Sue them until they go bankrupt

Speaking of the farm,

there’s a little anecdote to share.

Cao Cheng had already secured the copyright early on, but last year, a gaming company from Zhonghai nearly beat him to the release.

After all, copyright awareness these days is practically nonexistent.

Fortunately, Cao Cheng simply invested in and acquired the rival company, merging it into Miracle Game Studio.

He then went on to optimize the farm game as a whole.

It wasn’t until this year, after finalizing his stake in Goose’s shares, that Young Master Cao unveiled this overnight sensation of a game, aiming to put Miracle Game on the map.

……

Cao Cheng straight-up bought a "Yellow Diamond VIP" membership, doubling his daily fertilizer rewards.

At the moment, no one was playing yet.

But Young Master Cao was confident—soon, very soon, this game would sweep the nation.

The game company’s marketing blitz had already kicked off that morning, flooding the internet with sponsored articles and ads as if money were no object.

It was like setting off strings of firecrackers on a tranquil lake.

And not just any firecrackers—each one packed hundreds of thousands of bangs.

After the deafening crackles, the once-calm surface rippled with layer upon layer of waves.

……

The platform determines the floor.

In some cases, the floor matters far more than the ceiling.

Just like the barrel theory—the shortest plank dictates how much water the barrel can hold.

That’s exactly how QiuQiu·Miracle Farm worked.

In his dream, this game had started on a campus network.

What kind of scale was that?

Registered users barely scratched a few million.

But now, on Planet Blue, it launched directly on QiuQiu Space, where registered users exceeded a billion.

Just last month, peak concurrent users had already broken 90 million.

So,

it wasn’t even in the same league.

This kind of floor ensured that Miracle Farm became a viral sensation in just a week.

A single week.

Daily active users for Miracle Farm soared past 700,000.

And the numbers kept climbing at a breakneck pace.

But the scariest metric wasn’t the DAU—it was the retention rate!

Every platform in the future would obsess over so-called "retention."

In other words,

nearly 50% of players who tried Miracle Farm would log back into QiuQiu Space the next day to harvest their crops, plant new ones, and—of course—sneak a few veggies from their friends’ farms!

The retention was sky-high and still rising.

……

Both game companies were already popping champagne.

Sure, celebrating at halftime isn’t the best habit, but this time, it didn’t backfire.

One month in,

by December,

"Miracle Farm" had surpassed every other game, domestic or international—every single one.

Growth never dipped below millions per day.

Retention was terrifyingly high.

And the player count was closing in on 100 million.

What did that mean?

Out of QiuQiu’s billion users, at least 10% had started playing, with retention exceeding 70%.

And all these numbers were still climbing.

After all,

the game had only been out for a month.

The future looked bright.

A full month in, and not a single metric showed signs of slowing.

At this rate, barring any surprises, next year would be the farm’s absolute peak.

Every other game would have to steer clear.

……

"Are you even human?"

"Huh?"

"You’re my sister! How could you do this to me?"

"You stole my crops?"

"…"

That morning,

The Fourth barged in and dragged a half-asleep Young Master Cao out of bed.

The Fourth ranted, "I woke up at six in the damn morning, and you still beat me to it!"

"Are you even human?"

"Do you know how hard I worked on those crops?"

"Give them back."

"…"

The Fourth grabbed Young Master Cao by the throat.

Young Master Cao instantly channeled his inner movie villain, tongue lolling, "Guh… guh… guh…"

Third Sister couldn’t help but laugh as she pulled The Fourth away.

Third Sister held her back, saying, "It’s just a game, come on. Why take it so seriously?"

"Me? Taking it seriously?"

The Fourth pointed at Young Master Cao, furious. "He’s the one who set an alarm in the middle of the night to steal my crops! Who does that? Is this me being unreasonable?"

Third Sister stifled a giggle. "Alright, alright, let Fifth Brother sleep. Sort it out tonight."

"Sleep? Hell no! Not until he pays me back!" The Fourth refused to back down.

Second Sister, who hadn’t left for work yet,

heard the commotion and came over.

After getting the gist,

Second Sister chimed in, "Actually, it’s not just Fifth Brother. Did you see the news yesterday? Some middle-aged woman set an alarm to steal crops at midnight. It made headlines."

"…" The Fourth was stunned. "People actually do that?"

Second Sister nodded. "Yep. My boss did it too—probably got up to pee and decided to swipe some crops while she was at it. I was planning to confront her today. Theft is illegal, and she should know better."

"…"

"…"

"…"

Second Sister’s words left the other three speechless.

Turns out, she was the one taking it too seriously.

……

This kind of family drama wasn’t unique—it was happening everywhere.

The game had spawned its own social ecosystem.

It had become a cultural phenomenon.

Especially the term "crop theft," which was all the rage.

It had practically replaced "Have you eaten?" with "Did you harvest yet?" or "Did you steal anything?"

Conversations everywhere revolved around the farm.

Yellow Diamond VIP subscriptions were skyrocketing daily.

Profits weren’t huge yet—dividends hadn’t even started rolling in.

But Young Master Cao’s "emotional value" was exploding. Just now, The Fourth had tossed out what felt like half a treasure chest’s worth of outrage—all over some stolen crops.

This thing would keep Young Master Cao swimming in emotional value for at least a year.

It was already outpacing "The Voice" by a landslide, with way more longevity.

No wonder Young Master Cao had gone into gaming.

All for those sweet, sweet emotions.

This farm game had also given him unstoppable momentum for his next projects—straight into "Arena of Valor" and "PUBG."

Plus, securing the domestic rights for "League of Legends"!

……

December.

Year’s end.

With the farm game a certified hit, Cao Cheng took a month off before diving back into work.

This time, Young Master Cao brought along Xu Qing, CEO of the cosmetics company, and a few key members of the newly formed branding team.

They all boarded a flight to the capital.

Young Master Cao used to have a fear of flying.

He hated planes.

And dreaded crashes.

But now? Zero fear.

Even if he survived eight or ten crashes, he’d probably walk away unscathed—just duck into his pocket dimension and wait it out.

Hah…

And even if he didn’t, a quick activation of his protective field could tank the impact.

Cooldown? Just a day.

Basically immortal.

……

"Bro!"

The moment he stepped out of the airport,

a shivering but radiant girl came sprinting toward him.

Definitely Lingling!

She’d already started performing,

but hadn’t graduated yet—planning to go for her master’s and PhD.

Beijing in December was freezing, but this girl wore nothing but a down jacket over…

How did she even know Young Master Cao’s preferences?

Weird.

Young Master Cao barely had time to process it before catching the leaping girl in his arms.

Xu Qing and the branding team quickly averted their gazes.

The young boss's affairs were not something they dared to linger on.

Rumor had it the young boss already had a girlfriend, so who was this?

Never mind.

No idea.

Didn’t see a thing.

We know nothing!!

We’re just a bunch of emotionless NPCs.

Cao Cheng gently set the girl down, softening his tone as he ruffled her hair. "You’ve grown up."

"Of course I have," Lingling replied sweetly.

She immediately launched into a barrage of questions. "Brother, why did you suddenly come to Beijing?"

"Ah, it’s a long story."

"Then make it short!"

"Oho, sharp tongue! Our Lingling’s picked up some bad habits, huh? Starting to sound just like The Fourth."

"No way," Lingling giggled.

Cao Cheng smiled too, taking her hand as they walked out.

A private car was waiting.

The Cao family had subsidiaries in Beijing—Miracle Media had one, Miracle Capital had one, and even Tang Xin’s Proud Sky Capital had a presence.

So, naturally, an entire motorcade arrived.

After ushering Lingling into the backseat, the rest of the team boarded the other cars.

Then, in a flash, they sped away from the airport.

The scene didn’t go unnoticed. Soon, a barely noticed headline appeared in the papers:

"Youngest Billionaire Arrives in Beijing for Romantic Rendezvous!"

No doubt about it—the tabloids had struck again.

Inside the car, Cao Cheng still held her hand, not letting go.

A pianist’s hands were always soft, with long, slender fingers.

"Three things…"

"Actually, just one thing—going to the Central Broadcasting Station."

Cao Cheng gave a brief explanation, and Lingling understood.

First, Little Chensheng was set to perform at the Central TV Spring Festival Gala this year. With two championship titles under his belt, his fame in China was sky-high.

Central TV couldn’t care less about Hunan TV’s blacklist—they invited him without hesitation.

Second, Cao Cheng himself had been invited to attend the gala as a VIP guest, seated in the front row.

And third, Miracle Cosmetics was bidding for a commercial slot during the gala.

So, whether for business or personal reasons, Central TV had extended the invitation.

That’s why Cao Cheng said the three things were really just one—all tied to the station.

But after hearing it, Lingling pouted. "I thought you came specifically to see me."

Who was Cao Cheng?

He wasn’t about to be cornered by such a coy remark.

He pinched her soft cheek. "The three things are just tasks—annoyances, really. Coming to see you? That’s my heart’s desire. Doesn’t count as a ‘thing.’"

"So," he added, "I came to Beijing mainly for you. The rest? Just side errands."

One sentence was all it took.

Lingling beamed.

"Brother, you’re the best."

"Damn right!"

That night, The Fourth called.

Her tone was prickly.

"Look at you, Young Master, off to Beijing for a little date, huh?"

"What nonsense?" Cao Cheng was baffled.

The Fourth ran an entertainment company—she never missed gossip like this.

Even if she knew Lingling and Cao Cheng’s relationship wasn’t like that, she couldn’t resist needling him.

"Ugh."

After hearing her out, Cao Cheng finally grasped the situation.

In a fit of rage—or at least, the semblance of one—he declared, "Sue them. Bankrupt them."

Now that he was in the entertainment industry, he might as well act the part.

Nothing like a good lawsuit to make a statement.

Perfect.