Chapter Fifty-Nine: Mission Accomplished

Chapter Fifty-Nine: Mission Accomplished

Shi Bai rolled his eyes, knowing they probably wouldn’t understand again, but he didn’t care to explain any further.

“That’s settled then. Just do as I said for now, and we’ll deal with anything else later. Oh, and the remaining two million—use every cent for game promotion, whether it’s advertising or grassroots marketing, I want it all spent! Not a penny left over!”

He gave Zhang Xiaohua a special instruction, “You’ll supervise for me. If anyone dares leave a single cent, fire them immediately!”

Zhang Xiaohua shuddered, “Yes, President Shi!”

Shi Bai packed up his things and left the meeting room, but the others stayed behind, murmuring among themselves.

“What do you think President Shi is really up to?”

“No idea! I’ve worked for years, and never seen someone get angry because we’re making money!”

“Who would? He keeps repeating, absolutely no saving money! Is that something a normal person would do?”

Qian Yiwei sighed, “At first I thought I’d met an enlightened boss, but now it seems he’s just another spendthrift heir.”

“Hey!” Zhang Laoda quickly covered Qian Yiwei’s mouth, “Keep your voice down! Don’t say such things!”

Qian Yiwei calmly shook his head and pushed Zhang Laoda’s hand away.

“What are you afraid of? Me getting fired?”

He sighed again, “You’re overthinking. I’m not here for the salary, I’m here for my dream: to create the world’s most successful game—not to mess around.”

He paused and strode towards the door, “If President Shi keeps this up, I’ll resign soon enough.”

The others watched him leave in silence.

Were they any different? Anyone who worked here had aspirations.

But the job was provided by Shi Bai, the opportunity as well. If they weren’t following his lead, what could they do?

Dreams are beautiful, but reality is the foundation. Without reality, dreams—let alone survival—are impossible.

So the meeting room was filled with sighs and murmurs.

…

Three days passed. The game officially launched. With two million spent on advertising, and thanks to the fanbase of “Zhang Dog’s Adventure,” downloads on day one reached one million.

The staff high-fived in celebration, Shi Bai was pleased as well—not only had the game been finished, but the ten million had been successfully spent.

Yet, for some reason, the system hadn’t sent any task completion message.

Shi Bai at first suspected the two million for promotion hadn’t been fully spent, but he soon realized that wasn’t the case—he’d calculated the expenses himself, not a penny left.

Then he wondered if someone had embezzled money without reporting it. But even then, it should count as an expense, and the task should be complete.

“So what’s going on?” Shi Bai racked his brain.

“Xiaohua!” He called the accountant over. “Report the accounts again. Is there any money left unspent?”

Zhang Xiaohua approached with the documents, blinking at Shi Bai. She didn’t know why he was so insistent on spending every cent, but she dutifully gave her report.

“This month’s expenditure totals ten million: game development cost five point six million, promotion two million, staff bonuses two million, and salaries four hundred thousand.”

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“Salaries?” Shi Bai paused. “Have the salaries been paid?”

“Huh?”

“What do you mean ‘huh’? Were the salaries paid?”

“Well… of course not, salaries are paid on the tenth of next month.”

“I knew it!” Shi Bai suddenly waved his hand and grabbed Zhang Xiaohua’s shoulders excitedly. “Pay them! Right now!”

“Huh?”

“What do you mean ‘huh’? Today! Now! Pay everyone’s salaries!”

The staff stared in disbelief and started murmuring.

“Pay salaries today? What does President Shi mean?”

“Is he… trying to get rid of us?”

“The game launches and he lets us go? That’s burning the bridge after crossing it!”

Qian Yiwei frowned.

“I knew it couldn’t be so generous—a huge salary, bonuses right after the game’s done, and now this trick.”

Zhang Xiaohua nervously looked at Shi Bai, “President Shi, you’re not really trying to fire us, are you?”

Shi Bai was stunned, then burst out laughing, “What are you thinking? Without you, who’d operate, update, and maintain the game? You’re overthinking! I’m paying early simply because I’m happy!”

The staff erupted in cheers.

“Knew it! President Shi wouldn’t do that!”

“President Shi is awesome!”

“Such genuine character!”

“Working with you is a joy! So satisfying!”

Shi Bai laughed heartily, “I’m happy too!”

He thought to himself, this must be what it means to be rich and capricious. Honestly, it feels pretty good!

Then Zhang Xiaohua contacted HR, and in no time, everyone’s salaries were paid.

As staff received their notifications, another message chimed in Shi Bai’s mind.

“Main quest completed. Failure value reward: 50,000 points!”

“Yes!” Shi Bai clenched his fist. “Mission accomplished. Now I just need to see how this ten million reward comes to me!”

“New main quest: Win the Ancient City Martial Arts Tournament.”

But before Shi Bai could celebrate, the system issued a new main quest. He was stunned.

“A martial arts tournament? In modern times?”

But after some thought, he accepted it. This world wasn’t like his previous life—wuxia and martial arts were real here, so a tournament was hardly surprising.

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He didn’t have time to worry about that now. What he cared about most was when the ten million from the quest would be credited to him.

Logically, his game wasn’t profitable, and unlike last time, no company would come to buy it. Who would buy a loss-making game for ten million in this world?

Shi Bai scratched his head, “Forget it, it’ll come when it comes. No need to overthink.”

He called his steward, Old Li, asking him to drive to the airport—his parents were returning from their trip today, and he was going to pick them up.

But going in a Rolls-Royce, Shi Bai suspected his parents couldn’t handle it, so he had Old Li switch to a Mercedes, thinking it would be less overwhelming.

Shi Bai had decided not to tell his parents about the riverside villa yet, worried it might be too much for them and lead to something tragic.

He’d seen plenty of news about people getting too happy and suffering cerebral hemorrhages or heart attacks—he didn’t want his parents to face such a disaster.

He planned to first settle his parents in an ordinary apartment, then tell them he’d won the lottery—five million.

Then he’d say he started a company, made money, and step by step move them into the riverside villa, so they could enjoy their later years in comfort.

With everything ready, the car headed for the airport. About an hour later, Shi Bai and Old Li picked up his parents.

Both wore sunglasses, dressed in beach attire, carrying bags and souvenirs, full of excitement.

“These are specialties from the southeast! These are specialties from the northwest!”

“Oh son, let me tell you, your dad and I had incredible luck! Our prize—they said there’s only one in the whole country!”

“Right! They said it was actually a mistake, but since we won, they had to honor it!”

“Haha… aren’t we lucky?”

Shi Bai smiled lightly, “Yes! But… I’m just a little luckier than you both.”

His parents paused, exchanging looks behind their sunglasses, “You’re luckier than us—did you win a prize too?”

Shi Bai nodded.

“How much did you win?”

“Five hundred…”

“Five hundred?”

“Thousand.”

“Thousand!?”

“Mm.”

“Ah!”

“Old man! Old man, what’s wrong? Why did you just faint?”