I Really Didn't Mean to Make Money

“Let’s wait a little longer.”

Xu Yaning thought for a moment before speaking, feeling a bit uneasy inside.

Ever since she came back from the garment factory, there had been no news from them.

If not for the signed labor contract, she would’ve thought she’d failed the interview again.

What surprised her even more was that the company had issued her salary in advance.

Though she had never worked before, she knew that most companies pay at the end of the month or sometime the following month, usually withholding a few days of wages.

But this garment factory not only didn’t delay the salary—it paid in advance.

Even though her start date didn’t make it a full month by the end of the month, they still gave her a full attendance bonus. And after including the subsidy and deducting the five insurances and personal income tax, she still received over 5,000 yuan in hand.

It was simply unbelievable.

The other girls in the dorm quieted down a bit after hearing what Xu Yaning said.

They waited a while longer, and at last, Xu Yaning’s phone rang.

Seeing that it was Assistant Shen calling, she quickly answered.

“Hello, Assistant Shen, is there any news?”

Xu Yaning asked nervously.

“Oh, the studio we’re preparing for you is currently under renovation. It’ll take about a month to finish, so for now, you’ll be working from home.”

“But Mr. Chen has also said that during this month, you’ll each receive a 1,500 yuan meal subsidy, so don’t worry about that.”

Hearing Assistant Shen’s response, Xu Yaning’s expression turned a bit complicated.

She had called to ask when they could officially start working.

She never expected Assistant Shen would tell them they’d be working from home for a month—and even receive a 1,500 yuan meal allowance.

This was...

“Yaning-jie, what happened?”

Zhou Yu and the others saw that Xu Yaning just stood there frozen after hanging up, and started to get nervous.

Could it be that the garment factory had changed its mind and wasn’t planning to hire them after all?

Xu Yaning snapped back to reality when she heard them, and upon seeing their worried faces, she explained.

“It’s nothing. The studio they’re preparing for us is being renovated, so we’ll be working from home for a month. They’re also giving us a 1,500 yuan meal subsidy.”

“Ah...”

The three girls were stunned, mouths hanging open.

Working from home was one thing, but getting a 1,500 yuan meal subsidy on top of it?

This company was just too good.

“Alright, that’s the situation. The reason we haven’t been called in by the garment factory is because the studio needs renovations, so don’t overthink it.”

“But since we’ll be working from home, we need to stay disciplined. I’ll make a schedule later, and from today on, everyone will follow it strictly. Just because we’re working from home doesn’t mean we can slack off.”

“This job offers us such great benefits and even allows us to create freely based on our own vision. We must cherish it.”

Xu Yaning stood up, looking at everyone in the room with a serious expression.

“Don’t worry, Yaning-jie, we understand.”

“Yeah, we’re definitely going to design clothes that people love.”

“Some classmates from the dorm next door only got an internship job that pays 3,000 a month. Their five insurances don’t kick in until after three months, and they don’t even have a housing fund. Our company is giving us such great benefits. If we don’t appreciate this, we’d be fools.”

The three roommates all chimed in, excited smiles on their faces.

Xu Yaning smiled along with them.

“Then let’s give it our all—for ourselves and for the company—to build the best fashion brand.”

...

Late at night,

Inside a villa—

Chen Cong stared at the Dragon-Slaying Set on his game character. After all this time, he had finally collected the complete set.

The only thing that bugged him was that the player called “Snowfall,” who was clearly a paid shill, had disappeared.

As he got closer to completing the Dragon-Slaying Set, he had his guild members keep an eye out for the “Snowfall” ID.

He even offered a bounty in the global chat.

Unfortunately, the guy never showed up again.

Instead, a bunch of impostors pretending to be “Snowfall” tried to trick him into handing over the bounty.

But they were all sent packing with his Dragon-Slaying Blade.

Sigh...

From this moment on, in Tianlong, I, Chen Cong, am unmatched.

At last, he once again felt the thrill of dominating the game.

What’s more, today’s game update included a notice that new outfits were being made as compensation for noble-tier players. He couldn’t help but look forward to how those outfits would turn out.

Suddenly—

The guild chat started flashing rapidly.

Frowning, he opened the chat window.

“Damn, the boss got snatched by those ‘Lingyan Pavilion’ bastards!”

“They camped there forever just to steal the last hit. We totally let our guard down.”

“This is so freaking annoying!”

The boss was stolen?

Those Lingyan Pavilion guys really knew how to pick their timing—attacking when he wasn’t around.

Just as he was about to go reclaim his pride, his phone rang.

Was it Du Ziteng?

Did that guy steal the boss and now want to mock him over the phone?

Snorting coldly, he picked up the call.

“Du Ziteng, what, you steal the boss and now you’re calling to gloat?”

“I’m not that childish. I called to talk business.”

Du Ziteng’s voice came through the phone, very serious.

Chen Cong dropped the teasing attitude and asked,

“What’s this about?”

“I want to start a gaming club. I’d like to invite you to join.”

Chen Cong was briefly stunned, then asked,

“Why me?”

There was a short silence on the other end before Du Ziteng spoke again.

“Because we’re the same type of people. We’ve got more money than we can spend, but it all came from our parents. Don’t you want to prove yourself too? Plus, we both love games. Starting a gaming club is the perfect choice.”

Chen Cong’s eyes flickered. Du Ziteng had a point. Sooner or later, he needed to prove his worth.

“Alright, I’m in. What’s the club going to be called?”

“Lingyan Pavilion.”

“No way. It has to be ‘Wealth Soars to the Sky.’”

The two of them bickered for a bit before compromising—they each took a character from the other’s suggestion.

The final name: Tian Pavilion Gaming Club.

“So, what’s your plan?”

After deciding the name, Chen Cong asked.

“I want to start with Tianlong. I ran a survey on the forums and found that players who’ve tried it have given it great reviews. I think it has the potential to go viral.”

“A few days ago, that gaming influencer Zhou Nan hosted an online community tournament. It got a great response.”

“I want to organize a larger offline tournament. Right now, Tianlong has six classes. I plan to host 1v1 duels between players of the same class. The top five in each class will win cash prizes. That should encourage participation and boost our club’s early popularity.”

“As for the prize money, I haven’t settled on an amount yet. Let’s meet up soon and discuss it in detail.”