Chapter 137: Something Is Wrong

The crowd blocking the supermarket entrance was cleared away, only to linger in a large circle outside, causing quite a commotion as they milled about.

Closing the door, Zhao Fan said, "There is something wrong with your cousin."

Liang Yong kept his head down and replied, "I noticed."

The way his cousin kept harping on about him taking bribes, showing absolutely no regard for their elderly relative still in the hospital, was truly...

Zhao Fan sighed. "You should go back to the hospital to look after them. As for your cousin, our Feiteng Company will handle it."

"Understood. I'm sorry for causing you so much trouble."

"In business, you're bound to run into some inexplicable people. It's no problem."

After Liang Yong left, Zhao Fan called Jiang Ying directly.

"Help me look into a man named Wang Chengchuan."

Jiang Ying let out a scoff. "You’re well-informed. I was just about to call you. This Wang Chengchuan has had contact with the Bai family. I’m afraid the situation with your supermarket won't be easy to resolve."

"It can be resolved."

With those three words, Zhao Fan hung up.

Wang Chengchuan, the people who smashed the supermarket—all signs pointed to the Bai family. And the boycott of the game? Was that also related to the Bai family?

Shaking off these thoughts, Zhao Fan decided to return to the company. Once the mastermind was confirmed, he could use other methods to deal with these problems.

At Feiteng Company, Zhao Fan had just entered his office when the Human Resources manager rushed in.

"Mr. Zhao, quite a few people in the company want to resign."

Zhao Fan raised an eyebrow. "Which departments?"

"Some from the game development team, some from the publicity side, and also..."

The manager hesitated.

Zhao Fan leaned back. "It looks like it has something to do with the programming department." Only those people would make the HR manager so hesitant.

"Yes."

"How many?"

"Eight."

"Wow, that's quite a lot. Very impressive, truly impressive."

The HR manager’s face darkened. "Mr. Zhao, now is not the time for sarcasm. With so many programmers leaving, what will happen to the company’s software?"

Feiteng Company’s main projects were already being targeted. Only one software program was still running smoothly; if a large number of programmers left, it wouldn't be long before that faced trouble too.

Zhao Fan stroked his chin. "They want to resign. You can't exactly tie their legs to keep them from leaving, can you?"

The HR manager was speechless.

That might be true, but if they just let them walk away like that, where would Feiteng Company’s reputation go?

"Mr. Zhao, we need to find a way to make them stay for a while."

"It's simple. Give them two choices: they can leave now, but I will dock a month’s salary and I certainly won’t leave any glowing remarks on their resignation forms. Alternatively, they can wait one month, after which they can resign normally with everything intact, and I won't make things difficult for them."

They want to quit? Fine, but they have to follow his rules.

Even if they had backers, if they wanted to keep working in the industry, they would eventually need to move to another job. If their reputation was ruined, did they really expect to find other good positions?

In a word: delusional.

The HR manager’s eyes brightened. "I understand. I'll go give notice."

"Good."

As the manager reached the door, Zhao Fan called him back.

"How many people in total want to resign this time?"

"Eighteen in total."

Zhao Fan stroked his chin, a playful glint in his eyes. There were definitely more than eighteen people in the company who wanted to quit.

"Issue a notice. Tell everyone in the company that if they want to resign, they must follow the procedure I laid out. Also, compile a list of everyone who resigns; we will never hire them again in the future."

"Understood."

Within an hour, Zhao Fan’s words were disseminated throughout the company as an official notice.

Of the eighteen who had clearly expressed their intent to resign, six chose to leave immediately, while the rest opted to wait a month. Only two of the programmers were willing to wait.

The HR manager processed the resignations according to the rules and placed the list on Zhao Fan’s desk.

That afternoon, several more people expressed a desire to resign, including Han Chen’s girlfriend, Han Yuerou, and He Xinwen. In fact, everyone Han Chen had brought into the company later on chose to resign.

Looking at the list, Zhao Fan was at a loss for words. In the end, he decided to have the HR manager keep the list under wraps.

To his surprise, the next morning, Han Chen came to find him.

"Did Han Yuerou process her resignation?"

Zhao Fan was silent for a moment. After a brief shock, he gave a dry cough. "How did you know?" He had specifically asked the HR manager to keep the list quiet. How did Han Chen get the news?

"Han Yuerou told me. She also asked me to resign as well."

Zhao Fan stood up abruptly, his previous composure gone. "Han Yuerou actually urged you to resign?" This was...

Han Chen was a pillar of the company; Zhao Fan knew his worth well. If he were really coerced into quitting by Han Yuerou, Zhao Fan would suffer a devastating loss.

"You, you..." Zhao Fan didn't know what to say. For a top-tier talent, resigning was easy.

Sighing, Zhao Fan sat back down. "What do you think?"

"Why would I resign?" Han Chen looked at him strangely. "I’m comfortable working here, and I’m practically a boss myself. Why would I quit?"

Zhao Fan remained silent. The shares he had given him were a stroke of accidental luck.

"Mr. Zhao, I’m not staying because of the shares. Working at this company is pleasant. I wouldn't find another boss like you anywhere else."

Shares alone couldn't keep Han Chen; he simply liked the atmosphere at Feiteng Company. A boss who was willing to listen—even without shares, Han Chen would choose to stay.

"What did your girlfriend say?"

"I told her I’d do what I have to do."

Zhao Fan: "..." His expression grew strange. "Since you’re doing what you have to do, why are you here?"

Han Chen said "Oh," and took out a report. "This is from Jia Yuanteng. He said that after increasing the publicity, the game's download numbers have gone up."

With more downloads came more players, which was great promotion for the game.

Zhao Fan’s lips curled. "Not bad."

"Mr. Zhao, why did they increase?"

"Psychological reactance. There are always people who want to do the opposite of what their parents tell them."

Students were the key demographic for games, but they weren't the only ones.

"Xiao Chen, tell Jia Yuanteng to come over."

"Understood."

Soon, Jia Yuanteng entered the office.

Zhao Fan said, "Set up a top-up system linked to online banking. We’re going to sell virtual currency."

With more players, he naturally needed to implement a top-up system. The time to make money had arrived.

Jia Yuanteng was stunned for a moment, then caught on. "You mean... like Bitcoin?"

Zhao Fan rubbed his fingers. "No, just simple cash-to-game-currency conversion. Also, have the art department do some designs. Let's make it so players can change their character's outfits, and set up tasks so people can earn them. Make sure to time-gate the progress."