Script for Season 1, Episode 1 of President Pei's Daily Life:
I glanced at my Rolex—not to check the time, but just to let you know, ever so casually, that I'm loaded.
That day, I was struck by a sudden whim: I wanted to make a game that would bleed the players dry.
So I casually sold one of my Rolexes and scraped together 200,000 yuan in seed money for development.
One hour later, when the task landed in the hands of a fresh intern, 75% of that budget had already disappeared.
I checked the asset marketplace and was slightly relieved—the team hadn't overcharged too badly.
At this point, the intern was left with just 50,000 yuan to make a game.
When he heard that he had to make a game with only 50k, the expressions on his face were priceless—confused, doubtful, shocked, desperate, and finally... resigned.
I was delighted. It looked like a mighty business tycoon like me was finally going to taste failure.
But never in my wildest dreams did I expect that I'd still end up making a hit game—one that drained players dry!
The intern made a boring game about driving for eight hours… yet it became a surprise favorite.
In just two weeks, it sold over 200,000 copies.
So, in a fit of generosity, I gave him a paid month-long vacation to travel across China, hoping he could find more inspiration for future game designs.
Watching a rising star of game design take flight, I felt fulfilled and content. Just another small goal... completed.
Sigh, the daily life of a game design master is often just that simple, that dull, that humble.
. . . . . . .
The script for the first episode was written in a whirlwind. Zhu Xiaoce was so into it, he almost didn't want to stop.
"Brother Huang, what do you think?" he asked eagerly.
Huang Sibo read through it. "Not bad at all! It's got punchlines, a twist, even some black humor. This one's solid!"
"Plus, it's all inspired by real events from President Pei's life!"
"We can shoot the scenes directly in the company. The set and actors are already in place. One episode should take, at most, half an hour to shoot—an hour tops. With post-production, we can release an episode every two days, no problem."
"But…" Huang Sibo hesitated, "this game's success was actually part of President Pei's plan from the start. If we present it like it was unexpected, wouldn't that be… a bit disrespectful? Like we're downplaying his brilliance?"
Zhu Xiaoce shook his head. "Come on, art is based on life, but it rises above it! It's normal to dramatize things a little. I'm sure with President Pei's generous nature, he won't mind."
Huang Sibo thought for a moment. "Yeah, you're right."
The two were instantly fired up.
Zhu Xiaoce dove into writing the next episode's script, frequently asking Huang Sibo for anecdotes from President Pei's daily life or interesting moments from game development.
Meanwhile, Huang Sibo started buying equipment, hiring post-production staff, and prepping everything else.
At this pace, they'd be ready to start filming in two or three days!
. . . . . . .
February 9.
Only three days left until the Lunar New Year holiday.
President Pei still had a few things to take care of before the break.
First, he had to finalize the complete design draft for Game Producer—the moment the holiday was over, development would officially begin.
Second, there was the internet café project. The prep work needed to be finished before the break so that renovations could begin immediately afterward. Ideally, everything—decoration, layout, furnishing—would be done in a month, so the café could open on time.
As for the name of the café, Pei Qian had already decided:
"Moyu Internet Café." (Moyu = "slacking off")
In short, he sincerely hoped that everyone working there would slack off all day long and that the whole project would bleed money ASAP.
Just like the name "Tengda," it embodied all of President Pei's beautiful dreams and hopes for failure.
Last on his to-do list: the short video series President Pei's Daily Life.
Director Zhu Xiaoce had already told Pei Qian that the first episode would be filmed today, with the goal of releasing it during the New Year holiday.
And as a token of their commitment, the production team had already wired over the full payment for three seasons to Pei Qian's personal bank account—a whopping 30,000 yuan!
President Pei's personal, freely-spendable funds had instantly jumped to 50,000 yuan!
He'd never felt so rich before.
President Pei was fully prepared to appear on camera.
That afternoon, Zhu Xiaoce, Huang Sibo, and two assistants arrived right on time.
Of all their gear, the most expensive item was a DSLR camera worth over 50,000 yuan. The rest—tripods, reflectors, and light shields—added up to less than 10,000 yuan.
Seeing how frugal Huang Sibo was, Pei Qian instinctively felt a little upset.
This doesn't look like something a Tengda employee would do at all!
But since Zhu Xiaoce had already promised to burn through the entire 1 million yuan budget, Pei Qian had no reason to question it further.
"President Pei, this episode is super simple—just a few quick shots. You don't even need to look at the script or memorize any lines. Everything will be dubbed in post," Zhu Xiaoce explained, extremely considerately, as if afraid to waste a single second of President Pei's precious time.
"The first shot: you're lying on the guest room sofa, lifting your wrist to glance at your Rolex."
"The second: you're holding a gaming magazine, flipping to the page with a new release poster, and pointing at it."
"The third: a faint smile on your lips, gazing off into the distance… a bit mysterious, a bit profound…"
Pei Qian didn't have many scenes. The video was only a minute long, and even though he had the most screen time, his shots added up to barely 20 seconds.
Pei Qian casually struck a few poses. It didn't even take ten minutes to finish filming.
"All done, President Pei! You can get back to work now," said Zhu Xiaoce as he packed up the equipment, ready to film the other scenes.
That's it???
Pei Qian was completely baffled.
What the heck did we just shoot?
The short video seemed so barebones—there wasn't even a coherent story. How could this possibly work?
Yep. There's no saving this. This video is definitely going to flop!
Pei Qian returned to his office, relieved.
Once again, my sharp eye for talent pays off.
Huang Sibo and Zhu Xiaoce didn't disappoint!
Sure, losing a million yuan wasn't much compared to his grand plan, but hey—a loss is a loss, and that's always worth celebrating.
He glanced at his Rolex and thought, These two are really thrifty—didn't even prepare a prop watch and just used mine. Very frugal indeed.
Hmm?
Wait a minute…
Pei Qian suddenly noticed a glaring issue.
The Rolex.
Why did the first shot have me looking at my Rolex?
Was that just a coincidence?
No, there were other suspicious details…
For example—why was I lying on a sofa looking at the Rolex?
Why the "mysterious smile"…?
These shots… felt oddly familiar.
Pei Qian's eyes widened.
Something's wrong!
This is bad!
He jumped out of his chair and rushed out of his office.
By now, Zhu Xiaoce and Huang Sibo were wrapping up, packing tripods and reflectors, ready to leave.
"Director Zhu! Wait!" Pei Qian called out.
Zhu Xiaoce paused, surprised. "What's wrong, President Pei? Is something the matter?"
"Oh, nothing big. Just… uh, can I take a look at the script for this short video?" Pei Qian asked as casually as he could, pretending it was just a passing curiosity.
"Of course!" Zhu Xiaoce handed over a copy of the script.
Pei Qian took it and watched them leave.
Returning to his office, he read through the script—it was short enough to skim in one glance.
And when he finished reading—
Pei Qian slumped into his chair like he'd just been struck by lightning.
"I… I've been tricked!"
"This is literally a mash-up of Zhu Yidan's Boring Life and Unexpectedness!"
"Didn't we agree we weren't going to make something like this???"
Pei Qian was losing it.
This… was way too dangerous!
<+>
If you want to see more chapter of this story and don't mind spending $5 monthly to see till the latest chapter, please go to my Patreon[1]
Latest Chapter in Patreon: Chapter 102: A Low-Key Grand Opening[2]
Link to the latest chapter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/129254813?collection=1399284[3]
https://www.patreon.com/collection/1399284?view=expanded[4]
[1] https://www.patreon.com/collection/1399284?view=expanded
[2] https://www.patreon.com/posts/129254813?collection=1399284
[3] https://www.patreon.com/posts/129254813?collection=1399284
[4] https://www.patreon.com/collection/1399284?view=expanded