Chapter 46
Jiang Shangwan glanced at Shi Yu, who had stood up, with mild surprise. Just then, a girl walked over with a flushed face: “The next one is me and my friend. Can we not pay now? Can I add you on WeChat?”
“Sorry.” Shi Yu paused briefly, then lowered his gaze toward the person sitting next to him: “My girlfriend minds.”
“Ah… sorry!”
After the girl ran off with a red face, a boy quickly approached and struck up a conversation, successfully making a table-sharing arrangement.
Jiang Shangwan followed Shi Yu upstairs to order food. “I see, you must be making money now. When did you learn to use spending money to clear a path?”
“Did you forget what I do for a living?” He chuckled softly. “In order to create a platform or game that attracts users to spend money, you first need to understand the use and methods of spending money thoroughly.”
“Tsk, our little dog is getting more and more impressive.”
That said, she was very pleased with his quick thinking. Shi Yu had even prepared two sets of disposable chopsticks for communal use. “Sorry, the two of you may have to use public chopsticks.”
“It’s fine, it’s fine. Okay, okay.”
When it’s time to settle the bill, it’s all fine. The two boys had no complaints whatsoever, and they were very considerate, giving the impression that they were young university students nearby. Even though they were sharing a pot, they tried to keep their distance and stay farther from them.
The clear broth was filled with a lot of lamb, pickled cabbage, frozen tofu, and wide noodles. Jiang Shangwan used her chopsticks to pick up pieces of meat from the plate. As expected, the “mountain” of meat was solid, not thin slices with thick ice hidden inside.
“As expected, just like what people said online, the meat is solid and fresh.”
“Also, the pickled cabbage here has a rich texture.” Jiang Shangwan said, “Although it’s pickled, it’s not sour or astringent. Whether paired with roasted meat or hotpot, it’s delicious.”
Her evaluation seemed quite high, so Shi Yu ordered a small tray of shumai for her to try. “It’s a local specialty. The lamb filling inside is very solid, but it might be a bit greasy.”
Jiang Shangwan took a bite and, sure enough, she preferred the lamb hotpot wrapped in rich, fragrant sesame sauce more.
During her few days in Haishi, Jiang Shangwan had been very happy with the food, and her whole demeanor had become more vibrant and proud, like the fresh and bright sunrise.
As she boarded the business class flight back to Jiangcheng, she still felt a little reluctant. “Your hometown is great. No wonder it raised someone like you.”
“What about me?” Shi Yu’s voice had a soft, rolling tone as he cast her an expectant look.
“You’re like a cute, silly little dog.” She used her finger to gently scratch his nose.
—
After the end of December, it wasn’t long before the Lunar New Year arrived. On New Year’s Eve, Jiang Shangwan changed into a bright red outfit. She bought a set for Shi Yu as well and forced him to change into it.
His skin was fair, and the bright red made his deep features stand out even more. Jiang Shangwan held his face, lovingly pressed a kiss to his lips, and said, “You look so good.”
“Tonight, do you want us to spend New Year’s Eve at home, or go out? Shen Luo invited me to go with him. He’s in a cold war with his brother and dad, and he’s determined not to go home for the New Year.”
“Either works.” Shi Yu had no strong opinion and was happy to follow her lead.
“Then let’s go out. It’ll be livelier with more people. He’s been assigned to the branch office now, still working in the gaming field. We could visit his company and see if there’s anything worth learning.”
“Okay.”
Shi Yu sat upright by the computer, looking at the latest data for Deep Blue Love: “We’re planning a New Year’s lottery event, and I really want to change all the limited rewards to be named after you.”
“……Rejecting the ‘obsessive fan behavior game.‘” Jiang Shangwan helplessly rubbed her forehead. “I’m still playing, don’t tie everything to me.”
When real-world things are dragged into the mix, how could she still enjoy herself freely in the world of 2D games?
“I really want to secretly send the limited rewards to Wanwan’s inbox.”
“……Rejecting an overly simplified game.” Jiang Shangwan was very dissatisfied. She crossed her arms and squinted at him, saying, “I want to enjoy the game experience as a regular spender. Please don’t change things at will. Do you still want to sleep with me tonight?”
“Yes.” Shi Yu put down his laptop and buried his face in her soft little belly. “I can’t be left alone in bed.”
Shen Luo sent over the restaurant address: 【Remember to come tonight. I’ve already booked the private room. Ask Ying Ting if she’s coming? You should invite her too, I haven’t seen her in a while. The more people, the merrier. Qiao Yuqing can’t come, she’ll be eating at home.】
Jiang Yingting rarely went to either of her parents’ places during the New Year, usually spending it by herself. Jiang Shangwan knew he meant well but didn’t address it: 【Got it, we’re planning to visit your branch office, when would be convenient to stop by?】
【Huh? Why are you coming here? Just come now, I’m so bored.】
【Okay.】
Jiang Shangwan forwarded the restaurant information to Jiang Yingting, then glanced down at herself, and then at Shi Yu: “Are we really going out in these bright red outfits?”
Shi Yu smiled: “I don’t mind.”
In the end, they changed into formal clothes before heading out.
—
Shen Luo pressed his aching brow and propped his chin up, reading through endless documents when a knock sounded on the door, two light knocks followed by one heavier, exactly like the way Jiang Shangwan usually knocked. He got up and walked over, mumbling, “Why so quick…”
Shen Luo opened the door with one hand, and the person outside seemed to not expect the door to suddenly open. They let out a small “Ah!” and, propelled by the force of the door, stumbled forward and collided with Shen Luo’s chest.
“Sorry… Mr. Shen.” Gao Lulu bit her lip, lowered her head, and said softly.
Shen Luo looked down at the small figure in his arms, only reaching his neck, and froze for a moment, noticing the soft back of her head. But he quickly stepped back half a step to create some distance, frowning and scolding, “Can’t you knock properly? Who told you to knock that hard?”
“Not… Who told you to knock? What are you here for?”
Gao Lulu nervously clenched the sleeves of her coat and took a deep breath. “I’m here to deliver the signed documents.”
Shen Luo: “……..” He almost forgot that this was one of the Tsinghua or Peking University interns his troublesome brother had sent over recently.
Impatiently, he said, “Got it, just give them to me.”
Gao Lulu timidly handed him the documents, lowering her eyes and almost unable to look him directly in the face. She quickly shoved the papers into his hands and left.
Shen Luo: “………” Am I really that harsh? Why does it feel like she’s about to cry?
When Jiang Shangwan and Shi Yu arrived, they saw this scene: Shen Luo, frowning deeply while looking at the contract terms, had even put on his reading glasses.
The knock on the door sounded again. He had just read the last line of fine print and, feeling quite irritated, raised his voice: “Is this ever going to end?! Didn’t we already finish signing? What now?”
“Why are you throwing such a big tantrum?” Jiang Shangwan and Shi Yu entered together, pushing the door open. “Aren’t you going to welcome me? Not even a ‘come in’? Then I’ll leave.”
“Hey, no, why is it you?” Shen Luo threw the pen down with frustration. “I can’t even.”
“If it’s not me, who else could it be? Didn’t I tell you I was coming?” Jiang Shangwan said with a cold expression, as if she were about to turn around and leave.
“An intern came earlier to deliver the contract, and I thought it was you. When I opened the door, it wasn’t. What a dumbass.” Shen Luo casually complained, then teased, “Why did you bring your little puppy along?”
“Of course, I came for him. His company is now involved in the gaming field, so we came to take a look.”
“Tsk tsk tsk.” Shen Luo pouted. “Alright, woman, you’ve got love brain now.”
Shi Yu and Jiang Shangwan visited the game department’s concept design. When they passed by the development room, Shi Yu stopped and asked, “Is this something we’re allowed to see?”
“Sure.” Shen Luo didn’t care. “You’re not an outsider. As for whether the person you brought is, well, I don’t know.”
Shen Luo deliberately teased him twice, but Shi Yu didn’t get upset. He just quietly stood by Jiang Shangwan’s side.
Being her support, he was more than willing.
“How will it change if you say less?” Jiang Shangwan restrained the urge to roll her eyes. “What kind of game are you all working on?”
“Don’t know. It seems like we’ve taken on some Japanese game project, helping with the core setup. So, my troublesome brother shoved a few interns who speak minor languages my way for me to manage. We’re in charge of voice acting and writing character storylines. It’s already a pain, and looking at the contracts every day makes me want to die.”
The art style was visibly high quality, and the character models were unique and memorable. Shi Yu glanced briefly at the background. “It should be a healing gacha-style mobile game, set in a self-created, cross-era background. If the NPC designs and character lines are solid, players will continue to spend money.”
Shi Yu thought, Jiang Shangwan was right. No wonder his brother had him so tightly under control. It seemed his brother was indeed more discerning and more skilled—this project was clearly of high quality, which was why they had him manage it, hoping he would learn.
Unfortunately, he didn’t understand his brother’s good intentions.
“I don’t understand, don’t want to understand, don’t care to understand.” Shen Luo had no interest in game development; he couldn’t even write basic code. “Just follow the project step by step. With my sick brother, maybe he’ll send me some pocket money.”
“This is completely different from the underlying logic of Deep Blue.” Jiang Shangwan said. “Deep Blue doesn’t have fixed popular NPCs. It’s much more free-form, you can create and customize things yourself. But on the flip side, there’s no crowding around popular characters.”
“Yeah, it’s the complete opposite, but there are still things we can reference.” Shi Yu pointed at the map in the modeling: “The public map design. Almost forgot about this. You can create a new world system, where all players can randomly meet each other in the public map, even communicate and see what other people’s ideal partners are like.”
“It’ll increase a lot of interaction. Is this complicated? You’d need to watch out for lag due to too many players being online at once. If used well, it could also become a platform for advertising and promotion in the game world.”
“What are you two talking about?” Shen Luo felt a headache. He’d studied art throughout his academic career, and listening to these technical discussions made him want to die.
“We’re saying your game has a lot of reference value.”
They passed the discussion room, where a few young boys and girls were discussing something in front of a whiteboard, with a somewhat familiar figure among them.
“Isn’t that Lulu?” Jiang Shangwan said.