ROSGT #### Chapter 51: I Must Use My Skills to Avenge Her!
### Volume 1
#### Chapter 51: I Must Use My Skills to Avenge Her!
"You're starting a magazine and want me to manage the finances for you?"
In his home, Ye Cui's mother, Zhou Yayun, was stunned upon hearing his proposal.
She placed her bowl of rice on the table and stared at Ye Cui, "Hammer, are you joking?"
"Of course not," Ye Cui said with a smile, unwilling to put down the noodles his mother had made. "When I say managing finances, I actually mean having you take care of the entire magazine. I'll handle editing and layout, but dealing with the printing house and various magazine sales venues like newsstands and bookstores will be your responsibility. I don't understand those things, but you have a background in accounting and are skilled with finances, so it shouldn't be difficult for you."
"I can certainly do these things," Zhou Yayun said, looking at her son with a mix of curiosity and disbelief. "Xiaoling said you were developing a game. Why are you starting a magazine now?"
Ye Cui couldn't admit it was a spur-of-the-moment decision, or his mother would surely scold him for being impulsive.
He chuckled, "Mom, you don't understand. The game and the magazine are related. When the game is released, we can advertise it in the magazine. Plus, the magazine is a comic magazine—oh, I mean a graphic novel magazine. If the comics become popular, they can be adapted into games, which is mutually beneficial."
Zhou Yayun could barely accept this explanation but still felt unsure about managing a magazine.
"Since Hammer has asked, you should agree. Haven't you been thinking about finding a job lately?" Ye Haishan, sitting at the table, chimed in.
He had learned about Ye Cui developing a game from his daughter and had researched games online, seeing the praise for both games and Professor Cha. Ye Haishan had lost sleep for days out of pride.
Ever since his son became paralyzed, he had feared he would become despondent. Now, seeing his son's sudden success, he was overjoyed. Like Ye Ling, he didn't question the reasons behind his son's transformation; familial love often brings such blind spots.
Ye Ling also urged, "Mom, just agree. My brother is amazing now. My friends are all fans of his. They even asked me to introduce them to him, but I refused."
"Why?" Ye Cui asked, puzzled, while eating his noodles.
"They're up to no good. Their eyes lit up when they saw your photo. They want to snatch you away, but I won't let them!" Ye Ling huffed.
Ye Cui couldn't help but smile, knowing his sister was exaggerating. Her friends probably just liked the game "Lianlian Kan" and became fans of Professor Cha.
Still, it made him happy to hear.
He turned to his mother, "Mom, what do you think of my proposal?"
"Let me think about it," Zhou Yayun hesitated, worried about failing at managing the magazine.
Ye Cui sensed her concern and said, "Mom, don't worry. I have confidence in the magazine's success. You just need to handle the financial management." After a pause, he added with a smile, "If you don't agree, I'll have to hire someone else."
"Brat, so you didn't plan to pay your mom from the start?" Ye Haishan teased.
Ye Cui laughed, "Of course not. But I'd prefer to keep the money in the family. Besides, if mom takes another job, she'd be under someone else's control, and I don't like that. In my magazine, mom will be the boss, managing others. I'm thinking about you."
When deciding to have his mother help manage the magazine, Ye Cui had already planned to give the magazine's income to his family. Although they were a middle-class family, his leg injury had caused considerable financial strain over the past six months. The magazine's income would be a way to compensate.
As for whether the comic magazine would be profitable, that wasn't his main concern.
Zhou Yayun was amused, "You sweet-talking child. Alright, I'll help you for a while."
"That's great. We're in the early preparation stage, and there's a lot for you to handle," Ye Cui said with a smile.
The magazine office location and staff recruitment needed to be prepared quickly, but finding contributors wasn't an issue.
Over the past few days, Ye Cui had met with several of Fang Xi's friends and signed contracts with a few promising ones. He provided them with storyboards and bought their artwork at 100 yuan per page.
However, he retained the copyrights to the comics.
This essentially meant he was buying them out.
Considering the impact of these iconic comics, 100 yuan per page was a bargain, and he didn't mind spending the money.
The aspiring comic artists were delighted, unaware they were being shortchanged, thinking they had struck gold.
It was a win-win situation.
After discussing the magazine at dinner, Ye Cui still had to head back to Jian Fan's studio.
The game "Kung Fu" was nearly complete, and most of his energy was focused on it—testing the game, balancing, and bug-finding.
Though it was a simple arcade game, he thoroughly enjoyed the process.
Despite its simplicity, "Kung Fu" lacked features like special moves and a rage meter, which reduced its playability. In the current build, Ye Cui couldn't even beat Fang Nan.
This puzzled him. How could a seemingly delicate girl be so fierce in a fighting game?
She was a complete tomboy in the game.
"It must be an illusion," he reassured himself for the umpteenth time.
Being repeatedly defeated by Fang Nan in the game bruised his ego, and he vowed to avenge himself with his high-level gaming skills once they developed more technical games like "Street Fighter" and "The King of Fighters."
After dinner, as he was about to leave, his sister Ye Ling stopped him quietly.
"What's up, Xiaoling?"
"Brother, I've been practicing the song 'Ningxia' these days. Can you listen and tell me how I did?" Ye Ling asked, blushing slightly.
"I almost forgot!" Ye Cui's eyes lit up. "Sing it for me now."
With her sweet voice, Ye Ling's rendition of the lovely song "Ningxia" would surely be enchanting!