Chapter 136

Chapter 136 – Naming the Studio

At the beginning of 2011, WeChat had just been launched, and mobile payments were still in their infancy. It wasn’t easy to handle online mobile payments; one had to go to the bank.

Mei Fang had already taken care of this during the summer vacation, so he could use TaoBao to order his laptop online.

However, logistics in those days couldn’t be relied upon for speed. The three Alienware M11X laptops that Mei Fang had purchased for 40,000 yuan took a full week to be transported from Shanghai to Jiangcheng, only arriving at the end of the first week of school.

Lin You Xi was tasked with informing Aunt Liang about the notification that the school had provided computers.

In her stepmother’s eyes, Lin You Xi was always an excellent student who worked hard, so she trusted everything Lin You Xi said. This made Lin You Xi feel a twinge of guilt.

To reassure Aunt Liang, everyone usually used their laptops in the living room, which involved getting internet access. Mei Fang managed to convince Aunt Liang to sign up for the then-rare telecom 10M broadband.

Most home computers in those days had bandwidths around 2M, which meant download speeds of about 200K. To Mei Fang, who returned in 2022, this was incredibly slow, while 10M could ensure speeds of around 1M.

Of course, such high-speed internet came at a price—four times the cost of 2M, amounting to 3,200 yuan annually, which was a substantial sum, equivalent to Aunt Liang’s monthly salary.

Although Mei Fang and Xia Yuan offered to cover the costs themselves, Aunt Liang worried about their living expenses and reluctantly paid.

Aunt Liang did not pry too much into what the children were doing and had great trust in Mei Fang and the others. This level of trust was something none of the other parents in the neighborhood could match.

But this also meant that the trio kept their actual activities hidden from Aunt Liang, which made them feel uneasy.

So on weekends, they helped Aunt Liang with household chores: Xia Yuan cleaned, and Lin You Xi accompanied Aunt Liang to buy groceries.

Only Mei Fang was busy setting up the computers and configuring the network environment. He would only lend a hand when Xia Yuan needed help cleaning.

“Are these boxes no longer needed?” Xia Yuan asked Mei Fang after putting down her broom, holding the packaging box of the laptop she had just unpacked.

“You can keep the warranty certificates, but you don’t need the boxes.”

“Is this what you mean?”

“Yeah, that’s right… Just put them on the coffee table. I’ll take them later.”

Mei Fang glanced at her and resumed configuring the computer. Suddenly, Xia Yuan pinched his shoulder from behind and leaned close to him, asking, “Have you finished setting up the computer?”

“Yeah… almost done.”

“So, starting today, are you going to start coding again with You Xi?”

“There are other things besides coding. I need to look over Zhang Ming’s plan and Yue Xinyi’s script.”

Xia Yuan was surprised, “He’s really helping you out?”

“Yeah… But it’s mostly during the summer break. Once school starts properly, he won’t have time. After all, I gave him such a good car; I need to squeeze every bit of work out of him.”

While Mei Fang was speaking, Xia Yuan leaned against his shoulder to watch the screen. However, she only did this when Lin You Xi and Aunt Liang weren’t around.

Of course, Mei Fang didn’t know about the agreement Xia Yuan and Lin You Xi had made not to advance their relationship. He was still trying to navigate the situation, as long as Xia Yuan didn’t cross any lines, he wouldn’t object.

“Is there anything I can do to help? Everyone else is pitching in, and Yue Xinyi is helping with the game’s script. She enjoys it.”

“Yeah… You could learn some music composition software. It would not only help me with game music and sound effects but also be useful for your future music endeavors! For instance, you could try using Logic Pro, which is quite powerful.”

“Okay, I’ll search for it, download it, and learn from the tutorials.”

Xia Yuan wiped her hands on Mei Fang’s sleeve and sat down beside him.

Mei Fang noticed her mop was nearby, indicating she had almost finished. So, he offered to finish the job.

“Let me help you finish mopping the floor?”

“Yeah, thank you, Fang!”

Just as Mei Fang was nearly done, Aunt Liang and Lin You Xi returned and knocked on the door. Xia Yuan immediately jumped up like she had been electrocuted.

She hurriedly put on slippers and told Mei Fang to open the door, then took the mop and pretended to finish the last bit of cleaning.

“Welcome back.”

“Yeah… Yuan is mopping the floor. She’s really working hard.”

Xia Yuan smiled nervously at Aunt Liang, “It’s nothing, I should do this… Hey, don’t walk too fast. The floor isn’t dry yet.”

“Yeah, okay.”

Lin You Xi carried the groceries to the kitchen with Aunt Liang, who pushed Lin You Xi gently, saying, “You Xi, go watch TV or play games with Fang. I’ll take care of cooking.”

“It’s fine, Auntie, I’ll help you—”

Aunt Liang didn’t like that idea:

“I’m here to take care of you three. Why do you have to help me all the time?”

“You’re all good kids, but usually, you eat at the school canteen. On weekends, I have more to do. You can’t take all my work away; it makes me feel useless.”

Aunt Liang spoke loudly so that Xia Yuan could hear, implying she didn’t want the children to be too obedient.

“After dinner, go out and explore. Don’t stay cooped up at home all the time.”

“Alright…”

Thus, Aunt Liang sent the three of them out in the afternoon.

“Where should we go? Where should we go?”

Xia Yuan got excited as soon as she stepped out, “Speaking of which, we haven’t watched a movie together in Jiangcheng yet. Shall we go to the cinema in the city center?”

Mei Fang shook his head, “It’s quite far from here. It would take two hours round trip.”

“Oh…” Xia Yuan frowned, “That’s too far. We’d miss our evening classes.”

“Given how hot it is now, why don’t we find a tea shop and spend the afternoon there?” Lin You Xi suggested, “Then we can find something to do.”

“Yeah… What can we do outside—”

Xia Yuan thought for a moment, “Any ideas, Fang?”

“Oh, I actually have something to ask everyone’s opinion about.”

Mei Fang explained, “It’s about naming our game studio.”

Previously, Mei Fang had released “Slow Bird Flies First” under the name [ClaringMay] (Clever Mei) as an independent game developer. Now, he planned to build a reputation and gain recognition in China’s gaming industry by leveraging the release of Apple 4.

“Life Reopened Simulator” and “Monarch” were games he intended to release on the App Store in October. Since they were text-based games with strong interactivity, the programming and art resources were already completed.

Now, all that was left was balancing the stats and testing for bugs, so they needed a studio name.

This studio name held significant meaning for Mei Fang.

Previous games were merely reproductions of past successes. Creating this studio was the first step in expanding his gaming empire and establishing himself in the industry.

The three of them found a tea shop near their school. It being a weekend during the summer vacation, there were some dorm students gathering inside. They didn’t mind and found a discreet corner to sit. Xia Yuan brought some stickers and pens and distributed them to Mei Fang and Lin You Xi.

“Fang, before we think of names, I have a question.”

Xia Yuan rubbed her hands, “Well… I can only help with the game development part a little. Even less than Yue Xinyi and Guo Yun. Is it appropriate for me to contribute to thinking of a name?”

“There’s nothing inappropriate about it. We’re a new team of three. This isn’t based on the division of labor. Moreover, your role will become increasingly important later on. You should be prepared; I’ll be very strict with you.”

“Mm-hmm… That’s good.”

Xia Yuan smiled and stuck out her tongue, “Actually, I was just making polite talk…”

Lin You Xi then suggested, “Since it’s a studio founded by the three of us, a common naming method is to take one character from each of our names to form the studio name, right?”

“So it would be ‘Mei You Yuan Studio,’ which sounds pretty appealing.”

Mei Fang often teased with this combination, but this time, Xia Yuan gave him a hard knock on the head.

“Don’t use such unlucky names! Your surname is too difficult to work with! Don’t use ‘Mei’ in the name!”

“Fan Xi Yuan, Yuan Fan Xi, You Fan Xi, Xi You Fan…”

Lin You Xi listed all possible combinations, and Xia Yuan sighed watching her.

“This doesn’t work either… We can’t make good words with three names!”

“Let’s think of other combinations then.”

Mei Fang proposed, “We could use the initials of our names in pinyin to form a new studio name. For example, Mei Fang’s M, Lin You Xi’s L or X, Xia Yuan’s Y.”

As Mei Fang spoke, he put his hands on his hips, looking self-satisfied, “In that case, we could call it Mi Xi You or Mi Le You. When we become famous, we’ll be known as the Mi Xi You trio.”

“That’s a good method, but calling ourselves the Mi Xi You trio—”

Xia Yuan complained, “It sounds too strange! Whether it’s Mi Xi or Xi You, neither sounds good and feels forced.”

“I agree,” Lin You Xi nodded.

“Even though you dislike it, I thought it sounded nice…”

They were in a bind.

Naming something turned out to be more complicated than expected.

“How about drinking some milk tea first, then thinking?”

The three of them sipped their milk tea while brainstorming new ideas. Xia Yuan gradually became enchanted by the sweetness of the milk tea.

“Oh! This milk tea is so delicious! Besides pearls, it has pudding, coconut jelly, and sago!”

“Sago… Sago…”

Mei Fang slapped his forehead, “I have a great idea! Xia Yuan’s X, my M, and Lin You Xi’s L. Using the initials of our surnames, can’t we form ‘Sago’?”

“Wow! That sounds nice. I like it!”

Xia Yuan raised her hand in approval, “I like the name ‘Sago Studio.’ It sounds sweet!”

Lin You Xi added, “I remember sago is ‘sago’ in English. It sounds like ‘sagou’ in Japanese, which is similar to ‘sagou.’ It’s a suitable choice for the studio’s English name and domain, simple and catchy.”

“Alright! Let’s finalize it! Sago Studio. Mmm, it really does sound sweet!”

Xia Yuan sucked on her milk tea with sago, wearing a very content smile.

Thank you to the Sky Injured Lone Speaker for the second patron donation! This extra chapter is an add-on, and the plot has transitioned. Regular updates will resume tomorrow.

Sorry for forgetting to write the title in the previous thanks!