hou Manni’s father was investigated, Jiao Shanyue’s whereabouts became known again.

She was pregnant, and the villa she frequented was registered under Que Linyang’s name.

There was no doubt whose child she was carrying. Que Yining considered the timeline and found it intriguing.

However, she miscarried that same year.

The cause of the miscarriage was an accidental slip. Lin Zhen had placed a large question mark after this reason, indicating doubt.

Que Yining scrolled down, but the information ended there.

The year after the miscarriage, Jiao Shanyue died.

The cause of death was a car accident. Hou Manni was in the car with her.

Que Yining sorted out the relationships between the three: Que Chuling and Jiao Shanyue were good friends. Pinpointing the time Que Chuling changed, it coincided with the year Jiao Shanyue was pregnant.

Hou Manni was Jiao Shanyue’s sponsor, yet Jiao Shanyue ended up wrecking her family.

Jiao Shanyue became Que Linyang’s mistress and ultimately died in a car with Hou Manni.

Que Chuling is Que Linyang’s sister and is currently in a romantic relationship with Hou Manni.

Que Yining closed the file. The more she thought about it, the more intriguing it seemed.

Just then, Lin Zhen sent another message, asking if she wanted to investigate the truth behind Jiao Shanyue’s death. However, it would likely be time-consuming, laborious, potentially alert their targets, and cost extra. Que Yining declined.

She had no interest in the messy relationships between Que Linyang and the others. She only wanted to know if Que Chuling and Que Linyang were on the same side, but based on the current information, it was difficult to judge.

Given these emotional entanglements, on an emotional level, Que Linyang and Que Chuling wouldn’t be on the same side. However, with Hou Manni in the picture, it was hard to say. Human emotions were sometimes so complex they were difficult to decipher; even with old grudges, people might firmly stand together for the sake of benefits.

However, this could serve as a breakthrough point. She could try to contact Hou Manni or Que Chuling later.

She listed the existing clues on a piece of paper. After clarifying all her thoughts, she lit the paper and watched it turn to ash in the ashtray.

Once her mind was clear, Que Yining leaned back in her executive chair, her eyes lowered. Thoughts of Gu Shanxue couldn’t help but surface.

She thought it was time to find an opportunity to meet Gu Shanxue. But how should she present herself? What kind of appearance would strike Gu Shanxue the most?

Unfortunately, before Que Yining could find this opportunity, Gu Shanxue went abroad.

Que Yining knew Gu Shanxue had her own affairs to attend to. Through utilizing the forces under Gu Shanxue’s command, Que Yining had already gained some insight into what Gu Shanxue was doing.

Therefore, she also knew that her current personal power couldn’t be of much help, so she could only work harder to be qualified to stand shoulder to shoulder with Gu Shanxue.

Que Yining reined in her thoughts and threw herself into her work.

After a month of frantic work at the studio, the first version of the game was ready. Que Yining raised her hand, intending to start internal testing.

The planning team was somewhat hesitant, wondering if it was too rushed. They wanted to perfect the game more before releasing it.

“No, we’ll do internal testing first to gather player feedback. We can make timely adjustments and continuous improvements. Release the experience server first. The publicity team will proceed according to the plan. I’m already applying for the publication number.”

Que Yining tapped the desk and made her decision.

Everyone nodded in agreement and immediately began to execute the plan.

Galaxy Watch was a new mobile game that quickly became known due to its promotion on major game stores and marketing campaigns across various social media platforms.

Its novel 4v4v4 battle mode attracted a large number of players.

Chu Meng was the undisputed top female streamer in the game section of Orange Live. She primarily played MOBA games and, upon seeing the promotion, downloaded the game out of curiosity.

“Some people had DMed me before, saying I should try this new game. Quite a few people mentioned it, which made me quite interested, so I tried to grab an internal test spot. Unexpectedly, I got one! Let’s download the game now and check it out. I’m quite curious about the description.”

Chu Meng’s face was full of curiosity. As a game enthusiast, she was always curious about every new game that came out.

【I got into the internal test too! It’s really fun! This game will definitely be a hit!】

【I’ve seen the promotion many times but haven’t downloaded it. I’ll watch Mengmeng play and see if it’s fun before I download it, hehe!】

【Looks like sponsored content. Stop pretending to be innocent.】

【What kind of troll is this now? If Mengmeng was doing sponsored content, would she not tell us? The entire Orange Entertainment is just a plaything for our Mengmeng, funded by a beautiful CEO. Who are you to be sour?】

The bullet comments scrolled by quickly, and the originally peaceful atmosphere became somewhat chaotic due to a fan-hater war.

A sudden sound attracted everyone’s attention. Chu Meng watched as the chat moderators handled the situation and then smiled at the camera.

“Don’t get angry over people who aren’t worth it. While we wait for the download, let’s watch the promotional CG.”

A vast and majestic cosmic galaxy, a grand BGM casting a somber tone over the background. Lines of text appeared with each frame, carrying the scent of blood and war.

After the explosion of Blue Star, humanity migrated. After several years of turmoil, humans were divided into two major factions: the Empire and the Federation. At the same time, they shared a common enemy: the Zerg.

In the year 773 of the Galactic Era, a mysterious substance infiltrated from the outside, encroaching upon everyone’s living space. Both humans and Zerg would have to fight to the death for survival, to watch over the galaxy.

Game characters flashed by: a beautiful and formidable Empire Admiral, a dignified Federation General, mutants, robots, Zerg… The graphics were so exquisite they resembled a high-quality anime.

At the end of the sequence, four large characters appeared: Galaxy Watch.

【Suddenly, I want to ask this company to make an anime!】

【The trailer is so hype! I think I understand what 4v4v4 means now!】

“The game has finished downloading. Let’s check it out. It feels a bit complex.”

Chu Meng clicked into the game, registered an ID, and followed the newbie tutorial.

Just as the introduction said, humans and Zerg needed to fight for territory; combat was inevitable.

Before the game started, players could freely choose their faction—Empire, Federation, or Zerg. After selection, they would enter matchmaking. Upon entering the game, they could choose a character from that faction and then start playing.

“It still seems to have elements of a MOBA game, but it’s also a bit different. It’s more strategic. However, these health points are a bit strange.”

Chu Meng explored with great interest. She didn’t choose humans but opted for the Zerg, selecting a winged female Zerg named Ling.

The game map wasn’t symmetrical; it was triangular and featured teleportation arrays. Development methods included devouring dark matter and killing enemy factions. Victory was achieved by capturing the central Galaxy Crystal, but to reach the center, one had to break through the other two factions.

【Humans can revive three times, why do Zerg only have one life? Isn’t playing Zerg a huge disadvantage?】

Chu Meng didn’t quite understand either, but soon, she found out why.

Because it was her first time playing, she was maneuvering her unskilled little Zerg through the grass when she was killed by an Empire Admiral. However, after being eliminated, she didn’t exit the game. Instead, she parasitized the Admiral, providing vision of their faction for her teammates.

“You can play like this? Since I’ve parasitized, can I revive too?”

Chu Meng said with keen interest. With the combination of her vision and typed communication, her teammates successfully ambushed and killed the Admiral three times. The nimble little Zerg floated down to the ground, completing its revival.

In the end, by relying on parasitic vision, Chu Meng’s Zerg faction broke through the human faction and seized victory.

This match lasted a full forty-five minutes, but the exquisite in-game backgrounds and character models, along with the complex and interesting mode, made Chu Meng not feel tired at all.

She immediately went to watch other people’s gameplay videos and discovered that even though the game was in its early stages, people had already developed several strategies. Among them were players with fluid movement and exceptional skills playing a “Galaxy Sword” warrior, achieving a one-versus-five kill streak and becoming legendary in one battle. There were also those who used cunning strategies like forming alliances and then betraying them to make a comeback from a losing position.

Watching the number of viewers in her stream steadily increase, Chu Meng had a premonition: this game was bound to explode in popularity.

In the studio, everyone had a dazed smile on their face. When they made eye contact while passing each other, they would suddenly chuckle.

The fruit of their months of hard work had received positive reviews right from its launch. User activity was very high, and it was still only the internal test version. It would surely be even more exciting when the open beta arrived.

Xie Yanhuai excitedly pounded the wall outside Que Yining’s office. When he saw Que Yining, he almost couldn’t resist picking her up and spinning her around. But remembering she was the boss, he managed to restrain himself, though the smile on his face couldn’t be hidden.

“Boss! Success! A huge success! I knew this game would be popular!”

Xie Yanhuai had truly poured his heart and soul into this game, working diligently. He was thrilled to have participated in its creation and knew that the game’s existence was all thanks to the boss standing before him.

If she hadn’t proposed so many ideas, constantly pushed for improvements, and guided them, their efficiency wouldn’t have been so high.

He had expected Que Yining to be ecstatic as well, but the beautiful woman in front of him merely curved her lips slightly, a confident and proud expression on her face.

“This is just the beginning.”

Que Yining said calmly. She then called Zhang Shiyu and arranged for a team dinner and bonuses, paid from her personal account.

After taking care of these things, she returned to her office.

Holding her phone, she couldn’t resist calling Gu Shanxue.

It was clearly an expected good thing, but when sharing it with the person she liked, a jubilant little bird couldn’t help but flutter in her heart.

“Shanxue!”

That call, clear and bright, made Gu Shanxue unable to resist curving her lips into a smile.

Gu Shanxue had thought she had retreated to a safe distance, avoiding deliberate contact, but she still found herself unconsciously paying attention to Que Yining’s recent situation, hiding her own feelings under the guise of caring for a friend.

But all the deliberately created coldness and distance seemed to melt away with that one call, leaving nothing behind.

That little bird flapped its wings and gently, unsteadily, landed in her heart.

Gu Shanxue was annoyed with her own heart, yet she pressed the phone in her hand even tighter to her ear.

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