Xie Xinghe was sent to a VIP ward for observation.

After the nurse left, Xie Yunfan took the initiative to start a conversation, “Sis, is the situation at the company that serious? Why would my brother suddenly take things so hard and swallow a whole bottle of sleeping pills?”

Mingzhi looked at Xie Xinghe on the hospital bed. With red eyes, she said softly, “Back then, to develop the gaming pod, your brother mortgaged his houses and cars to the bank for a loan, and he also borrowed a lot of money from friends. Now that the project has failed… he might have just been too desperate, which led him to think of suicide.”

The situation was even more severe than Xie Yunfan had imagined. If it were just company debt, some personal assets could still be saved after bankruptcy liquidation. But for the sake of this massive project, Xie Xinghe had invested a large amount of his own funds and even mortgaged his house and car for bank loans… He had practically lost everything, down to his last penny.

Judging from the information he had gathered so far, the past few years marked the era when holographic games first appeared, and major developers were frantically carving up the market. If a game was made well, one could naturally count money until their hands went numb.

However, Xingyun Group had no experience in game development. For Xie Xinghe to rashly enter the gaming industry and try to swallow an elephant in one bite—how could that possibly work?

The massive initial investment couldn’t recoup its costs, loan interest rates were high, and the capital chain broke. The company couldn’t be saved, and he had lost his shirt. No wonder he couldn’t cope and wanted to commit suicide.

Xie Yunfan asked helplessly, “How much does he still owe the bank?”

Mingzhi hesitated for a moment and said, “Combined across a few banks, it’s about 200 million.”

Xie Yunfan: “…”

Two hundred million? Big brother, you really know how to squander a fortune!

Xie Yunfan looked back at the man on the bed. He had seen many young people fail at entrepreneurship, but to directly lose the entire family fortune and end up owing the bank 200 million… this older brother was truly a rare talent.

Seeing Xie Yunfan’s complicated gaze, Mingzhi hurriedly added, “Xiaofan, don’t worry. Your dad’s will was written very clearly. The villa in the western suburbs has already been transferred to your name, and there is also a 3 million cash deposit in the bank under your name. You won’t have to worry about food and clothing in the future, and you don’t need to pay off your brother’s debts.”

A younger brother indeed wasn’t responsible for his older brother’s debts.

But he had taken over Xie Yunfan’s body and inherited his parents’ legacy. Even if his older brother wasn’t cut out for business, he had always treated his younger brother very well. He couldn’t just be an ingrate, enjoying all the benefits the Xie family brought him while ignoring the life and death of his own blood brother, right?

A debt of 200 million… Let’s just treat it as a Hell-mode start. Debts paid off slowly can eventually be cleared.

Xie Yunfan took a deep breath, looked at Mingzhi, and said, “Sis, you’ve had a tiring day. Go home and rest first. I’ll keep watch tonight.”

Mingzhi thought about it and said, “Alright, I’ll head back first then. My daughter has a cold and fever right now and needs me to take care of her. If your brother wakes up, call me.”

Xie Yunfan nodded. “Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of him.”

…

After seeing his cousin off, Xie Yunfan turned around, sat on the sofa, opened his phone, and surfed the internet to understand more about this world.

The level of technological development here was much higher than in his original world.

Smartphones had undergone a comprehensive upgrade a few years ago. Large-screen flip phones had long been popularized, chip performance was incredibly smooth, and phone memory had expanded by dozens of times.

Precisely because of this revolution, PC-based “client games” had gradually declined, replaced by “mobile games.” Today’s mobile phones were easy to carry and had excellent performance; most gameplay features of PC games could also be realized on mobile.

Holographic games appeared three years ago. After the first independently developed holographic game “Star Walk” by “Qihang Technology Group” was released, it quickly swept the globe. Countless players said it “opened the door to a new world,” and the field of game development officially entered the holographic era.

In the current gaming market, mobile games and holographic games split the world evenly.

The popularity of mobile games was far greater than that of holographics. After all, everyone had a smartphone, downloading games was very convenient, and the player base was massive. The “portability” of being able to play anytime, anywhere allowed mobile games to withstand the impact of holographic games and remain enduringly popular.

Holographic games, on the other hand, mainly targeted the high-end player market.

Gaming pods were expensive. Although the number of players who could afford them was small, they were “few but refined.” These players had a strong willingness to pay, pursued high-quality products, and easily became die-hard fans of game developers, creating extremely high user stickiness.

Big brother Xie Xinghe wanted to enter the holographic game market, develop the “Xingyun Gaming Pod” to get a piece of the pie from the major developers, and lead Xingyun Group in a beautiful turnaround battle. The idea was good; he had ambition and drive, but unfortunately, he lacked experience and acted too rashly.

Having never made a game before, diving straight into a holographic game with the highest difficulty and largest investment… failing in this venture was inevitable.

As a game planner, Xie Yunfan knew very well how hard it was to create a “hit game.”

He had rich experience in making games in his past life, but now that he had changed worlds, what exactly to make and how to make it couldn’t be accomplished overnight. He still needed some time to conduct detailed market research.

Making a holographic game right off the bat was definitely out of the question. The development cycle for holographic games was long, the investment amount was huge, and the market was basically monopolized by top-tier companies. Currently, he didn’t have the strength to compete with big corporations.

He could only start with mobile games, which required a small investment, had a short development cycle, and could be monetized quickly.

Later, when he had sufficient funds and a strong team, it wouldn’t be too late to touch upon the unfamiliar territory of “holographic games.”

…

The night passed by without him noticing.

The moment Xie Xinghe woke up, he saw his younger brother sitting on the sofa, surfing the net on his phone.

The light from the phone screen illuminated his face—it was the same sunny, handsome face he remembered, having inherited the best features from their parents.

It was just that the usual Xie Yunfan was incredibly unruly, always wearing an unserious smile. But the current him looked solemn, his eyes locked onto the phone screen, his expression very serious.

“Mom and Dad didn’t control me when they were alive, what right do you have!”

The memory of his brother’s punchable face when talking back suddenly surfaced. Xie Xinghe instantly felt a splitting headache and couldn’t help but scold angrily, “What are you doing here?”

The man’s voice was hoarse and dry, as if his throat had been scraped by a razor blade.

Xie Yunfan put down his phone and looked up at him. “Brother, you’re awake?” Saying that, he pressed the call bell in the room and walked quickly to his older brother’s bedside. “Are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere? I’ve called the doctor over.”

Xie Xinghe said coldly, “You wish I were dead so no one would ever control you again, right?”

“…” Xie Yunfan laughed dryly and scratched his hair.

A 20-year-old university student who only knew how to fool around with bad company every day, almost caused an accident drag racing on a mountain road, and completely deserved to be scolded by his brother. To actually have the nerve to talk back—it was truly outrageous.

Thinking of this, Xie Yunfan immediately apologized sincerely: “Brother, I’m sorry. I was speaking out of anger back then, don’t take it to heart. I promise I won’t cause you any more trouble in the future.”

Xie Xinghe froze.

Was this guy apologizing? Had the sun risen from the west?

Right then, the doctor pushed the door open and came in. He ran a few checks on Xie Xinghe and said, “It’s a good thing we pumped his stomach in time. His condition is stable; he can be discharged today.”

Xie Yunfan turned around and asked, “Doctor, can he eat anything now?”

“For the next few days, stick to light, easily digestible liquid foods.”

“Alright, thank you, doctor.”

After the doctor left, Xie Yunfan picked up his phone and sent a message to Mingzhi, telling her that his eldest brother was awake. He then walked to the bedside, sat down, and said in a gentle tone, “Brother, if you have anything bothering you in the future, you can tell me. Don’t take things too hard! You only have one life; if you lose it, it’s gone. Mom and Dad aren’t here, but we brothers can overcome difficulties together. There’s no hurdle we can’t cross.”

Xie Xinghe turned his head to look out the window and laughed self-deprecatingly. “You don’t understand. The company’s affairs are very complex. When the project ran into difficulties, the partners who promised to share the good times and the bad all withdrew their capital and ran away. I really can’t get over this hurdle… No one will stay by a failure’s side.”

As he was speaking, the back of his hand suddenly felt warm.

Xie Xinghe lowered his head in confusion, only to find his younger brother gently holding his hand. A warm temperature transferred through the fingertips, quickly warming up his hand.

“I will stay by your side, because we are family,” Xie Yunfan said softly.

Perhaps because his soul and body were gradually fusing together, Xie Yunfan looked at the older brother in front of him and only felt a deep sense of intimacy.

His older brother was the person who cared about him the most in this world, and he wouldn’t give up on his few remaining relatives.

“…” Xie Xinghe stared blankly at his younger brother, his eyes suddenly feeling a bit sore.

This was the first time since Xie Yunfan grew up that he had proactively held his hand to comfort him. The old Xie Yunfan only knew how to talk back, making his head ache with anger.

How ironic. Surviving a brush with death had actually improved the relationship between the brothers considerably, so they were no longer at each other’s throats the moment they met.

“I heard from Sister Mingzhi that you haven’t paid off the bank loans yet. Should we sell the villa Mom and Dad left behind to pay the debt?” Xie Yunfan suggested.

“No.” Xie Xinghe snapped back to reality and immediately refused. “The Xie family’s ancestral home cannot be sold. That’s where we grew up. The trees in the yard were planted by Mom and Dad themselves, and there are many paintings left by Mom on the third floor… Besides, that villa is in a bad location. Even if we sold it, it wouldn’t fetch much money at current housing prices.”

“Oh. Then let’s sell my car and pay off the loans for the next two months first. For the rest, we’ll slowly figure out a way,” Xie Yunfan said.

“Sell your car?” Xie Xinghe looked at his younger brother suspiciously. “You aren’t going drag racing anymore?”

“No, drag racing is too dangerous, and I still want to live a few more years.” Xie Yunfan ignored the questioning look and changed the subject. “Brother, how much available cash do you currently have on hand?”

“Not much, it all went towards paying off debts.” Xie Xinghe scratched his hair in a disheveled manner.

“In other words, the only funds I can control right now are the 3 million in savings Mom and Dad left me, right?”

“Yeah.” Xie Xinghe paused and emphasized, “The debts I owe have nothing to do with you. That 3 million is the living expense Mom and Dad left for you. You’re not allowed to spend it recklessly, you hear me?”

“I hear you.”

Xie Yunfan agreed on the surface, but inwardly he was pondering how to use this money.

If it just sat in the bank as living expenses, there would come a day when it would all be spent. Only by using “money to make money” could he help his brother survive the crisis and establish a studio of his own.

In this world, if he wanted to start a business and make money, he only had one path to take—and that was to pick up his old profession of “making games.”

Small-scale games didn’t have very high requirements for graphics and music; the key lay in the gameplay. 3 million was more than enough as start-up capital for a small project.

Small games took a short time to develop and could be monetized quickly. As long as word-of-mouth spread, multiplying the gross profit by a few times, or even dozens of times, was entirely possible.

However, he was only 20 years old, still a university student, and formerly an ignorant, punk rich kid. Coupled with the negative buff of his brother’s failed business, if he said “I want to make a game” now, no one would believe him, let alone be willing to help him.

It would be very hard for him to attract investment, so he could only rely on this little bit of savings to take the first step.

No matter how much he talked, it couldn’t compare to actually making a fun game to convince people.