Losing Money to Become a Tycoon: Starting with Games
Chapter 364: Think More
After lightly knocking on the door, Li Yada entered President Pei's office.
President Pei was the same as ever—calm and composed, looking completely in control of everything. He seemed full of energy, as if he had just woken up from a refreshing nap.
"President Pei, I was thinking of going to the U.S. for a few days—"
Li Yada was still figuring out how to explain this in a reasonable way, when before she could even finish her sentence, President Pei's eyes lit up and he immediately nodded.
"Sure! A proper balance between work and rest!"
"You've been working too hard lately, you really need to relax a bit."
"Hurry up and get your things ready. You can leave anytime."
"Are you going alone, or with others?"
Li Yada hurriedly said, "President Pei, the six of us are going together—me, Lin Wan, Bao Xu, Hao Qiong, Ye Zhizhou, and Chen Kangtuo."
"Chen Kangtuo and the others won the five-day trip at the annual meeting, so—"
As Li Yada explained what had happened, Pei Qian felt a bit disappointed.
So that's what this was about—the annual meeting prize.
For a moment, he'd almost thought Li Yada had finally wised up and figured out how to slack off on her own.
What a letdown.
Still, six of them going together wasn't bad either. Lin Wan, Li Yada, and Ye Zhizhou were all key members of their projects. With them gone, project progress might slow down a bit.
Pei Qian immediately nodded. "Of course there's no problem!"
"Go back and get ready. Have a great time once you're there. You'll still get paid for these days. Don't worry about work at all. Since you're going out to play, then really play properly, got it?"
Hearing this, Li Yada felt a warm surge in her heart.
President Pei was just too easygoing!
Whenever employees asked for leave, he almost always approved it, and he'd repeatedly remind them that if they were going to have fun, they should really enjoy themselves—no mental burden, and no worrying about work.
He didn't even need much of an explanation. It was like everything was understood without words.
Was this the unspoken tacit understanding between a boss and his employees?
"Okay, President Pei, I understand!"
Li Yada left the office, deeply moved.
…
…
Pei Qian glanced at the date. Today was already December 21st.
In a little over two weeks, the school would be entering exam week.
Even though he had donated five million to the school last time—so as long as the counselor put in a word with the course instructors, they'd definitely show some leniency…
But was President Pei that kind of person?
Of course not. He still had to rely on his own abilities to scrape by with a passing grade, fair and square.
Otherwise, if he couldn't even beat Ma Yang, that deadbeat, on the exams, where would he put his face?
He'd despise himself!
So Pei Qian felt that his workload was extremely heavy.
He opened the backend and took a look at the results of the Tengda Spirit Compatibility Test.
Yesterday, before the annual meeting, the first batch of new hires had just taken the Tengda Spirit Compatibility Test. The results were even better than Pei Qian had imagined.
The pass rate was extremely low!
A total of 28 people took the test, and only three passed.
Pei Qian paid special attention to these three people's resumes, committing them to memory.
These were the future pillars that Tengda Group could rely on!
To perfectly match the Tengda Spirit Compatibility Test on the first try—what a group of hidden gems of employees!
Unexpectedly, the three people who passed the test were all from Tengda Group's game department.
The one with the highest score was named Hu Xianbin, an ordinary fresh graduate from Handong University. He hadn't had any particularly special experiences during college.
The other two were Min Jingchao and Zhang Nan (female). Neither of them had any experience in the game industry at all. Before joining Tengda Group, the former worked in accounting, while the latter was a fashion designer.
In his eyes, these were basically the most perfect résumés imaginable!
It seemed that Tengda Group's recruitment tests had achieved exactly the intended effect—screening out those seasoned industry veterans and selecting a batch of people who were especially suitable for being "slackers."
And the Tengda Spirit Compatibility Test just happened to prove this point: these three really did look like excellent candidates for slacking!
Of course, you never really know what's in someone's heart. He didn't have mind-reading powers, so he couldn't be 100% sure that these three would turn out to be the talents he needed.
But no matter what, he had carefully prepared so many test questions, and these three had gotten them right. At the very least, it showed that in terms of "ideological alignment," they were already far ahead of the other employees.
There's a saying: if something walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and eats like a duck, then it's a duck.
This test was the same. Regardless of what employees truly thought in their hearts, as long as they could pass the test and carry that way of thinking into their work, then they were the kind of "slackers" he wanted!
Moreover, Pei Qian was well aware that the pass rate of this test would definitely increase over time.
After all, it was impossible to prevent employees from privately exchanging notes and experiences.
But as long as these new employees gradually figured out the "correct answers," accurately picked up on his hints, and then put them into practice—refusing overtime, proactively asking for overtime pay, and forming such a culture over the long term…
Then for Pei Qian, the goal would be achieved.
…
17th floor, Shenhua Prestige Building, Tengda Group's Game Department.
In the conference room.
Li Yada had just finished assigning work tasks to the members of the design team.
The visas for the U.S. trip were already being processed. Since all the expenses would be reimbursed by the company, everyone was applying for expedited visas, so the process would be completed soon.
Li Yada had already sorted out the suggestions from Dream Fulfillment Ventures and written them into the development plan for the new version. Today, she went over everything carefully with the design team members so that even if she went abroad to collect reference material, GOG's development wouldn't be interrupted.
After everything was arranged, the meeting ended.
Li Yada deliberately asked Hu Xianbin to stay behind.
After everyone else had left, Li Yada closed the door and said in a low voice, "Little Hu, what kind of questions were on the Tengda Group spirit test? Tell me quietly."
Hu Xianbin: "..."
The scene looked rather surreal.
A department head was actually asking a newly confirmed intern from her own department for advice.
But in reality, Li Yada really didn't know!
Not only did she not know, none of the department heads across Tengda Group knew either!
The Tengda Spirit Compatibility Test questions were personally written by President Pei, and the system graded them automatically. No one was allowed to view the question bank or the standard answers.
However, Hu Xianbin was a little puzzled. Why did Li Yada care about this?
Even if she didn't know the questions, what difference did it make? She was the department head, she didn't need to take this test.
"They were just some simple multiple-choice questions… Sister Li, why are you asking about this? And according to the rules, it seems like we're not supposed to discuss this within the company, right?"
Li Yada let out a soft sigh and lowered her voice a little. "I don't want to discuss it either, but… the heads of other departments are all asking about it."
After yesterday's annual meeting, several department heads had already come to Li Yada to ask about the Tengda Spirit Compatibility Test.
Li Yada really didn't know what the specific questions on the test were, but the new employees in her department definitely did!
All the department heads had noticed that among the first batch of more than twenty people who took the test, only three passed—and all three were from the game department.
So naturally, they came to ask Li Yada about it.
As for why these department heads were taking this so seriously…
Wasn't it obvious?
If the new hires couldn't pass the Tengda Spirit Compatibility Test, they would be fired!
Every single one of them had been painstakingly recruited and was urgently needed talent. How could they just be given up like that?
If they really got fired, it wouldn't just mean that all the previous recruitment efforts went down the drain, it would also mean that everyone's hiring had been ineffective, that the people they brought in didn't meet President Pei's expectations.
That would be unacceptable!
So these department heads were just as anxious as the new employees who hadn't passed the test. All of them were desperate to know what exactly this Tengda Spirit Compatibility Test was about, and how they could quickly "reform" their way of thinking to meet President Pei's requirements.
Li Yada could only ask about it secretly, in private.
Hu Xianbin frowned, trying hard to recall the situation back then.
"To recall the exact wording of the questions from back then is just too difficult. It's basically impossible."
"There were too many questions, and a lot of them looked similar on the surface but were actually subtly different. It might be just a one-word difference in the question, yet the standard answer would be completely different."
"And with so many questions, I don't even know which ones I answered correctly and which ones I got wrong."
"If I happened to remember a question that I actually got wrong, and then everyone tried to deduce the 'correct principles' from that wrong answer… then everything would be off. The consequences would be unimaginable."
Li Yada thought for a moment and nodded helplessly.
That really was the case.
All she could say was that President Pei's thinking was far too meticulous, he had left no loopholes or exploitable gaps at all.
Even if someone remembered a few questions, they couldn't be sure whether they had answered them correctly. Trying to deduce the entire set of "correct answers" for the test from a handful of questions was basically impossible.
"Then… do you have any experience you can share?" Li Yada decided to change her approach.
Hu Xianbin fell silent for a moment, then said, "Think more."
Li Yada: "Huh?"
Hu Xianbin explained, "All I can say is that these questions look very simple on the surface, but actually each one has deeper meaning.
"They're just like the way President Pei usually speaks, there's always profound meaning hidden inside very simple words. If you treat these questions as straightforward and shallow, then you definitely won't be able to grasp what the questions are really getting at.
"So my experience is: think more. That's also one very important thing I learned in our department."
"And also, you have to completely obey President Pei's instructions."
"As for anything else… I can't really summarize it."
Li Yada nodded.
It did sound like the kind of questions President Pei would design.
"Think more" and "completely obey President Pei's instructions" also perfectly matched her own work experience.
Maybe this was what the Tengda Group spirit was?
Of course, it probably wasn't the entirety of the Tengda Group spirit. After all, the Tengda Group spirit originated from President Pei, and President Pei's way of thinking was as deep and vast as the galaxy.
But… at least this should be a part of the Tengda Group spirit, right?
Li Yada nodded. "Alright, thanks for your help!"
After returning to her desk, Li Yada sent messages one by one to the department heads who had asked her about it earlier.
"For the Tengda Spirit Compatibility Test questions, there may be two relatively general principles."
"First: think more."
"Second: completely obey President Pei's instructions."
"I'm not sure whether these two directions are correct, but they're worth trying."
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