Chapter 391 - Who Else?! (1/2)

The computer was right next to Zhu Xingan. Anyone who raised their head could see the screen. One could say that Cui Geng would be using the computer under everyone’s gaze.

Cui Geng had noticed that there was a spare computer in the room before. However, at the time, he just thought that there was an extra set. He had not thought much about it after that.

Now, he understood; it had a purpose!

He could watch movies and play games on that computer, but he would have to do that under the noses of the editor-in-chief and all the other authors. Could he catch up with his shows?

That would be too much!

How could he hog the computer and watch shows or movies while everyone else watched him? The computer was meant to be shared among all the authors. Others would have to gather their own material!

Cui Geng had thought about saying one computer was not enough and then asking Zhu Xingan to prepare another one.

However, on further thought, if he were in Zhu Xingan’s position; he would not believe his own words either.

That was because the writers would be able to find eighty to ninety percent of the material using their own computers.

Even in the writing software’s lockdown state, they were allowed to conduct searches on Qiandu or other websites; they only could not watch videos, download software, or access certain websites and forums such as Infinite Chinese Network, Zhongdian Chinese Network, Tieba, and Weibo.

Thus, it was impossible to waste the entire day away reading novels and forums while in the lockdown state.

Writers could gather eighty to ninety percent of the information they needed using the search engines.

Under exceptional circumstances, if they needed to gather material from movies, they could use the computer next to Zhu Xingan. There, they could download the movie and skip to the scene that they needed to watch. That would not take much time at all.

What’s more, the computer was a shared resource. Ordinary people would feel too embarrassed to hog it for too long. Thus, everyone would be as efficient as possible.

That meant there was no problem with having only one computer; it would not hinder their writing progress.

However, to Cui Geng, whose initial intention had been to slack; this was extremely painful!

He quietly sat down, recalling the agreement that he had signed earlier. It was no wonder that the agreement had only stipulated the working hours and not a word count!

Ma Yiqun’s hidden intention was clear: it’s alright if one had writer’s block and failed to write anything for one day; they wouldn’t care as long as staring at the writing software for one entire day didn’t drive someone crazy.

Cui Geng was speechless. He had been scammed! This was a trap!

Cui Geng instinctively wanted to leave. The worst that could happen if he tore up the contract was the retraction of his benefits; he would not have to compensate the website.

He could not imagine being locked up for one entire month.

However, on further thought, he realized that it would be inappropriate. He had traveled all the way to Jingzhou. How could he turn around and run back for this simple reason?

If his friends, other authors, and his readers caught wind of this; how would everyone view

him?

The other writers in the class were writing earnestly, and yet I ran away on the very first day…?

That sounds awful!

After weighing the pros and cons, Cui Geng calmed himself down and decided not to be rash. Even if he wanted to leave, he had to grit his teeth and stick around for two days minimally.

What’s more, he had already taken leave yesterday, and he had not posted a new chapter today. He had to post one or two chapters to placate his readers.

After much consideration, Cui Geng sighed softly. Helplessly, he began writing.

In his office, Pei Qian flipped through his notes and considered recent developments at work.

The manufacturer of the shared phone booths would probably hand over the finished products in a few days. Then, the phone booths would be set up in various shopping malls around Jingzhou.

After the weekend, Pei Qian intended to walk around various shopping malls to see how the shared phone booths would be doing.

Based on what had happened earlier, it seemed like no one was interested in this thing. However, Pei Qian could never be too careful. Who knew if the project would suddenly resurrect?

He could not let his guard down.

He had also put He Desheng in charge of the Shared Top Student. Many companies were producing educational software now. He just had to contact one and hire them to create a simple application. There would probably not be much work to do in that regard. However, creating one simple application would not cost much. Pei Qian planned to spend more on publicity; they would run advertisements and distribute flyers. When the time was right, they would also distribute subsidies. That would get rid of more money.

Another thing was… he wondered how Boss Li’s Ming House was doing. Pei Qian really wanted that high-end restaurant to make a name for itself as soon as possible. That would take some of Ming Yun Private Kitchen’s customers away so that the latter would not generate so much revenue.

Pei Qian and Boss Li had each other’s contact details. However, Pei Qian had been too lazy to contact Boss Li directly. Thus, both men had only met face-to-face a few times, and all of those times were by chance at Fish-Catching Internet Cafe.

This time, however, Pei Qian could not help himself. He called Li Shi.

Soon, the line went through.

“Hello? Boss Li! Oh, it’s nothing. I was just calling for a quick chat. Oh, that’s right. I wanted to ask how Ming House is doing. Has it become popular? Is that why you’ve been so busy?”

Pei Qian was very sincere as he asked the questions expectantly.

Li Shi sounded both desperate and exhausted. “Boss Pei, don’t make fun of me. You’re so well-informed. How can you not know?

“We ran into many problems the day after our opening. Many of our first batch of customers were not satisfied. We gave them discounts and waived their bills accordingly, but it still affected our business to some extent.

“You can say that we’ve been troubleshooting over the last few days…”

Pei Qian was confused.

They had run into many problems?

That couldn’t be. Boss Li must have hired experienced chefs. Even if they were not as experienced as Ming Yun Private Kitchen’s chefs, they should not have caused that many problems, right?

All of a sudden, Pei Qian recalled something.

He had brought Little Tang along during the previous gathering!

Everyone had been happily eating at the time, and they had not noticed anything strange. That was why Pei Qian had forgotten about it altogether.

From what Boss Li was saying, it looked like the kitchen had suffered the effects!

Look at how things had turned out…

Pei Qian suddenly felt guilty towards Boss Li. He had only intended to visit to show his support. However, he had accidentally hurt Boss Li in the process!

Pei Qian quickly asked, “It’s not that serious, right?”