On his way home, William saw feedback from the new levels in Happy Match Mania. Overall, most were positive, while the negative ones were mainly about the content being too short.
For skilled players, the five new levels only took about ten minutes to clear, which wasn't much compared to the long wait they had endured. Since the development speed couldn't be increased, William had no choice but to use his backup plan—unlock restrictions.
In the original game, after clearing a certain number of levels, players had to either ask friends for help or collect enough stars to unlock the next set. At first, William felt this would hurt the player experience, so he didn't add it in. It also shortened development time.
But now, it seemed like the shortcut he took before had to be paid back. Tonight, he could only work overtime to add the unlock restriction back into the game.
The unlock system would also introduce a star rating for each level, with a maximum of three stars. Not many players would get three stars for every stage, so it would encourage them to replay, increasing overall playtime.
After-dinner entertainment.
William was watching a movie when he heard movement at the door—two sets of footsteps. That meant Cynthia had brought Merry back. From the looks of it, Merry would be staying for another night. Whether this would be her last night wasn't something William cared about.
"Boss, we're back," Cynthia said cheerfully.
William glanced back at them. "Welcome home."
While Merry was still changing her shoes, Cynthia dropped a pile of shopping bags onto the sofa, then flopped down next to William without hesitation, putting her legs up on the coffee table. "I'm exhausted."
Not long after she sat down, Merry took a seat on the single sofa across from them. "If only there was a sweet guy here to give me a foot massage."
William could feel both pairs of eyes on him. On the coffee table were a pair of shapely legs, and all he had to do was say "I'll do it" to have them at his disposal—though it felt a little inappropriate.
William sighed. "Alright, I'll do it."
After all, he was the only "sweet guy" in the house.
Cynthia muttered, "If you don't want to, you don't have to."
William ignored her and put both hands on Merry's calves. Even through her pants, he could feel the softness and the slight bounce when pressing down. It was hard to tell who was enjoying it more.
Once he finished with Merry's calves, he didn't go any higher, but turned his attention to Cynthia. Since he'd already served Merry, it wouldn't be fair to leave her out.
After only two squeezes, Cynthia complained, "Didn't you eat dinner? Can't you use a little more strength?"
William rolled his eyes and stopped right away.
"Do it yourself."
"Che." Cynthia pouted. "And here I was about to bring you good news. Since you don't want to hear it, forget it."
"What good news?"
"Ohhh." Cynthia yawned. "I'm kind of tired."
Merry chuckled. "Alright then, let's go upstairs."
She started to get up.
Cynthia didn't stand right away. Instead, she lifted both legs and wiggled them in front of William, making her meaning clear.
If he wanted to hear the good news, William had no choice but to give in and press harder.
"Hiss."
Cynthia pulled her leg back quickly from the pain and stopped fooling around. "We went to look for a venue this afternoon, and thanks to Merry's help, we found a really good place."
"Oh?"
That really was good news.
Having a new venue meant they could bring in more people, which in turn would speed up the studio's current projects.
William had actually been planning to secure a venue himself in the next couple of days, but Merry's sudden arrival made him think Cynthia would forget about it. He didn't expect her to not only remember but also bring Merry along to look. This foot massage was well worth it.
"Let's go check it out together tomorrow."
"No problem."
Early morning.
The income from Happy Mahjong was steady. Happy Match Mania had five new levels added, but its daily revenue still dropped by ten to twenty thousand compared to before.
The next morning, William took Cynthia's car, with Merry coming along, to check out the place they found yesterday.
It was in the suburbs, about a forty-minute drive from downtown, more than twenty subway stops away, inside a tech park office building that was finished in the last two years. Rent was very cheap — less than thirty thousand a month for over 600 square meters per floor, including maintenance fees, basic fire safety setup, and simple decoration. They could basically move in as soon as they signed.
Cynthia said, "I'm thinking we should just rent two floors."
Merry added, "I agree. Renting two floors now is the best choice. Based on your planned scale, one floor won't be enough. And if you try to rent more later, you won't get the same discount you can get now by taking them together."
They were right. The only downside was that it was a bit far, but otherwise it was perfect for the studio's expansion. There were apartment buildings nearby offering bulk rentals, and several cafeterias inside the park, so food and housing could be handled in one go.
"Let's rent it," William decided.
They met with the park's leasing manager, who said they'd have to rent for at least five years. During those five years, the rent would be locked at 4.5 yuan per square meter per day. After that, it would rise by 5–8% a year until year ten, when it would stop going up.
On top of that, the park would give a food and housing subsidy: meals at $1 each, meaning $3 a day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. For housing, renting ten rooms gave a 5% discount, twenty rooms gave 7%, and renting a whole building meant 15% off rent. The longer the lease, the lower the rent. The only expensive part was utilities, charged at commercial shop rates.
Parking was free for now, but since spaces might run out later, the park offered sixty free spots if they signed now, with future extra spots at half price.
The park also had trusted contacts for soft furnishing work. Prices were fair and not much higher than outside, and since they were partners, any issues could be handled directly through the park. William was fine with taking their service.
For computers, though, he still went to the computer store guy he always worked with. The man was honest and sold parts at fair prices, charging only a small assembly fee — no more than five hundred profit per machine.
William ordered fifty computers and desks in one go, and the guy gave him a 20% discount right away, saying he'd basically make no profit. William paid in full without hesitation. The company had money, and that amount was just about a day's income.
With the new place set, Cynthia would be busy for a while. Fifty computers meant at least thirty new hires to start with, plus cleaning staff and maintenance workers. Even though the park had its own cleaners, the company still needed two inside to keep things tidy at all times.
As for maintenance, William had the computer store guy handle it — mostly fixing everyday issues with office machines. Not everyone in the company was a tech whiz who could solve both software and hardware problems themselves.
This time, they wouldn't just be hiring animators, designers, and programmers. William also planned to hire server engineers to build their own server network instead of relying entirely on WeChat Games.
Once their own network department was set up, they could slowly transfer out the shares they had given to WeChat Games.
Of course, that 5% stake wasn't just for technical support. The real value was in their connection with Tencent. Without their contacts, it would have been hard to reach the Mahjong Association. But in the future, Earth Games and WeChat Games were bound to become rivals, and being partially owned by them always felt uncomfortable.