I Really Didn't Mean to Make Money

Chen Mo frowned and thought for a moment, then continued speaking.

“Not just the cafeteria, all departments need a pay raise. For those who have worked more than a month, anyone at team leader level or above gets a 1,000 yuan raise. All other frontline staff get a 500 yuan raise.”

“Mm, that’s settled. Go back and compile the stats. This raise policy also applies to Cangxue Games.”

“Ah... Okay, President Chen.”

Shen Rou was stunned for a moment, then quickly nodded.

Li Shen and Wang Maonian were both shocked and left speechless. A raise—just like that?

Other companies are considered good if they give you a raise once a year. But with President Chen, it’s only been a month and salaries are already going up.

Chen Mo ignored their stunned expressions and started eating. At least now he had a way to spend the money Li Shen had earned. His appetite improved noticeably.

It was a shame, though—he originally wanted to give the new hires a raise too. But the system had issued a reminder: Employees who haven’t been with the company for a full month, unless they have special talents, are not eligible for a raise.

A pity.

Otherwise, he could have spent even more.

Lunch quickly finished.

Chen Mo was about to get up and leave when he suddenly remembered something. Right in front of Wang Maonian, he turned to Shen Rou and said:

“The sports meet is only a few days away. Increase the morning jog—start running 15 laps from tomorrow.”

With that, He turned and walked away, giving Wang Maonian a subtle glance as he did.

Don’t you have the energy to make boxed lunches? Then you can run five more laps.

Watching President Chen leave, Wang Maonian slumped lifelessly in his seat. He had only just gotten used to running ten laps—why did it suddenly increase by five?

Li Shen also sat silently beside him. He was doing better than Wang Maonian; after a long period of morning runs, ten laps was no problem now.

But seriously, if you could rest, who would want to run?

Sigh!

............

In a rented apartment, A disheveled man sat in front of his computer, furiously clicking away. His bloodshot eyes were wide open, occasionally taking a sip from a can of Red Bull on the table.

No one knew how long had passed, When suddenly, the man slapped the keyboard hard—as if he had seen something unbelievable—and leaned in close to the screen, inspecting it carefully.

Then, He burst into wild laughter.

“It dropped! After half a month, it finally dropped!”

Jiang Jiu shouted excitedly as he stared at the equipment on the screen.

He had been grinding mobs in this game for half a month, and finally, a piece of new equipment had dropped today.

After a brief moment of celebration, Jiang Jiu smugly posted a screenshot of the item in the guild chat.

Messages quickly flooded in.

“Holy crap, isn’t that the new item?!”

“Damn it, I’ve been grinding for half a month—at least ten hours a day—and not a single drop!”

“Truly the Ganjiu Emperor! First one in the guild to get the new gear!”

“Luck king! Definitely a luck king!”

“Let me rub off some of that luck!”

“......”

Jiang Jiu looked at the replies in the chat and smiled in satisfaction.

But when he saw the term “luck king,” the smile faded.

At the start, to get the drop, he hadn’t slept for two days and two nights. He only started sleeping on the third day—just four hours a day.

And like that, He had grinded for half a month straight for this one piece of gear.

Is that really “luck”?

Jiang Jiu glanced at his greasy, unshowered reflection and fell into deep self-doubt.

Still, now that the gear had dropped, it was time to turn it into cash.

With that thought, He quickly picked up his phone and made a call.

The call connected.

Jiang Jiu couldn’t wait and blurted out:

“Hao-ge, I got a drop!”

“How many?”

“Just one.”

There was a brief silence on the other end, then a voice replied:

“Log in and trade the gear to me.”

“Got it, Hao-ge.”

............

In a luxurious villa, Chen Cong ended the call and walked over to his computer to log in.

After a few steps of operation, Jiang Jiu’s dropped item was now equipped on his character—a pair of shoes.

It was the first new item he’d gotten in the past two weeks.

He had originally thought it would only take him a day or two to collect the full set.

After all, not only was the guild farming, he had also hired studio players.

But half a month had passed, and there hadn’t been a single word from the studio. The first drop came from Jiang Jiu.

He didn’t even know what was going on with the studio anymore.

Thinking about it, he made a call.

The call connected.

Before he could speak, a voice came from the other side:

“Hao-ge, I was just about to call you.”

“What’s the situation?”

Chen Cong frowned as he asked.

“Hao-ge, I don’t think I can take this job anymore,” Mei Youqian said miserably.

At the start, he had his whole studio grinding in Tianlong for drops. But after five days, not a single item dropped.

The studio couldn’t afford to have zero income every day.

So he reassigned half the people to other tasks.

The remaining half kept grinding for a few more days—and still nothing dropped.

Eventually, he had to reassign more staff. And so it went, until now—not a single item had dropped.

There was nothing he could do.

He was just about to tell Chen Cong when the latter called first.

“What do you mean you can’t take it? Is it a money issue?”

“Hao-ge, it’s not about the money. The problem is the drop rate is way too low.”

“My studio had everyone grinding for five days straight and didn’t get a single piece.”

“Hao-ge, I’m really sorry this time. But I do have a lot of gaming group chats, studio networks, and forums—I can help you post ads.”

Chen Cong was surprised.

He knew the drop rate was low, but he didn’t expect it to be this low. Not even a studio could get anything?

Still, he had to make a comeback. He couldn’t just let this go.

After a moment’s thought, he said:

“Then help me post as many ads as possible—the more people who see it, the better. Anyone who gets a new drop, I’ll pay 30,000 for it.”

If quality didn’t cut it, then he’d win with quantity.

Chen Cong made up his mind, then picked up his phone and transferred 50,000 yuan to Jiang Jiu.

This man definitely earned his nickname, Ganjiu Emperor. Even a studio couldn’t get a drop, but he did.

Might as well give him a bit extra—as incentive.

............

Youqian Studio

Mei Youqian ended the call and gathered all his staff.

“Starting today, we’re dropping the Tianlong drop-farming assignment.”

“But you’re free to find others to help grind for drops—friends, classmates, gaming groups—advertise everywhere.”

“I’ll pay 20,000 per item. What you pay others, that’s up to you.”

After giving the instructions, Mei Youqian returned to his desk and logged into the chat software.