The next day, the deputy branch manager of Xiajing Bank’s Southern Urban District branch personally visited Lin You to discuss loan matters.
In just one hour, the deputy manager finished the loan negotiations and was escorted out by Lin You along with the account manager.
Before leaving, he couldn’t help but tightly grasp Lin You’s hand, repeatedly expressing his gratitude.
Lin You, wearing a polite customer-service smile, shook his hand and said, “No need to be so formal. We’re helping each other out, helping each other out!”
The account manager standing nearby was utterly baffled. After walking a distance away, he finally couldn’t hold back and asked, “Manager, you just gave him 500 million in interest-free loans, just like that?”
The deputy manager looked at his confused subordinate, recalling the scenery he had witnessed in the desert of *Journey* while wearing the Virtual Reality Equipment, the sensation of wind and sand brushing against his face.
Instead of answering directly, he said, “I wish I could approve even more for him, but this is the maximum limit allowed by regulations. Have you considered how many units of his device could sell?”
“The best-selling VR device on the market is NetDragon’s ‘Flying Dragon Series.’ The latest ‘Flying Dragon 3’ has sold 3.3 million units so far. Considering his device is highly innovative and could capture a significant share of the market from other manufacturers, maybe it could sell tens of millions?”
The account manager had already made as bold a guess as possible, given that his superior had clearly expressed optimism.
But the deputy manager shook his head in disappointment. “Just wait and see. That number will far exceed your imagination. Once people try it, no one will be able to resist it!
“And this guy is the type who doesn’t sweat the small stuff. To save himself trouble, he’s already decided to open his company account with our bank. Compared to the future cash flow, this 500 million is just a drop in the bucket!”
He pointed at his subordinate. “You need to learn to think long-term, not just focus on immediate business.”
After seeing off the bank staff, Lin You calmly started cooking.
He had already planned his negotiation strategy yesterday. He didn’t understand negotiations, and they didn’t understand technology—at least not cutting-edge technology.
Negotiation is about pulling the other party into your own domain, so he directly had the deputy manager put on the headset and dragged him into the desert of *Journey*.
He made it clear: This is epoch-making technology, impossible to replicate, with no competitors and an immeasurably vast market.
Finally, he added: My company will open its corporate account with your bank.
Done!
Five small goals achieved—just like that.
After lunch, Lin You spent the entire afternoon doing nothing. He took a good look around his new house and then took a long, long nap.
By the time he woke up again, the sun was nearly setting.
He felt like the exhaustion accumulated over the past week had finally dissipated, and he was ready to start the next phase of work.
Recruitment!
Of course, though it sounded grand, he didn’t actually plan to hire many people—at least not at this stage.
The waves caused by the Virtual Reality Equipment had been brewing for a night and a day. By now, Lin You’s Lingxi follower count had surpassed 17 million, putting him at the level of a top-tier influencer.
In other words, in less than 24 hours, he had become a viral internet sensation.
“Domestic university communication courses should really add a lecture just to analyze my rise to fame.”
After mocking himself, he typed up the recruitment post and hit send.
**”Hiring!**
The studio name is still under consideration, but we’re hiring first! If no one comes soon, I’ll be swamped to death!
Looking for: – Game designers – Artists – Administrative assistants
Requirements: Portfolio, aesthetic sense, experience.
Top-tier industry benefits.
Come join me—let’s create a new world together!
This might be the closest you’ll ever get to changing the world!
*P.S. Employees get early access to the latest VR games.*”
“Not bad, not bad. Turning game testing into an employee benefit—I’m such a shameless capitalist.”
He barely had time to check the comments from the goofy netizens before his phone rang.
It was Zhu Cixia again.
Lin You was a little puzzled when he answered. Previously, she called daily because she was worried about him being overwhelmed by online backlash and wanted to comfort him.
But now? He didn’t need comforting anymore. The internet was singing his praises. Those who had attacked him before had been roasted into silence, and NetDragon—already lying low—had its comment section flooded by angry netizens.
“Lin You, can I play *Journey* with your new employees? I really want to know what happens next, what you see next!”
The princess’s voice sounded unusually eager. Clearly, she had been dying to play but didn’t want to bother him, so she held back until she found an excuse to call—without a second’s delay.
“Sure,” Lin You agreed readily. “I was planning to gather ten people for testing anyway. You and Jian Xingde can both come.”
“Ah, do you have enough devices?”
“I had someone buy materials today. I’ll manually make a few more to get up to ten—it’ll make testing easier.”
“Then…” Zhu Cixia hesitated, but under the pleading gaze of her friend beside her, she asked, “Can I bring one more friend? She really admires you and wants to see the world of *Journey* with her own eyes.”
Lin You tallied up the planned invites and found there was still room, so he agreed. “No problem, but just this one. Any more and we’ll really be out.”
“That’s more than enough! Thank you so much, Lin You!”
At some point, the princess had stopped calling him “Lin-xuezhang” and started using his name directly. (Xuezhang (学长): A respectful title for a senior male student or upperclassman in a school or university setting. It literally means “senior schoolmate.)
“Alright, come tomorrow afternoon. In the morning, I’ll be at the shooting range with Jian Dage for lessons.”
After hanging up, Lin You figured since he’d already invited three people, he might as well invite the rest.
So he opened Lingxi, sent out two game-testing invitations, and ran a lottery in his class group chat to pick one lucky winner.
Finally, he knocked on his neighbor’s door to invite Yue Pengju—only to be turned down with the excuse of “needing to stay alert.”
After handling that, he threw together a quick dinner and got back to grinding out more devices.
In his past life, he had loved slacking off at work, proudly considering himself a certified lazy bum. But ever since coming to this world, working like crazy had become the norm—and the weird part was, he was enjoying it, not feeling the least bit miserable.
Maybe this was the difference between working for a capitalist boss and working for yourself? No wonder his old boss had loved dragging them into overtime!
Shaking his head to clear the thought, he and Xiaomeng buried themselves in assembling devices.
Of the two testing invitations, one went to a media outlet called *Game Base*. Originally a magazine, it had only recently moved online. Though its follower count wasn’t huge, it had principles—a relatively objective gaming media outlet.
Back when public opinion was overwhelmingly against Lin You, and countless media outlets were chasing clicks without restraint, this outlet had completely ignored the drama.
They had only posted a brief update early on, objectively reporting that “NetDragon’s claimed cutting-edge technology was debunked by a Donghua University student,” without even mentioning Lin You’s name.
So when they suddenly received Lin You’s invitation, they were overjoyed and immediately accepted. They rewatched Lin You’s video repeatedly, preparing questions in advance, hoping to dig out some substantial insights.
As for the other invitee—they were currently in their livestream, jumping around in excitement and screaming uncontrollably.
(End of Chapter)