"Dad,"

Shen Miaomiao began:

"Are you not in a meeting?"

That's right - Shen Miaomiao had called her dear father Shen Wanlin!

"Nope,"

Shen Wanlin replied:

"I was just about to call you when you dialed in. What's up?"

"You wanted to call me?"

Shen Miaomiao teased:

"Hahaha, come home? You'd actually come home?"

Shen Wanlin laughed heartily before snorting disdainfully:

"You still remember where home is?"

Huh?

Shen Miaomiao shivered: "Dad what... what do you mean by that? Why wouldn't I want to come home?"

"Heh,"

Shen Wanlin let out a mysterious chuckle, his tone ambiguous:

"Alright, we'll talk about that later. What did you want to discuss?"

"About that China Daily article - did you help with that?"

Shen Miaomiao asked:

"CDEA couldn't have pulled that off alone, right? And we certainly don't have that kind of clout?"

"What? What China Daily article?"

Shen Wanlin seemed genuinely unaware.

"I mean..." Shen Miaomiao explained the situation from start to finish: "You didn't know about this?"

"Oh that..."

Shen Wanlin seemed to recall:

"No wonder someone asked during dinner last night if your company was affiliated with the parent company, so that's what it was about..."

Hearing this.

Shen Miaomiao couldn't help but shrink her neck slightly.

The longer she stayed in business circles, the more terrifying her father seemed.

In this matter, had Old Shen helped her?

Not really.

Because Old Shen hadn't made any requests, given any instructions, or dropped any hints - he'd merely acknowledged the situation without any prior knowledge.

But could you say Old Shen played no role at all in this?

Not exactly.

Because he hadn't denied Golden Wind's connection to Shen Capital, nor had he hidden their father-daughter relationship.

This wasn't some shady backdoor dealing.

This was the power of social circles.

Like when two neighbors live across from each other - if Old Li buys too much scallion one day and sees Old Zhang returning with lamb, he'll naturally offer some scallion for stir-fry.

And the next day, when Old Zhang buys a crate of apples, he'll bring some over for Old Li too.

Humans are social creatures, and society runs on connections.

Helping each other out in daily life is perfectly normal.

"Well... okay then, thanks Dad..."

Shen Miaomiao grimaced internally.

Though it was just an offhand comment from Old Shen.

For Golden Wind, this was already unprecedented recognition.

Then, Shen Miaomiao asked:

"So... what did you want to talk about?"

Ah yes!

On the other end, Shen Wanlin cleared his throat:

"Are you somewhere private?"

"Uh... yeah, I'm alone in my office,"

Shen Miaomiao said as she stood to lock the door:

"Door's locked now."

"Good,"

Shen Wanlin nodded:

"Well... *ahem*... *harrumph*!"

"Dad, did you swallow a feather or something?" Shen Miaomiao facepalmed: "What's this about?"

Old Shen never acted like this!

She didn't know what bug had bitten him today - first those cryptic comments, now this throat-clearing nonsense.

"You... you little..."

Shen Wanlin seemed slightly embarrassed:

"I mainly wanted to ask you about... you and that... Xiao Gu... how are you two now..."

"We—two?"

Shen Miaomiao's face instantly flushed crimson:

"We... what about us?"

"Tch," Shen Wanlin clicked his tongue impatiently: "Don't play dumb, aren't you two living together already?"

Shen Miaomiao: !!!

"Dad! You... you've been spying on me?"

"Like I need to spy?!"

One sentence!

That shut Shen Miaomiao right up.

Oh.

Right.

Ever since she started living with Old Gu, neither had made any effort to hide it - they had nothing to be ashamed about.

"We're just roommates... Dad,"

Shen Miaomiao scratched her head awkwardly:

"The way you say it makes it sound like we're..."

"Heh,"

Old Shen merely chuckled in response, then took a deep breath and spoke earnestly:

"Miaomiao, you're a girl. As the saying goes, grown daughters should maintain boundaries with their fathers, so there are some things I can't say directly,"

"But regarding this matter, I need to give you some advice,"

"You've never been close with any boys growing up,"

"Now that you're older, you need to keep your eyes open when making these choices,"

"The reason I'm calling today is to tell you,"

"There are many choices in life - you can try what you like, and it's okay to be bold, because even if you regret it, you still have a home, you still have your old man..."

Hearing this.

Shen Miaomiao fell silent for a long moment, her eyes slightly red.

In all her years, she'd never heard her father speak like this.

To her, Old Shen had always kept his affection hidden, showing only the most stereotypical "fatherly love like a mountain landslide."

"...Dad, I'll come home this weekend,"

Shen Miaomiao said:

"I kinda miss you."

"Mm, come back then,"

Shen Wanlin nodded:

"I happen to be free this week."

"Okay, bye Dad..."

Just as Shen Miaomiao was about to hang up.

Suddenly, Shen Wanlin seemed to remember something:

"Oh right, bring Xiao Gu along."

"WHAT?!"

Shen Miaomiao nearly jumped out of her skin, suddenly nervous:

"Wait... why him...? Isn't this... a family dinner? What's he got to do with it?"

"Why so nervous? Hmm?"

Old Comrade Shen Wanlin seemed to have seen through everything, snorting:

"I want to ask about that little company of yours! And future development plans! Can you answer those?"

"I!!!"

Shen Miaomiao put her hands on her hips, wanting to protest but finding no grounds.

Finally, she shrank back:

"Well... fine, we'll come over Sunday..."

After hanging up!

Shen Miaomiao made a face like she was about to cry.

Oh no, is this like... meeting the parents?

......

Time flew by!

In this past week!

Golden Wind had been riding high!

The commentator article's publication in the digital edition had sent shockwaves through the gaming industry!

Top-tier coverage in an official media digital edition!

Countless players rubbed their eyes in disbelief when they saw the news—

'Holy shit—!!!'

'Who was it that said "it's not like they'll publish a commentator article praising it"? Show yourself! I think you might be a prophet! Someone preserve this comment!!!'

'This game is insane! A game that's only a few hundred MB! Is this even bigger than Titanfall's reception back then?'

'Bigger? Kid, are you delirious? This is way beyond "bigger"!'

'Forget everything else - just this one commentator article trumps all commercial promotions'

'This is insane wtf! Is this the first time a game company got featured in a commentator article?'

'"Face"'

'Game company? Think bigger! This is the highest-level coverage the Chinese gaming industry has ever gotten!'

'This is like receiving imperial favor!'

'With this move, they're basically untouchable domestically now'

'Who'd dare mess with Little Huang now'

'Normal business competition will still exist, but shady tactics are basically off the table'

'Seriously amazing'

'I think the article makes excellent points! So I've decided to answer the call - gonna make another account using mom's phone number to buy another copy!'

'Good idea! Let mom do some charity too! Build up good karma! Bring blessings and longevity!'

'Damn! If you put it like that I might go on a shopping spree!'

'Hiss—not buying would make me seem unfilial—buying now!'

'Hahahaha me too...'

'+1+1+1+1...'

'......'

The gaming world's shockwaves naturally drove sales!

Within just four days! Breaking news!

"To the Moon" global sales explosively surpassed one million copies!

Moreover, sales continued climbing steadily!

One million in four days!

What kind of concept was this?

The phenomenally successful "Vampire Survivors" had sold 160,000 copies in its first week.

That was already considered one of the top performers among games of similar scale!

In fact!

That sales record had remained unbeaten for nearly a year, until another game of similar scale surpassed it with 180,000 weekly sales.

But today!

To the Moon!

This pixel-art story-driven game barely a few hundred MB in size, with production costs in the tens of thousands!

Had explosively surpassed one million sales in just four days!

When the news broke!

The indie game community collectively wailed!

It's—over—!

From now on, the "number one" spot on indie game sales charts would cease to exist!

No matter how much they innovated, for at least the next decade, they'd be fighting for second place at best!

To put it pessimistically, from now on, the weekly indie sales chart's runner-up would effectively be the champion...

Meanwhile!

At Golden Wind headquarters!

The "Cement Mixer Project"—Escape—was nearing completion!

Development had progressed smoothly, with excellent coordination between departments!

The only hiccup came during final bug testing.

Everyone's endurance seemed rather lacking.

Eventually, the team started a betting pool on who could complete the game within ten attempts without getting ejected from the motion pod.

Starting with one fried dough stick as minimum bet, they kept raising the stakes.

Finally!

After round after round of competition!

The brave Kamikawa Yuki emerged victorious with 9 ejections, earning the title "The Gutsiest Girl in Development" and winning over 1,700 fried dough sticks - achieving fried dough freedom.

As for Komera!

Things had been quiet as a mouse.

Only recently had they tentatively started placing Silent Hill ads on major platforms.

Judging by reactions, K-Society's "internet has no memory" strategy seemed somewhat effective.

Though many still shouted "Fvk KOMINA," the outrage was nowhere near when they'd announced independent development.

In fact, many expressed anticipation for Komera's independently produced "Silent Hill."

......

"If Komera is testing the waters, that means their project is basically complete."

Saturday arrived in a flash!

Gu Sheng and Shen Miaomiao sat facing each other.

Tonight's dinner was pan-seared cod, filet mignon, buttered bread, salad, and mushroom soup.

Gu Sheng had prepared the two main dishes, while the bread, soup, and salad were Shen Miaomiao's contributions.

They'd been living together for quite some time now, and their coordination had become seamless.

"Fortunately, our project is almost done too, just final debugging now,"

Gu Sheng cut a piece of steak:

"Perfect timing to coincide with Komera's promotional push, heh,"

"I wonder how the market will react when our promotion drops,"

"Right now we're riding high - top-tier domestic publicity and reputation, solid overseas fanbase, plus all the tears from To the Moon,"

"The smokescreen worked perfectly,"

"If we time our ambush to coincide with Silent Hill's promotion..."

At this point.

Gu Sheng noticed Little Nezha hadn't said a word.

Looking over, he saw her spacing out.

He waved a hand in front of her face: "Hey, what's on your mind?"

"Huh... oh! Nothing! Go on!"

Shen Miaomiao snapped back:

"I'm listening!"

Gu Sheng eyed her suspiciously: "Then what was I just saying?"

"You said..." Shen Miaomiao thought hard: "Salt-baked chicken? What salt-baked chicken? Did you make that too?"

Gu Sheng: ...

"Never mind,"

Gu Sheng waved it off, rolling his eyes:

"Let's talk about you instead. What's bothering you?"

Shen Miaomiao had two big things on her mind!

First!

Was To the Moon's sales!

For this project, she'd poured her heart and soul into it!

Filled half a notebook with ideas!

Though Old Gu had helped, this was her most dedicated work yet!

And!

This was the first project she genuinely wanted to succeed commercially, and had worked hard for!

Tonight at 8 PM!

To the Moon's total charity week sales would be announced!

She'd donate everything and receive 1% back as rebate!

Whether she could recoup some losses depended on tonight's numbers.

Though!

Shen Miaomiao already had a rough idea.

After all, To the Moon had surpassed one million global sales by day four.

At 15 yuan per copy, one million meant fifteen million, with 1% being 150,000.

At minimum, she'd already earned 150,000 in rebates.

Hopefully it could keep climbing.

As for the second matter...

Shen Miaomiao clicked her tongue: "Well... tomorrow... we're not going out anymore."

"Hmm?"

Gu Sheng glanced at her:

"You have plans? Shopping with Yuki and the girls?"

"No..."

Shen Miaomiao shook her head:

"It's... much more important than that..."

"Then what is it?"

Gu Sheng couldn't imagine what could be more important than Little Nezha's weekend relaxation time.

"I'm going home,"

Shen Miaomiao said:

"To have dinner with my dad."

"Oh..." Gu Sheng understood: "Alright, then I won't make dinner for tomorrow."

Since Little Nezha rarely went home, but this wasn't the first time, Gu Sheng didn't think much of it.

But!

Hearing this, Shen Miaomiao made a face even more miserable than crying:

"You won't need to make dinner..."

"Because you're coming with me..."

"Both of us."

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com