FIO CH47

Chapter 47: What Will Happen to the Lucky Carp?

I’m Not Oli: This game is super fun! I have to give it a strong recommendation. I originally just joined in for the fun of it, but I got hooked. It feels really desolate at first, but there are actually many small details to explore, and you might even run into some handsome players. Hahaha… Speaking of which, I found my partner through this game!

Little Rabbit Pear: I agree with the above. It’s a hidden gem. I regret not discovering it sooner.

Iris: Can I say something? (Crying while covering face) Now that I open my eyes, all I want to do is play. I hate that I can’t stop, but it’s really that good. (I’ve got tenosynovitis now)

Sleep Early: Even as a veteran player, I want to come and give a thumbs up. The graphics are more refined, and the actions are smoother. Some of the bugs found by the streamer have been optimized, while others have been kept and upgraded as game blind box Easter eggs. The one that makes you mini has been kept. It’s amazing to see the world at 100 times smaller. (It feels like my soul has been elevated. Is it okay to say that…)

Woof Woof: Everyone should play! Play now! Don’t make me beg, okay!

Wisdom in Simplicity: From now on, anyone who doesn’t play Survival in the Wilderness is not worthy of speaking with me.

Bunny Bunny Bunny: FC is awesome. This is a comeback. They must be making a fortune this week. I’m so envious.

The operations manager was explaining the PPT on stage, presenting a summary of public feedback to everyone. On the second page, he used actual data to speak: the game’s download volume increased by eighty-five percent, user activity increased by sixty percent, and the average user online duration exceeded six hours, reaching a historical high.

It was a very impressive set of data. They had fought a beautiful comeback battle. The overtime work this week had not been in vain, and they had achieved a phased victory.

Lu Fangchi looked at the beautiful data on the projector, his lips slightly curving upwards, and he clapped his hands with high spirits.

Misfortune might be a blessing in disguise. The benefits brought by this sudden crisis far exceeded expectations. The overall result was more than satisfactory. Without injecting too much capital, the old product’s resurgence was truly delightful.

Lu Fangchi reached out and moved the microphone to his lips, announcing the good news: “Tonight, all departments will have a group dinner. The budget is four hundred per person. The meeting is adjourned.”

Lu Fangchi got up and walked out with a light step, closing the door to block out the cheers from the conference room behind him.

It was good. He was also very happy.

Lu Fangchi walked back to his office, sat down, covered his hand over the mouse, moved the screen to light up, and quickly reviewed several small modeling and planning project documents, adding a few minor comments and annotations on the side.

He recovered from his illness in the midst of a busy schedule, always feeling that he hadn’t fully recovered. He couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was wrong. Coupled with the all-nighters and overtime this week, he felt like he was overdrawing his life.

Health is the foundation of the revolution. Lu Fangchi decided to leave work early today and go home to rest, and take a three-day mini-vacation to see if he could recover his energy.

Too many things had happened this month. His brain had been working non-stop, and his body had been operating at high intensity. He felt like a walking dead every day, dazed and confused.

After reading the last project document, Lu Fangchi clicked to save and sent it to the assistant’s email. He put down the mouse and took a deep breath, feeling relieved. He took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose.

He reached for his coffee, spun around in his swivel chair, and looked out the floor-to-ceiling window at the clear sky with white clouds drifting in the azure expanse, gently soothing his taut nerves.

After sipping two mouthfuls of coffee, Lu Fangchi prepared to leave work.

He had just stood up to get his coat when there was a knock on the office door, “Knock knock.”

Lu Fangchi had to sit back down and responded, “Come in.”

The one who entered was Liang Shuang.

Lu Fangchi was taken aback for a moment because this art director had connections with Zhou Zheng. He was the result of a business swap that Liu Assistant had made to get him to take in Zhou Zheng when he had amnesia.

Lu Fangchi realized he hadn’t thought of Zhou Zheng for a while, and there was a deliberate attempt to avoid thinking of him. Now, seeing someone with a connection to him, he felt a prickling sensation in his chest, not painful but hard to ignore.

Liang Shuang looked troubled, his mouth opening and closing for a while without saying anything.

Lu Fangchi swallowed the tightness in his throat and asked proactively, “What’s the matter?”

Liang Shuang licked his lips and, after a bit more hesitation, finally spoke: “The HR department didn’t approve my application.”

What application? Lu Fangchi furrowed his brows, connecting it to the HR department and guessing the general idea.

“Explain clearly,” Lu Fangchi’s expression became serious.

“Resignation application,” Liang Shuang felt relieved after saying it out loud, looked up, mustered up his courage, and repeated to Lu Fangchi, “Mr. Lu, I’m planning to resign.”

Lu Fangchi tapped his fingers on the desk, and in an instant, countless possibilities flashed through his mind.

But they were all guesses, and it wasn’t wise to make assumptions. In the end, Lu Fangchi calmly and objectively persuaded him: “The company values you highly and has entrusted you with several important projects. Your resignation now would put the company in a difficult position.”

Lu Fangchi continued to lightly tap his fingers on the desk. His usually clear eyes became stern, giving off an air of authority. He then mentioned, “If I remember correctly, we signed a five-year contract, right? And there’s a non-compete agreement.”

Liang Shuang was clearly prepared for this, as if he had been waiting for this question. He nodded in agreement: “Yes.”

He said, “I’m willing to pay the penalty for breach of contract, and I can accept the non-compete agreement.”

A two-year gap was too long, with too many uncertainties and variables. It was hard for any main planner to bear such a long non-compete period. The penalty was tied to the annual salary and was a significant amount. Even if he had savings to cover it, Liang Shuang, at his age with elderly parents and young children, probably couldn’t afford to take that risk.

Unless someone was willing to pay the penalty for him and promised to rehire him after the non-compete agreement ended.

Apart from Zhou Zheng, Lu Fangchi couldn’t think of anyone else who would resort to such a mutually destructive tactic.

Even though he had made up his mind, Lu Fangchi still couldn’t help but ask, “May I ask the reason?”

Liang Shuang naturally had nothing to say. He spoke a few polite words: “The company is great, and so is General Manager Lu. However, the current job content doesn’t match what I expected. I’d like to resign and take a break to sort out my feelings before starting again.”

It was a very decent reason for resigning, but unfortunately, it wasn’t the truth.

“Whatever he offers you, I’ll double it here,” Lu Fangchi rarely spoke so bluntly.

The persuasions he had made earlier were not false. Liang Shuang had an impressive resume and strong work capabilities. He had been recruited through the normal process. At that time, the HR department had an unstable evaluation of him, and the shareholders had doubts about his background.

Considering various factors and the actual situation, Lu Fangchi had overruled the objections and given him real power. He was currently in charge of several important ongoing projects. If he were to quit now, it would indeed be very troublesome.

Liang Shuang was quite smooth and pretended not to understand, not engaging in the conversation. With a look of surprise on his face, he said, “What did you say, General Manager Lu? I didn’t understand.”

It seemed that he was determined to leave.

Lu Fangchi felt a throbbing pain in his temples again. He rubbed them with his hand, closed his eyes, and waved his hand dismissively, “You can go back first. I’ll give you a reply in a few days.”

“Okay, General Manager Lu,” Liang Shuang nodded in agreement and left the office, closing the door behind him.

“Dingdong,” the phone rang and the flashing light came on. Zhou Zheng, who had been sitting at the desk and closely watching the phone, quickly reached for it. He slid open the screen and saw a reply of “OK.”

It was done. Zhou Zheng curled his lips into a smile, immediately got up, and walked out with a determined air. His hand had almost touched the doorknob when he pulled back, walked back to the lounge, and checked his appearance in the mirror.

He ran his hand through his hair and looked around. There were no stray hairs at the temples, and his hair was neatly parted at 37%, giving him a mature and strong look. OK.

He straightened his coat and tightened his tie. The suit was elegant and tidy, with broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and long legs, making him look very handsome. OK.

Expression. The alpha raised his eyebrows, and the corners of his mouth curved up and then down, maintaining a moderate arc that was neither overly flattering nor cold. OK.

Perfect. He nodded with satisfaction, straightened his back, and walked towards the next door.

He was stopped by the receptionist, “Hello, Mr. Zhou. May I ask who you are looking for?” The receptionist, of course, recognized Zhou Zheng and showed a standard eight-tooth smile.

Zhou Zheng called out the name directly: “Lu Fangchi.”

“Okay, I’ll inform him first,” the receptionist nodded, picked up the phone, and dialed the internal line.

After saying a few words and nodding to show she understood, she hung up the phone. She looked at Zhou Zheng again with a smile, raised her hand to guide him towards the elevator, and said, “This way, please. An employee will receive you upstairs.”

Zhou Zheng, with a high and cold expression, raised his chin slightly, stepped into the elevator, and as the elevator door closed, his straight lips curled down slightly, and finally, he couldn’t help but lift the corner of his mouth.

He was still going to see him. Zhou Zheng thought that if Lu Fangchi said just one word of weakness, he would forgive him for ignoring him these past few days. As for Liang Shuang, he must have left as well.

“Dingdong,” the elevator door opened, and Zhou Zheng was escorted to the lounge and asked to sit. He said, “You can wait here for a while. I’ll go get General Manager Lu right away.”

Zhou Zheng’s eyebrows furrowed slightly, and he moved his mouth, wanting to say how Xie Xing could wait directly in Lu Fangchi’s office before, but he had to wait in this shabby lounge. He swallowed his words.

Never mind, it’s not important. Zhou Zheng glanced at the time on his wristwatch and said, “Please hurry. I have other things to do later.” He hadn’t seen Lu Fangchi for ten days, three hours, and fifteen minutes, and he hadn’t even heard his voice.

The assistant nodded repeatedly and said, “Okay, okay. General Manager Lu is in a meeting now. It’s expected to end in about ten minutes. As soon as he comes out, I’ll bring him to see you.”

“Mm,” Zhou Zheng nodded and added, “He can take his time.”

At this moment, General Manager Lu, who was “in a meeting,” was sitting in the office, looking at the assistant with an unhappy expression, furrowing his brows and questioning, “Who allowed him to come up? I said I wouldn’t see him.”

The assistant’s brow furrowed into a knot, licked his lips, and spoke tactfully, “Mr. Zhou’s visit is probably about Liang’s planning. If you meet him, there might be some room for maneuver.”

Lu Fangchi closed his eyes, took a deep breath, stood up and took two steps forward, then suddenly sat back down. He turned the swivel chair towards the floor-to-ceiling window, with his back to the assistant, and said petulantly, “No discussion. Let him leave. If Liang Shuang wants to go, let him go too.”

Zhou Zheng looked down at the minute hand on his wristwatch as it went around and around. On the sixtieth round, the lounge door was opened.

He suddenly looked up and met the assistant’s slightly apologetic face. “Sorry, General Manager Lu’s meeting isn’t over yet. Otherwise, you could come another day. No, we’ll visit your company instead.”

Zhou Zheng, who had thought it would be Lu Fangchi, felt his heart drop back into place. He averted his gaze and said nonchalantly, “It’s okay. I can wait.”

He didn’t notice the assistant’s embarrassed expression. The assistant pursed his lips and forced a smile, “Alright, then I’ll trouble you to wait.”

The lounge door was closed again, and Zhou Zheng’s gaze fell on the large fish tank nearby, filled with colorful koi fish. They swam around leisurely, their flowing tails undulating gracefully.

As if sensing Zhou Zheng’s attention, the fish began to make bubbling noises on the water surface, begging for food.

The closer Zhou Zheng approached, the more lively they became, swimming around and bumping into the tank walls with a thumping sound.

Interesting, Zhou Zheng casually pinched some fish food and threw it in.