Restart life

Chapter 398 0388 [Returning Home for a Funeral]

Chen Guiliang didn't prepare any PowerPoint presentation; he simply wrote and drew on a small whiteboard with a pen.

He explained the check-in, lottery, and card-drawing systems, and then went on to discuss how to enhance player interaction. This involved using various events and leaderboards to encourage wealthy players to spend money and compete with each other.

"Our company's games, whether it's 'Three Kingdoms Kill' or 'Future Era,' involve microtransactions... well, I call spending money to increase combat power 'microtransactions.' Our previous microtransaction systems were too restrained because we planned for long-term operation. But browser games are different; their pace has to be fast..."

"Of course, it depends on the market situation. For example, the domestic web game market is highly competitive, so we web games must speed up the pace. We need to attract players quickly and entice them to spend money to improve their combat power. We need to open more new servers and merge the old ones... and so on."

"And what about the Middle Eastern market? Competition is not fierce for the time being, and players don't have many choices, so we can slow down a bit. We need to find a balance between making quick money and operating for the longest possible time... Game operation strategies are not static, but need to be adjusted according to market conditions."

"Let's talk about social interaction and competition, which are core elements of all games. 'Fantasy Westward Journey' does a good job with social interaction, while 'The Legend of Conquerors' and 'Conquer Online' do a great job with competition. But web games are even more extreme! You can't use the mindset of making PC games to make web games..."

The employees in the web game department listened with rapt attention in the meeting room.

Within Game Science, from the general manager down to the interns, there is a blind worship of the boss.

This kind of worship did not arise out of thin air, but was accumulated through repeated successes.

Just like a commander who always leads his troops to victory, officers and soldiers alike naturally trust this commander. Even when the commander makes an outrageous move, their first reaction is not to question him, but to feel that they have not understood the commander's brilliance.

From "Three Kingdoms Kill" to "Future Era," which of the company's blockbuster games wasn't personally planned by CEO Chen? In fact, apart from CEO Chen, there were no other general designers for "Three Kingdoms Kill."

Even a small game like Plants vs. Zombies was profitable for Mr. Chen. Although the profits weren't large, its influence was enormous, even getting it into pirated Microsoft installation packages.

It's no exaggeration to say that Plants vs. Zombies is a national game.

For example, when computer shops install operating systems for customers, QQ and Plants vs. Zombies are mandatory, while Rising Antivirus, Kingsoft Antivirus, and 360 Antivirus are optional.

A middle-aged woman in her forties or fifties had never played games in her life. But the first game she played after getting a computer was a pirated copy of "Plants vs. Zombies".

At this moment, Chen Guiliang is personally teaching them how to play games, so why aren't these employees listening attentively?
"Alright, that's all. You can go down and discuss it further."

"Clap clap clap!"

The meeting room erupted in enthusiastic applause.

Chen Guiliang warned, "The contents of today's meeting must not be disclosed! Otherwise, it will be considered a leak of company secrets and you will be held legally responsible."

Everyone tensed up and quickly agreed.

Before Chen Guiliang had even left his office, his cell phone rang.

It was a call from my father.

"Guiliang, your great-grandfather is gone. Come back soon!"

"Okay, I'll head to the airport right away."

Chen Guiliang hung up the phone and stood there somewhat bewildered.

He wasn't feeling particularly sad; he was somewhat dazed and didn't know what to do, as if his brain had suddenly lost its ability to think.

Although he had expected it.

In the original timeline, the ancestor passed away at the end of November last year.

Having lived two more months, Chen Guiliang thought he could live even longer, but he still didn't make it through the winter.

He sleepwalked down the elevator, only to be snapped back to reality by the cold wind outside. He called Ao Yanchen and Qu Guohao, saying he had an urgent family matter and had to rush back, asking them to take charge of ByteDance and Youke's annual meetings this year.

Back home, Chen Guiliang packed his luggage.

Bian Guanyue was listening to old opera records when she saw him tidying his clothes. She asked curiously, "Are you going on a business trip?"

“Our ancestor has passed away, and I need to go back to keep vigil,” Chen Guiliang said.

Bian Guanyue quickly said, "I'll go with you."

Chen Guiliang then suddenly realized that he had forgotten to buy a plane ticket. With the Lunar New Year approaching, buying a ticket at the airport at the last minute would mean waiting in long queues.

He called Chen Hua: "Old Chen, ask one of your former employees to book two plane tickets to Chengdu for me. Tickets for today, the sooner the better, any class is fine. I'll send you their ID numbers."

“Okay, please wait a moment,” Chen Hua said.

Before joining ByteDance, Chen Hua was the CEO of Kuxun.

KuXun provides information search and price comparison services for air tickets, hotels, and attractions, and also offers ticket booking services for air tickets, hotels, and attractions.

To be honest, if they persist, they might be able to reach the level of Qunar.com.

But the venture capital shareholders insisted on adding a whole host of search services, wanting to turn Kuxun into a platform like Baidu to generate advertising revenue. Ultimately, this drove the two founders away.

Chen Guiliang and Bian Guanyue quickly packed their things without notifying Yang Shuo to come and drive.

Chen Guiliang had just gone downstairs and gotten into the driver's seat when Chen Hua called: "There are two or more flights available, the earliest being at 1:30 PM. Economy class. Want to buy them?"

“I’ll buy it and pay you back later,” Chen Guiliang said.

Bian Guanyue reminded, "The Lunar New Year holiday is almost over, and there might be traffic jams. Let's take the subway."

"Okay." Chen Guiliang got out of the car immediately.

The subway line from Wudaokou to the airport was only opened last year, close to the Olympics.

Chen Guiliang and Bian Guanyue took the subway and then a plane, finally arriving at Shuangliu Airport in the late afternoon.

Before boarding the plane, Bian Guanyue made a phone call to her father.

Upon hearing that Chen Guiliang's relative had passed away, Bian Jingsong immediately sent his driver to Shuangliu Airport to wait for him and also asked the driver to deliver the funeral gift money on his behalf.

They rushed as fast as they could, and the Bian family's driver took them there in the evening.

The mourning hall has been set up, and people are having a meal.

Not the main seat.

Many people came to help today, and we prepared simple meals especially for them. Most of them were neighbors, but most of their relatives hadn't arrived yet.

Everyone was chatting and laughing, and the atmosphere was quite lively. In the Sichuan and Chongqing area, funerals are usually quite cheerful unless a young person has died. Only during the opening of the coffin and the performance of Buddhist rituals does a solemn atmosphere prevail, and no laughter or merriment is allowed. It is at this time that the bereaved family gathers to weep.

People are not cold-hearted, but rather naturally optimistic and take death lightly.

When Chen Guiliang first arrived at the scene, many acquaintances greeted him and joked with him.

"Hey, the big boss is back! We'll play mahjong with him tonight while keeping vigil. Let's win his money!"

"You don't win much at mahjong, but you can win several thousand at Texas Hold'em. Anyway, the big boss has money."

"Don't run away, Mr. Chen. It's rare to see you."

"..."

The atmosphere is contagious. After being teased like that, Chen Guiliang's mood improved a lot, and he even had the mood to banter with them: "Afraid of you? My great-grandmother said that her spirit is standing by the card table, and she will let me win all your money."

My parents and grandmother came over.

Uncle Feng Tao said with a smile, "You're only just getting back? Your great-grandmother has been waiting for you for ages. Hurry up and take your girlfriend over to offer incense and kowtow."

Grandma came over with hemp cloth and dressed Chen Guiliang and Bian Guanyue in mourning.

Then they were led to kneel down in front of the mourning hall.

As Chen Guiliang burned incense, he looked at his grandfather's portrait and felt a pang of sadness.

The sadness of the reborn is different from that of others.

Chen Guiliang even knew the year his grandmother passed away. It was as if he was counting down the days for everyone's life!
After they finished kowtowing, they were called to eat.

Bian Guanyue became the center of attention, with middle-aged and elderly women showering her with compliments. The compliments made Bian Guanyue a little embarrassed.

As night fell, they started playing cards, just as expected.

Chen Guiliang wasn't particularly interested in gambling, but today was different. His neighbors were all coming to help, and he couldn't refuse their invitations.

There were quite a few people; two tables were set up for playing Texas Hold'em and one for playing mahjong.

Even women came to play.

Chen Guiliang's table was playing for higher stakes, with a minimum bet of one yuan on a single round of "Five of Flowers." If they encountered a bad hand, the win or loss in a single round could reach hundreds of yuan.

Unfortunately, Chen Guiliang had a lucky streak and kept getting big hands on his cards.

He was too embarrassed to win money, so he started playing randomly and became a master at squandering money.

Of course, he wouldn't deliberately lose too much; everything has its limits.

As midnight approached, those who had to work the next day left, leaving only a few people still playing cards.

Chen Guiliang also stopped playing, using the excuse that he was keeping an eye on the incense offerings for his ancestor.

He just lost several hundred dollars.

My cousin Chen Guirong sat down and greeted me, "Brother, sister-in-law."

Bian Guanyue responded and peeled an apple for him.

Chen Guiliang asked, "Why did you stop playing?"

"I have to go to work tomorrow, so I took half a day off today," Chen Guirong said.

Chen Guirong has graduated from vocational school and is currently working at a restaurant. He seems much more mature now, unlike when he was a delinquent in school.

Chen Guiliang had promised him that he would work for a few years, learn cooking skills and restaurant management, and then invest in him to open a restaurant.

"Still playing games?" Chen Guiliang asked.

Chen Guirong laughed and said, "Playing games? I'm not as crazy as I was when I was in school. Especially playing 'Future Era'. Just thinking that it's your game and that you would definitely help me recharge if I called makes it less fun. Now when I go online, I mainly visit 51.com, where I can video chat with beautiful girls."

Chen Guiliang laughed and cursed, "Damn it, 51.COM is my competitor. Why don't you use HaiNei.com?"

“I’ve used it. Video chat isn’t popular on HaiNei.com,” Chen Guirong said. “51.COM is really interesting. Lots of beautiful women are willing to video chat.”

Depend on!
Chen Guiliang has personally experienced what the mainstream user group of 51.COM is like.

Chen Guirong continued, "You keep vigil the first night. Your great-grandmother was the best to you, so she can leave in peace if you keep vigil. I'll take over tomorrow night."

"Where's your cousin?" Chen Guiliang hadn't seen his cousin today.

Chen Guirong explained, "She wasn't planning to come back for the Spring Festival this year. She said she found a part-time job selling mobile phones during the holiday, and if she did well, she could earn one or two hundred yuan a day. After receiving the call from home, she first went to buy a train ticket, but she couldn't buy one at all. Then she went to buy a plane ticket, but she could only get one for tomorrow."

Chen Guiliang did not ask any further questions.

After sitting for a while, Chen Guiliang asked the Bian family's driver to take his cousin back to the city.

Late at night, all the people playing cards left.

The parents and grandmother went to sleep, leaving Chen Guiliang and Bian Guanyue to watch over the incense in the mourning hall.

Bian Guanyue leaned against him, reminiscing about the past, and said, "When my grandparents passed away, I also kept vigil like this. At that time, I was ignorant. During the meal, some people were laughing and joking, and I got so angry that I smashed my bowl and chopsticks and cursed them as dogs. Actually, they were all my grandparents' old colleagues, and they usually cared for and looked after me a lot."

“You’re not wrong, and neither are they; they just haven’t understood each other.” Chen Guiliang stroked her hair.

Bian Guanyue closed her eyes, smelling the incense in the mourning hall.

Chen Guiliang said, "Just lie on me and sleep. I'll wake you up to chat later."

"Ah."

Bian Guanyue responded, gazing intently at the flickering candlelight, lost in thought.

Perhaps she was reminiscing about her past with her grandparents.

(End of this chapter)