Losing Money to Become a Tycoon: Starting with Games
Chapter 398: A Unique Way of Learning the Tengda Group Spirit
3:00 p.m.
Inside the game room, Cui Geng put down the game controller and checked the time on his phone.
"Is no one really going to manage me?"
"If no one comes soon, I'm going to leave!"
Cui Geng felt both confused and incredulous.
When he had first been brought into the game room that morning, although he played games with the mindset of "since I'm here, I might as well enjoy it," he still felt that someone might push the door open at any moment and say, "It's time to begin the Tengda Group spirit training."
In the blink of an eye, it was already noon. Wu Bin did open the door—but only to let him order lunch from Moyu Delivery.
After lunch, Cui Geng lay on the sofa in the entertainment room for a short rest. Even in the afternoon, no one came to bother him.
So he continued playing games all the way until nearly three o'clock.
At this rate, if he played another two or three hours, the sun would be setting.
Cui Geng felt puzzled. What happened to the promised Tengda Group spirit training?
No one was training him at all.
Could it be that the Human Resources department had more important work, so his training had been postponed?
That didn't seem right. Wu Bin didn't look like he had anything particularly urgent to do.
And since it was an assignment from President Pei, its priority should be pretty high, right? Shouldn't they deal with his matter first?
Cui Geng fell into deep confusion.
After playing games for an entire day, even someone who loved gaming would start to feel a bit tired and irritated.
Cui Geng felt slightly dizzy and picked up his phone to scroll through it.
First, out of habit, he checked the comments on his novel.
"Not updating today?"
"Did you drop the story?"
"Sigh, the Pigeon King got taken away for re-education today. A hard day."
On his bookshelf, the novels written by other authors in the training camp hadn't updated yet either, because it wasn't 6:00 p.m. yet.
Once six o'clock passed, those books would update like floodgates opening—several chapters at once. Even the smallest updates would be seven or eight thousand words, while some might exceed ten thousand.
And looking back at himself, he hadn't written a single word.
"Sigh… well, it's not my fault. It's all because President Pei arranged this Tengda Group spirit training."
Cui Geng calmly shifted the blame onto President Pei.
If he had known from the beginning that he would spend the whole day playing games in the entertainment room, he probably would have been quite happy.
But because he had come with the mindset of "attending Tengda Group spirit training," yet ended up inexplicably playing games all day, this strange sense of misalignment greatly reduced the enjoyment he got from gaming.
"Wait… could it be that if I don't ask about the training, nobody will deal with it? Don't tell me it'll be dragged into tomorrow!"
The thought suddenly startled him.
Of course, he didn't mind spending a whole day playing games in the entertainment room.
But this feeling that his entire schedule was arranged by someone else was uncomfortable.
Thinking of this, Cui Geng stood up, planning to ask Wu Bin what exactly President Pei was up to.
Whether it was playing or training, he needed to understand what was going on.
Leaving things hanging like this made him uneasy about doing anything.
Cui Geng walked out of the game room and subconsciously glanced at the nearby workstations.
To his surprise, he saw someone reclining their ergonomic chair flat and sleeping; someone else eating potato chips while watching a show; and another person rapidly typing away on a document.
This floor mainly housed departments like administration, human resources, and finance. The game development department was upstairs on the 17th floor.
Ever since Tengda Group finished its recruitment drive, the HR department wasn't nearly as busy anymore. So people without much work naturally had time to slack off a little.
But this scene left Cui Geng somewhat stunned. He had originally assumed the place would be filled with a bustling, hardworking atmosphere.
Cui Geng found Wu Bin, hesitated for a moment, unsure how to begin the conversation.
However, Wu Bin seemed to have been prepared for this. He immediately stood up and said, "Come, let's talk in the meeting room."
The two of them entered the meeting room one after the other and sat down.
Wu Bin poured tea and looked completely confident.
Earlier, President Pei had specifically instructed him that if Cui Geng didn't understand, Wu Bin should give him a small hint.
So Wu Bin had already prepared himself and knew that now was the time to give that hint.
"Ask whatever questions you have," Wu Bin said with a smile.
Cui Geng hesitated for a moment before asking, "I want to know… when exactly does the Tengda Group spirit training begin? It won't be postponed until tomorrow, right?"
The smile on Wu Bin's face widened.
"Tengda Group spirit training? It already started."
Seeing the completely confused expression on Cui Geng's face, Wu Bin added:
"From the moment you arrived this morning until now—it has all been part of the Tengda Group spirit training."
"As for what the Tengda Group spirit actually is…"
"President Pei said he believes you can find the answer yourself."
Cui Geng fell into confusion.
The training already started? I clearly spent the whole day playing games!
He scratched his head and asked, "Then… does every Tengda Group spirit training follow this process? Just going into the game room and playing games all day?"
Wu Bin thought for a moment and replied, "The process is the same—people are brought to the company. But it doesn't necessarily mean playing games in the game room all day. In fact, you didn't have to play games at all. You could have gone anywhere you wanted. No one restricted your freedom."
Cui Geng: "Huh?"
I could go anywhere? Then why did I stay in the game room all day?
But after thinking about it, he realized that when he first entered the game room, Wu Bin really hadn't told him that he couldn't leave.
"So this so-called training is basically a ticket to move freely inside Tengda Group? And through this indirect method, it's meant to show the Tengda Group spirit?"
Wu Bin looked puzzled. "But I still don't feel like I've understood any 'Tengda Group spirit' yet…"
Seeing Cui Geng's confused expression, Wu Bin realized that this was the moment President Pei had mentioned—the time to give him a small hint.
"What did you see in the company?" Wu Bin asked.
Cui Geng thought back for a moment, but seemed a little embarrassed to say it.
Wu Bin smiled. "Just say it."
Cui Geng hesitated before answering, "I saw some people working seriously at their desks… some people sleeping… some watching shows… some reading books…"
Wu Bin nodded. "And what kind of Tengda Group spirit do you think that represents?"
Cui Geng thought about it and said uncertainly, "Uh… the company doesn't care what employees do during work hours? They can play around or slack off however they want? President Pei encourages everyone to be lazy?"
"…."
Wu Bin was momentarily speechless. He laughed awkwardly and said, "Think about it yourself. Does that sound like a conclusion a normal person would reach?"
Cui Geng: "…No."
It had just been his instinctive reaction. But when Wu Bin questioned it like that, he immediately realized how ridiculous it sounded.
Wu Bin then explained his own understanding of the Tengda Group spirit.
"The people you saw resting or watching shows either have already finished all their current tasks, or they need to adjust their state in order to achieve higher work efficiency."
"Their rest and entertainment are not simply for the sake of resting or entertainment itself, but to help them complete their work better."
"If you summarize the Tengda Group spirit in one sentence, it would be this:
How to better use entertainment and rest—treating them as tools—to achieve more efficient and sustainable productivity."
"The Tengda Group spirit encourages rest and entertainment, but it does not encourage purposeless, purely indulgent rest and entertainment—because that would only ruin a person."
"Using rest and entertainment to maintain physical and mental health, and thereby better realize one's own value—that is what the Tengda Group spirit truly advocates."
After hearing Wu Bin's explanation, Cui Geng fell into deep thought.
So this was the meaning behind President Pei's actions?
What President Pei had done today was actually very simple—he just threw Cui Geng into the game room and let him relax for a while.
But now, Cui Geng felt a strange, indescribable emptiness deep in his heart.
Why was that?
Was it simply because he had been playing games while the other authors were busy writing?
That was part of the reason—but not entirely.
Combining Wu Bin's explanation with his own thoughts, Cui Geng suddenly realized something:
All of his entertainment and rest had been completely purposeless.
And that was why he so often felt empty.
Take the one hour of napping at noon as an example.
Some people nap for an hour because they are procrastinating, trying to escape from work. When they wake up, they still have to finish the work anyway. They may think, "If I hadn't slept for that hour at noon, I might have already finished half my work by now…"
At that moment, they feel empty, as if their time has been wasted.
But some people nap for an hour in order to maintain a better mental state for their afternoon work. When they wake up, they immediately throw themselves into work with renewed energy.
In that case, the one hour of napping is meaningful, and they do not feel empty because of it.
The same applies to entertainment.
Rest and entertainment are a part of life—indispensable—but they cannot become the entirety of life.
In the end, a person's value still depends on what they produce.
It was a very simple truth, yet Cui Geng realized he had never truly understood it before.
Because of compensation from a demolition project, he had financial security and didn't need to worry about life. Yet he found himself unable to focus on writing.
But even though he spent his days playing games and entertaining himself, it didn't bring him any happiness—only endless emptiness.
He had never figured out where that emptiness came from.
Today, President Pei had first thrown him into the entertainment room to play games all day, and then had Wu Bin give him just a slight nudge of explanation. Instantly, everything became clear.
Thinking about this, Cui Geng's brows relaxed. He spoke out his understanding:
"So the Tengda Group spirit should be…"
"It encourages rest, and it encourages entertainment."
"But rest and entertainment exist to adjust one's state, so that one can better realize their own value."
Wu Bin neither confirmed nor denied it. "Anything else?"
Cui Geng frowned slightly, thought for a moment, and continued:
"If I apply the Tengda Group spirit to myself…"
"The reason I've become the slowest writer in the entire training camp is precisely because I don't possess this spirit."
"My rest and entertainment are just slacking off and being lazy. They are acts of resistance against work, so my time ends up wasted."
"In reality, if I could combine rest, entertainment, and work properly, I could maintain my current leisure time while still increasing my productivity…"
"Recently I've been releasing too many chapters too quickly. Many plot points and content weren't thought through carefully. That's also a result of treating work and entertainment as opposites—it's a mindset I urgently need to adjust…"
"In short…"
"I don't need to resist or reject rest and entertainment, nor should I feel guilty about them. Instead, I should use them to maintain a better working state."
"At the same time, there's no need to obsess over the number of words written. What matters more is the quality of the content…"
"Am I right?"
Cui Geng looked toward Wu Bin.
Wu Bin smiled slightly.
"Everyone can have their own interpretation of the Tengda Group spirit. I can't judge whether your understanding is correct."
"As long as you believe it's right, then it's right."
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