In the blink of an eye, it was time for the annual company meeting. By now, Jiang Zhou had been in this world for nearly a year. Under her constant surveillance, Lu Shen had attempted many small maneuvers, but very few had any actual effect. The few that did manage to gain traction were met with Jiang Zhou doubling the trouble and throwing it right back at him.
Originally, the Marketing Department was under Lu Shen’s full control. Now, however, not only had the manager become one of Xia Shang’s people, but even the deputy manager had been caught in a blunder, fired, and replaced by someone loyal to Xia Shang.
Lu Shen, the so-called Vice President, was now little more than a figurehead—a manager in name only.
In contrast to Lu Shen’s decline, Bai Xiaorou had actually managed to reap quite a few benefits using her “prophetic” knowledge.
It wasn’t clear exactly how she handled it—perhaps by putting up her entire net worth plus loans—but she had filled the funding gap for that game company. With Bai Xiaorou’s intervention, the company didn’t seek outside investment and even managed to launch their new game ahead of schedule by the end of the year.
Jiang Zhou had been focusing on Lu Shen’s movements and had relaxed her guard regarding Bai Xiaorou. It wasn’t until the game was launched that Jiang Zhou discovered the news through the extra money appearing in Lu Shen’s account.
“Xia Shang, does the company have plans to venture into gaming?” Jiang Zhou asked, tapping on her phone’s app store to find and download the game Bai Xiaorou had invested in.
“Games?” Xia Shang set down her tablet. “It’s in next year’s deployment. We are currently scouting gaming companies on the market.”
“Then what do you think of this one?” Jiang Zhou opened the downloaded game and handed it over.
Xia Shang took it and began registering a character according to the on-screen prompts.
Server: Default. Face: Default. Name…
Xia Shang’s movements hesitated for a moment. After a brief pause, she chose not to use the default name and typed one in herself.
Upon entering the game, an opening animation played for about a hundred seconds before transitioning to the novice tutorial page, prompting basic operations and interactions.
It was a post-apocalyptic survival game. New players spawned in their own homes and needed to gather materials, find weapons, and head out to explore.
Xia Shang had never played this type of game before. Her movements were a bit clumsy, and it took quite an effort just to finish the tutorial.
“The art style looks good, and the degree of freedom is quite high. For now, it seems decent,” Xia Shang stopped after playing for half an hour and began her evaluation. “As long as the subsequent new maps are developed well, profitability won’t be an issue.”
“I just checked the shareholders of this company. Bai Xiaorou owns one-fifth of the shares,” Jiang Zhou said. “The company’s revenue has already reached over ten million. As soon as Bai Xiaorou received her dividends, she transferred 500,000 to Lu Shen.”
“Bai Xiaorou is a major shareholder?” This news surprised Xia Shang. In her impression, Bai Xiaorou was essentially a “tag-along” whose presence alone dragged down the Marketing Department’s performance by nearly ten percent.
Hearing that she had suddenly become a shareholder in a promising gaming company felt strangely surreal. As for her giving money to Lu Shen, that wasn’t on Xia Shang’s list of concerns.
“I take back what I said earlier. If Bai Xiaorou is involved in the management, this game company probably won’t last long,” Xia Shang immediately revised her assessment, showing just how poor her impression of Bai Xiaorou truly was.
“It seems your impression of her really isn’t great.” Jiang Zhou took the phone back. Her eyes caught the game interface that hadn’t been closed yet, and the nickname in the top-left corner immediately drew her attention.
XiaJiang. Xia Shang had used both of their surnames for the nickname?
The corners of Jiang Zhou’s mouth curved up. “How about we develop an apocalyptic-themed game too, and try to go head-to-head with them?”
Xia Shang thought for a moment and shook her head. “Game development takes time. If the apocalyptic theme is popular, similar games will be on the market soon. If we’re going to develop one, we might as well take a different direction.”
“Wuxia?” Jiang Zhou asked.
“A primitive world. Survival, building, development.” Xia Shang mused, “Starting from the formation of tribes. Players can freely form tribes, fight NPCs for territory, or fight other players.”
“Separate it into single-player and multiplayer modes to satisfy different needs.” Since the gaming sector was in next year’s plan, Xia Shang, as President, had already done some practical research.
Jiang Zhou: “Starting with a PC version?”
Xia Shang: “Mhm. If the PC version is developed well, we can launch a simplified mobile version.”
“If a subsidiary is established, I want to be in management,” Jiang Zhou stated her request.
“You’re not going to be my assistant anymore?” Xia Shang’s brow furrowed slightly. “If a game company is established, its location won’t be near the main headquarters.”
“I want to try and create the game you just described,” Jiang Zhou said, without offering further explanation.
Xia Shang’s frown deepened. The thought of not being able to see Jiang Zhou during the day made her feel very uncomfortable, and her mood dropped several notches.
“You aren’t a gaming major.” Xia Shang’s tone was noticeably dejected.
“I’ve taught myself a few things; they should be useful.” Jiang Zhou’s tone softened as well.
Jiang Zhou had used many identities while traveling through interstellar space. While she had joined this challenge as a psychologist, it didn’t mean she was only a psychologist. Compared to the technological level of this world, Jiang Zhou’s interstellar world was vastly superior. In other words, things considered difficult here were nothing to her.
The game Xia Shang mentioned was no problem in Jiang Zhou’s eyes. As long as the relevant personnel were in place, it wouldn’t even take a year to turn it into a mature, profitable product.
“Do you really want to go?” Xia Shang pursed her lips, her face showing clear resistance.
“I’m just going there to work; it’s not like I’m never coming back.” Jiang Zhou wanted to laugh. She hadn’t realized until the prospect of separation arose just how much Xia Shang had come to rely on her.
Seeing Xia Shang’s rare, pouting expression, Jiang Zhou couldn’t help but pull her over, hugging her and showering her with nuzzles and kisses.
“Are you sad to see me go?” Jiang Zhou kissed Xia Shang’s cheek.
Xia Shang wrapped her arms around Jiang Zhou’s waist, trapping her in her embrace. “Let’s just open the game company near the headquarters then.”
“Oh?” Jiang Zhou raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t you just say we needed a separate location?”
“The newly built building next door is quite good and suitable for a branch office.” Xia Shang left a restrained mark on Jiang Zhou’s neck. “Since the company is expanding anyway, we’ll just consider preparing the space in advance.”
“That tickles~” Jiang Zhou leaned back. “Even if it’s next door, we can’t be together all the time, right?”
Xia Shang didn’t answer, choosing instead to express her view through action.
Jiang Zhou’s clothes became fewer and fewer, and Xia Shang’s movements grew faster. One hand gently caressed Jiang Zhou’s cheek, while the other was causing mischief, constantly teasing Jiang Zhou’s sensitive spots, causing her thoughts to blur until her mind and eyes were filled only with the person before her.
The sofa wasn’t like the bed; certain movements triggered specific effects, making everything feel twice as intense.
After many such occurrences, Jiang Zhou’s physical stamina had improved. A single bout of indulgence didn’t leave her too exhausted, but…
“Carry me to the bath.” Jiang Zhou circled Xia Shang’s neck, refusing to let her get up and leave.
“Alright.” Xia Shang made a subtle swallowing motion, draped a garment over Jiang Zhou, and with a surge of strength in her arms, lifted her up.
Xia Shang’s villa was quite large; it was a bit of a walk from the living room to the bathroom. Opening the door with one hand, Xia Shang carried Jiang Zhou inside.
“I haven’t drawn the water yet.” Xia Shang’s gaze lingered on Jiang Zhou’s chest for a moment. “Should I put you down first?”
“Fine.” Jiang Zhou wasn’t wearing slippers, so after stepping down, she remained half-clinging to Xia Shang, her bare toes stepping directly onto Xia Shang’s feet.
Xia Shang felt somewhat helpless. “I can’t move like this.”
“But the tiles are so icy; my feet are cold.” Jiang Zhou refused to budge.
Xia Shang stood thinking for three seconds, then continued to hold Jiang Zhou. Once she reached the edge of the bathtub, she leaned against it, finally freeing her hands to start the water.
Jiang Zhou did nothing, simply leaning against Xia Shang. Once the water was ready, she tossed aside her clothes and lay down.
“Ah~ so comfortable~~~” Jiang Zhou let out a satisfied sound. “Come and wash with me.”
“Mhm.” Xia Shang quickly shed her clothes and lay in the tub facing the same direction as Jiang Zhou.
The bathroom hadn’t been designed for two people to soak together, so the tub was only slightly larger than average. Soaking together meant their skin inevitably pressed against each other.
“Are your shoulders sore?” After soaking for three minutes, Jiang Zhou sat up slightly.
Xia Shang hesitated for a second. “No.”
“Really?” Jiang Zhou raised an eyebrow. Even though they were on the sofa earlier, it hadn’t been a short session. “I was planning to give you a massage.”
“Even if they aren’t sore, you can still massage them,” Xia Shang quickly corrected herself.
“Ha, you’re right!” Jiang Zhou saw through her but didn’t call her out. “Come on, lie face down. Let me serve you~”
Xia Shang hummed and turned around, obediently lying face down against the edge of the tub.
Jiang Zhou, having been mostly “satisfied,” hadn’t intended to start anything in the bathroom, but seeing Xia Shang’s nearly perfect back, she couldn’t resist reaching out to touch it.
Xia Shang’s boxing hadn’t been in vain. Not only did she have abs, but there wasn’t a trace of excess fat on her back.
She really felt like taking a bite.
Jiang Zhou thought it, and then she did it—biting directly onto Xia Shang’s back.
“Mhm?” Xia Shang tilted her head, looking at Jiang Zhou with a hint of confusion.
“Your back is beautiful,” Jiang Zhou spoke honestly. “I want to leave some marks of my own on it.”
“Mhm??” Xia Shang was puzzled. Wasn’t it supposed to be a massage? Why did she use her teeth?