Only After I Was Reborn Did I Realize That I Had Childhood Sweethearts

The news of Mei Fang making games had actually reached his parents after the promotional video was released.

At first, Xiang Xiaoxia was furious about Mei Fang not focusing on his studies and pursuing various "unproductive” activities. She even discussed with Liang Meijuan about having her keep Mei Fang in check.

Mei Fang managed to calm her down with endless explanations, and later, by showing the results of his NOIP competition. He also promised to maintain his grades during the final exam.

Now, a considerable generation gap had formed between Mei Fang and his parents. While his father, Mei Lijun, wasn't too bothered by it, his mother was harder to convince.

Mei Fang wasn't a child anymore. He knew it was completely normal for his parents to view his actions as unproductive. There was no point in getting angry with his mother.

But the next problem was even more challenging-

How shouLd I teLL my mom that her son has aLready become a successfuL internet entrepreneur worth tens of miLLions?

Mei Fang imagined that even if he explained it, his mother might believe that he'd somehow gotten involved with some shady organization or was being used as a pawn.

In the end, it would probably take Xia Yuan or Lin Youxi to help him explain everything to his mom...

Looking back on the eventful first semester of his second year in high school, Mei Fang had exposed many aspects of his identity in order to push forward the development of C Site. The idea of living a peaceful life as an ordinary high school boy, experiencing a normal youthful love story, was now out of reach.

Sometimes, the pressure from all sides made him feel like he could barely breathe.

But fortunately, he wasn't fighting alone-his companions were growing alongside him:

Zhang Ming, after completely saying goodbye to his old self, chose to transfer to a parallel class after summer vacation. His enthusiasm for work during the holidays had greatly increased, and some of his hidden talents were beginning to surface.

His strong grasp of mathematics gave him a decent understanding of numerical data work. While his gaming experience wasn't as broad, it was deep enough. He had gradually progressed from doing odd jobs as a game planner to a beginner-level numerical data planner.

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Gou Yun, after the CLoud Journey project, was given a break by Mei Fang, allowing her to focus on improving her academic performance.

Her dream was to attend one of the top eight art academies, but her family knew very little about this path. Mei Fang helped her with some planning, and now she was working hard toward that goal.

Yue Xinyi, after experiencing the pain of her ship sinking, dedicated herself to handling C Site affairs. Although she was officially the operations director, in reality, she spent most of her time learning from the more experienced talents in her team. She also received plenty of advice and support from Tencent's personnel.

As for Peng Xue, after boasting for a while about Xia Yuan's victory, she, like Yue Xinyi, gradually faded from the scene. However, her C Site account remained active, where she continued posting bass guitar tutorials and performance videos.

Liu Xiaoyu, in her spare time outside of studying, still helped Xia Yuan with composing music. Mei Fang hardly had any opportunities to be alone with her anymore, and he mainly heard updates about her through Xia Yuan.

After a few awkward encounters, Mei Fang sometimes felt embarrassed when he ran into Liu Xiaoyu, but both of them tacitly agreed not to mention anything about it.

In the blink of an eye, 2012 ended, and 2013 arrived.

The C Site and Tencent joint funding project was officially announced at the beginning of the year. The market viewed this collaboration as Tencent's foray into the ACGN space and as a direct challenge to the capital behind A Site, Shanda Interactive.

Of course, this confrontation wouldn't last too long, as Shanda Interactive, which was once at the height of its power, would slowly crumble over the next two years, becoming little more than a dying flame. ṞáＮò𝐁Èṧ

Its gaming and tech sectors would split into Shengda Technology and Shengqu Games; its gaming platform, Bianfeng Games, would become independent with its successful San Guo Sha OnLine (Legends of the Three Kingdoms OnLine); and its web literature division, Shanda Literature, would reach its conclusion and later become the most crucial IP incubation hub for Tencent-now widely known as Yuewen Group.

For Mei Fang, along with other young people of his generation, Shanda Interactive was a part of their youth that had passed.

Once upon a time, a Shanda account was one of the most significant virtual assets for gamers in China, standing almost on par with a Tencent account. Much of the success Tencent enjoys in the entertainment industry today came from taking advantage of Shanda's downfall.

The once-dominant force in the gaming industry was in decline, while the new powerhouse was at its peak. As someone who had been reborn into this world, Mei Fang had managed to build something from Xia Yuan's ten yuan and had barely kept up with the times. Though not leading the charge, he was riding the waves with Tencent.

Next, C Site would face direct competition from A Site and the brutal battle over licensing. To overcome this, C Site needed to lead the way with significant innovations.

The most critical update plan for C Site was the introduction of live-streaming functionality, which was set to become the next big trend in the internet industry.

Soon, Douyu's initial version of live streaming called [Live Broadcast] , would be launched under the leadership of Chen Shaojie, the actual controller behind A Site.

The early success of the live-streaming giant Douyu was largely due to the traffic it drew from A Site, not to mention it was originally just a section of A Site.

Although Bilibili hadn't emerged in this life, this version of A Site wasn't much better than the one Mei Fang had seen in his previous life. A Site, a neglected entity of this era, might eventually walk down the path of decline, which presented both opportunities and challenges for C Site.

C Site had been maintaining a relatively strict membership system. Only official members had the right to upload videos and send unlimited bullet comments, while non-official members had access to all other features. Mei Fang was cautiously trying to bring in more general users.

However, despite his cautious steps toward commercialization, allowing non-official members to send bullet comments triggered a trust crisis among core users.

Recently, some users started discussing whether Young Miss had lost her way due to Tencent's investment. Mei Fang managed to quell some dissatisfaction by limiting the number of bullet comments non-official members could send per day.

Whichever way you look at it, starting a company or being an employee is really tough.

After going through so much, the hard work of this year had finally paid off, meeting most people's expectations.

When the semester ended, Mei Fang didn't rush back to his hometown. Instead, he stayed to organize Lin Xi Technology's first annual company gathering. He had his sister Yue Yue prepare a generous set of prizes to attract more talent, invited everyone to dine at a star-rated hotel, and gave a brief speech on behalf of C Site's Big 3.

Mei Fang did not like the complexities of workplace socializing and hierarchical structures. This year, besides acknowledging everyone's hard work, he also promoted a small group of technical experts to lead various functional departments. The managerial position remained vacant, and Mei Fang could only hope that Mei Yue would recruit someone capable of helping execute his plans.

At this year's annual gathering in liangcheng, in addition to students Liu Xiaoyu and Guo Yun who were already working in the company, Wan Chaoxiong and Zhu Nina also attended. It was a way to give them a taste of the real world.

C Site's employees thoroughly enjoyed the annual gathering organized by their high schooler boss, and the personal benefits each employee received fostered a strong sense of belonging. They believed that following their webmaster would lead to an even brighter future.

As for the year-end bonuses, company employees would have theirs deposited directly into their accounts. For the team members Mei Fang personally trained, he planned to distribute bonuses later, just like last year, ensuring that those who couldn't attend, such as Yue Xinyi and Peng Xue, wouldn't feel left out due to a lack of participation.

After the annual gathering ended, everyone began preparing to head home for the New Year. Liu Xiaoyu had an afternoon train to Baimei County, so attending the gathering was a bit rushed for her.

Before leaving, Liu Xiaoyu approached Mei Fang and asked about the year-end bonus distribution, making a small request.

"Can I get this year's bonus in advance?"

"I can do that, but I'm afraid you might need a backpack to carry all the cash," Mei Fang joked.

"No... it doesn't have to be in cash."

"Haha, I’m just kidding."

Seeing that Liu Xiaoyu was in a hurry, Mei Fang contacted the finance department to have the money transferred to her card. After handling that, he asked, "Is there something wrong at home?"

Liu Xiaoyu shook her head, "No, nothing serious... I just want to use the money to help pay off some family debt and lighten the burden a bit."

"Good... if you need more help, feel free to come to me."

Liu Xiaoyu answered with a smile, "No need... I've already received a lot of care from you all... The fact that you can create so many amazing things and give me such an opportunity to be involved, I'm truly very grateful."

"Don't say it like that. The accomplishments we've made include your contributions too. Don't feel like an outsider."

While Mei Fang did give preferential treatment to friends, he wasn't one to keep freeloaders in the company. He was very satisfied with Liu Xiaoyu's work attitude and efficiency and believed she deserved recognition.

Reflecting for a moment, Mei Fang added, "But, if you ever get tired of working behind the scenes for Yuan Yuan and want to create something of your own, we'd be happy to provide you with more independent development opportunities. That's what Yuan Yuan hopes for too."

Liu Xiaoyu quickly waved her hand, "No, no! I'm not tired of working with Yuan Yuan. I'm learning a lot from it."

"Haha... I was just using that as an example, but the things you're learning should shine on a bigger stage," Mei Fang said. "I remember you mentioned you're very interested in Yuan Yuan's band. If you want to pursue that, I'm willing to support you just like I did for Peng Xue. Of course, by now you've probably saved up quite a bit yourself. Ultimately, it's about your own career goals, and I think now's a good time to start thinking about that."

"Mm... I understand. I'll think about it carefully," Liu Xiaoyu nodded, then looked up with a soft smile, "Thank you, Mei Fang."