Agreeing to Create Bad Games, What the Hell Is ‘Titanfall’? Chapter 40

Shen Miaomiao felt a pang in her gut at the sight of this "God of Wealth."

She sat back down.

For a moment, the spacious meeting room held only the two of them.

Their eyes met.

This was the first time Shen Miaomiao had ever really looked at Gu Sheng seriously.

Back during the interview, the contract had been signed in a rush between them.

And during the development of several games since, she had mostly dealt with Chu Qingzhou.

Now, as she looked up at Gu Sheng leaning against the edge of the table—

She saw a face that was bright and clear, almost glowing with youthful energy. Despite the childish Mickey Mouse hoodie he had on, his eyes held a depth and calm that couldn’t be hidden.

Pfft—

Shen Miaomiao couldn’t hold it in.

"That was such a straight-guy thing to say, Director Gu..."

Still, despite what she said, Shen Miaomiao picked up the steaming mug and took a gentle sip of hot water.

Gu Sheng chuckled, then pulled something from behind his back:

"What about this?"

A lollipop!

Like he was doing a magic trick, Gu Sheng whipped out a lollipop, and Shen Miaomiao’s previously dull eyes lit up instantly!

She reached out for it instinctively—

But halfway there, she paused. Feeling a little self-conscious, she glanced at the lollipop, straightened up, and tried to play it cool:

"T-That’s a bit childish, don’t you think?"

"But just right for a college student."

The next second, Gu Sheng unwrapped the lollipop and popped it directly into Shen Miaomiao’s mouth.

"Mmph..."

The sweet taste of the candy filled her mouth, and the knot in her chest seemed to ease just a little.

"I think you’re being a bit disrespectful to your CEO."

"It’s fine,"

Gu Sheng waved it off casually.

"You’ll feel plenty of respect from us when the check comes at the restaurant later."

With that, he neatly folded the candy wrapper and flicked it straight into the trash can.

Shen Miaomiao: …

Why does everything he says make me feel like a total sucker?

Laughing and chatting, the group finally arrived at the restaurant.

With the boss footing the bill, naturally no one held back.

Dishes were served one after another, beautifully presented. As expected, everyone asked Gu Sheng, the project lead for this game, to say a few words.

Gu Sheng chuckled, raised his glass of red wine, and said, “Then here’s to Golden Wind going from strength to strength, and our sales soaring—”

"Alright!"

Before he could finish, Shen Miaomiao quickly raised her glass and cut him off.

Bro, I’m begging you—please stop talking about money. You’re jinxing it.

Just as the party was in full swing, Shen Miaomiao’s phone rang.

"Hello? Who is this?"

She answered.

A slightly cautious male voice came through from the other end:

"President Shen, it’s me—Yan Sheng."

Shen Miaomiao’s face darkened.

What’s with all the bad luck today?

I should probably find a temple and burn some incense.

The insane profits from Vampire Survivors weren’t just thanks to Gu Sheng’s last-minute version update—Yan Sheng, this sneaky teammate, had also been a crucial part of the promotional push.

She was already irritated, and now he was here to make it worse?

Shen Miaomiao sighed inwardly. Bad fortune all around today.

Still, she couldn’t just snap at him, so she rolled her eyes quietly and said, “Ah, President Yan. Calling this late—what’s the matter?”

On the other end, Yan Sheng chuckled awkwardly: “Ah, I must be disturbing you. I’m so sorry—how about I call you tomorrow morning instead?”

“It’s fine.”

Shen Miaomiao thought to herself, Just get it over with. Whatever dumb stunt you're pulling, tell me now. Don’t ruin tomorrow too.

“I’m out with our exec team for dinner. It’s not a bad time.”

“Is that so? Hahaha—celebration dinner, I see!”

Yan Sheng burst out laughing.

“Look at me, almost forgot to congratulate you, President Shen!”

“First-hour sales broke ten thousand—what an achievement! Congratulations!”

President Shen: …

Could you just get to the damn point?

Why are you still pouring salt in my wounds?

Shen Miaomiao nearly spat blood from frustration. She was fuming, but forced herself to smile: “…Thanks, President Yan. So—what’s the real reason you called?”

Please stop. If you keep going, I’ll be up on the rooftop catching cold air with a lollipop in my mouth.

“Right, right—let’s talk business. You’re really something, President Shen—so modest and mature.”

Yan Sheng, sensing her flat tone, secretly gave her a thumbs-up in his mind.

Now that’s psychological resilience.

Anyone else would be jumping for joy at numbers like that.

But look at little President Shen!

Not even a flicker of excitement!

She really knows how to keep her cool. Definitely one to watch.

Clearing his throat, Yan Sheng said:

“So, here’s the thing, President Shen. Your company made quite a splash in this event.”

“And your talented Design Director, Mr. Gu Sheng, has drawn a lot of industry attention.”

“You see, the purpose of our event is to bring designers from behind the scenes into the spotlight—”

“So we’re planning to invite you and Director Gu to attend a development exchange event this Wednesday.”

“Lots of dev studios and gaming media will be there.”

“My assistant has already sent the event details to your work email.”

“We really hope you’ll do us the honor of attending.”

Hmm...

Truth be told, Shen Miaomiao wasn’t really into these kinds of formal events.

Wouldn’t it be nicer to just chill at home or slack off in the office watching dramas?

But then a thought struck her.

A development exchange?

That meant a bunch of "fellow developers" would be there, right?

Thing is—most of them were no-name indie studios.

Probably not much in terms of success stories, but failure stories?

They must have plenty of those.

Maybe she could pick up a few solid lessons on how not to do things!

Learn from their mistakes!

Good thing those developers didn’t know what she was thinking—otherwise, they’d definitely curse her out.

With that in mind, Shen Miaomiao nodded. “Alright. I’ll make some preparations. See you Wednesday in Zhongjing.”

Upon hearing this, Yan Sheng was thrilled:

“Great, great! Then I’ll be looking forward to welcoming you and Director Gu!”

After hanging up, Shen Miaomiao filled the others in on the situation.

Naturally, the whole group was excited.

After all, it was an invitation from one of the country’s top game platforms.

For their fledgling company, this was a big deal.

Most importantly, it would give them a chance to interact with other game companies—very helpful for tracking market trends and planning future development.

As for Gu Sheng, he had no objections at all.

After all, in this world, Huaxia still hadn’t produced a game designer who could stand on the world stage.

He didn’t mind being the first.

And attending this exchange could help him gain deeper insights into the current level of digital tech—and how it affected the game industry.

Take motion-sensing cabin technology, for example.

Gu Sheng had been eyeing that for a while now.

As he slowly peeled a northern sweet shrimp, he thought to himself:

I should find a chance to bring some of the games from my past life to the motion-sensing cabin.

Like Battlefield, or Apex, or Euro Truck Simulator.

Or maybe... horror games?