Chapter 1 The End of January

January 31st, Tuesday.

The second day back at work after the Spring Festival holiday.

Pei Qian, the "culprit" of it all, was completely unaware of the storm brewing in Los Angeles, across the ocean. At this moment, all he cared about was the system settlement for this cycle.

He was in his office, reviewing the situation of the urgent spending during the week-long Spring Festival holiday.

Although quite a few accidents had occurred in the last cycle, the overall control of funds was still good.

"Mission and Choice" had absorbed a large amount of money, and the ubiquitous advertising and promotional activities in major cities during the Spring Festival had finally consumed most of the system funds.

Take-out, internet cafes, gyms, logistics and other physical industries were also constantly opening new branches, which helped Pei Qian alleviate a lot of pressure.

In addition, the useful app that had been under development had also managed to launch successfully in the week before the settlement. However, the app currently only had poetry-related content and hadn't had time for any promotion, so it didn't generate a wide response.

Pei Qian was very satisfied with this, feeling that it was the most successful project of this cycle and should continue to be promoted.

As for the other projects, although some made money and some lost money, Pei Qian was very clear that the cost of the urgent spending this month was transferring the risk of profit to the next cycle.

For example, "Mission and Choice" had received a large amount of additional development funds, and the advertising for various industries was overwhelming, greatly increasing their visibility. Also, Round Dream Ventures' series of operations surrounding Leng Mian had made those entrepreneurs with ulterior motives stay away...

All of these planted considerable hidden dangers for the future.

But for Pei Qian, as long as he could get through this cycle safely, he could deal with the next cycle's problems when they arrived. He could always think of new ways to spend money.

The system screen automatically appeared before Pei Qian's eyes.

[Wealth Conversion System 2.0]

[Host: Pei Qian]

[Surplus Conversion Ratio: 1000:1, Loss Conversion Ratio: 10:1]

[Settlement in progress...]

[Reassessing the value of fixed assets...]

[System Funds: 5.76 million + 16.32 million (↓8.92 million)]

[Fixed Assets: 163.22 million]

[Details: Mingyun Mountain Villa commercial and residential villa (9.2 million), 12 units in Building 1 of City Dawn (41.28 million), 77 units in the Shundong Garden commercial and residential building (22.89 million), 16 units in Building 8 of Binhu Community (12.9 million), 16 units in Building 9 of Binhu Community (12.95 million), 30 units in Building 5 of Jindi Huating Community (64 million)]

Seeing the number of system funds, Pei Qian couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

The weight that had been hanging in his heart finally lifted!

Although the number was a bit higher than he had expected, it was still acceptable.

A closer look revealed that the value of fixed assets was also fluctuating. For example, the value of the commercial and residential building had fallen by several hundred thousand, while the value of the residential buildings had increased to varying degrees.

It now seemed that the Jindi Huating Community, which was the Sloth Apartments 2.0 model, was about as Pei Qian had expected. Because the house prices were already relatively high, this settlement didn't see a significant increase, only a slight one.

Overall, the amount of fixed assets was still within an acceptable range.

However, Pei Qian couldn't help but sigh. Without realizing it, the value of the fixed assets in his hands, or rather, in Tengda's hands, had reached 160 million.

Although it brought a burden of 16 million to the system fund settlement, it also meant that Pei Qian had spent more than 100 million by buying buildings, which was still very worthwhile.

If it weren't for these fixed assets, Pei Qian really wouldn't know where else to spend the money.

What's more, the vast majority of this money was used to create Sloth Apartments, solving the housing problem for many people, which could be considered a good deed.

This made Pei Qian feel quite accomplished.

The system screen continued to scroll.

[Settling...]

[Performing wealth conversion...]

[System Funds: 5.76 million + 16.32 million (↓8.92 million)]

[Fixed Assets: 163.22 million]

[Personal Assets: 3.148 million (↑890,000 x 110%)]

[Each cycle with a wealth conversion value of over 800,000 will receive a *significant* mysterious reward (currently available)]

[Currently Unfinished Project: "Mission and Choice" project, the game must be released and the movie must be released before the next settlement.]

Seeing the system funds being converted into personal assets, Pei Qian was finally relieved.

"Not bad, converted more than 900,000. Although it's a few tens of thousands less than the last cycle, this cycle is only four months long, and there were no special tasks to reduce system funds. Converting this much money is already very good."

"There are also some daily expenses, plus the money for skins and miscellaneous income. It's hard to tell from the current total amount of personal assets."

"More than 3 million, ah... personal wealth has reached a new peak again. At this rate, it shouldn't be a problem to save up for a villa in a year or two, right?"

"But looking at the numbers for system funds and fixed assets, why do I still feel a bit miserable..."

When Pei Qian thought that he, as the boss of Tengda Group, could easily earn tens of millions with a casual move, and that the company's fixed assets were as high as 160 million, with several buildings, yet he still had to save for so long to buy a villa, he felt a faint sadness.

But he quickly cheered up.

"It's okay, as the saying goes, everything is hard at the beginning, and I've already passed that stage."

"I used to make money often, but now I can consistently lose money. Every time, I convert 800,000 to 900,000 in personal assets. This shows that I've figured out the system's temperament, and my urgent spending skills have reached a high level."

"In the future, as system funds increase, the losses will naturally increase as well, and the converted money will definitely increase as well!"

Pei Qian was filled with confidence again and clicked to claim this cycle's reward.

The so-called "mysterious reward" from the last cycle was a random technological breakthrough within the next six months. Looking at it now, it should be Xunke Technology's artificial intelligence breakthrough.

If it hadn't been for this technological breakthrough, the fully automatic intelligent arguing machine wouldn't have made money, and the new system for otto mobile phones wouldn't have been so well-received. It could be said to have created some difficulties for Pei Qian.

But thinking on the bright side, the impact of this technological breakthrough wasn't that great.

If it were a technological breakthrough that ushered in the VR era for global games, a leap in communication technology, or the unprecedented development of cloud gaming, it might have caused even greater difficulties for Pei Qian.

Therefore, contentment brings happiness.

Although this reward didn't make Pei Qian lose more money, it at least didn't make him make a killing. He should already be content.

If future technological breakthroughs are all at this level, then Pei Qian can rest easy and not worry too much.

He just didn't know what this mysterious reward would be.

[Mysterious Reward (Upgraded Version): You can consume a certain amount of personal assets to increase the profit margin of a certain industry, at a ratio of 1:100. This reward is a permanent option, but can only be used once per cycle, and the personal assets consumed each time cannot exceed 100,000.]

Pei Qian: "?"

He carefully examined the explanation of this reward.

In simple terms, Pei Qian could spend a certain amount of his personal assets to increase the profit margin for consumers in a certain industry.

Currently, most of the industries under Pei Qian's control can offer discounts to consumers through promotional activities. For example, during the 1024 Digital Festival, ROF computers can be sold at a lower price through promotions.

Similarly, Take-Out, Internet Cafe, and other industries can also offer discounts to consumers under the banner of promotions and expanding market share.

However, these discounts are limited, and the system will conduct dynamic supervision to prevent unlimited loss-making sales.

And this new reward rule is equivalent to adding a permanent option. Pei Qian can pay 10,000 yuan out of his own pocket and allow a certain industry to burn an extra 1 million to give profits to consumers.

Pei Qian couldn't help but be overjoyed: "Hmm? Good thing!"

"Doesn't this make it easier to spend money quickly?"

This rule is obviously meant to be used when there are already losses. Using it when there is profit would be foolish.

For example, with this settlement, although he had successfully lost money, there was still more than 5 million in system funds left unspent. Pei Qian only needs to pay another 50,000 yuan out of his own pocket to return all 5 million in system funds to consumers as profits, creating 5 million in losses, which would actually allow him to earn an extra 500,000 during the settlement.

Doing this would be equivalent to earning 500,000 in personal assets with 50,000.

Even an elementary school student could calculate that this was a pure profit!

Of course, the system also has limitations. It can only be used once per cycle, and it cannot exceed 100,000 yuan, which means that this method can only be used to give consumers an extra 10 million in profits at most.

Of course, Pei Qian didn't know if this limit would change in the future, but at least for now, it was already enough.

The system screen continued to scroll.

[Next Settlement Time: 6 months later]

[System funds will be replenished soon, target amount: 50 million]

[System funds of 44.24 million are being replenished...]

[System funds have been replenished]

[System Funds: 50 million + 16.32 million]

[Fixed Assets: 163.22 million]

[Personal Assets: 3.148 million]

[Each cycle with a wealth conversion value of over 800,000 will receive a *significant* mysterious reward.]

[You can consume a certain amount of personal assets to increase the profit margin of a certain industry, at a ratio of 1:100. Can be used once more in the current cycle, and the personal assets consumed cannot exceed 100,000.]

[Currently Unfinished Project: "Mission and Choice" project, the game must be released and the movie must be released before the next settlement.]

"Great, the next cycle is full of ambition!" Pei Qian felt invigorated again.

The next settlement is in six months, on July 31, 2012. For Pei Qian, this was plenty of time.

Although the "Mission and Choice" game must be released and the movie must be released in this cycle, it also means that Pei Qian can start a new project and delay the release of the product until the next cycle.

Anyway, as long as the business is big enough, there's no need to worry about not being able to spend money.

Pei Qian had roughly decided what project he wanted to postpone next: to start a new project for GOG (Ghastly Origins of Gloomth)!

As the saying goes, extravagant projects ruin the country.

Ever since "Quietly, a minimalist philosophical argumentative machine; dynamically, a haunted house roller coaster pendulum" became popular, GOG and Tengda's many physical industries in Jingzhou also became popular.

Many people came to Jingzhou to play and would take the opportunity to experience GOG.

But even so, because GOG had a huge investment, it wouldn't be able to recoup those investments in a short period of time. Moreover, it had been half a year, and those who were interested had already experienced it. The popularity of GOG was slowly declining.

Since it's not so popular anymore, it's almost time to start a new project and spend tens of millions more!

In addition, Pei Qian had arrangements for the other industries.

In short, the initial system funds for this cycle came to an unprecedented 50 million, and Pei Qian took this opportunity to let loose and go all out!