William pulled out his phone and opened up a little "gift" he had prepared.
"This game is called Jump Jump. It's super simple. You press down, and the longer you hold, the farther the character jumps. If it lands near the edge of the platform, you get 1 point. If it lands right in the middle, you get 5. It's kind of like darts, but with a flat target instead."
As William explained, he gave a live demo on the phone.
"Ding!"
Players familiar with Earth Games would recognize the sound—it was from Piano Tiles. But instead of using full piano songs, William had broken them down into simple, polished notes. Players would then piece them together into their own unique tunes.
After a short demo, William handed the phone to Cynthia so she could try it herself.
It was a bit challenging, but not too hard.
It was fun, but not super addictive.
It was a small casual game that combined features from earlier Earth Games titles, but also clearly had its flaws.
"This game is meant to be casual. It's not something people need to set aside time to play. It's more like a way to kill time in short bursts. Maybe you don't have time to watch a whole episode of a show or read a full chapter of a novel—but you can open this game, play a bit, pause whenever, and continue whenever."
"That's a really fresh concept." Cynthia put the phone down, feeling that the game's positioning matched exactly what she had in mind.
Right now, games still weren't the main form of entertainment. Most people, in their free time, would still choose to watch TV or do other things. But just like William said, most people's fragmented free time couldn't be used effectively. Novels didn't feel satisfying enough. TV took too long. A casual game like this was exactly what people needed.
And with WeChat's mini-program feature, users didn't even need to download anything or open a separate app. Just pull down the main WeChat screen, and the game would launch. Want to stop? Just swipe back.
"I'm willing to give you the game for free," William offered.
Cynthia raised an eyebrow and leaned back slightly. "Not interested in reconsidering a strategic partnership with us?"
"Unless your terms change, I'm not accepting it." William's tone was firm.
"Alright then. What do you want?" Cynthia didn't believe in free lunches.
"I want to use your cloud servers."
Tencent was the first software company to build a cloud platform. In fact, the server William rented for Piano Tiles was also theirs. As for why 2048's leaderboard didn't go live right away—he wanted to settle that in today's meeting.
"That's all you want?"
"Of course not. I also need someone to help me maintain it." William didn't know much about servers yet. Renting a basic one to get the leaderboard online wasn't a problem, but providing more network services was beyond him.
"No problem," Cynthia agreed without hesitation. "Anything else?"
"That's it."
"Alright, give me a second. I need to make a call."
"Okay."
William didn't just sit there—he dove right into the food.
Business meals might not always match the saying "you get what you pay for," but price was never his main concern—taste mattered much more.
About four or five minutes later, Cynthia returned to the private room.
"I can offer you an extra 30% profit share, and I'll also promise free cloud services and network maintenance for Earth Games for the next three years," she said, showing real sincerity. "But there's one extra condition—you'll need to let WeChat publish the game."
"Sure."
As long as he remained the developer, it didn't matter who the publisher was.
"Looking forward to working together."
"Same here."
Although it wasn't the best possible outcome, Cynthia didn't consider the trip a waste.
On the way to drop William off, she brought up the partnership again.
"In less than a month, you'll have over ten competitors. In three months, there'll be hundreds of game studios copying your ideas and taking your market share. If you're on your own, you won't be able to fight them all."
William didn't flinch. "In less than a month, I'll build my first studio. In three months, my company will have at least five studios, each working on a different type of game. And the games they create will be ones no other studio can make."
Cynthia stared quietly at his face, trying to catch a hint that he was bluffing—but all she saw was pure seriousness.
"You say you'll build studios. But if others can get the same pay and the backing of a public company, why would they choose you?"
"Because my games will always lead the times."
Cynthia smiled. "You're pretty confident."
William's lips curled slightly, but he didn't show his teeth.
"You're the only man I've watched for so long and still can't get enough of."
"Huh?" William looked a little flustered, not sure what Cynthia meant.
"I hope this isn't a mistake…" she muttered to herself.
"What do you mean?"
"Let me join you."
"Huh?"
William was completely thrown off. He had no idea where this was going.
"I saw the future you talked about in your eyes. I don't believe it logically, but my gut tells me you can make it. You said you're building a studio, right? I want to be your first employee." Cynthia spoke with a faint smile the whole time.
William stared at her face, trying to tell if she was joking. "Are you serious?"
"Of course. I'm putting my career on the line here. And to be honest, I'm tired of this job." With that, Cynthia kicked off her heels and casually rested her feet on the center console.
William was a little shaken by the scene, but only for a moment. He started thinking seriously about her offer.
"What was your major?"
"Civil and commercial law."
"Fresh graduate?"
"I got a master's in finance abroad."
To be honest, William was tempted.
"I can at most give you the same salary you're getting now."
If switching jobs doesn't come with a raise, then there's no point.
Cynthia pressed her lips together. "I was even thinking of working for free, but if you're paying me, that's even better. But just so you know—my salary isn't low."
William hadn't expected that at all, but even if he had, he still wouldn't have accepted—because free things usually come at the highest price. Cynthia had managed to become a department head in Tencent's business division. Even if it wasn't the biggest department, calling her anything less than sharp would be a joke.
William said, "I believe you'll bring me returns far beyond your salary."
"So it's a deal then?" Cynthia reached out her hand.
William shook it.
Everything fell into place so naturally. After getting out of the car, William stood at the entrance of the neighborhood, zoning out for a bit. A breeze passed by, and only then did he realize he'd just made a huge move.
If the hiring market was like a gacha pool with white cards, green cards, blue, purple, and gold, William had originally only been aiming for white cards. His plan was to hire fresh grads with no work experience—cheap and moldable.
But Cynthia was definitely a gold card. At just 26, she had already become a team lead in the world's top listed company. If she wanted to change jobs, other companies would line up to pay her three times as much to bring her in.
The reason she stayed at Tencent was partly because it's a huge platform, and partly because of her confidence.
She believed her journey wouldn't end here, that she would keep climbing higher. So she needed a big enough stage to show her full potential. No matter how much a smaller company offered, they couldn't match her ceiling. Her true value lies in the future.
But just now, she bet her future on New Era.
William didn't know if it was luck or if he really gave off that strong a vibe.