OGP CH124 [Arc 8]

Chapter 124: Workaholics

After the official tournament concluded, Spring Festival was soon around the corner once again.

In the blink of an eye, this was already the fifth year since Xie Yunfan had arrived in this alternate world.

Ever since he came to this world, he had poured his entire heart and soul into making games. From his initial single-player title Di Renjie: Ghost City, to the current title Turbulent Spring and Autumn, which featured dual-end cross-play between mobile and holographic platforms, the tech within the gaming industry had also undergone massive revolutions—and of course, Luo Hang deserved immense credit for this.

Luo Hang was the absolute best partner in Xie Yunfan’s heart. He had always marched side-by-side with him, right from the very beginning when Yangfan Studio and Qihang started collaborating; every single game had been forged by the two of them joining forces.

Qihang’s gaming pod tech was also walking right at the absolute forefront of the entire industry.

Moving forward, all future games could feature dual-end cross-play along with wide-area networking. That way, Xie Yunfan’s imaginative ideas would no longer be restricted by any technical limitations.

Wuxia jianghu, immortal-demon wars, holographic tower defense, ancient-style base building, and more—every single one of them could be brought to life.

This Spring Festival, Luo Hang didn’t return home. As usual, he ran over to Xie Yunfan’s house to leech a New Year’s Eve dinner.

Normally, Xie Xinghe was the one who cooked, but this time around, Xie Yunfan actually took the reins himself.

—Because for his next game, he intended to make a culinary game.

To make a great culinary game, the lead planner had to possess a deep understanding of various ingredients and dishes.

During this past period, Xie Yunfan had been continuously learning how to cook. It had to be said that his talent wasn’t half bad; after following all sorts of guides and practicing for just a month, the dishes he prepared already looked and tasted impressive.

He could easily handle heavy, intricate dishes like braised pork ribs, spicy chicken wings, and tomato beef brisket all by himself.

Xie Xinghe patted Luo Hang on the shoulder and teased, “Luo Hang, you’re in for a real treat today! This is the first time Chef Yunfan is hosting a guest at home. He said he’s going to make ten dishes for you to sample.”

Luo Hang smiled and said, “Then I am truly honored.”

It was usually quite rare to see Xie Yunfan cooking. Today, dressed in relaxed loungewear with an apron tied around his waist, lowering his head to process ingredients, Xie Yunfan seemed even warmer and more approachable than on ordinary days.

In truth, Yunfan wasn’t just exceptionally capable at work; he was also someone who placed great importance on the finer details of life.

Luo Hang walked into the kitchen and asked, “Do you need a hand?”

Xie Yunfan said, “No need, just wait to eat. I’ll prepare everything myself—I’ve learned a lot of dishes recently.”

Luo Hang rolled up his sleeves, stood beside him, and helped wash the vegetables. “You even went out of your way to learn culinary arts just to design the next game. How could I possibly have the nerve to just sit back, leech a meal, and do absolutely nothing?”

Xie Yunfan turned his head, met Luo Hang’s eyes, and joked, “Then how about the Lead Planner and Head of Operations finish this New Year’s Eve dinner together to kick off our culinary game on a good note?”

The two looked at each other and smiled.

Luo Hang was usually so busy with work that he rarely stepped into a kitchen either. Preparing the New Year’s Eve dinner together with Xie Yunfan this time felt quite marvelous.

Putting work aside, they seemed to be extraordinarily compatible in daily life as well.

Even though it was their very first time coordinating in the kitchen, it didn’t turn into a disaster zone at all; instead, everything proceeded in absolute perfect order. The Xie family kitchen was very spacious. Luo Hang worked on the left side washing vegetables, chopping ingredients, and prepping food, while Xie Yunfan worked on the right side mixing various dipping sauces and stir-frying dishes in the wok.

Occasionally, Xie Yunfan would say, “Help me chop a scallion into minced green onions.”

A freshly washed scallion would quickly be chopped into fine minced green onions by Luo Hang, placed into a small saucer, and handed right to him.

Two people working together was indeed vastly more efficient than working alone.

As they cooperated on the New Year’s Eve dinner, they would casually chat from time to time.

Xie Yunfan asked, “How is the testing progress on the taste system going on your end?”

In Qihang’s laboratory, engineers were currently fine-tuning taste mechanics, which Xie Yunfan had seen the last time he visited the factory with Luo Hang.

Luo Hang said, “Currently, the taste system has successfully logged the majority of common dishes, reaching a 95% similarity rate compared to real-world flavors. However, there are still a lot of regional local snacks that we haven’t had time to experience yet.”

Xie Yunfan said with relief, “That’s fast progress. Now that the dual platform for mobile and holographic cross-play has been built, we won’t have to worry about the R&D platform for future games, meaning we can also speed up our development pacing.”

He turned around, looked at Luo Hang, and said, “Previously, we basically released one game a year. Moving forward, we can switch to two titles a year. After Spring Festival, I’m going to recruit another batch of people and officially rename Yangfan Studio to Yangfan Games Group.”

The current Yangfan Studio already boasted around 500 employees, with project teams split into several divisions, growing larger and larger by the day. Changing the name and hanging the brand of “Yangfan Games” right at the top of the office skyscraper would mark a massive step forward.

Luo Hang realized that Xie Yunfan was incredibly methodical in everything he did. He was neither rushed nor impatient, building every single game on a rock-solid foundation. It was precisely this meticulous, responsible spirit of his that allowed every single game he made to become a massive hit.

Thinking up to this point, Luo Hang smiled lightly and said, “No problem. Two games a year is completely achievable if we expand the team. I will fully cooperate with you.”

Xie Xinghe happened to pass by the kitchen, and listening to the two of them chat, he couldn’t help but sigh emotionally in his heart.

Previously, the company employees were gossiping about whether the relationship between the two bosses was a bit too ambiguous, or if there was something going on behind them gifting each other AI dolls!

Who could have possibly guessed that in the middle of celebrating the New Year, while cooking in the kitchen, these two bosses were still talking about games!

They truly were a pair of perfectly matched “workaholics”.

An hour later, the dishes were carried out to the dining table.

This New Year’s Eve feast prepared by Chef Xie Yunfan was extraordinarily lavish, complete with chicken, duck, fish, and meat—appealing to sight, aroma, and taste alike.

Xie Xinghe joked, “It seems my status as the head chef can’t be maintained anymore!”

Xie Yunfan said, “Brother, try it out. A lot of these dishes are actually my first time making them.” He handed a pair of chopsticks over to Luo Hang and said, “You try it too, feel free to give negative reviews.”

Luo Hang picked up a piece of rib and popped it into his mouth. The flavor of the braised pork ribs was superb, and the meat was exceptionally tender. Yunfan truly possessed incredible talent in culinary arts, managing to refine his skills to such a degree in just a single month.

He praised, “It’s delicious.”

Xie Xinghe was also full of praise: “It really is delicious!”

The three of them chatted while eating, making this Spring Festival warm and lively as usual.

After staying up until midnight to ring in the New Year, Luo Hang went upstairs to the guest room to sleep. As he passed by Xie Yunfan’s bedroom, he immediately caught sight of the AI doll sitting right by the head of the bed.

He froze for a moment and asked in confusion, “This doll… you brought it home?”

Xie Yunfan had a calm, unbothered expression: “Yeah. My brother said people at the company were gossiping about us, and that us gifting AI dolls to each other was indeed easy to cause misunderstandings. Besides, whenever your voice came out of it in the office, my employees often thought you were inside my office and didn’t dare knock on the door. So, I just stashed it away and brought it home.”

A smile welled up in Luo Hang’s eyes. The unexplainable tacit understanding between him and Yunfan extended to so many things—he had also put away Xie Yunfan’s AI doll and placed it right on his bedroom nightstand.

However, this was the first time he had heard about wild rumors floating around the company.

It was probably because he was usually far too stern; nobody inside Qihang dared to gossip about him in private, or even if someone did talk behind his back, they wouldn’t dare bring it up right in front of him.

On the other hand, Yangfan Studio had a much more relaxed and lively atmosphere. When employees gossiped in private and Xie Xinghe overheard it, he passed it along to Xie Yunfan, who then brought the AI doll home to put it away.

Where it was placed didn’t actually matter.

What mattered was that this was the world’s only AI doll recorded with Luo Hang’s / Xie Yunfan’s unique voiceprints, as well as a gift they had presented to one another.

Although it was originally sampled using themselves just to test the feasibility of AI model merchandise, after receiving it, both of them genuinely liked this exquisite companionship doll.

Placing it at the head of the bed to occasionally listen to each other’s voice could be considered a little pleasure during downtime.

Luo Hang looked toward Xie Yunfan, his gaze gentle as he asked, “Do you care about those wild rumors?”

Xie Yunfan was stunned for a moment.

Did he care? Meeting Luo Hang’s eyes, a sudden wave of confusion washed over his heart.

He and Luo Hang trusted each other completely and possessed flawless synergy. Whenever he brought up a creative idea, Luo Hang could instantly understand and support it without hesitation.

They were undeniably the best possible working partners.

But aside from being work partners, was there any other emotion between them?

Xie Yunfan had never considered this matter—or rather, his mind was so packed to the brim with all kinds of wild game design ideas that he had no surplus energy to ponder over such things.

In his past life, he had suffered a sudden death on the job at a very young age, having had no time to fall in love at all. He had never met anyone he liked, so he didn’t even know if he was capable of liking a man.

If it were Luo Hang… he didn’t seem to feel any repulsion toward the idea?

After all, being together with Luo Hang was incredibly comfortable. Luo Hang was always able to grasp his thoughts at the very first moment; this marvelous feeling of “two minds thinking as one” was something he had never experienced in his previous life.

Ever since they exchanged AI dolls, he had even gotten used to chatting with little Luo Hang whenever he felt bored, just to listen to Luo Hang’s voice.

Ugh… for two grown men to sit around listening to each other’s voices when bored, no wonder the employees would gossip. The way they interacted was indeed a bit ambiguous, wasn’t it?

He would have to pay attention to this in the future.

Xie Yunfan cleverly threw the question right back: “Do you care?”

Luo Hang replied candidly, “I don’t care. Let them say whatever they want.”

Xie Yunfan immediately followed up, “Then I don’t care either. It’s harmless for employees to love gossiping in private, as long as it doesn’t affect their work.”

Luo Hang chuckled softly and said, “Actually, there’s another reason why I didn’t go back home for the New Year.”

Xie Yunfan was curious: “What reason?”

Luo Hang said helplessly, “On the first day of the New Year, I’m supposed to go to my grandmother’s house to pay New Year greetings. Every year, my grandmother urges me to settle down, pushing me to go on blind dates and introducing all sorts of prospects to me. I’ve really had enough of it, so I wanted to dodge it.”

Xie Yunfan was slightly taken aback—his parents were no longer around, nor did he have any other senior relatives. Besides, his older brother was single too, so nobody had ever urged him to date.

But Luo Hang was different.

First off, Luo Hang was the only son of the Luo family; secondly, he was older than Xie Yunfan—counting it up, he was turning 28 this year, right? It was completely normal for a man around 30 to start a family and establish a career. Luo Hang had already established his career, so all that was left was starting a family.

At this age, the elders in his family would naturally push him to consider dating and marriage.

Who would have thought that even President Luo would have troubles of this nature?

Xie Yunfan found it somewhat amusing: “You dodged blind dates by running over to my place. If your grandmother finds out, won’t I become the primary culprit? Speaking of which… have you really never considered finding someone?”

Luo Hang shook his head gently: “Managing the company is exhausting enough as it is; spending energy to take care of someone would be even more exhausting. I also don’t want to find someone to take care of me, out of fear that they wouldn’t be able to stand a workaholic like me and feel like I don’t have time to accompany them.”

Xie Yunfan blurted out instinctively, “Then you can just find another workaholic! When both people are busy, neither will complain with things like ‘why don’t you have time to accompany me’.”

Both of them froze at the exact same time.

This… was actually a pretty good train of thought!

They were both career-driven men who carried dreams and ambitions they desperately wanted to achieve in their hearts.

Xie Yunfan wanted to become the strongest game producer in this alternate world, producing more than 10 blockbuster hits, and establishing the most powerful game production company.

Luo Hang wanted to promote Qihang’s gaming pods to the entire world, realizing true “global networking” to establish the Star Network, officially ushering gaming into the “Holographic Era”.

Relationships were merely the icing on the cake for them, rather than a absolute “necessity”.

If they were to find a partner who constantly demanded, “You need to make time to accompany me,” or “Why didn’t you reply to my message,” someone requiring constant care and companionship would likely become a burden to them.

The absolute best way was to find someone who similarly placed immense value on work and was willing to understand their partner’s career. When both were busy, neither would complain about the other having no time to accompany them.

Of course, if both were busy with work, having no one to take care of the household would also be a major issue.

After a moment of silence, Luo Hang gave a helpless smile: “Let’s not consider this problem for now, it’s too much of a headache.”

Xie Yunfan said, “Yeah, romantic matters depend on fate. If you meet someone you like, maybe you’ll throw your principles right out the window? I had a friend back in the day who had a massive list of criteria for a partner in college, but the moment he met someone he liked, he tossed every single criterion to the back of his mind.”

Luo Hang found it hard to imagine himself altering his principles for anyone.

Though, because of Xie Yunfan, he had completely overhauled his daily routine…

Ever since that holiday when Xie Yunfan began supervising his daily routine, he had formed the fantastic habit of getting into bed before 12:00 AM every night and waking up at 7:00 AM every morning. Sticking to it over this past year, his entire state of being had indeed improved drastically. For this point, he really had to thank Yunfan’s “patient training”.

Listening to the two of them chat downstairs, Xie Xinghe felt continuous waves of panic.

The moment Yunfan blurted out “just find another workaholic,” a thought had even popped into his mind: Wouldn’t it be most suitable for you two to solve it internally?

No need to worry about “having no time to accompany each other”—you two spend most of your working hours right next to each other anyway…

No wonder so many people in the studio were privately shipping the CP of the two bosses; there really was a strange aura between them that outsiders simply couldn’t squeeze into.

I must be overthinking things, right? Yunfan being able to joke so openly meant there was genuinely nothing going on between them. As for whether something might happen in the future… it was still hard to say right now.

Xie Xinghe let out a light cough, walked upstairs, and asked, “Are you two still not sleeping?”

Luo Hang smiled and said, “Getting ready to sleep now. Goodnight.”

Xie Yunfan said, “Goodnight. Remember to wake up on time tomorrow so we can go for a run together.”

Luo Hang: “Received. Up at 7 to eat breakfast.”

Xie Xinghe: “…”

Being around the two of them always gave him the feeling that he was entirely third-wheeling.

Only after Luo Hang walked into his room did Xie Xinghe pull his younger brother into the bedroom in private, asking in a low voice, “Are you really not interested in Luo Hang at all? Why are you so concerned about his daily routine?”

Xie Yunfan said, “It’s just out of concern for a friend. After all, some people pull long all-nighters and suffer sudden death from overwork. Luo Hang’s previous routine was terrible, so I just hope he can stay healthy and live a long life.”

Looking at his younger brother’s completely calm and candid expression, Xie Xinghe could tell he wasn’t acting guilty at all.

It seemed like their interaction style was just naturally ambiguous?

Xie Xinghe said earnestly, “You’re turning 25 this year. Don’t just think about making games all day long. If you can find a partner who understands and supports you, your brother will be happy for you.”

Xie Yunfan smiled and said, “We’ll see. Let nature take its course.”

Unlike his proactive drive toward work, his mindset regarding romance was extraordinarily laid-back.

If he happened to meet someone, that would naturally be best; if he didn’t, there was no need to force it. A person could still live a rich and fulfilling life all on their own.

Xie Yunfan shifted the topic: “Since the next project is going to be a culinary game, Brother, how is the list of popular Rong City restaurants I asked you to organize coming along?”

Xie Xinghe hurriedly said, “It’s all compiled. Starting tomorrow, we’ll go inspect them one by one.”

Xie Yunfan nodded with a smile: “Mm, only through investigation do we earn the right to speak.”

Xie Xinghe lightly patted his brother’s shoulder: “Alright, get some sleep.”