diskusbooks #320 - This toy company is too weird! Milk Candy takes the lead in launching a new FPS game? (2 in 1
#320 - This toy company is too weird! Milk Candy takes the lead in launching a new FPS game? (2 in 1
Xia Shangyu instantly felt guilty and ashamed.
She thought to herself:
I've taken such good benefits from the company, yet last time when looking for a target, I was so lazy and just went to pick someone based on a small rumor I saw on Moments. That was really wrong of me!
Although Mao Wuyong did achieve results in the end, Lu always has a point when he questions my work process!
She said seriously:
"President Lu, I know I was wrong."
Lu Yu breathed a sigh of relief, thinking:
I gave you such good benefits, what for? Wasn't it just so you could be completely leisurely and laid-back!
Moreover, I told you last time to find a mediocre team as much as possible, yet you dug out Mao Wuyong, such a one-in-a-million high-potential company, that's really not right!
He softened his tone:
"Sister Xia, it's good that you know there's a problem. This time, my requirements are still the same.
I don't care at all what products this toy company you've chosen makes or what target users they're aimed at.
All of that doesn't matter!
Do you understand?
Sister Xia, pick whichever one you like.
I only have one requirement:
The corporate culture and work atmosphere of this company must be lazy!
To put it bluntly, I want the kind of team that's half-dead, using investors' money to slack off and muddle through the days. I want that kind of team.
This time, I have high hopes for you, so don't disappoint me!"
...
After returning to her workstation, Xia Shangyu fell into deep thought.
Last time, President Lu also made the same request for candidate companies, and Teacher Mao Wuyong did achieve results.
In other words, President Lu doesn't actually have any opinions on the companies she chooses, but just wants her to pay more attention to the process?
Xia Shangyu rested her chin on her hand and thought for a few minutes, then a jolt went through her mind—
Wait!
It's not that simple!
This should be President Lu, the old layered cake, giving her a new test!
The so-called "mediocre, slacking-off team" is just the appearance. President Lu is saying this to eliminate those companies that only put on a show. He's more concerned with a company's unique potential qualities.
Moreover, the reason President Lu talked to her this time is also obvious:
Since you, Xia Shangyu, could pick such a good acquisition target even when you were being perfunctory, then if you were serious, wouldn't you be able to pick an even better one?
After figuring this out, she breathed a long sigh of relief.
Thinking about it carefully, President Lu is so concerned about her growth and gives her plenty of freedom, never asking about the specific process. Where can you find such a wonderful boss?
Her eyes slightly moistened.
This time, I will definitely pick out a dark horse that's no less than No Use Tech, and I will never let President Lu down!
[Xia Shangyu is grateful for your guidance and is determined to find a company that satisfies you, feeling invigorated. Leisure Points +55]
Seeing the system prompt, Lu Yu breathed a sigh of relief.
It wasn't in vain that I spent so much effort talking, this girl finally got the point!
...
In the following days, Xia Shangyu used her connections and spread the word that Peach Garden Village intended to acquire a toy company.
For a time, the entire toy industry in China was in turmoil!
Previously, the turnaround of Black Horse Animation and No Use Tech was seen by everyone. If they could be favored by Peach Garden Village, then wealth and glory would be just around the corner!
However, what made everyone feel strange was that news from various channels said that Peach Garden Village wanted to acquire a "mediocre, slacking-off, muddling-through team."
After confirming that Xia Shangyu had not missed a "not" character, the entrepreneurs were even more confused.
What the hell? They don't want the good ones, but specifically pick the rotten persimmons to acquire?
But in any case, this news did give some half-dead, muddling-through companies a glimmer of hope.
In the spirit of "grab whatever you can get," a large number of companies signed up.
Information on various candidates flew to Jianghai City like snowflakes, and finally, after being summarized through a network of connections, was sent to Xia Shangyu's email.
On Friday night, Xia Shangyu opened her laptop while drinking coffee and began to browse the candidate information:
"Zhoufu City Dream Bubble Toy Co., Ltd."
Main product: Dream bubble machine that can blow bubbles with soapy water
Team characteristics: The team as a whole is relatively Buddhist and lazy. They often organize bubble-blowing competitions within the company after lunch. Employees often delay delivery dates because they are addicted to blowing bubbles, causing the company to face high penalty fines...
Xia Shangyu complained: "Good heavens, you guys really love blowing bubbles."
"Xuchang City Always Late Toy Co., Ltd."
Main product: "Gag Prank Toy - Late Alarm Clock." If you give this alarm clock as a gift to a friend, no matter how accurate they set the time, the alarm clock will deliberately delay the time the next morning, causing the friend to be late for work or school.
Team characteristics: Within the company, team members often use their own products to prank each other. Because their products are almost indistinguishable from normal alarm clocks in appearance, many people's homes and employee dormitories are also full of prank alarm clocks, leading to the team always being late and the company's operations being difficult.
After being late in the morning, they often shout in distress: "Boss, I can't tell the difference!"
"..."
Xia Shangyu rubbed her eyebrows.
Good heavens, the case rate of mutual beatings among friends must be very high in the best-selling place for this kind of alarm clock.
"Guandong City Pink Story Toy Development Co., Ltd."
Main products: Electric toys and dolls
Team characteristics: Company members often secretly try out their own products during work hours. Many people have been rushed to the hospital due to acute dehydration and malnutrition, but this trend of trying out products has not been curbed, leading to difficulties in the company's operations and being half-dead (referring to employees)."
"What the hell?"
Xia Shangyu was full of question marks.
The previous candidates all explained the selling points of their products in detail, but this company just said in general terms that they sell dolls and electric toys.
And they specifically noted in parentheses that the employees are half-dead? What the heck is that!
At the bottom of the email, there is the company's enterprise WeChat link. In the spirit of being responsible for her work, Xia Shangyu decided to ask clearly what products they sell.
She clicked on the chat window and explained her intentions. Unexpectedly, the person in charge of the other party replied in seconds.
Pink Story: "Miss Xia, I'm honored that you are interested in us. What would you like to know? It's okay if you want to buy our things, I'll give you a 50% discount, hehe..."
Xia Shangyu: "What kind of toys do you sell? Can you explain in detail?"
Pink Story: "We sell toys that both boys and girls like to play with..."
Xia Shangyu was stunned. Isn't that nonsense?
Pink Story:
"Cough, after all, you are a girl, so it's not appropriate for me to be too explicit.
Let me put it this way, I want to ask you a question first:
Everyone says that boys like to play with electric toys when they are young, and girls like to play with dolls.
But after they grow up, boys like to play with dolls, and girls like to play with electric toys.
Do you know why?"
After the other party finished speaking, they also sent a wretched yellow bean emoji picking their nose.
Xia Shangyu thought for a moment, then immediately understood, and her pretty face turned red.
"Goodbye!"
She hurriedly closed the chat box.
After drinking a few sips of coffee, she calmed down and sighed to herself:
Strange, has my constitution become strange recently?
Why does it seem easier to find these abstract and bizarre companies?
Could it be that I have awakened some amazing talent that I don't even know about?
At the same time, Xia Shangyu hesitated again:
Huh, to be fair, where have I seen the name Pink Story before?
Hmm... strange, where did I see it?
While muttering, she opened her phone and flipped through her chat history.
After searching for a while, sure enough!
She clicked on the conversation record with Liu Lan, which was a conversation from when she was still working at Liu's Group.
Liu Lan: "Xia, I have a meeting later, can you help me pick up a package from the front desk?"
Xia: "Okay..."
5 minutes later.
Xia: "Picture.jpg, Chairman, look, is this the "Pink Story" one? It also says: High-Pressure Electric Motor Triple Impact Model?"
Liu Lan: "..."
Liu Lan: "Damn merchant, you promised to ship it confidentially."
Xia: "What is this?"
Liu Lan: "It's nothing, just a fascia gun to relieve muscle fatigue. Put it in my car later, don't let the secretary see it."
...
After closing the phone, Xia Shangyu fell into a brief silence.
"Sister Liu has waited for Pei Yu, that stinky man, for so many years, it's not easy for her."
She cheered up and continued to browse the candidates.
The subsequent candidate companies also seemed to be similar.
This kind of company that obviously just muddles through the days is definitely not what President Lu really wants!
What President Lu wants is a team that, like Teacher Mao Wuyong, may seem lazy on the surface, but has a unique spirit inside!
They must be idealists!
They must be lone warriors!
They must be Don Quixotes!
Xia Shangyu continued to search with dark circles under her eyes, staying up late.
Just when she was about to despair, she finally found an interesting team:
"Xingjia City Little Confused Immortal Toy Factory"
Main products: Electric toy guns (including water gun versions and BB gun versions)
Team characteristics:
"This is a team with an extremely laissez-faire outlook on life, confused and aimless at work, and with no regular project progress.
However, they were once a group of idealists, and their easygoing attitude is a struggle against the world.
They once vowed to change the toy industry one day and reshape the childhood of children all over the world!
But now, they just want to clear their inventory and pay off the wages owed to their employees.
They lament the injustice of fate while waiting to enter bankruptcy liquidation procedures."
Xia Shangyu's eyes lit up:
"Whoa! That's a grand ideal, but they are even worse off than Mao Wuyong, they are about to go bankrupt. President Lu seems to want half-dead ones?"
But this introduction is really eye-catching. She searched online for the company's products.
The first model is called "Confused Water Gun", which is a squirt gun toy driven by a built-in motor.
However, like its name, this water gun is confusing to use.
Attached below the product introduction is a news link from "1818 Golden Eye", which contains parents' complaints about the brand's quality problems.
The program introduced that after children bought the toy back, they could not predict the next shot's strength and trajectory.
Parent:
"The water squirted by my child's gun is weak and powerless, and it's not fun to play with at all.
I thought it would be too much trouble to return it, so I thought of using it as a watering can for flowers, but when I tried it, the water gun sprayed high-pressure water jets like crazy, killing all the flowers I raised.
When I give it back to my child to play with, it goes back to the way it was."
The program also introduced another "Random Handgun Toy" from the same manufacturer, and the problem was the same.
The cooling time of the shot and the number of BB bullets fired are all random.
No one knows what effect the next bullet will have!
The risk of accidentally injuring people is greatly increased.
...
After closing the news, Xia Shangyu complained helplessly:
"Good heavens, with your bizarre product design, you still want to reshape the childhood of children all over the world?
I think you are increasing childhood shadows!
No wonder you ended up going bankrupt."
But she thought about it carefully. This company is barely considered more humanized among a bunch of weirdos, at least they still have some ideals left.
What's more, she heard that the next flagship game that President Lu is preparing to make is a shooting project.
For VR shooting games, the peripheral handle in the shape of a gun is the most important thing. Maybe this company is unexpectedly good?
Xia Shangyu wrote down the information of Little Confused Immortal Company and decided to take the time to conduct an on-site inspection.
...
The next day, Peach Garden Village Villa.
Today is the day when Milk Candy, one of the Sugar Candy sisters, is refreshed for a limited time.
After the encouragement activity for afternoon tea development, Lu Yu called Milk Candy to the conference room for a meeting.
In the conference room, Milk Candy stood nervously behind Lu Yu.
She was still wearing the classic skin - cat girl white silk maid outfit.
Because the encouragement activity had just been completed, the white baking cream kept dripping from the white stockings onto the floor.
Lu Yu looked out the window and said leisurely:
"Xiaoxuan, how do you feel about the cross-dressing activities during this period of time?"
Milk Candy said timidly:
"Thank you, President Lu, for your guidance. Since cross-dressing, I feel that I can be more open in my work, and the cooperation with the developers in the group is smoother.
Therefore, the "Free Mouth Cannon Life" project has been operating very stably.
It's the first time in my career that I've served as a producer, and I'm very happy to have achieved such success."
Whenever "Free Mouth Cannon Life" is mentioned, Lu Yu's face twitches in pain.
Without a doubt, this game is still one of the pillars of the Peach Garden Illusion Realm platform.
He never expected that the most ordinary and least likely to work hard producer would backstab so hard!
Due to the continuous growth of users, the workload of project team members is too saturated, and the warning of the "efficiency reduction and cost increase system" is triggered from time to time, deducting a lot of points.
Therefore, in this round, Lu Yu has to expand Mo Xiaoxuan's Zizai Studio group to clean up the mess for these little overachievers.
However, now that he's expanding anyway,
Lu Yu thought he might as well hand over the development task for this round's flagship game to them.
The reason is simple. "Zizai Verbal Warfare Life" is, in a sense, a TPS (Third-Person Shooter) game. Having Zizai Studio make a new shooting project means many previous technologies and resources can be reused.
This way, the workload can be reduced, and the risk of deductions will also decrease.
And, most importantly—
This project team has someone like "Milk Candy."
Lu Yu smirked and said:
"Xiaoxuan, I need you and the studio members to brainstorm and create a new FPS game."
Hearing that CEO Lu was entrusting him with the task of the next-generation flagship game, Mo Xiaoxuan immediately became serious.
Lu Yu:
"But I have a requirement. This shooting game must be close to our daily life and can't be too sci-fi or too fantastical.
For example, if you're doing Titan mechs, future wars, or space travel, that's all a no-go."
Lu Yu's words were equivalent to directly blocking Mo Xiaoxuan's possibility of creating a sci-fi blockbuster.
Because the more games like that are made, the better the visual presentation of the world, the easier it is to create exciting grand scenes, and the higher the possibility of creating a hit!
Lu Yu changed the subject:
"But, the game's production budget cannot be less than 300 million!"
Mo Xiaoxuan was dumbfounded after hearing this.
Not allowing him to make high-tech warfare games, yet having to spend a large budget, this… how is he supposed to do this?
"CEO Lu, if we're not making a sci-fi game, I don't feel like the budget needs to be that high?"
Lu Yu:
"First of all, non-sci-fi shooting games can also be filled with content,
If there's really no place to fill it, you can spend the budget on eating, drinking, and having fun… oh no, I mean, going out for research.
Furthermore, the studio has been operating for so long, shouldn't the employees' gaming equipment, ergonomic chairs, and headphones be upgraded?
If there's really nothing to upgrade, adding some new figures to the desk, wouldn't that make you feel better?
In short, as long as it makes the employees feel happy, you can spend it as you please."
Lu Yu smiled slightly.
He finally revealed his true intentions!
Spending the development budget on the employees' enjoyment, that's his real purpose!
This round's surprise mission requires him to spend no less than 300 million on new projects.
His arrangement satisfies the system's mission requirements and also expands the channel for point income.
Because it's spent in the name of the project development budget, the system can't say he's being negligent!
A perfect plan!
"…"
Mo Xiaoxuan was even more confused.
In other companies, producers would always say, "We have to spend the money where it counts."
Back then, the project team had to go through layers of approval even for some late-night snack budget, and the company was so stingy that it wished it could split a penny in half!
Therefore, CEO Lu's words were simply too magical!
But soon, he heard even more magical words—
"Moreover, I want you to take on the role of project producer as Milk Candy and participate in the game development from start to finish!"
"Eh??????????"
Mo Xiaoxuan, in his Milk Candy guise, covered his cherry-like mouth with his fair little hands in surprise, his beautiful eyes wide open.
Seeing this scene, Lu Yu thought to himself:
Heh, she's simply a natural-born girl. Her talent for cross-dressing is getting stronger and stronger!
Lu Yu continued:
"You don't have to worry about your identity being exposed. I will publicly announce that you, in your male form, will go out for development research, while Milk Candy, as your sister, will naturally take over from her brother and become the acting producer.
I will tell the company employees that you, as his sister, have learned a lot of development skills from your brother, and that your brother will also remotely direct you at any time."
Mo Xiaoxuan: "But… why go to such lengths?"
Lu Yu, with his back to him, had a smile on his lips.
Of course, it's to let Milk Candy interfere with the development work of those perverts in the project team!
With food-grade white silk cream ice cream dangling in front of them every day, who would be in the mood to work?
As long as their energy is completely distracted, they won't be able to overwork!
Of course, Lu Yu definitely couldn't say that directly. He said earnestly:
"All of this is to continue to train you, Xiaoxuan.
Think about it, the reason you were able to gain a foothold in the project team and develop Verbal Warfare Life was all thanks to the courage that cross-dressing gave you!
Now, you need to continue to carry forward this courage and practice more,
Then… your talent as a producer will surely be improved!"
The other party's beautiful eyes were sparkling with tears, filled with emotion, and he exclaimed in a cute voice:
"So, so that's how it is. I understand. Don't worry, CEO Lu, I will definitely work harder!"
Lu Yu was shocked.
Good heavens, this natural cuteness is simply unimaginable. What will it be like when those perverts are mesmerized?
He continued in a deep voice: "Then tell me, what are your ideas for the project?"