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

Upon reaching the top floor, Mei Fang immediately drew surprised glances from the new employees. A girl fetching water froze upon seeing him.

"St-Station Master! You're the Station Master… no, wait—Boss? Ah, no… sorry… um—"

"It's fine, go about your work. Don't mind me."

After exchanging greetings with the staff, Mei Fang continued on his way. Veteran employees nodded naturally as they passed by.

"Good afternoon, Boss."

"Station Master!"

"Hello, Station Master."

"Station Master."

The top floor was mostly occupied by long-term employees, so incidents of not recognizing Mei Fang were rare. Arriving at the designated conference room, he found several people already seated inside, including his cousin Mei Yue (codenamed "Cousin" within the company), current operations lead Feng Ling, and the ever-genial "Uncle" Chen Rui.

"Finally gracing us with your presence, only to waste time playing around with group interviews? Do you really think you'rethatfree, Boss?"

"Sorry, sorry. It was a rare opportunity."

"I heard you made Chengzi cry?"

"Hey now, that's slander! I was nothing but gentle with her…"

Mei Yue shot her cousin a withering glare before sighing. "Don't disrupt company procedures like this again. Recruitment is hard work, especially for frontline staff."

"Understood, understood. The director's wisdom is absolute."

After teasing his cousin, Mei Fang rested his chin on his hand. "Since you insisted on this meeting, it must be something important about the virtual idol project, right?"

"Correct, Station Master."

Feng Ling explained, "Regarding the virtual idol initiative you proposed earlier, we've recruited a batch of streamers to roleplay the characters. Initially, the plan was to heavily tie them to CStation's existing celebrity personas—yourself, Yuanyuan, Xibao, Big Sis, Yunbao, etc. However, we later realized this direct idolization approach might create a disconnect between users and the real-life references."

"So now we're planning to launch a virtual idol group, stripping away most direct associations while retaining only certain traits. This was discussed with you last week and received your approval."

"That's right… Is there an issue now?"

"All other streamer-actors have begun training, but for Virtual Idol No. 1—'Yuan-chan,' modeled after Yuanyuan—it's proving difficult to separate the character. After discussions with Yue-jie and Uncle, we believe this character should either not debut at all… or only one person is truly suited for the role."

"Only one person suited…"

Mei Fang frowned. "You're saying only Yuanyuan herself should play the part, aren't you?"

Uncle Chen Rui nodded. "Because Yuan-chan's first appearance was at the 'Fang Metaverse Project' launch, leaving a deep impression on viewers. This first impression is hard to override, and changing it now would significantly impact our virtual idol brand."

"Station Master, think about it—how many users would accept a Yuan-chan who isn't Yuanyuan? We believe shelving the character would be better than having someone else portray her…"

Feng Ling added, "Here's the search trend data for 'Yuan-chan,' 'Yuanyuan,' and 'virtual idol' across major platforms since the project launch. The correlation is undeniable."

"Ah… showing me such overwhelming data." Mei Fang sighed. "Let's be real—you're not here to discuss. This is an ambush to pressure me into making Yuanyuan work, isn't it?"

"We debated the feasibility extensively before settling on this approach," Uncle Chen Rui explained. "For the virtual idol project, we'll allocate massive traffic support to 'Yuan-chan.' But rest assured, Station Master—Yuan-chan won't need to do much. Initially, she'll just need to stream in costume to leverage her existing hype. Once our main virtual idol group debuts, Yuan-chan can semi-retire, only appearing for special events."

"I get your point… but I need to discuss this with Yuanyuan. It's her decision too."

"Understood, completely understood."

Uncle Chen Rui continued, "But this concerns the virtual idol industry's future development—Yuanxi Interactive's first flagship product in this niche. Domestically, we currently have zero competitors. With Yuanyuan's status as CStation's mascot and her massive existing fanbase, this is an opportunity we absolutely cannot miss."

"I hear you loud and clear. I'll think it over carefully."

Mei Fang paused. "By the way, any other urgent company matters?"

"Just the usual hiring spree… Expansion is expensive, and I'm swamped with recruitment roadshows. Must be nice—attending university, cuddling girlfriends, playing games, completely oblivious to operational costs."

"Don't spout nonsense, Yueyue-jie! I'm single,single, okay?"

"Single…single… Whatever, you're the boss. I can't be bothered."

Mei Yue jerked her chin at Chen Rui. "Uncle, you should also reportthatmatter to our esteemed boss. No more holding back."

"Ah, I was just getting to it."

Uncle nodded.

"What 'holding back'… Out with it."

Mei Fang found the dynamic between his cousin and Uncle Chen Rui surreal. In his past life, Mei Yue had been an unfortunate victim of bad relationships, while Chen Rui was a Bilibili heavyweight. Now, the latter deferred to his cousin with visible caution—a bizarre sight.

As former legal representative, Mei Yue controlled both HR and finances, making her effectively second only to the big trio within Yuanxi Interactive—a veritable shadow ruler.

However, aware of her limitations in technical and strategic planning, she largely delegated to Uncle Chen Rui, who showed no signs of power-grabbing. The team remained united under Mei Fang's leadership.

Pressed for answers, Uncle Chen Rui laid it out plainly:

"Currently, multiple platforms—Youku Tudou, iQiyi, Tencent Video—are battling us for licensing rights. Many anime deals were nearly finalized, only for prices to suddenly spike due to competition…"

"So the issue is lack of funds, right?"

"Therefore, we need methods to monetize existing products quickly. While games remain our priority, they're still in development. We can't rely solely on future projects—we must focus on immediate revenue streams…"

"Got it."

Translation: They want Yuanyuan to fill the cash flow gap!

How exhausting… Billions in funding allocated, yet still not enough. Might as well retire.

Over the years, Mei Fang had come to appreciate how grueling it was to lead a company.

Ah, speaking of bosses…

He recalled his past life's wealthy entrepreneur boss, Brother Xu. He wondered how his gaming ventures were faring now—2014 was when their company had just launched. Had his butterfly effect altered that timeline?

Though his past life ended in overwork-induced death, Mei Fang bore no grudges. They'd all been comrades marching toward burnout together—he just hadn't lived to see the product launch.

If I hadn't died back then… would the project have saved the company?

Such complicated thoughts…

After the meeting, Mei Fang convened with middle management, delving into operational details until his head throbbed.

The copyright wars were just beginning in the anime sphere, but the impending battles over licenses and gaming approvals promised to be financial black holes.

As a reincarnator, Mei Fang knew to prepare early—buthowearly? While CStation had gained slightly more advantage than Bilibili in his past life, it wasn't enough. The gaming approval crisis had taught him to stockpile game demos for license applications years in advance.

Ugh… Running a business is so damn hard!

Lost in thought while driving, Mei Fang nearly missed Lin Youxi's video call. Pulling over, he returned it promptly.

Lin Youxi blinked upon seeing him. "Done with work? Heading back?"

"Yeah… Meetings drained me."

"Lunch at home then? Yuanyuan and I already ate, thinking you wouldn't make it. I'll cook for you."

"No need, it's past 1 PM already. You have afternoon classes—I'll grab something on the way."

"Classes can wait, butDaddy'sstomach must be filled by me."

"What kind of nonsense are you spouting?!"

Flustered, Mei Fang's retort was drowned out by an energetic intrusion.

"Ah FangAh FangAh FangAh FangAh Fang—"

"What's gotten into you…?"

Xia Yuan puffed her cheeks. "Youpromisedme daytime activities!"

"I know, I know. Tonight, okay?"

Mei Fang smiled before ending the call. "See you soon!"

After hanging up, Xia Yuan and Lin Youxi exchanged glances.

"Ah Fang's upset… stressed out."

"You noticed too?"

Lin Youxi nodded. "We know him best."

"That's just like him… trying to shoulder everything alone again."

"But we can't let him."

Lin Youxi said firmly, "Before, we were immature—only taking from Ah Fang without giving back. Now we must share his burdens, not just cling to him endlessly."

"Says the woman who already had her way with Ah Fang last night. How bold."

"…"

Lin Youxi glared. "If you're so pure, don't hold Ah Fang's hand or sleep with him tonight."

"No! Iwill! Ideservelove!" Xia Yuan huffed. "Ah Fang promised!"

"Then don't criticize me. I'm making Ah Fang food now—he can't skip meals during growth periods."

"Your topic-changing skills are truly unmatched."

After bickering, Xia Yuan regretted her tone.

"Youxi, do you think—"

"Not now. Cooking."

Lin Youxi briskly chopped vegetables.

Youxi's mad at me… Disaster!

Xia Yuan hovered nervously before mustering a smile. "I'm really worried about Ah Fang… but I don't know what's troubling him. If I ask, he'll just hide it to spare me stress. You're his right hand—can you tell me?"

"Aren't you sleeping with him tonight? You're better at cheering him up than I am. If he won't tell you, then drop it."

"Because even if I knew… I couldn't help…"

Xia Yuan deflated, voice cracking. "Then… if you figure it out, help him. If you can coax it out of him… I'll yield tonight to you."

Lin Youxi's eyebrows shot up before she chuckled. "I was just teasing—why so serious? Acting like you're reluctantly handing Ah Fang over."

She softened. "Truthfully, I don't know what's weighing on Ah Fang either. We'll ask when he's back. And I won't steal your night—that's Ah Fang's promise to you.Iwas the one who sneaked in first."

"Wuwu Youxi—you're the love of my life!"

"Tch. Where does that leave your precious Xiaoxue?"

"Xiaoxue's just a bestie! You'refamily—totally different."

Xia Yuan nuzzled Lin Youxi. "After all these years, you're still jealous of her."

"She fell for both my favorite people in the world. Who else should I be jealous of?"

"Alright, alright… I was just teasing—why so serious?"

"Recycling my lines? Not bad. Our Yuanyuan's grown up."

"Hehe, there's more growth you and Ah Fang haven't seen…"

Xia Yuan scratched her head. "I'll make Ah Fang realize—with my help, problems become easy and fun."

"You just want him to find youuseful."

"Same difference, but your phrasing is so—"

Once the meal was ready, Xia Yuan and Lin Youxi transformed into a pair of "husband-watching stones," eagerly awaiting their CEO's return.