I Really Didn't Mean to Make Money

“Oh, I know about that—I just haven’t had time to inform everyone yet.”

Fang Chang coughed lightly, sounding slightly embarrassed.

“Brother Fang, what exactly is this money? And why is it so much?”

Zhao Bowen quickly asked.

Others in the studio also turned to look over, their eyes filled with curiosity.

Feeling their gazes, Fang Chang slowly began to speak.

“This money is project bonuses issued by President Chen. It’s for the recent reform project of the Tianlong game.”

Everyone suddenly understood.

“But Manager Fang, why do our transfer amounts all end in .11? Is there some special meaning to that?”

An employee raised his hand, asking curiously.

Then several others chimed in:

“Mine also ends in .11.”

“.11 yuan?”

Fang Chang was a bit stunned. He had only seen his own transfer record and hadn’t realized the employees’ bonuses were like that. Judging by their expressions, it seemed like the regular staff had all received bonuses ending in .11 yuan.

“I’m guessing maybe President Chen is hinting that we shouldn’t date in the office—‘1’ means being single, right?”

Zhao Bowen rubbed his chin, looking thoughtful.

“I think it’s more likely that President Chen is encouraging us to strive for excellence and always aim to be number one. Given how he treats the staff, he wouldn’t oppose office relationships unless they impacted work.”

Wei Yan suddenly added.

Listening to their guesses, Fang Chang felt that Wei Yan’s explanation was more accurate. After all, if President Chen was truly against office relationships, he would’ve added it to the company policy.

And currently, there was no such restriction in the regulations. Clearly, Zhao Bowen’s guess was off base.

“Alright, no need to overthink it. As long as everyone keeps working hard and creating value for the company, President Chen won’t treat us poorly. This bonus is proof of that.”

Fang Chang addressed the room, then waved Zhao Bowen and Wei Yan into the office.

“Tianlong’s income surged again today. Do you know why?”

Once inside, Fang Chang turned to Zhao Bowen and asked.

“Oh, that? Yeah, I know!”

“But I found out during lunch break, was planning to tell you this afternoon.”

Zhao Bowen suddenly realized.

The spike in Tianlong’s revenue had happened around 11 a.m. Since he was monitoring the backend data, he had spotted the surge the moment it began.

It seemed very odd. Based on the current traffic in the game, it was impossible for revenue to spike so dramatically all at once.

Most players had already bought their monthly cards. It didn’t make sense for there to suddenly be such a boost.

At first, he thought there might be a bug in the backend system. But after checking, everything seemed fine.

Then he entered the game and discovered the reason in the public chat.

“What was it exactly?”

Fang Chang asked urgently—President Chen was waiting on an answer.

“It was a gaming streamer—he has over 10 million followers. This morning, he did a livestream playing our game, and that drew in a huge number of his viewers, who also downloaded and started playing Tianlong.”

“In just one hour, user count increased by 300,000. And since the stream is still going, it’s probably even more now.”

Zhao Bowen laid everything out clearly.

So that was it.

Fang Chang nodded and asked for the streamer’s ID, then immediately called President Chen.

...

Garment Factory Office

Chen Mo was eating lunch from the cafeteria that Shen Rou had brought him while trying to snatch a high-speed rail ticket.

A few days ago, when he had decided to go home, he was convinced he would be able to fully convert that 8 million in system funds and hadn’t even thought about tickets.

He figured he’d just take that money, go to a dealership, buy a car, and drive home in style.

But reality had turned out very differently.

Now that buying a car to show off was off the table, all he could do was obediently buy a train ticket home.

Still, with a personal net worth of 80,000 yuan, he could at least afford a decent high-speed rail seat.

And while 80,000 yuan wasn’t enough to do anything major, it was more than enough to buy some new home appliances for his family.

Riiiing—

His phone rang.

“President Chen, we found the reason for the sudden surge in Tianlong’s revenue. It was a gaming influencer named Zhou Nan. He livestreamed himself playing our game, which attracted a huge wave of new players.”

Fang Chang’s voice came through the phone.

Zhou Nan?

Why did that name sound so familiar?

Chen Mo thought for a moment, then suddenly remembered—he’d seen a short video of this guy while scrolling before. A gaming streamer named Zhou Nan.

He hung up and opened the short video app, searching for Zhou Nan.

Sure enough, a gaming influencer with over 10 million followers was right at the top.

And he was still live.

Curious, Chen Mo clicked in.

Sure enough, a man in his thirties was currently playing Tianlong.

The chat was buzzing:

> “Damn, this game is actually pretty fair. A monthly card is only ten yuan, weekly card two, daily card just one jiao. And that’s it—no other pay-to-win mechanics!”

> “Streamer, I’m already level 60. I want to join your guild.”

> “I heard the drop rate for equipment is super low and some people are buying them at high prices. Is that true?”

> “Confirmed. People are buying gear now, especially after the new gear enhancement system launched. Collect materials and spend coins to enhance your gear. So now materials and coins are in demand—and prices are solid. If you get all three cards—month, week, day—you get 10 luck points. Grind one day, and it’s not hard to make 80 to 100 yuan selling materials and coins.”

> “For real. A friend of mine grinded all night and made over 60 yuan. And if you get lucky and pull a piece of Ancient Moon or Dragon Slayer gear, you’re making serious bank. I’ve decided—I’m spending the whole National Day holiday grinding this game. Fun and profitable!”

> “I’m in. I’m a student and don’t have much pocket money. This game is perfect. I can use what I earn in-game to buy the monthly card.”

> “Holy crap, I just accidentally pulled a piece of Ancient Moon gear and someone paid me 3,000 yuan for it [so satisfied].”

> “For real?”

> “Check my profile—I uploaded the video.”

> “Lucky bastard.”

> “...”

Chen Mo watched the stream with a dark expression.

This streamer had over 10 million followers, and now he was livestreaming Tianlong. That had definitely pulled in a massive wave of new players.

Even a modest conversion rate would mean tens of thousands of new paying users.

And if those players were buying monthly cards?

That was millions of yuan in revenue—just like that.

At this rate, Tianlong was turning into a money-printing machine.

Thinking this, Chen Mo let out a long sigh.

If he had known this would happen, he really should have...