Chapter 137

Chapter 137: Xia Yuan’s Future Plan (Got COVID-19)

The news about officially naming the studio “Ximilu” was simultaneously shared in Me Fang’s studio’s QQ group.

Everyone gave positive feedback on the name, except Peng Xue and Yue Xinyi who had a minor argument over whether Xia (X) should come before or after Lin (L).

Besides the three, there were also Zhang Ming, Guo Yun, Yue Xinyi, and Peng Xue in this group.

Peng Xue had not yet been involved in actual game production work. Her career plan was more towards music, and Me Fang looked forward to seeing her work with Xia Yuan.

As for Du Zihan, he was busy preparing for his high school entrance exam and had little time to contact Me Fang. Initially, Me Fang did not plan to invite him either.

Du Zihan wasn’t exceptionally talented, although he enjoyed games and had fun, he was just a casual acquaintance. Me Fang didn’t feel the need to push him forward, especially since Xia Yuan and Lin You Xi somewhat disliked him.

Even among the friends in his middle school circle, aside from Xia Yuan and Lin You Xi, if someone wanted to pursue a different path, Me Fang wouldn’t force them to stay.

He envied the camaraderie among development teams working together on games, but forcing things would never be sweet. It had to come from their own initiative.

As for the friends Me Fang met in middle school, whether they could seize the opportunities Me Fang offered and move forward with him to become independent professionals depended on their individual growth and efforts.

Frankly speaking, Me Fang hoped they could support him, even Lin You Xi and Xia Yuan. The three of them couldn’t do everything themselves; they needed trustworthy mid-level personnel to help manage affairs.

After all, top-tier talent could always be recruited with money, but the camaraderie and shared experiences were priceless.

Me Fang had already delegated most of C Station’s operations to Lin You Xi and Yue Xinyi. There were still three years until the big copyright era began in 2014.

This meant that if C Station failed to grow significantly and secure angel investment within these three years, all the unauthorized video series currently hosted would be taken down.

At that point, Me Fang would hardly be able to bear the risk alone, burning money against other capital-backed video websites for copyrights. Even more bitcoins wouldn’t suffice.

C Station would have to rely solely on user-generated original videos.

Furthermore, accepting angel investment was risky.

The terms set by investors and their control over C Station would determine Me Fang’s willingness to raise funds and whether C Station could fulfill its initial vision.

For example, the Penguin Empire preferred a hands-off approach post-investment, focusing on dividends and profits, while the Alibaba Empire aimed for stronger control through executive appointments.

Ultimately, the Penguin strategy proved superior.

After all, any major player wouldn’t let their hard-earned achievements be manipulated by others.

In summary, many of Alibaba’s strategic plans ended up failing.

Meanwhile, the three continued their summer camp life at Jiangcheng No. 1 High School smoothly.

Every day, Me Fang and the trio went to school together in the morning, returned home together in the evening, and ate lunch separately at the cafeteria.

Since there was ample free time in the afternoon, they often met up for dinner.

During these meals, Xiang Bingbing, Me Fang’s deskmate, would always join them.

Despite being tall and athletic, Xiang Bingbing was very sociable and quickly bonded with the girls due to her lively and playful nature.

She seemed like a giant mascot, partly because of her height and partly due to her scatterbrained personality.

Moreover, she was injured, so Xia Yuan and Lin You Xi didn’t mind spending time with her.

Students from smaller towns had narrower knowledge bases, whether it was Shennongjia or Bai Mei County.

During dinner, Xiang Bingbing started venting to her new friends:

“I discovered that our classmates are really amazing! The teacher lectures so fast, and the students learn just as quickly. Before I can grasp one chapter, they’re already pre-studying the next.”

Xia Yuan made a face and agreed:

“Yes, it’s true… Even though we have self-study during night classes, everyone keeps running to the head teacher’s office. You have to wait in line just to ask a question…”

Xia Yuan had suffered from physics studies in middle school, despite Me Fang guiding her towards a liberal arts track in high school. However, before the class division, she had to endure the high school physics curriculum.

Xia Yuan was determined not to fall behind.

So, Me Fang needed to redirect her focus elsewhere, such as—

“Yuan, I have something to ask you…”

While taking Xia Yuan’s disliked green peppers, Me Fang asked:

“There seems to be a summer camp closing ceremony after the class division exam. Our class has already started preparing performances. Would you like to participate?”

“Huh?”

Xia Yuan touched her face, “Our head teacher mentioned it, but I haven’t really considered it…”

“Then why don’t you consider it? After all, you brought your guitar.”

“Um…”

Seeing Xia Yuan hesitate, Me Fang encouraged her further.

Me Fang was guiding Xia Yuan to complete her life plan.

Although Xia Yuan was responsible for music and sound effects at Ximilu Studio, this was a collaborative project, and she was essentially just following instructions. She needed to find her own domain.

Just like how Me Fang had specialized Lin You Xi in programming, making her the main developer for C Station, Xia Yuan needed her own field too.

Independent music producer, or perhaps a web singer, was a suitable direction for Xia Yuan. Note that this wasn’t about entering the entertainment industry, which was beyond their reach.

Xia Yuan pondered for a moment and then passed the ball back to Me Fang:

“Um… Do you want to participate? If you do, I will too. Didn’t you always say you wanted to perform on stage? This is an opportunity, isn’t it?”

“I haven’t prepared my songs yet. I’ll think about it when the Golden Autumn Arts Festival comes around. Don’t you have an original song for your assessment?”

“Wow, you can play the guitar? That’s amazing!”

Xiang Bingbing exclaimed, “Too bad Me Fang didn’t bring his guitar. Otherwise, I’d love to hear you guys play a song together!”

“Ah?” Xia Yuan tilted her head, “Your guitar isn’t in your room—”

“Ahh! Yes, I didn’t bring it!”

Xia Yuan almost blurted out the fact that the three lived together, which would be inappropriate if outsiders knew.

After some idle chatter, the conversation returned to whether they should sign up for the summer camp closing ceremony.

“I think you should give it a try, Yuan…”

Lin You Xi supported her, smiling gently:

“Do you remember the Children’s Day performances in elementary school? You participated every year, whether it was dancing, guzheng, singing, or piano.”

“I’ve always believed you belong on stage, because that’s the real you.”

With encouragement from Me Fang and Lin You Xi, Xia Yuan, feeling embarrassed, said, “I’ll give it a try…”

—

Cao Manjun is in great crisis! This morning, my temperature was 39.0, feeling like a dog with fever… I wrote this chapter in a daze, getting up and falling asleep repeatedly. Sorry for keeping you waiting for so long… It might be difficult to maintain double updates recently, but I’ll try to keep each chapter at 4000 words. Once I recover, I’ll make up for the missed updates. There will be a surge of updates in January. Stay tuned!

No update today, QWQ, sorry again.