Around 9 p.m., William heard movement at the door.
He turned his head—Cynthia was back.
"Had fun?"
"Pretty good." Cynthia tossed her bag onto the armchair and sat down next to William. "How was the interview this afternoon?"
"Claire wasn't quite like her resume—she's a bit shy in person. But Tina was the opposite. Just like her resume, full of energy and eager to prove herself."
"Did you hire both?"
"Yeah. Claire's still thinking it over, but Tina's in."
Cynthia sighed. "I've noticed you don't turn anyone away."
"Well, that's thanks to you. You've found some real gems."
"You can praise me all you want, but I'm still claiming my reward." Cynthia stood up, grabbed her bag from the sofa, and pulled out a contract. "I closed a business deal for our company."
"Oh?" William took the contract and read it carefully.
The gist of it was that they hired an external team for promotion—not a huge deal.
Originally, William had planned to have Leon handle game promotion since concept art works well for marketing. But clearly, Cynthia had thought further ahead.
"Alright, what do you want?" William put the contract down. The studio didn't have the official stamp on hand, but the deal was practically done.
"Nothing much. Buy me, say, eight or ten outfits. Then take me to Magnolia Restaurant for a month…" Cynthia started counting on her fingers.
"Whoa whoa whoa!" William quickly cut her off. "Do I look like a genie to you? What, you making wishes now?"
"Pfft." Cynthia rolled her eyes. "Knew you'd be stingy. I've already talked to the head chef at Magnolia. He'll come to the villa the day after tomorrow. You're paying."
"You know their head chef?"
"Yup." Cynthia nodded seriously. "While I was eating today, he came out specially to thank me for dropping by. I casually invited him."
"A guy?"
"Yeah."
"Knew it."
"Knew what?" Cynthia tilted her head.
William said seriously, "No man can say no to an invitation from a pretty girl."
"Pfft." Cynthia covered her mouth and laughed. "I like hearing that. So, what reward do you want?"
Hearing that, William sat cross-legged facing her and said, "Actually, I do have something to discuss with you."
Then he told her about Aunt Oliver and suggested letting her live with them.
Cynthia looked surprised. "At first, I just asked my old boss to recommend a reliable housekeeping company. Didn't expect a hidden gem. From the way you're talking, Aunt Oliver must be worth at least tens of millions, huh?"
"Exactly."
"That's kind of scary."
Cynthia got back on topic. "It's definitely hard for her to go back and forth every day. I'm okay with it. It's just…"
"Just what?"
"If Aunt Oliver moves in, shouldn't we raise her salary?"
She had a point. Aunt Oliver's current job was just handling meals and basic cleaning. If she moved in, she'd be doing way more, and the nature of her job would change—from housekeeper to live-in manager.
"Then we'll raise it."
Spending a few thousand more a month didn't really matter to William now. Since they were living in a villa, having a house manager made sense.
"Alright."
"Oh, by the way, the new computer arrived. It's in the second-floor study. If you want to move it into your room, I can help."
Earlier today, William had asked the computer store owner to deliver two PCs. Since Aunt Oliver was at home, he didn't have to worry about someone being there to receive them.
"New computer?"
Cynthia clearly didn't know about it.
"Yeah, it's just inconvenient not having one."
Cynthia raised an eyebrow. "Don't expect me to work overtime at home."
"Free to use, totally up to you," William chuckled, though deep down he knew she'd probably end up working overtime anyway.
Cynthia gave him a glare and got up. "I'm going upstairs."
Since that was the case, William saw no point in staying downstairs either. After watching movies for three straight days, he had gained a better sense of what people liked and what was trending. Only by cracking the "money code" can you figure out what kind of games to make.
Right now, there were two games on the schedule: Happy Mahjong and Honor of Kings.
Both projects would be handled by the studio. William would help out a bit, but most of the work would be done by the team. Consider it practice for them.
The original plan was to use Honor of Kings to kick off a new era in gaming, but that might have to wait.
Why? Because William had extra time, and Earth Games was riding high. He didn't want to get stuck in a long development cycle during a hot streak. For now, pushing out new games quickly was the better move.
Digging new pits? Easy. Just one shovel.
New folder: Happy Match Mania
Right now, Classical Poetry Crossword had turned into a magnet for younger students. With the new gameplay mode, kids were slowly going from painful learning to actually enjoying it. It might not be super fun, but it was definitely more engaging than boring exercises.
Maybe because of that, the education department had started asking parents to stop kids from over-"studying" poetry. Some schools were even banning the app.
That wasn't a good sign, but games and minors are always going in opposite directions. It's only a matter of time.
William couldn't do much about that. At most, he'd add a "Game Health Reminder" animation before every game.
Sure, minors have to follow restrictions, but us grown-ups? No limits.
That's why William came up with the idea to target adults with a "boomer magnet" game—Happy Match Mania
No one over 40 can resist Happy Match Mania. Simple controls, easy to understand, oddly addictive—it brings back childhood joy.
That carefree age, with no school, no job, no stress—your only goal each day was to have fun.
Pure, simple joy.
Just like playing Happy Match Mania
With a solid idea in mind, William immediately teased it on Weibo.
"1 + 1 + 1 = 0?"
It's a math puzzle no one can solve—until he reveals the answer. Then players will finally understand what it means.
Let them guess.
"Oh, forgot to tell you—once our contract is signed, your Weibo account will be managed by them."
Obviously, Cynthia had been lurking. No other way she'd message him that fast.
"Do I have to?"
To be honest, William actually enjoyed interacting with fans. He used to be the one chasing stars, but now the tables had turned—others were chasing him. That feeling of being in the spotlight was pretty addictive.
"There's another way."
"Go on."
"We can separate you from Earth Games—one account for you as the producer, and another account for Earth Games as the company."
The whole "producer" concept was something William had explained to Cynthia before, telling her it was like a movie director—responsible for overseeing the whole game's development.
"Let's do that then."
"Got it."
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