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  The open beta for Xingchen Games’ first game, , was scheduled to start at 10am in the morning. Still, when Xu Tingsheng went from the hotel to the work area at 6am, everyone was already gathered.

  “Many people stayed overnight last night,” He Yutan told Xu Tingsheng.

  “Huh? I see……” Having gone home to sleep way earlier and having arrived last too, Xu Tingsheng felt a bit guilty as he said, “In that case, I’ll go buy coffee for everyone.”


  He Yutan nodded in agreement. Xu Tingsheng was seldom at Xingchen and not very close with the ordinary employees here. Gestures like these were therefore necessary. For their boss to personally buy and hand them a cup of coffee might be like a stimulant for many employees, akin to a source of satisfaction after a night of fatigue.

  The sense of belonging that employees had towards their companies stemmed in large part from day-to-day, little things like these.

  “That’s a lot of people. I’ll ask someone to help carry them,” He Yutan said.

  “I’ll go with him,” Old Jin said as he appeared by the side.

  Old Jin was one of the bosses of Xingchen Games. While his interactions with his employees might be completely different than in Xingchen, he was actually more proficient in controlling people than Xu Tingsheng was.

  Also, he was more adaptable and able to accept different forms of interactions in different environments.

  Today, he had arrived earlier than Xu Tingsheng and had been talking happily with the employees.

  This was actually Old Jin’s greatest skill. The him in Binzhou, the him in Nice, the him in C City, the him in Bright Brilliance and the him at Xingchen today-be it callous or carefree or vicious or affable……he was always able to slip perfectly into the role he had to play.

  With the workers of the coffee shop downstairs, the two brought over a hundred cups of coffee up.

  They left them on the table at the entrance. After that, Xu Tingsheng and Old Jin asked about their favour preferences and personally delivered each cup to the employees’ hands with a ‘thank you for your hard work’. Xu Tingsheng also personally delivered coffee to Hu Chen.

  Hu Chen smiled, “I’ve waited a long time for these words. Truthfully speaking, it really feels a bit like I was swindled somewhere. Everything else is pretty good, just that our boss isn’t so reliable.”


  “Well, it’s a good thing that you guys are reliable then,” Xu Tingsheng replied cheerily.

  Actually, all the preparations for the open beta were already complete at this point in time. The employees looked at their watches as they drank their coffee. There were still more than three hours to go. How were they to pass this time?

  “It’s okay. Don’t be reserved, everyone. Have a nice chat. We’ll participate too,” Xu Tingsheng said smilingly.

  There were only a few people tentatively talking in hushed tones at first. Gradually, their higher echelons, Xu Tingsheng and Old Jin included, came to be enthusiastically chatting with everyone, cups of coffee in hand. The atmosphere was even like a house on fire.

  “Why can’t you find a girlfriend?” Xu Tingsheng asked as he sat on a table in the midst of a bunch of young employees, “Aren’t those from our company often hit on outside? Also, our Xingchen’s wages can be considered high, right?”


  “It’s their own fault,” He Yutan joined in, saying angrily, “Firstly, many of the companies in this building have a higher female to male ratio. They aren’t for want of women. Secondly, upstairs is Shenghai’s largest yoga studio. They aren’t for want of beauties. Thirdly, just because they were always complaining, Old Hu and I actually shamelessly took the initiative to approach them and organised a gathering with several companies……things were pretty good at the time, but they all ended up bringing about their own downfall.”


  “Why? How did that happen?” Old Jin joined in too as did the remaining crowds.

  “Ask him,” He Yutan pointed at a shy, respectable-looking employee.

  This person lifted his glasses and smiled awkwardly.

  “What did you do?” Xu Tingsheng asked.

  “It’s nothing, really. Boss He is exaggerating,” That employee forced a smile.

  He Yutan shook his head and pulled an employee beside him out from the crowd, saying, “Come on, you tell Boss Xu and Boss Jin how exactly he led you all down into the ditch.”


  This person might be relatively more eloquent as he prepared himself before he smilingly explained, “Little Zheng is a hacker. We’re all programmers, so it’s only natural that we’ll associate with these things a little sometime or other. And that’s where the problem lies……”


  Xu Tingsheng nodded and indicated for him to continue.

  “Anyway, not long after joining our company, Little Zheng hooked up with a yoga instructor in the lift. That figure, that face, that suppleness……um, it was a real blessing, anyway. He liked her a lot and we were all happy for him.”


  “But after a while, Little Zheng discovered that that woman’s expenses were a little exaggerated, not seeming like something she could support with her income level.”


  “So, he decided to check it out. Little Zheng’s investigation method was to directly hack her computer……QQ chat records, our private data on Weibo and Weixin……he pulled it all out……”


  “Then, everything came to light. Apparently, that woman had a part-time job in private. Very expensive, several thousand for a night.”


  At this point in time, Xu Tingsheng did not know what to say.

  “I must add,” Someone chimed in, “Actually, from the records, it had already been over two months since that woman got together with Little Zheng, and she never did it since then……it really seems like she was going to quit and be a good woman, devotedly following Little Zheng. The contacts and their chat logs were actually all deleted too……Little Zheng only managed to recover them with a lot of difficulty. Really, people, why make life so difficult for yourselves……”


  That last bit was accompanied by an emotional sigh.

  Xu Tingsheng looked at the person in question, Little Zheng.

  Little Zheng smiled awkwardly and said, “Actually, I was very conflicted too. Sometimes, I think it’s good that I checked. Sometimes, I wonder if foolishly not knowing anything at all could be better. It was all in the past anyway, and I liked her a lot too. Those were happy days indeed. Still……I did check, after all.”


  “After Little Zheng asked to break up, this woman even waited for him at the entrance of our company more than ten times. She begged him, cried, even knelt several times,” Someone added, “Afterwards, I heard all of a sudden that the woman resigned and left. We’ve heard nothing more of her since.”


  “It’s really my fault as well. I was too furious at the time. I simply couldn’t calm down at all.”


  Seeing how Little Zheng looked quite pained, Xu Tingsheng changed the topic. There could actually be no satisfactory answer to this, especially for the person himself, Little Zheng.

  “What about you guys then? Don’t tell me you all did the same?” Xu Tingsheng asked.

  They all nodded timidly.

  “Actually, what they found wasn’t the same. How could it all be like that, right?” He Yutan said rather exasperatedly, “The problem is that they were already fully possessed by the devil. Ever since then, every time they met someone it seemed they might have a sliver of a chance with, it would be hack, investigate. Hey, in this day and age, in a big city, how many girls, especially beautiful, outstanding ones, who have experienced university life and work……can have no history?”


  “But they just can’t stand it. The girl said some sweet nothing to their ex-boyfriend before. They find it, they can’t stand it. Intimate photographs, they can’t stand it. Anything a bit past the limits, they can’t stand it even more……leaving behind those who used to really like someone, they can’t stand that, someone who’s been in a few more relationships, they can’t stand that either……in the end, investigate one, break up with one. Breakup galore. And even now they’ll investigate every one they meet.”


  “They’re done for,” He Yutan waved his hands helplessly.

  “Actually, we do know that this isn’t good, that it’s wrong. But we just can’t stop ourselves……” An employee said.

  “If the water is too pure, there can be no fish living in it,” Old Jin said.

  “Curiosity kills the cat,” Xu Tingsheng said.

  “And I assume you people don’t have any histories yourselves?” Assistant Niu asked furiously in a huff on the behalf of women everywhere.

  Coughs resounded. Nobody said anything.