Chapter 192

Chapter 192: What About Our Dividends? (Part 2)

“This final year-end bonus of fifty thousand yuan is for Guo Yun. Given what she has done, I believe everyone understands… This is what she deserves as the main artist of the Similu Studio this year.”

“I-I can’t take that much! It would be better to distribute more among everyone…”

Receiving such a large portion of the year-end dividends made Guo Yun feel very uncomfortable.

“You can treat others to a meal if you wish, but when we started our game development team, we emphasized clear rewards and punishments.”

Mei Fang placed his hands on Guo Yun’s shoulders and told her earnestly, “You are the only artist in the entire company. The scenes, characters, and UI icons are all handled by you alone. How hard you work, even if others don’t understand, I, who am in charge of your demands, know it well…”

Art is the skin of a game, but it’s not just about skin. Good art isn’t just about beautiful drawings; it can form its own unique artistic style, which is akin to shaping a soul.

This unique artistic style not only attracts players’ attention but also makes the work more sophisticated and meaningful. It can shape the brand culture value of the entire company’s products.

Teams with unique artistic styles often have high recognition in the market. For example, ATLUS, known for games like “Shin Megami Tensei” and “Persona,” and Supergiant Games, known for “Hades,” “Transistor,” and “Bastion.”

These teams’ works can be easily recognized at a glance and have high brand value effects.

This is what people mean by “it’s easy to find soldiers, but hard to find a main artist.”

Cultivating Guo Yun has been Mei Fang’s most important goal since middle school, so he naturally held her in high regard.

If the entire team were a gacha game, the others besides the three little ones might be common R or SR cards.

But Guo Yun is a genuine rainbow-colored SSR card, an unexpected discovery from Mei Fang’s student days.

During their collaboration, Mei Fang found out that Guo Yun was not only a versatile artist but was also gradually exploring her unique artistic style. The new work of the Similu Studio was tailored specifically for her.

More importantly, Guo Yun was talented yet humble, never complaining about the harsh demands Mei Fang made, always striving to meet his standards.

Her loyalty to the team and herself was crucial, so Mei Fang would naturally give her the best treatment to keep her.

Guo Yun had never spoken so closely to Mei Fang before, and facing him directly made her blush immediately.

She stammered for a while, then finally lifted her head to look directly into Mei Fang’s eyes, smiling slightly:

“I will work hard on the new project… I won’t disappoint you or everyone else.”

Guo Yun returned to her seat amidst the applause. As the private room time approached, Mei Fang encouraged everyone for their efforts last year.

He also reminded them not to casually tell their parents about the money, suggesting they open accounts to save it instead.

If their family situation was dire, they could come to him or Xia Yuan for help, using the pretext of borrowing money.

On one hand, parents might worry about it affecting studies, and on the other, he didn’t want his game development to be exposed too soon. Once it was out, their lives as high school students would change dramatically.

After the eight million yuan visual impact and Mei Fang’s various promises and manipulations, the whole group now seemed united.

Everyone no longer viewed game development as just a dream of their student days but as a future career plan. Even Zhang Ming began seriously considering leaving the science experimental class to free up time to assist Mei Fang with planning and learning data balancing.

After the gathering, Mei Youyuan and the three little ones bid farewell to everyone. It was past dinner time, and they had already informed their families not to wait for them. They decided to stroll through the night market in Bai Mei County together.

As they walked and chatted, Lin Youxi wasn’t very active in the KTV. She generally disliked crowded places, but she did so reluctantly for Mei Fang. However, she spoke up more than usual.

“By the way, A Fang hasn’t given me and Yuan Yuan our dividends…”

“Yeah! Where’s our dividends?” Xia Yuan tugged at Mei Fang’s arm, “A Fang, you didn’t prepare anything, did you? The speech you gave about Guo Yun’s dividends didn’t seem spur-of-the-moment; it looked like you prepared it in advance.”

Mei Fang scratched his head, “Didn’t you say you didn’t want any earlier? It’s not too late to talk about it now. How much do you want?”

Xia Yuan pouted, “Do I look like someone who wants dividends like that?”

“What do you two want?”

“We’ve been childhood friends for so many years. You should know what we want!”

“Because you both want too much, I’m a bit undecided… So, I prepared this.”

Mei Fang pulled out two small cards from the inside of his coat and handed one to Xia Yuan and Lin Youxi each.

“What’s this—”

Xia Yuan was super excited after seeing the content on the card: “A wish coupon that can fulfill any wish? We’ve done many of these before, A Fang, you’re so childish!”

“It can’t be that any wish can be fulfilled. Look at the back.”

Xia Yuan and Lin Youxi looked at the back of the card.

[Only valid for wishes achievable by high school students. Final interpretation rights belong to Mei Fang.]

Lin Youxi shook her head, “Since the final interpretation rights belong to you, don’t you decide everything?”

“That’s right… but it is still a wish coupon.”

Mei Fang smiled, “So, I can loosen the limits a little bit…”

“How much exactly?”

“Um… it depends on the situation.”

“Yue Xinyi was right, A Fang is really a dog.” Xia Yuan made a face beside him.

Lin Youxi smiled, “Can I use it now?”

“Are you in such a hurry? Alright… what do you want?”

“In that case…”

Lin Youxi handed the wish coupon back to Mei Fang, “I want you to book a hotel room, and we’ll sleep together tonight.”

“Remember to book a king-size bed.”

“…”

“Ahh.”

“Oh my god!!!”

Xia Yuan was shocked by Lin Youxi’s move, shaking Mei Fang back and forth.

“A Fang, is this okay? Will you agree?”

“Um…”

Now that Mei Fang was over 16, booking a room was allowed.

He asked Lin Youxi, “You just mean sleeping in the same bed, right? Nothing else?”

“Of course, we’re still high school students. Our focus is on studies.”

Lin Youxi smiled, “Things at home have been chaotic lately. I just want a quiet place to review my lessons.”

“Alright… I’ll figure out how to hide this from my family… By the way, we can say we’re staying at Zhang Ming’s house overnight. But how do you plan to explain it? I won’t help with explaining to Uncle Lin.”

“I’ll say I’m staying at Yuan Yuan’s house. My dad trusts me now and won’t check up on me.”

“Wait a minute! How did you two arrange this on your own?!”

Xia Yuan pulled Mei Fang closer and stuffed the wish coupon into his hand, “I still have a lot of homework left. I want to do it with you guys.”

Mei Fang knew Xia Yuan wouldn’t stay passive, so he turned to look at Lin Youxi.

“Youxi, what do you think? Are you willing…”

Mei Fang wanted to shift the responsibility to Lin Youxi. If she said no, Xia Yuan would be unhappy, and they would consider other wishes;

If she said yes, the responsibility would fall on Youxi, not on Mei Fang.

However, Lin Youxi shook her head and smiled,

“I won’t give an opinion, A Fang, you make the decision.”

“Hey… you gave the wish coupon, don’t you have any thoughts?”

Lin Youxi covered Mei Fang’s mouth with her finger, “Don’t forget, Mei Fang has the final interpretation rights. All responsibility lies with Mei Fang.”

“I—”

Seeing Mei Fang hesitate, Xia Yuan felt a bit wronged.

“If A Fang doesn’t want to, it’s fine… I’ll think of something else—”

“Oh… Yuan Yuan, don’t be like that. I didn’t say I didn’t want to, I just felt awkward.”

I can’t bear to see Yuan Yuan feeling wronged…

Mei Fang comforted Xia Yuan, “Go ahead, let’s go… I’ll book the room. If we get caught… never mind, if it happens, it happens. Everyone will probably hope for the best.”

Xia Yuan quickly covered Mei Fang’s mouth and gently reminded him,

“Don’t say things like that during the New Year. Do you hear me?”

Mei Fang nodded.

“Hold on, let me wipe your mouth.”

Xia Yuan continuously wiped Mei Fang’s lips with her hand, making loud smacking noises and occasionally licking her lips. Her eyes seemed to reveal all sorts of terrifying things, making Mei Fang feel uneasy.

Ah, this year-end dividend was a bit…

At the beginning of 2012, Mei Fang faced the most terrifying and severe test since his rebirth.

Today’s chapter ends here! I’m back home, going to attend a dinner engagement.