Becoming the richest man by playing games that help cure depression

Seeing her flustered and on the verge of tears, Li Zhujian secretly rejoiced—this girl is quite amusing when she gets anxious.

He deliberately feigned concern, pushing the milk tea next to him in front of her with a sheepish smile: "It's alright, it's alright, don't worry, have some milk tea to calm down, it's nothing serious."

Shen Yunshi didn't think much of it and gulped down a big mouthful of milk tea.

She had just swallowed it when she realized—this wasn't about drinking milk tea at all!

Just as she was about to explain further, the scene suddenly shifted to the headquarters office of Mingye Games.

There was a gentle knock on the door of the chief planner's office, and the curly-haired assistant, carrying a stack of documents, hurried in.

He slammed the book down on Xiang Dahai's desk, his tone laced with disdain: "Mr. Xiang, we've found out... that author who made 'Swinging the Hammer' so popular..."

He's a third-year student at Binhai University, named Li Zhujian, studying game design.

"Students?" Xiang Dahai raised an eyebrow, picked up the documents and started flipping through them, his brows furrowing more and more tightly.

Li Zhujian's resume was as ordinary as it could be; he had previously worked on a few small games.

Everything was mediocre, and sales were so dismal that they couldn't even sell fifty copies in total, not even making a splash.

This game, "Swing the Hammer," suddenly became incredibly popular, with its data exploding out of proportion.

"I think this kid just got lucky, like a blind cat stumbling upon a dead mouse. His sudden fame is purely due to luck; he doesn't have any real talent."

Curly Hair casually remarked from the side, his face full of disapproval.

Xiang Dahai glanced at him sideways, then reprimanded him sternly: "Luck is also a part of ability. Our company is so big..."

You had your popularity stolen by a college student, and you still have the nerve to say that the student got lucky?

Last time we underestimated our opponent; we must not let our guard down again this time.

Despite saying that, Xiang Dahai felt a sense of relief.

How could an ordinary student with no fame or representative works create a wildly popular game, besides good luck?

He didn't take Li Zhujian seriously at all, casually crumpled the documents into a ball, and threw them into the trash can next to him.

"How's the preparation for the company's new project going?" Xiang Dahai leaned back in his chair and got back to the main topic.

"The progress is incredibly fast; we'll be entering the internal testing phase soon," the curly-haired man replied quickly, then subconsciously glanced back at the office door.

After confirming that no one was around, he lowered his voice, pulled a poster from the folder, and handed it to Xiang Dahai, saying mysteriously, "Mr. Xiang, take a look at this."

Xiang Dahai took the poster, glanced at it, and raised an eyebrow: "A joint university game expo?"

"That's right." The curly-haired man lowered his voice even further, a calculating glint in his eyes.

"The first prize for this expo is 200,000 yuan, and it is explicitly stated that only college students can participate."

Xiang Dahai instantly understood his thoughts. A prize of 200,000 yuan wasn't a lot, but there was no reason not to take advantage of a freebie.

But then he frowned and said, "We're a game company, not students. We're not qualified to participate."

Curly-haired man chuckled and whispered in Xiang Dahai's ear, "The company isn't qualified, but your son is!"

Isn't he also a student in the Game Design Department of Binhai University?

He was in the same department as Li Zhujian!

Xiang Dahai's eyes suddenly lit up, and he slapped his thigh: "That's right, how could I have forgotten about that!"

"You mean, let the young master participate under his name?" Xiang Dahai looked at the curly-haired man, his eyes full of calculation.

"That's right!" Curly-haired man nodded hastily, his tone flattering. "We'll submit the rhythm game that the company has made to the competition in the young master's name. We'll get the 200,000 yuan prize money without a doubt, and it'll also add some prestige to the young master."

Whether he takes over your company or moves to a larger platform, his experience will be outstanding—a win-win situation.

Xiang Dahai frowned and hesitated for a moment: "This is against the rules. If the organizers find out, it's not just a matter of the company's reputation being ruined, but my son's future will be completely over."

"Rules are rigid, but people are flexible." Curly Hair said confidently, "This is something only heaven, earth, and we know. As long as we keep it a secret and polish the game well, who can find out?"

This rhythm game was developed in complete secrecy, and was ultimately handed over to the young master. To the outside world, it was claimed that he developed it independently, so the organizers would never discover any irregularities.

Xiang Dahai stared at the poster for a long time, weighing the pros and cons repeatedly in his mind, but in the end, the interests prevailed.

He gritted his teeth and made the decision: "Okay, we'll do it your way!"

He specifically instructed, in a serious tone: "This matter must be kept absolutely secret; not a single word is allowed to leak out."

"Don't worry, Mr. Xiang, I'm very tight-lipped!" Curly-haired man quickly agreed, his face beaming with smiles.

Xiang Dahai looked at him, tapped his forehead, and smiled with a mixture of helplessness and satisfaction: "You little rascal, you've got a lot of tricks up your sleeve. Go do it."

"Alright, I'll go arrange it right away!" Curly-haired man replied and quickly left the office.

Xiang Dahai was left sitting behind his desk, his eyes filled with a look of determination.

"Oh, don't take it to heart, I'm used to it, it's really nothing!"

Li Zhujian patted Shen Yunshi's arm to comfort her, a carefree smile on his face, but inwardly he was secretly astonished.

The girl's eyes reddened when she got anxious, and she almost cried. It took him a lot of talking to calm her down.

Shen Yunshi clutched the hem of her clothes, the words caught in her throat: "I'm sorry, this game is actually quite fun, it's just..."

"It's just making things difficult for people, isn't it?"

Li Zhujian laughed heartily, his cheerful spirit radiating from him. "Let me tell you, I wanted to smash my computer several times while I was designing this!"

His straightforward self-deprecation made Shen Yunshi burst out laughing.

She nodded slightly and replied softly, "A little."

After chatting for a bit, Shen Yunshi completely shed her school beauty persona and became exceptionally approachable.

She looked at Li Zhujian with admiration in her eyes: "To be honest, I really didn't expect that such a popular game was designed by our students."

Li Zhujian scratched his head, grinning smugly, "Hey, why don't you just praise me for being amazing? Why beat around the bush!"

Shen Yunshi was amused by his witty remarks, and the atmosphere instantly became much more relaxed.

Seeing the opportunity, Li Zhujian quickly changed the subject: "Let's get down to business. I asked Lao San to invite you out today because I really have something to ask of you."

As soon as she heard this, Shen Yunshi's face flushed red, and she lowered her head unconsciously.

As the school beauty, she was used to being surrounded by boys. From junior high school to now, the number of boys who dared to confess to her face could form a reinforced company, and there were even more who secretly liked her behind her back.

At first, she would be shy and refuse, but later she became indifferent. However, today, when facing Li Zhujian, she felt inexplicably flustered and subconsciously thought that he was going to confess his feelings.

"Wha...what's wrong?"

Her voice was soft, and she didn't even dare to look up. Li Zhujian's cheerful humor and remarkable design talent...

And that handsome face made her heart beat faster for no reason.

But the next second, with a "smack", a black handbag was slammed onto the table by Li Zhujian.

Shen Yunshi subconsciously looked up and saw the bundles of banknotes in the bag. Her heart sank and a surge of anger at being mocked instantly rose to her head.