Why the bug I wrote became a core gameplay mechanic?!
Chapter 148 My Bonus is Exactly Double Yours (Part 1)

Chapter 148: Chapter 148 My Bonus is Exactly Double Yours (Part 1)

After a brief chat, Gu Fan glanced at the time.

"President Kang, Assistant Zhao, everyone can now enjoy some free time. Feel free to walk around the company and ask any questions you may have."

"I have other matters to attend to, so I’ll be off now."

Gu Fan said his farewells to everyone and went on to finish his game design draft.

Seeing President Gu leave, everyone relaxed a bit.

Many employees from Shengjing Group were already thinking about leaving. What could there be to see in such a small company? Surely there couldn’t be anything worth learning from for Shengjing Group, right?

Especially after realizing that President Gu was the kind of boss who made empty promises, their desire to stay vanished even more.

However, Kang Yong had grown even more interested in this company.

No matter how you looked at it, Nitiandang had managed to create several successful games with just a dozen people, and they had done an exceptional job in project management and team building. That was an undeniable fact.

As the saying goes, since we’re here already.

It would be somewhat unsatisfying to return without getting to the bottom of things.

Kang Yong glanced at Assistant Zhao and gave him a signaling look.

"Then, let’s all enjoy some free time and simply share some experiences and insights with our colleagues from Nitiandang."

"In half an hour, we’ll head back."

Assistant Zhao had done his homework before coming; currently, Nitiandang had no plans to develop any new games, and they had no intention of developing new versions of City of the Abandoned Gods either. So, at this point, the staff at Nitiandang had no work tasks at all.

Therefore, chatting and exchanging insights on game development was no problem.

Although most people in the gaming industry are not very keen on socializing, getting to know some of the outstanding talents in the industry and paving the way for one’s future career development is not a bad idea.

The employees of Nitiandang were also very enthusiastic and took the initiative to show everyone around, while also sharing their experiences and insights on developing games.

"President Wei, is it? Nice to meet you. I’ve played several of the games you’ve developed," said one employee.

As the only planner in the company, Zhou Yang naturally struck up a conversation with Wei Chengjie.

Wei Chengjie hurriedly waved his hand: "Hey brother, you’re too polite. Just call me Old Wei."

"I just entered the industry a few years earlier and gained some seniority. Let’s learn from each other."

"Come on, let’s exchange contact information."

Wei Chengjie sat next to Zhou Yang’s desk. When he first entered the door, this workstation had left a deep impression on him, with its high-end height-adjustable desks, ergonomic chairs, high-performance computers, and several fancy monitors. It looked like a monitoring room, very cool.

In Shengjing Group, it was rare to see such a workstation setup; after all, the desks, chairs, and computers were provided by the company, and only certain staff members had dual monitors. There generally wasn’t a need for planners to have so many screens.

However, Wei Chengjie had a small doubt—this guy seemed willing to spend quite a bit of money?

He roughly estimated the cost and figured that personal out-of-pocket would be at least around thirty thousand.

Zhou Yang was just an ordinary execution planner, and even considering the most optimistic scenario, his base salary was unlikely to reach ten thousand. Yet he was willing to spend thirty thousand on this setup, and moreover, to use it at the company office.

That was a bit outrageous.

Though, young people these days do like to spend beyond their means, and those who love gaming tend to be obsessive about computer specifications, preferring a 4090 even for games that integrated graphics could run. So while it seemed odd, it was still within the realms of understanding.

Zhou Yang discussed two games that Wei Chengjie had led in development, speaking with authority and knowledge, which made Wei Chengjie take him seriously.

"Brother, your understanding of games is quite impressive! Really impressive!

"How about..."

Wei Chengjie paused for a moment, then lowered his voice, "If you ever think about changing jobs, contact me. Our project team is looking for people."

Although it felt a bit improper to discuss poaching employees while in someone else’s company, Wei Chengjie did feel a bit of sympathy for Zhou Yang.

A smart young man, Zhou could already be competent as a functional planner and had plenty of great ideas. With just a bit of grooming, his future was boundless.

Yet he had been misled by an unscrupulous boss, taking home a base salary and even being fleeced for workspace equipment.

Unexpectedly, a strong desire to rescue him surged within.

Wei Chengjie thought Zhou Yang would readily accept the offer, yet Zhou Yang quickly shook his head, "That won’t be necessary. Brother Wei, I appreciate your kindness, but I plan to retire at Nitiandang, so I’m not considering changing jobs."

Wei Chengjie was perplexed, "Why?"

Zhou Yang thought for a moment and said, "Because Nitiandang games are really good! Especially our President Gu, who nearly single-handedly supported most of the development work for Nitiandang. We just assisted him, and we managed to make a successful game.

"Moreover, our work environment is great, overtime hours are flexible, and we also get plenty of practice. These are things other companies can’t offer."

The corners of Wei Chengjie’s mouth twitched slightly, "Other companies can’t offer that? Nor can Shengjing Group?"

Zhou Yang nodded, "Indeed, they can’t!

"Strange, didn’t President Gu tell you all this before? Why does it seem like none of you believe it?

"Everything President Gu said was true, not a single false word!"

This time, Wei Chengjie was completely baffled.

Zhou Yang seemed quite intelligent, not like someone who had been brainwashed into stupidity, right?

The two looked at each other.

In his confusion, Wei Chengjie said, "So President Gu said that your work enthusiasm is high, taking computers home for voluntary overtime, unanimously agreeing to move to a villa area for work, and Nitiandang was developed by him alone in C..."

Zhou Yang nodded, "Like I said, all true!"

Other people were chatting in the villa, but Zhou Yang and Wei Chengjie had fallen into an eerie silence.

Clearly, both of them realized that they seemed to be separated by an invisible wall that prevented them from understanding what the other was truly saying despite their efforts to communicate.

Finally, it was Zhou Yang who reacted first.

He suddenly said, "Oh! I get it now, Brother Wei, you probably don’t know about our company’s bonus distribution model, right?"

Wei Chengjie was still confused, "Bonus distribution model? What does that have to do with what we’re discussing?"

Zhou Yang cleared his throat twice, clearly going through a brief internal struggle.

As an employee he shouldn’t reveal his salary, especially not to other companies. It’s not very appropriate.

And because no one had spoken up, the salary and benefits at Nitiandang remained a mystery, with most external companies in the dark.

This was the source of various misunderstandings about Nitiandang.

But if he didn’t speak up now, President Gu might suffer from public misconceptions, like people believing President Gu had undergone some brainwashing training.

After some thought, Zhou Yang said, "Brother Wei, the latest action mobile game your team has developed, ’Angel Era’, makes more than ten million a month now, right? So how much bonus do you get?"

The topic was a little sensitive, but after thinking it through, Wei Chengjie answered truthfully, "Roughly one hundred fifty to one hundred sixty thousand."

There was no need for him to deliberately hide anything, as game companies in the industry wouldn’t give more than 8% of the month’s net income as bonuses, and Shengjing Group offered only 6%; this was no secret and not difficult to figure out.

With the whole project team sharing a bit over six hundred thousand, it was quite normal for Wei Chengjie, as the producer and project manager, to take the lion’s share of one hundred and fifty to one hundred sixty thousand.

After all, this was just the monthly bonus, not including the year-end bonus and other benefits.

After he spoke, Wei Chengjie regretted it a bit, because he saw that Zhou Yang had fallen silent.

O no, had he offended this young man?

However, the next second, Zhou Yang said with a complicated expression, "Brother Wei, my bonus last month... was about twice as much as yours."

Wei Chengjie’s expression froze instantaneously, and the few hairs perched atop his head drooped suitably, revealing a shiny forehead as if his heart had been unexpectedly stabbed.

"Twice as much??"

Zhou Yang said somewhat sheepishly, "Brother Wei, my bonus last month was over three hundred and forty thousand."

Wasn’t that about twice as much? He had actually understated it.

Wei Chengjie was totally unable to accept this fact and ventured hesitantly, "Was that the bonus for several months combined? Or did you make a substantial contribution, earning a reward?

"The income from ’City of the Abandoned Gods’ you are currently working on hasn’t been accounted for yet, so does this mean the money is from the previous game’s bonus?"

Zhou Yang cleared his throat twice, "Right, the money is actually from ’Prometheus’ and a few previous games.

"However... it’s not for several months, it’s just one month’s bonus, and I didn’t make any special contributions; I just took the regular second-tier amount.

"Oh, I forgot to explain, our company has three tiers for bonuses, with the diligence tier having a bonus coefficient of 1, the core tier of 2, and the special tier of 4.

"I thought that since I had only been doing quite ordinary work, President Gu would calculate my bonus at the diligence tier, but perhaps he appreciated some of my actions and said it was to encourage me, so he still gave me the core tier.

"It was about that much."