If everyone is reborn, who will work for capital?

Chapter 29 Developing Games

"What...what are you talking about? What template?" His face turned pale, and he immediately denied it forcefully. At the same time, he stood up, his voice trembling slightly, "I have to go to class, I'm going to be late."

"Mr. Gooder," the straightforward voice rang out calmly, "aren't you going to sell PPTs anymore?"

Hao Pengxiang, who had just stood up, froze on the spot as if he had been frozen in place. He turned his head sharply and stared at Geng Zhi as if he were looking at a monster.

"Do you think I won't recognize you just because you're wearing a pseudonym? That you can fool us all by creating two alternate accounts?"

As he spoke, he opened QQ and bombarded the chat window of "Gu De" with "hahaha" emojis.

On Hao Pengxiang's phone, QQ kept flashing new messages.

He mechanically looked down at the overwhelming flood of emojis from 1025 on the screen.

It's over...it's all over.

1025 is just being straightforward, being straightforward is 1025! They've exposed everything about themselves...

A tremendous fear gripped him.

He didn't know what Geng Zhi was planning, but his instincts screamed: Run! Get out of here right now!

He grabbed his phone and hat abruptly, then turned and rushed outside.

"You leave now, and I'll immediately report this to the school and call Uncle Hat to talk about commercial fraud." Geng Zhi's voice wasn't loud, but it was as piercing as an icicle.

Hao Pengxiang's steps seemed to be welded to the ground, and he froze instantly.

He stared blankly at Geng Zhi, his lips moved but no sound came out, only his calves trembled slightly uncontrollably.

Reporting to the school... punishment, demerit, even expulsion... these words struck his heart like a heavy hammer.

The guests at the nearby tables noticed the strange atmosphere of the standoff between the two and curious glances drifted over, as if the air in the corner had frozen.

After a few deathly silences, Geng Zhi's smile returned, and he stepped forward, patting Hao Pengxiang on the shoulder: "There are too many people here, want to go outside and chat?"

"...Okay." Hao Pengxiang's voice was extremely hoarse.

The two walked out of Starbucks one after the other. Geng Zhi slowed down and walked side by side with Hao Pengxiang, heading slowly towards the school.

"Senior Geng..." Hao Pengxiang's voice was dry, and he spoke quickly, "I'll return all ten thousand yuan to you! I used that money to buy a watch, and I sent the rest back to my hometown to store it. I haven't touched it yet, I..."

"Hmm?" Geng Zhi turned his head to look at him, his tone somewhat playful. "Xiao Hao, you've misunderstood. That's the PPT that Ma Chunmei bought from you, not me. Whether you return it or not is actually none of my concern."

"Huh?" Hao Pengxiang was stunned. "You guys...aren't you together?"

"We were together. But now," Geng Zhi smiled, "we're still together. We're friends now."

Hao Pengxiang looked completely bewildered, unable to follow Geng Zhi's train of thought at all.

"I only care about whether the 50,000 yuan roadshow bonus will be approved smoothly." Geng Zhi said, half reassuring and half requesting, "Once the bonus is approved, I'll need your help to fill in the receiving account information."

Hao Pengxiang's mood was like a rollercoaster; he had no idea what Geng Zhi was up to, so he could only nod repeatedly, "No problem, no problem at all."

"Can you tell me how you sell your roadshow PPTs?" Geng Zhi asked.

Seeing that Geng Zhi didn't seem to have any intention of delving deeper, Hao Pengxiang breathed a slight sigh of relief, nodded, and recounted in detail how he discovered the "business opportunity" and how he operated it.

Geng Zhi learned that he came from Guizhou Province and that his family was not well-off. He usually earned his living expenses through various part-time jobs.

When I heard the blunder of "one hundred becoming ten thousand", I couldn't help but laugh out loud, and I gained a new understanding of Ma Chunmei's "generosity".

"Senior Geng," Hao Pengxiang asked cautiously, "should I return that ten thousand yuan to Senior Ma Chunmei...?"

"This is between you and her." Geng Zhi waved his hand, drawing a clear line. "I won't interfere or offer advice; you decide for yourself. As for knowing who you are, I won't tell anyone."

"Thank you! Thank you, Senior Geng!" Hao Pengxiang felt like he had been granted a pardon and quickly expressed his gratitude.

"Speaking of which," he couldn't help but ask curiously, "Senior Geng, how exactly did you recognize my two smaller accounts?"

"Selling such a terrible template for such a high price, and 'Cheng Wanli' still dares to openly invite someone named 'Xiang' into the group? And your QQ profile, and..." Geng Zhi paused, his smile deepening, "...your kindergarten-level naming skills."

"Is there a problem with naming it?" Hao Pengxiang frowned, genuinely seeking advice.

"‘Gu De’ is a transliteration of ‘Hao’, which corresponds to your surname ‘Hao’. ‘Cheng Wanli’ comes from ‘Peng Cheng Wanli’, which corresponds to your ‘Peng’. ‘Xiang’ is even more direct, it’s just ‘Xiang’." He explained the reasoning in a straightforward and deliberate manner.

Hao Pengxiang: "..." He suddenly felt like a transparent fool.

"Xiao Hao, what specific area of ​​your art major are you in?" Geng Zhi changed the subject.

"Game art design," Hao Pengxiang answered honestly.

A glint of insight flashed in Geng Zhi's eyes. This was exactly the answer he wanted to hear.

"Are you primarily skilled in 2D concept art, UI design, or 3D modeling? How much do you know about animation and special effects?"

"I mainly focus on 2D character and scene concept art, and I also do UI design. I have some basic 3D skills, understand some animation principles, and have some knowledge of particle systems for special effects," Hao Pengxiang answered honestly, while secretly surprised by how professionally he asked such straightforward questions.

"Would it be convenient to take a look at your portfolio?"

Although Hao Pengxiang didn't understand why, he obediently stopped, put his laptop on the holly tree bed by the roadside, and opened his portfolio folder, which contained some course assignments and a few outsourced works.

Geng Zhi quickly skimmed through the pages, the mouse wheel scrolling rapidly, but his gaze remained focused. After finishing, he suddenly asked, "Xiao Hao, are you an undergraduate or a graduate student?"

"Undergraduate, third year."

"Through what channels do you usually get these outsourced projects? Is the volume of orders stable?"

"I mainly look at crowdsourcing websites like 'Zhubajie,' or some design forums and QQ groups. There aren't many jobs, and they're not reliable; I often can't get any," Hao Pengxiang said with a hint of helplessness.

Geng Zhi nodded and continued, "Priced per sheet? Approximately what price range?"

"Depending on the complexity, it generally costs between 35 and 60 yuan per piece. The price fluctuates greatly, and the client often tries to lower the price."

Geng Zhi nodded, pondered for a moment, and then offered a suggestion: "I can introduce you to a long-term, stable game art outsourcing job. It's pay-per-piece, and if the work is good, you can get monthly payments. Are you interested?"

"Huh?!" Hao Pengxiang's eyes widened in disbelief, then he nodded excitedly, "Interested! Of course I'm interested! I'm willing!"

"Wait a minute," Geng Zhi chuckled at his reaction, "you didn't even ask what kind of design you're doing, how the cost is calculated, or what the requirements are?"

"I believe in you, senior!" Hao Pengxiang blurted out, his eyes fervent.

Geng Zhi couldn't help but mutter to himself, "...You really trust a 'senior' who almost got you arrested? Your mental fortitude is truly astounding..."

He took Hao Pengxiang to a small, empty classroom in the Computer Science Department and briefly explained the requirements.

"The demand came from a game studio...they had taken on a long-term order from an overseas client..."

"The main design involves creating a series of stylized fruit elements, such as watermelon, banana, and pineapple... with dynamic effects like juice splattering, explosions, smoke, and curved blade flashes..."

"All designs must be accompanied by a strict confidentiality agreement, and no information about the project may be disclosed."

"Initially, they charged per piece, but if the cooperation goes smoothly later, they said they could consider paying monthly wages..."

"I'm also taking on their development work, but I'll only get involved later on. The above is just the information I have."

Geng Zhi didn't reveal everything, only giving a general outline, mainly to test Hao Pengxiang's willingness and ability.

Hao Pengxiang was clearly tempted.

According to Geng Zhi's description, this would be a much more stable part-time job. Even if it only brings in two thousand yuan a month, it would be far better than his current situation where he has no orders at all.

What's more, it's about doing what you're good at and enjoy, which allows you to hone your skills without the anxiety and fear of selling templates.

"Senior Geng, I'm willing to take this job! As long as it's a long-term commitment, the salary... you can decide, I have no problem with it!" Hao Pengxiang said without hesitation, his tone urgent.

"I'm just the introducer; I don't get to decide how much or how much salary I get," Geng Zhi shrugged.

"Oh, I understand!"

"In theory, they will arrange an interview for you, and may also give you two test questions, requiring you to provide examples."

"OK, OK, no problem with the test!" Hao Pengxiang readily agreed, then asked, "Senior Geng, when can they arrange the interview?"

"I'm not sure either. Give me your resume and portfolio, and I'll ask around for you first," he replied straightforwardly.

"Okay! I'll send it to you right now!" Hao Pengxiang replied excitedly, and at the same time quickly packaged his resume and portfolio on his computer and sent them to Gengzhi's QQ.

Watching Hao Pengxiang leave, Geng Zhi revealed a satisfied smile.

His "Iceberg Project" has a hidden component—responsible for making investments and laying the groundwork in secret—which requires a large sum of start-up capital.

Currently, the iPhone is in the golden window of opportunity to ignite the smartphone market, and the App Store ecosystem is beginning to take shape.

While there are already some games on the platform, there is still a huge market gap for well-made, uniquely creative, and truly lightweight games designed for touch screen operation.

Geng Zhi possesses experience in exporting games from his previous life, and with his technical judgment and such cheap and excellent art labor, he can leverage his skills.

Creating a phenomenal, sensational touchscreen casual game that can cause a sensation in overseas markets at low cost is not difficult for him, such as "Fruit Ninja".

What really requires some thought is how to safely hide this "goose" that may lay golden eggs in the future under the iceberg, doing so without anyone noticing.

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PS: Three chapters today! Please read on, give me recommendations and monthly tickets to help this seedling grow strong. Thank you so much!