Don't get married if you're reborn.

Chapter 454 Poaching Talent with High Salaries (5K)

The news of Zeng Wenjie's visit and inspection of Penguin's headquarters occupied the front page of Penguin News.

Tony Ma really gave them face.

Qin Yixuan, who was far away in Yanjing, also saw the news. He was initially quite excited, but when he suddenly saw Yuan Xiuqin, his mood immediately soured.

She even wondered with some trepidation if Yuan Xiuqin had done something with Zeng Wenjie. Otherwise, why would she have been taken to Shenzhen?

After noticing the news, Yan Xinyi wasn't focused on these details, but rather on her keen analysis of why Tencent had placed this on the front page.
Is it simply to give Zeng Wenjie face?
She thought it was impossible.

"Perhaps he's going to have some kind of collaboration with Tencent again, and it's definitely a very important one, even more important than that 50 million in funding!" Yan Xinyi thought to herself.

So she couldn't help but call Zeng Wenjie.

Zeng Wenjie answered the phone and asked in a lazy tone, "Sister Yan, hello there. Have you missed my voice because it's been so long?"

Yan Xinyi said, "Hahaha, I often hear that on the news. How could it be too long?"

Zeng Wenjie said, "I see."

Yan Xinyi then said, "Wenjie, Penguin is giving your visit and inspection so much coverage today, you must be very proud, right?"

Zeng Wenjie said, "I am only grateful for Mr. Ma's kind words."

Yan Xinyi said, "Aren't you being dishonest? Come on, tell me obediently, are you and the penguin about to reach some big cooperation again!"

Zeng Wenjie chuckled and said, "Sister Yan, how presumptuous of me! You only did one exclusive interview with me, why are you calling me 'Little Darling'?!"

Yan Xinyi was taken aback, not expecting this guy to be so charming, and said, "Then it seems like we'll have to do a few more interviews? From now on, I'll handle all your interviews!"

Zeng Wenjie didn't keep Yan Xinyi in suspense, after all, this great host is really awesome.

Yan Xinyi often used her influence and connections to promote his news and publicity, which greatly benefited him.

Therefore, he told Yan Xinyi the purpose of his trip.

"Actually, I'm mainly here to fulfill the performance-based agreement. I acquired equity in the Penguin Games Hall from Tencent. Incidentally, thanks to the explosive success of 'Hero Kill,' I gained some confidence and negotiated a new collaboration with Mr. Ma," Zeng Wenjie said.

"What kind of collaboration is it?" Yan Xinyi couldn't help but ask, somewhat impatiently.

"We're building a gaming platform with the global market in mind," Zeng Wenjie replied lazily.

This languid tone, however, struck Yan Xinyi like a thunderclap from a clear sky.

She knew how terrible China's gaming market was, so why was Zeng Wenjie going to delve into this industry and even set his sights on the global market?
If it were anyone else, even the boss of a well-known company, who said this, Yan Xinyi would scoff and think they were just trying to make money again.

But when Zeng Wenjie said those words, she believed him without a doubt.

Although the two had few interactions, Yan Xinyi knew very well that Zeng Wenjie was not the kind of person who spoke without reason, and that he cherished his reputation very much. He would not do anything that would damage his reputation by making money; otherwise, he could make money, but he would also be disliked by the officials who had been supporting him.

Zeng Wenjie's speeches and lectures at those grand occasions did, to some extent, constrain him, but this constraint was positive, constantly reminding him not to cross the line.

Otherwise, all the previous hard work would be in vain, and the unprecedented support from the authorities would become nothing.

Yan Xinyi took a deep breath and asked, "Could you explain in more detail?"

Zeng Wenjie said, "Sure, let's chat then!"

Yan Xinyi smiled and said, "It seems that this cooperation is progressing very well. Tencent is very interested, otherwise they wouldn't have used the front page to report on you on such a large scale."

Zeng Wenjie said, "It's alright."

Yan Xinyi said, "Then I'll trouble Wenjie to tell me in detail, so I can write firsthand news."

Zeng Wenjie explained it to Yan Xinyi, and Yan Xinyi was secretly shocked. She felt that this guy's vision was really high. He was aiming at the global market right away. Was he preparing to earn foreign exchange? Moreover, Tencent could also break down national barriers and develop overseas through this game platform.

"Thank you for your consideration, Wenjie. Next time I come to interview you, I'll treat you to a meal first, and then you can show me your hospitality," Yan Xinyi said with a smile.

"Sure, then I won't hold back when it comes to ripping people off."

"Hey, billionaire, don't be so ruthless. You're bullying a lowly working-class host like me."

"Stop calling yourself a junior host, you're much more famous than me, I'm your fan."

Yan Xinyi thought this guy was really good at chatting; he made her feel overjoyed and happy with just a few words.

"Don't worry, we'll see each other again soon! You've secured 86 million in funding, and our headquarters is taking it very seriously. Once your branches in first-tier cities open and achieve results, we'll immediately arrange a new round of exclusive interviews to promote your 'Snack Panic'!" Yan Xinyi also revealed the inside information she had obtained to Zeng Wenjie.

Zeng Wenjie was very satisfied; this kind of intelligence was something that Qin Yixuan, who was still an intern, couldn't obtain.

He and Yan Xinyi are perfectly capable of mutually benefiting each other.

Yan Xinyi can use his inside information to release the most in-depth and informative news at the fastest speed, and all of this will benefit him.

After chatting with Yan Xinyi for a while, I had just hung up when I received a call from Qin Yixuan.

Qin Yixuan immediately asked, "Wenjie, was your business trip to Shenzhen tiring?"

Zeng Wenjie said, "It's alright, but you, the intern with no human rights, aren't you having a tough time?"

Qin Yixuan said sweetly, "It was very hard, but hearing your greeting made me feel no hardship at all! I want to work hard to become a great reporter and host as soon as possible, so that I can contribute to your success."

Senior Sister Qin is good at providing emotional value, and while providing emotional value, she also expresses her needs in a very tactful way.

Zeng Wenjie found it pleasant to hear and couldn't help but praise her.

"Hmm... I noticed that Xiuqin also went on this business trip with you?" Qin Yixuan asked. "I feel like Xiuqin has lost weight. Is she too busy with work?"

“Yes, I arranged for Senior Sister Yuan to come here because I have a partnership with Tencent. She will probably be stationed in Shenzhen from now on,” Zeng Wenjie said.

Qin Yixuan breathed a sigh of relief, while secretly delighted!

Yuan Xiuqin was very worried about working under Zeng Wenjie, but judging from Zeng Wenjie's words, it seemed that he was going to send her to Shenzhen? And to be stationed there permanently!

As a friend and rival who had been competing for four years, Qin Yixuan knew Yuan Xiuqin all too well and had always felt that she was quite a threat.

With those two big, juicy pieces, what man wouldn't like them?

Qin Yixuan said, "That must be hard on Xiuqin, having to go to work in another city."

Zeng Wenjie asked, "Are you coming back in May? Didn't you say you were coming to get your graduation certificate sorted out?"

Qin Yixuan then asked, "Do you want me to come back?"

Zeng Wenjie then said, "Guess whether I want to or not?"

Qin Yixuan said, "Of course I want to!"

Zeng Wenjie said, "Then I look forward to this meeting."

Zeng Wenjie made an excuse to hang up the phone. He didn't really want to have a long phone conversation with Qin Yixuan. Apart from Mu Qingyang, no one else would let him talk on the phone for more than half an hour.

Mu Qingyang didn't play "Hero Kill" today. Instead, he was busy collecting news from various platforms, taking screenshots, saving them, and then sending them all to his mother's chat.

She hasn't been leaving messages for her mother lately about interesting things in her life; most of them are screenshots from news platforms, all about Zeng Wenjie.

She also seemed eager for her mother to know how wonderful her boyfriend was.

After all, dating during college goes against his mother's teachings.

"Play 'Hero Kill' with me!" Mu Qingyang sent Zeng Wenjie another invitation. After taking a screenshot of the news, his internet addiction kicked in.

Zeng Wenjie said, "Okay, but you need to get some rest early today."

Mu Qingyang said, "Then you're not allowed to cheat me. If you do, I'll definitely think about winning it back before I go to sleep."

Zeng Wenjie sneered, "Who screwed over whom? Yesterday you insisted on picking some overconfident heroes, and you got completely crushed." Mu Qingyang retorted, "That's because you don't know how to team up!"

The two were arguing while playing the game and chatting, and the atmosphere was great.

Mu Qingyang didn't really understand any tricks of the trade when it came to getting along with Zeng Wenjie, but somehow he could always manage to make Zeng Wenjie fall head over heels for him from time to time.

Even if it's just playing games together via voice chat across vast distances, sometimes the words that come out can have such an effect.

Zeng Wenjie felt that he was definitely her natural nemesis.

"I'll take this call!" Zeng Wenjie said to Mu Qingyang, then took off his earphones to answer the call from Tony Ma.

Tony had already read the proposal and some details sent by Feng Xiao, so he called Zeng Wenjie directly to communicate.

Therefore, Zeng Wenjie could only talk to Tony Ma while playing games with Mu Qingyang.

Mu Qingyang turned off the game volume and listened carefully to what Zeng Wenjie and Tony Ma were saying.

The following day, Penguin News published the news on its front page that Game Science Studio had reached a long-term strategic partnership with Penguin, and the news also revealed that the two had a new project about to begin.

This news caused a sensation in the industry.

As everyone knows, Game Science is just a second-rate game studio formed by recent graduates from second-tier universities. Although Heroes of Might and Magic was successful, it was just a simple card game with no technical difficulty.

Why would a top-tier company like Tencent partner with a third-rate game company? And in a long-term strategic way, to promote a new project?

Many people find this news too unbelievable. Has Penguin Ma lost his mind and made such a choice?
Industry insiders have expressed many opinions, most of which are not optimistic about the cooperation between the two.

Unless, of course, Game Science continues to make low-budget, high-return games.

Zeng Wenjie contacted Hidetaka Miyazaki, the project director of FromSoftware Japan, through his connections with Tencent.

He didn't have any fancy ideas; he just threw money at people, offering a sky-high annual salary of $200,000 to Xiao Gao, who hadn't yet become the legendary Miyazaki.

Miyazaki is definitely worth the price.

However, he has not yet realized his value, and is still serving as the director of the Armored Core project, without creating a brand new Souls-like game.

According to the normal trajectory, Demon's Souls was supposed to be released in 2009. Therefore, after hearing about Tseng Wen-chieh's offer to poach people, the Japanese side also wondered if he had lost his mind.

Even Tony Ma's gaze towards Zeng Wenjie changed after he learned of Zeng's offer.

"Why are you looking at me like that, Mr. Ma?" Zeng Wenjie asked innocently.

"Do you know what a $200,000 annual salary means?" Tony Ma couldn't help but ask.

“I know, but he deserves it,” Zeng Wenjie said with a smile.

Feng Ji, such a brilliant game planner, was hailed as "Feng Qiying Gao" after creating the world-class blockbuster "Black Myth: Wukong". This shows just how important Miyazaki Hidetaka's status and value are in the game industry!

Tony was speechless after hearing this. He also went to learn more about Hidetaka Miyazaki. He was originally a programmer at Oracle Corporation, but later resigned and took a pay cut to join FromSoftware, a game company. He was already twenty-nine years old when he joined the industry!
Moreover, he only participated in the production of the Armored Core series and did not demonstrate any extraordinary talent or ability.

I really don't know how Zeng Wenjie knew about this unknown Japanese man, and even offered such a high salary to poach him.

Zeng Wenjie said, "Don't worry, Mr. Ma, this debt will be settled through Game Science, not through Tencent."

Tony said, "That's not my concern. What I'm concerned about is that your seemingly insane actions are likely to raise questions among our shareholders."

Zeng Wenjie just smiled and didn't explain much. Once he poached the people, these guys would realize how worthwhile his $200,000 was!
Soon, the news of Game Science's partnership with Tencent was overshadowed by the buzz surrounding his poaching of talent from FromSoftware for $200,000.

Major media outlets are reporting on this matter extensively.

Feng Xiao learned about the news from the discussions among the employees of Marlenia. When she went online to check, she was also surprised, as she had never heard of Miyazaki Hidetaka, a Japanese man!

So she took out her phone and made a call.

"Shi Jing, I have a question for you!" Feng Xiao said with a smile.

“Sister Feng, go ahead and tell me!” Shi Jing replied. He was still working and studying at DL Supermarket in Zhongyuan Province.

Feng Xiao slowly said, "Do you know anyone named Miyazaki Hidetaka?"

Shi Jing was taken aback and muttered, "Miyazaki Hidetaka? He's Japanese, right? Judging from the name, he's probably a colonel?"

Feng Xiao couldn't help but laugh and said, "Never mind if you haven't heard of it."

"Wait, I think I've heard that before, Zeng Wenjie mentioned it!" Shi Jing suddenly realized.

He had some recollection of this matter because before hearing this name, Hu Guohua had first rattled off a string of Japanese female teachers' names.

They were playing a game at the time, but Zeng Wenjie wasn't very interested in it, saying he really missed a Japanese person.

When asked who he was, he said he was Hidetaka Miyazaki.

Shi Jing told Feng Xiao the truth.

Upon hearing this, Feng Xiao's eyes lit up, and she said, "Okay, thank you for your answer. When you get back, I'll introduce you to a girlfriend!"

Shi Jing said with a blush, "I have a girlfriend. Sister Feng, don't play matchmaker for me, or I'll be kneeling on a washboard."

"How can a real man be as fragile as a washboard?" Feng Xiao joked.

"Snapped!"

Shi Jing hung up the phone immediately.

Feng Xiao put down her phone, opened her leather-bound notebook, and flipped through it from the back.

She looked at the clues recorded in her notebook, and then wrote the name "Miyazaki Hidetaka" below "Feng Ji".

She circled Feng Ji's name with emphasis. Recently, she had been visiting Game Science from time to time and had chatted with Feng Ji for quite a few days in the name of their shared family. She discovered that this guy was really talented, an expert in games, especially in planning, where he was a genius.

Feng Xiao typed "Hidetaka Miyazaki" into the computer to search, but no information was found.

"So, where did you learn about Hidetaka Miyazaki from?" Feng Xiao twirled the ballpoint pen in her hand and wrote a big question mark in her notebook.

Then, she looked at a page with the words "Hero Kill" written on it, below which were the words "Three Kingdoms Kill". The page also detailed in small print the specific time and date of the appearance of "Three Kingdoms Kill" and where the producer was at the time.

Zeng Wenjie, who had never left the province before going to university, how did he learn about "Three Kingdoms Kill" and then remake it into "Hero Kill"?
Feng Xiao found everything increasingly interesting, and it seemed she was getting closer and closer to the truth.

"Brother Zeng, your high-profile attempt to poach Miyazaki Hidetaka from Japan is a huge oversight." Feng Xiao couldn't help but smile to himself, feeling that he had caught Zeng Wenjie, this little devil, by the nose.

At this moment, Hidetaka Miyazaki was also struggling with his decision.

An annual salary of two hundred thousand US dollars was simply mind-blowing for him!
He had no idea he could be worth so much.

"Mr. President, could this just be a scam?" Miyazaki Hidetaka couldn't help but ask the president.

"No, they contacted us through Tencent, which is currently the most powerful internet company in China." The president shook his head.

He looked at Hidetaka Miyazaki and said, "Miyazaki-kun, this is an unprecedented offer. My suggestion is that you go to China and see what's going on. He's offered you such a high price, I don't think I have any reason to stop you from making this money."

Hidetaka Miyazaki hesitated.

The president laughed and said, "You left Oracle to come here to make games, and he recruited you for the same reason. You can fulfill your dreams and make money at the same time. You shouldn't refuse such a good deal."

Hidetaka Miyazaki bowed to the president and said, "Yes, Mr. President, I will find some time to make a trip to China!"

After much deliberation, Miyazaki Hidetaka finally succumbed to the lure of the high salary and decided to take some time to travel to China to investigate this game science and see if it was suitable for him.

If it's a good fit, then of course I'll switch jobs. Even though it's in a foreign country, it's a $200,000 annual salary!

(End of this chapter)