Chapter 98

In a flash of insight—

Ji Wei suddenly knew what birthday gift to give.

As he walked out of the study, he clasped his wrist, which still seemed to be burning.

His heart also beat uncontrollably faster.

He couldn’t help but open Weibo to distract himself, and his eyes stopped on a particular post.

[Fanzhou Games] Wasting a bit of everyone’s time to run a poll. If “Apocalypse” were to be produced through crowdfunding, how high would everyone’s acceptance be?

The accompanying images were the two new pieces of concept art he had just sent over.

The standalone game community was a niche after all, so he thought the poll wouldn’t get much attention.

But to his shock, there were actually fifty thousand people who participated in the poll, with 97% supporting crowdfunding. The number of likes was over seventy thousand, and the number of retweets and comments exceeded twenty thousand, directly sending it to the trending topics.

[Double-Skin Milk] This art is so romantic. From a completely dark universe to a universe that sparkles for you, the contrast is so impactful. If the game has this art style, I’ll buy it no matter what! Crowdfund it, crowdfund it, don’t save money for my sake.

[Milk Mousse] Holy crap, is this a game? It feels like a work of art. My Cub Wei’s art is getting better and better. Sob sob sob, what kind of godly master did I stan?

[Honey Pomelo Tea] Start the crowdfunding now! Money is not an issue, just make the game quickly. I can’t wait to play it.

[Lemon Coke] +1, whether it’s fun or not is one thing, but with Ji Wei in charge of the concept art, it’s definitely worth the crowdfunding money. Sisters, let’s all retweet this, we can’t let the project fail!

Is Fanzhou really short on money?

Ji Wei thought for a moment and sent a message to Wang Yuan.

[Ji Wei] Are you having financial difficulties?

When Wang Yuan received Ji Wei’s message, he gave a bitter smile. It wasn’t just a funding problem. Because he insisted on using Ji Wei, his partner had a disagreement with him and had already decided to sell all his shares in Fanzhou.

But he really loved the world in Ji Wei’s paintings.

His partner said he was being willful, and he admitted that he was.

From the beginning when he sold his house to make games, he had always been willful. If it were just for making money, he could have continued as a CEO in a listed company. But he felt that life should have something more than just making money.

He enjoyed the feeling of creating one beloved game after another with his own hands.

He replied to Ji Wei honestly.

[Wang Yuan] The development of “Apocalypse” is short two million US dollars.

Ji Wei had always liked Fanzhou’s games, and he also wanted to see his art turned into a game.

His idol deposited money into his card every month. He usually didn’t have any major expenses and hadn’t used it, so there should be over ten million on the card, which should be about enough.

But to be sure, Ji Wei checked his bank card balance.

He was startled by the result. There was actually over eighty million on the card.

Because he hadn’t linked it to receive text message notifications, he had never known.

He couldn’t help but walk to the study and knock on the door.

“Come in.”

Lu Shenxing’s low voice came from inside.

“There seems to be an extra seventy million on my card…”

Ji Wei’s throat was a bit dry. “Should I turn myself in?”

Lu Shenxing let out a light laugh and lowered his gaze. “Keep it. It’s pocket money from the elders.”

“Everyone?”

A trace of confusion flashed in Ji Wei’s eyes.

“My mom and the others.”

Lu Shenxing said faintly, his tone holding a hint of helplessness. “You’ll get used to it.”

Ji Wei said “oh,” and his heart finally settled. He left the study.

But judging from his idol’s tone…

Ji Wei called out to Huang Bo, who was drying beans on the terrace, and asked in a low voice, “Is big brother still receiving… pocket money?”

Huang Bo nodded as if it were a matter of course. “Of course children should receive pocket money. It’s also a way for elders to show they care. But A-Xing always refuses to take it.”

Ji Wei: …He suspected that Huang Bo also had a hand in this pocket money business.

He couldn’t help but think that no matter how old Lu Shenxing got, he would always be a child in Huang Bo’s eyes.

Walking back to his room, he sent a message to Wang Yuan.

[Ji Wei] I can provide the funding.

Wang Yuan had been up all night writing an investment proposal. The moment he received Ji Wei’s message, he was wide awake. Perhaps the surprise came too suddenly, but without much thought, he asked another question.

[Wang Yuan] Are you interested in acquiring a 30% stake in Fanzhou?

[Ji Wei] How much?

He quickly calculated in his head. His partner was eager to sell his shares, so he could acquire the 30% stake for at most seventy million. He just didn’t know if Ji Wei could come up with that much liquid capital at once.

[Wang Yuan] Seventy million at most.

Ji Wei didn’t reply immediately. He wasn’t a professional when it came to investment, but he was very familiar with Fanzhou.

From a three-person studio to a large company with nearly a thousand employees, the games they produced had always been well-received. Their annual profit growth also remained stable at over 20%, making them one of the most promising game companies in the country.

[Ji Wei] Okay.

He wanted to give it a try.

When Wang Yuan saw the reply, he wanted to jump up from his seat in excitement. Wasn’t he glad he didn’t replace Ji Wei last night?

Not only was the funding problem solved, but more importantly, he had found a partner who was equally passionate about games. This was undoubtedly of crucial significance for the company’s future development.

This was something that no amount of money could buy.

After settling the contract matters with Wang Yuan, Ji Wei transferred the money from his card to a commonly used one. Since it was a card from the same bank, it didn’t take much effort. Then he canceled the card.

One reason was that he could also earn money and didn’t want to receive pocket money from his elders anymore. The second reason was that he didn’t want to be shocked like that again.

After lunch, Lu Shenxing and Ying Guanxiao went to the company.

Ji Wei was looking at the birthday greetings in the Super Topic and clicked on a congratulatory video.

—It was a Bilibili video.

After watching the video, his hand, which was swiping the screen, paused, and he clicked on his own homepage.

He hadn’t been on Bilibili for a long time.

Due to Bilibili’s smaller user base, his fan growth was much slower than on Weibo?

But at some point, his Bilibili fan count had also surpassed two million, making him the streamer with the most fans in the standalone game section, and he could also rank in the top five in the overall game section.

His stream room was dark, but there were still many messages floating by.

He closed his eyes, then dared to open them.

It wasn’t the “scared” or “terrifying” he had imagined, but a uniform stream of blessings.

While he was hiding, there were still people waiting for him to come back, day after day.

[Waiting for Cub Wei, day twenty-eight]

[Weiwei must get well. If Weiwei can get well, I’m willing to give up my favorite grape jelly.]

[Cheering for Cub Wei! An incredibly bright future is waiting for you.]

Ji Wei was stunned for a while, and read every single message.

He took a deep breath and turned on the stream camera.

“Thank you, everyone. I’m back.”

He said, word by word.

The dark stream room suddenly lit up.

The bullet comments were silent for a moment, followed by a frantic flood of messages that completely covered the entire stream room. Ji Wei’s face couldn’t be seen at all, but no one had any complaints.

Because everyone was just as excited, just as disbelieving, and filled with the ecstasy of having him back.

[Sob sob sob, I’m bursting into tears! I’ve been checking in on the stream every day. Although we all encouraged each other that Weiwei would come back, I knew the hope was getting smaller and smaller. I never thought I’d actually see the day. I declare today my lucky day!]

[The moment I saw Cub Wei, the tears wouldn’t stop, just streaming down. As long as you’re okay, I can finally rest easy.]

[Sob sob sob, Weiwei has really lost so much weight. Mommy’s heart aches so much. I want to mail Weiwei our big Shandong cherries.]

[Northeast rice must have a name! I want to mail Cub Wei five big bags.]

[Ahhhhhh, today is so good.]

More and more people rushed over from Weibo. In less than ten minutes, the number of people in the stream room had exceeded one million.

And the number was still climbing.

***

Because Great Nation’s Artifacts had been firmly holding the number one spot in audience ratings recently, Gu Huaiyi had also become the fastest-rising streamer. Whenever he streamed, he was always the most popular streamer. Although this was partly due to avoiding the nighttime game streamers, his popularity was still deservedly in the top ten on Bilibili.

But Ji Wei suddenly started streaming in the afternoon.

One had a popularity value of over three million.

The other had a popularity value of only eight hundred thousand.

The contrast was stark.

Gu Huaiyi turned off his stream without a word.

Many people complained that Gu Huaiyi was being moody.

[He was scowling just now, wasn’t he…]

[He just got popular not long ago and he’s already like this? It really leaves a bad impression.]

[I want to ask, how did I offend him by sending a gift? I know streaming is hard and I can understand, but at least come out and explain.]

The assistant calmed the fans by saying the stream had disconnected, which finally quelled their complaints. He walked over to Gu Huaiyi and comforted him, “It’s mainly because this is Ji Wei’s first stream in a long time, that’s why his popularity is so scary. It definitely won’t be this terrifying in a few days.”

He used the word “terrifying,” and it was indeed terrifying. It even alarmed the official technical staff, who suspected the data might be malfunctioning. It turned out there was no malfunction. In just ten minutes of streaming, he had directly broken Bilibili’s stream room record.

Gu Huaiyi shook his head. “I can’t compare to him in any way.”

Hearing this made the assistant’s heart ache. Gu Huaiyi spent a week practicing the zither before every stream, but all that hard work couldn’t compare to Ji Wei just turning on his camera and saying a few words. He couldn’t help but get conspiratorial, “Is Ji Wei doing this to cultivate die-hard fans? He looks so innocent, but he’s pretty slick with his fan-attracting methods.”

Gu Huaiyi didn’t say anything.

***

Ji Wei had originally planned to just say hello and go offline. But because more and more people were entering the stream room, he didn’t want to disappoint everyone. However, he didn’t know what to say; he always became taciturn in front of the camera.

So he took out some Xuan paper and a writing brush, preparing to paint.

[Painting! I’ve got my stool ready, waiting for Cub Wei to paint.]

[Sitting in a row.]

[Sob sob sob, I still can’t believe it’s real. Someone pinch me.]

[I pinched you.]

[Ouch, thanks! I’m not dreaming, Weiwei is really back.]

He only used black ink.

He spread out the Xuan paper—

His brush moved without hesitation, extremely free-spirited.

In less than ten minutes, a faint outline appeared before the camera.

[Is it… a mountain?]

[Looks like a person.]

[Wow, a traditional Chinese painting of a person? I’ve never seen Weiwei paint one before.]

No need to recall, no need to think hard.

The details emerged naturally under his brush, from the high brow bone to the handsome bridge of the nose, and then to the cold, thin lips. Because he was so familiar with them, just a few strokes were enough to outline a person’s face, so realistic it seemed as if he would walk out of the paper and pat his head the next second.

[Film Emperor Lu!!! The CP fans are going to scream their throats out! Weiwei’s first painting after coming back is of Film Emperor Lu!]

[Sob sob sob, what kind of godly love is this?]

[Film Emperor Lu was with Weiwei the whole time before, he even skipped the Berlin Film Festival. Speaking of Berlin makes me so mad.]

Soon, someone noticed something was off.

[This picture of Film Emperor Lu has such a gentle smile.]

[He’s actually smiling. To be honest, Film Emperor Lu always gave me a very distant feeling. I’ve never seen him smile so gently.]

[What does this mean! It means that in Weiwei’s heart, Film Emperor Lu is very gentle. Ahhhhhh, I’m dying from the sweetness!]

[It’s so sweet.]

Even Ji Wei himself didn’t realize that the Lu Shenxing under his brush was smiling very gently.

Especially gently.

He finished the last stroke and felt that it was about time.

He stood up and was about to pick up his phone to end the stream when the sleeve of his shirt slipped down from his wrist, revealing Lu Shenxing’s seal on his fair skin.

The moment before he turned off the stream—

It’s no exaggeration to say that the bullet comments went crazy.

[What did I just see!!! Think Carefully and Act Resolutely! That’s Film Emperor Lu’s seal, right! Ahhhhhh, does anyone understand my excitement? I even want to run two laps around the track.]

[I’ve put my stamp on you, so you’re mine now. Sob sob sob, stamping is so my thing. What kind of godly love is this?]

[I really wanted to cry today, but thinking that Weiwei has Film Emperor Lu by his side, it’s so good.]

[Them being together is so good.]