CH 34

Ke Ming’s expression suddenly changed, and he looked at the plainly dressed Lou Yang in disbelief.

At that time, Lin Zhong found the relevant user information and said, “Mr. Bo, it looks like this user whose ID is “Dehydration” registered an account two years ago, and the earliest modeling screenshot was posted in August last year.”

“There are currently 306 followers, and the most popular one only has just over one hundred views. Gender—” Lin Zhong paused for a second, looking at Lin Zhong on the stage. “The gender shows as male.”

Knowing that his friend’s eyesight was inconvenient, Yan Cen took the tablet from the side. “Show me.”

Listening to Lin Zhong’s reporting of the user profile trap, Ke Ming regained a bit of confidence.

Yes, that’s right!

That was an overseas account and showed as “male.” How could it be Lu Yang who had suddenly appeared here?!

Regarding “Dehydration’s” fans and popularity, being discovered by him could be considered an accident. Where could there be a double coincidence in this world?

Bo Yueming didn’t pay attention to Ke Ming’s change of expression, lowering his eyes calmly. “Director Lou, how will you prove that this account belongs to you?”

“It’s easy, I will log in publicly.”

Lou Yang took out her laptop and quickly connected to the large projection screen. While opening the Youtu forum, she logged into her account with ease.

Soon, the personal homepage unique to “Dehydration” appeared on the big screen.

Lin Zhong wasn’t aware of the condition of Bo Yueming’s eyes, so he whispered, “Mr. Bo, you were right.”

“En.”

Bo Yueming gave a slight nod.

“This, this is impossible!” 

Ke Ming’s face turned red, and he was unwilling to admit his mistakes. “The modeling techniques in the gaming circle have always been dominated by men. You are a woman……”

“What is wrong with me being a woman?” Lou Yang interrupted loudly with a sneer. “Mr. Ke, I know you have doubts, but I can tell you the truth—”

“There are such coincidences in this world! It is time for me to expose the bad behavior of you and your studio!”

Lou Yang had graduated from a prestigious overseas school, majoring in design. After graduation, she worked at a special effects film and television company with her boyfriend at the time, and led the team responsible for the post-design of special effects.

In the behind-the-scenes circles of foreign film and television, the special effects team led by Lou Yang was also well-known.

But over the years, Lou Yang had never forgotten her original intention to work on games.

She designed some original game models in her spare time, and when she could, she would post relevant screenshots on the Youtu forum. The initial personal information of the account was the default, and she hadn’t changed it at all.

It should be known that Youtu’s copyright control had always been excellent.

For Lou Yang, these uploads were not for gaining attention or popularity, and were just for backup purposes. She didn’t expect them to come in handy one day.

Lou Yang continued to explain, “Young Boss Li did not reveal much. He also has a partner who is the chief architect of the world of “The Last Fog.” Ten days ago, he was the one who took the initiative to contact me by private message.”

When Lou Yang uploaded modeling screenshots, she never added any visible tags, and reprinting and downloading were not allowed. Therefore, her popularity had not been high on a game forum full of talents.

And due to the time difference between home and abroad, Lou Yang’s upload time was basically around three or four in the morning in China. Other than the “update page” that came with the game forum, there was pretty much no exposure at all.

But coincidentally, Pei Yi was a night owl. He often stayed up into the wee hours of the morning, or even all night, because of his game script creation.

As early as when Pei Yi decided to continue making money in this world through games, he had made up his mind to re-establish his own game company.

Since he wanted to start a company, he must recruit troops—

During these days of staying in the bedroom, Pei Yi was either writing or creating, or using the Youtu forum to find “great gods.” And he would pay attention to these talented accounts – thinking that there may be a chance to send them cooperation invitations in the future.

Last Wednesday, Pei Yi contacted Lou Yang immediately after confirming the news brought by Li Yuan.

Firstly to verify the possible “imitation” situation, and secondly to issue an invitation for partnership.

Two months ago, Lou Yang and her boyfriend, who had been in love for many years, chose to break up peacefully. However, there was no way to continue to work together in the same team, not to mention that her parents in China missed her very much.

Little by little, she intended to change her environment and start over again.

After three days of effective communication and sincere invitation by Pei Yi, Lou Yang finally agreed to go back to China and find out the truth, and the purpose of keeping it secret before was to get a final confirmation.

After all, before Ke Ming and the others showed their modeling, they did not have full evidence.

As for Lou Yang’s refusal to say that she was “Dehydration” at the beginning, it was entirely Pei Yi’s suggestion, and they deliberately set up a trap.

If Ke Ming continued to lie and jumped into the pit by himself, then they would have one more piece of evidence.

This was good—

Everything was as Pei Yi expected.

If Ke Ming and Youming Studios competed normally, no matter what the result was, Pei Yi and Li Yuan were willing to accept everything in due course. But since the other party used abnormal means, they didn’t mind being the “villains.”

Lou Yang stared down the guilty Ke Ming and exposed his lies one by one.

“Mr. Ke, what you call originality is plagiarizing my design. What you call the account of a studio employee is actually my personal account.”

“Youtu has very thorough proof of the copyright timeline. I am confident that my design is original and was created earlier than Youming Studios,’ so I would like to carefully ask—”

“Was the inspiration for the modeling of ‘Alien Beasts’ obtained by Mr. Ke after looking at my screenshots?” Lou Yang looked at Pei Huan with the same suspicion and disgust. “Or Pei Huan, did you unethically plagiarize my design?”

“……”

An unwarranted pot suddenly fell on his head.

Pei Huan’s face flushed with embarrassment, and the insecurity in his heart became inexplicably real at this moment!

He wanted to explain, but found that he would be wrong no matter what he said! If he now hurried to rid himself of the relationship with the modeling and design, didn’t that prove that he was acting out of selfishness just now?

After a brief hesitation, Pei Huan suddenly met Yan Cen’s gaze—

The other party’s originally gentle eyes behind those glasses were now filled with unfamiliar scrutiny.

Pei Huan wanted to find a hole to crawl into, and had no choice but to throw the pot back on Ke Ming. “Mr. Ke, you had better explain the problem clearly! If Youming really has behaved badly, I must reconsider our cooperation.”

Didn’t this person say there were no problems?

How was this handling affairs!

Ke Ming tried hard to keep his composure. “Boss Bo, Boss Yan, it’s not surprising for there to be some similar inspirations. What can this screenshot of Ms. Lou’s show?”

“The key point is the level of crafting. The modeling display of our studio is genuine, and we have the ability and the technology.”

“As for the individual similar designs, I can ask the art and technical departments to overturn and start over.”

“On the contrary, I still have doubts about Ms. Lou. Even if she can log into the account, there is no way to directly prove that she has this level of design! What if she hijacked a friend’s account?”

Lou Yang ignored his ridiculous excuses and brought up the photos taken during the demonstration one by one, comparing them to the previous modeling screenshots—

Pei Yi pretended to stare at the big screen for a moment, tilted his head, and quickly pierced the facade. “The same!”

His unaccusative voice directly pointed out the facts.

Bo Yueming caught a glimpse of the cowlick on the back of his head. He unexpectedly felt itchy and wanted to tease it, but had to hold back due to the occasion, so he squeezed his fingertips secretly.

The staff members of the project team sitting in the back row began to discuss in low voices, and their original admiration for the modeling of Youming Studios changed to contempt—

This, ah!

How could they not understand what even a “little fool” could see? Even if it was Lou Yang’s “friend’s” designs, wouldn’t they still be stolen?

Use such a “secondary product” to attract their G.M.’s investment?

What a beautiful idea!

Ke Ming looked at the disdainful eyes of the audience, and vented to Pei Yi angrily, “What are you talking about, you fool? I…..”

“Mr. Ke!”

Bo Yueming interrupted with a deep voice, and was protective to the end. “Pei Yi is the person I brought here, and you are not qualified to criticize him on my territory!”

“…….”

Pei Yi’s heart warmed, and he unconsciously turned his head to look at Bo Yueming.

There was a thin sheen of hostility in those deep eyes, and it was for him.

At this moment, it seemed that his acting was also a real impulse.

Pei Yi purposely drew closer to Bo Yueming and returned a toffee to the other’s palm beneath the table, coaxing, “Er-ge, don’t be angry.”

This kind of person wasn’t worth it.

Bo Yueming hooked his wrist with his fingertip. “Okay.”

“All right, I’ll vote for ‘The Last Fog’ instead.” The next second, Song Ci to the side changed her vote, looking directly at Ke Ming with disgust.

“Mr. Ke, what year is it? Yet people like you practice workplace discrimination against women?”

“Apologies, but even if the other two executives agree today, I, Song Ci, will never agree to cooperate with you!” She walked up to the stage in high heels, with an inviolable proudness all over her body. “In that case, get your game out of G.M. now!”

“……”

Get out.

Ke Ming’s face turned livid.

Entirely ignoring his expression, Song Ci turned around to face Lou Yang, holding the greatest admiration and recognition for the woman. “Director Lou, nice to meet you. You are very outstanding.”

Lou Yang replied with a calm smile. “Thank you. You as well.”

Song Ci had changed her vote, and adding Bo Yueming’s first vote, the result had already been decided.

Yan Cen simply closed the corresponding materials and gave his original answer, “I also vote for The Last Fog. Wishing Young Boss Li a happy cooperation.”

There was joy on his face, but Li Yuan nodded restrainedly. “Thank you.”

Yan Cen returned a smile to him, and then repeated solemnly, “Mr. Ke, please take your personnel and leave.”

His words contained other implications, and he didn’t spare Pei Huan a glance.

“…….”

Pei Huan couldn’t bear the awkward atmosphere of being ignored and shunned. If he had known this would be the result, he wouldn’t have listened to Ke Ming’s encouragement to come and influence the situation.

Well, look at him now!

He was inexplicably stained with a stench! And he couldn’t even wash it clean!

Pei Huan was ashamed and indignant at this thought, and left the conference room quickly.

The matter had been settled, and Xiang Nansheng was the only one who didn’t speak. He didn’t avert his eyes, and took off his black-rimmed glasses to walk around Ke Ming to the front of the room, then bowed calmly but sincerely.

“Director Lou, I apologize to you personally.”

Xiang Nansheng and Ke Ming had started their business together during their college years. At first, they had the same ideals and goals, but the latter gained more benefits and there was gradually a lot of estrangement that was difficult to speak about.

During the past year in particular, almost all right to have a voice in the studio was held by Ke Ming.

The design concept of “Alien Beasts” was proposed by Ke Ming, and Xiang Nansheng had vaguely felt that something was wrong. When he learned the truth from the other party half a month ago, he tried to deter him, but was unfortunately blocked by the other party.

Xiang Nansheng kept this matter in his thoughts, but he also worried about tearing up these years of friendship.

He didn’t dare say that he was not at fault for not reporting what he knew. Now that it had been revealed — he must express his apology from a personal standpoint.

Xiang Nansheng expressed his straightforward appreciation as a technician, “Director Lou, your image design and modeling skills are excellent, and I hope to have the opportunity to communicate with you in the future.”

Lou Yang responded briefly, “Thank you.”

Pei Yi gazed from his seat after Xiang Nansheng’s departing back, and a thought flashed in his eyes. His focus shifted to the documents on Bo Yueming’s desk, and then he looked down for a moment.

More footsteps gradually moved away.

Only Ke Ming was left standing there, his expression still incredibly ugly. His feet seemed to be filled with iron and lead, and he was unable to move half a step outside.

“Everyone who is irrelevant, please leave.”

Bo Yueming took a sip of his coffee and tranquilly issued the eviction order.

“Wait a minute!”

Li Yuan spoke out first. He stood up from his seat and double-checked, “Boss Yan, Boss Bo, and Boss Song, the result of the competition has been confirmed and will not be changed, correct?”

“Of course.”

Yan Cen replied, “If Young Boss Li is not in a hurry this afternoon, we can conduct in-depth discussions on the upcoming investment cooperation.”

The big rock in Li Yuan’s heart fell to the ground, and he politely gestured to everyone, “Apologies, please wait a moment.”

After speaking, he turned and pointed at Ke Ming on the stage, who was destined to be the “loser,” and his eyes finally recovered the arrogance of the past. 

“Mr. Ke, on behalf of Dawn Games, I would like to officially demand that you kindly stop all infringements by your studio on the work of our company’s Director Lou Yang!”

“If similar elements of references, plagiarism, and imitation appear in the market in the future, I will sue you and Youming Studios according to the law. Shape up your behavior.”

A smile flickered in Pei Yi’s eyes.

He finished speaking on behalf of others who were still hiding in the dark.

Li Yuan approached Ke Ming step by step, speaking softly but venomously, “Mr. Ke, that coffee could wake you up, but it couldn’t wash away pig-headedness, hm?”

“…….”

Ke Ming was so angry that his breaths shook.

He had originally wanted to watch the scene of Li Yuan failing to compete for the investment and leaving in dismay. Unexpectedly, the person being ridiculed now had become himself, and he had also become the person who should leave the scene in despair!

After working in the industry so long, it was the first time Ke Ming had failed so shamefully.

The shreds of calculations that filled him had already bubbled away. He pretended to forcefully straighten his collar, and left quickly while holding onto a mouthful of self-esteem.

. . . . . . .

The bidding for investment had finally come to an end.

Seeing that it was still early, Yan Cen gestured for Li Yuan to stay and discuss the details of the investment cooperation in advance.

As one of the shareholders, Bo Yueming did not reject this proposal.

Pei Yi was not a person who enjoyed meetings. He had lasted an hour on sweets and juice, and got his outcome. Now the patience that he had accumulated with great difficulty was quickly exhausted.

After drinking such a large glass of juice and sitting for so long, it made sense to go to the bathroom again, right?

He thought about it, but was too embarrassed to say it loudly, so he leaned toward Bo Yueming’s ear and whispered, “Er-ge, going to bathroom.”

“……..”

His ear tingled from the warm breath.

Bo Yueming’s breathing became tight, and he didn’t dare to look directly at the other party.

Knowing that it was more of an excuse than the truth, he still acquiesced to the kitten’s presumptuousness. “Okay, let Lin Zhong follow.”

In any case, he wouldn’t worry that Pei Yi would act on his own, even if this was his company.

Pei Yi feared that a refusal would make the other party suspicious, so he agreed.

Three minutes later.

Pei Yi turned into the innermost part of the men’s bathroom and quickly locked the compartment door.

He took out his cell phone and entered a string of numbers that he had noted down long before in the message interface, and edited the content: Hello, is this Xiang Nansheng, Mr. Xiang?

Although Bo Yueming’s eyes were inconvenient, as a high-level shareholder involved in the decision making, he still had the basic information on his laptop, including the contact information of the participants on both sides.

Pei Yi’s memory was not bad, and he noted down Xiang Nansheng’s contact information.

The phone vibrated as a reply came in: “Excuse me?”

Pei Yi stared at the message, remembering the pre-investigation he had done—

Although Ke Ming was not worth much, his partner Xiang Nansheng was very skilled. Since the establishment of Youming Studios, almost all of the hit games had been built by the latter.

Today’s upfront apology was enough to show Xiang Nansheng’s true nature.

As a human being, it was not a bad thing to correct a mistake once you knew about it.

The thought of poaching had come as soon as he spoke. Pei Yi quickly typed a line of words with his fingertips:

“Hello, I’m Will, and I sincerely invite you to join our “The Last Fog” game project team. Will you think about it?”

He clicked send, and it went through successfully.

. . . . . .

An hour later, the door of the conference room reopened.

Bo Yueming, Yan Cen, and the others stepped through it one after another. It seemed that the initial investment negotiations for “The Last Fog” had temporarily come to an end.

Pei Yi, who had snuck into the lounge in a daze, walked over at once and called casually, “Er-ge.”

Just as Bo Yueming was about to respond, he saw Pei Yi walk straight in front of him and rush to Li Yuan with a smile.

“……”

Bo Yueming’s heart itched with dissatisfaction.

He immediately saw the kitten reach out to Li Yuan. “Huh?”

Puzzled, Bo Yueming frowned, but he had to pretend not to notice Pei Yi’s perfunctory treatment of him. “Pei Yi?”

Li Yuan caught Pei Yi’s meaning first. He was in a good mood after successfully winning the bidding, and gave a rare smile. “Boss Bo, I promised Little Young Master Pei that I would treat him to dinner.”

Pei Yi nodded.

After all, the two of them were also partners, and although the vest had not been completely removed, today there must be a wave of celebration.

Li Yuan thought of the relationship between Pei Yi and Bo Yueming, so he still asked for consent, “It’s still early, if Boss Bo has no objections, shall I take Little Young Master Pei to have some afternoon tea? And I’ll send him home later?”

Pei Yi took the lead. “Want!”

If he could avoid Bo Yueming, it was okay to have a little wine today!

Standing to the side, Lin Zhong thought of something and said in a whisper, “Mr. Bo, Little Sir and Mr. Li met when he was waiting for you in the coffee shop last time.”

“…….”

Once at the banquet, once at the coffee shop, and once today.

They had only met three times in total, and their relationship was good enough to make an appointment for a meal?

Bo Yueming felt a little complicated. It seemed that during his period of blindness, Pei Yi secretly attracted a lot of people’s affection?

Bo Yueming had no reason to object to Pei Yi’s personal willingness to make friends. “All right, would you mind letting him bring his family? I happen to be hungry as well.”

F-family?

Hearing this word again, Pei Yi’s heart still felt a little numb.

As the “hosting party,” Li Yuan considered Pei Yi’s situation. He got stuck for a moment and then responded, “Of course.”

Seeing this, Yan Cen next to him expressed his opinion, “How about adding me as well? It just so happens that I know a good afternoon tea restaurant nearby.”

Now, it was Li Yuan who was in a daze.

Pei Yi noticed a brief flash of nervousness from the other party, and seemed to realize something. His gaze fell right on Yan Cen’s face, and he answered with a smile, “En!”

Seeing Pei Yi’s sudden smile, Bo Yueming narrowed his eyes under his lenses for a moment.

He pretended not to see clearly and turned his body away, successfully blocking Pei Yi’s view of his friend, then changed the subject nonchalantly, “Let’s go, then.”

. . . . . .

Half an hour later.

Several exquisite desserts were placed on a long dining table near the window. Pei Yi and Bo Yueming sat on one side, with Li Yuan and Yan Cen on the other.

Song Ci had strict requirements about her figure, while Lou Yang rushed back to the hotel to rest, so neither of them followed.

Li Yuan was still a little reluctant to relax at first.

No matter how you put it, two of the other three were senior executives of G.M. After leaving the company and breaking away from the intended partner relationship, he didn’t know what attitude to use to get along with them.

With a deliberately cold face? That didn’t seem good.

A deliberate smile to cater to them? That wasn’t his style either.

Yan Cen seemed to notice his concerns, and took the initiative to move the topic back to “The Last Fog.”

Back in the field he was familiar with, Li Yuan unknowingly relaxed a lot. As for Bo Yueming, he was simply indifferent, and his mind was completely on Pei Yi beside him.

He didn’t know how much the kitten’s stomach had grown.

He didn’t eat much of the three meals per day at home, but when it came to his favorite sweets, he wanted a bite here and a mouthful there, and it seemed that he would never grow tired of eating.

In the blink of an eye, Pei Yi finished another small souffle and pursed his lips, a little bit dissatisfied.

The taste of this tea restaurant’s food was good, but the food was too “delicate,” and was gone after a bite or two.

Li Yuan, who was sitting opposite, noticed this. “This souffle tastes good? Has Pei Yi not eaten enough?”

How could Bo Yueming not see? 

But he pretended to understand Pei Yi’s love of food after hearing this, and called the waiter, “Add another.”

Immediately after, Yan Cen added, “Two more, ba. I see Mr. Li can’t take his eyes off them.”

Li Yuan’s cheeks became hot, and he argued, “No, I don’t like those.”

Pei Yi heard his duplicity, and deliberately nodded to tease him, “En, en, en, only little friends like it.”

“…….”

Li Yuan’s ears turned red in an instant, and he wished he could stand up and block Pei Yi’s mouth—

The other party not only remembered the arrogant words he said casually in the coffee shop last time, but actually teased him in reverse!

Where was this person stupid? He was white on the surface and black underneath!

Soon, the waiter brought up two ready-made desserts. “This is the souffle you ordered. Please enjoy.”

Pei Yi took the initiative to take one of them, and his anticipation was not reduced at all.

Bo Yueming noticed the light in Pei Yi’s eyes and the lightly shifting hair as he lowered his head.

For some reason, a hint of teasing appeared, but he pretended to be calm and said, “Little friend, eat slowly, don’t choke.”