January 31, Tuesday.
The second day of official work after the Spring Festival holiday.
As the “culprit,” Pei Qian had no idea about the turmoil happening in Los Angeles across the ocean. At this moment, his only concern was the system settlement for this cycle.
He was currently in his office, checking the emergency money-spending situation during the Spring Festival week.
Although quite a few unexpected events occurred last cycle, the overall fund control situation was still good.
Mission and Choice had absorbed a large amount of funds, and combined with the overwhelming promotional activities and discounted sales in major cities during the Spring Festival, the system funds were finally spent almost entirely.
Physical industries like takeout, internet cafes, gyms, and logistics kept opening new branches, helping Pei Qian reduce a lot of pressure.
Additionally, the Helpful APP that had been in development successfully launched online right before the settlement, though this APP currently only contained poetry content and hadn’t had time for much promotion, so it didn’t generate very widespread response.
Pei Qian was very satisfied with this, considering it the most successful project of this cycle that should be continued.
As for other projects, although some profited and some lost, Pei Qian was very clear that the cost of this month’s emergency spending was transferring the profit risk to the next cycle.
For example, Mission and Choice received another large development fund; various industries’ advertisements were everywhere, greatly enhancing their reputation; and Yuan Meng Ventures’ series of operations around Cold-faced Girl made entrepreneurs with ulterior motives keep their distance…
All these planted considerable hidden dangers for the future.
But for Pei Qian, as long as he survived this cycle safely, the next cycle’s problems could be dealt with in the next cycle. He could always think of new ways to spend money anyway.
In front of Pei Qian, the system interface automatically appeared.
[Wealth Conversion System 2.0]
[Host: Pei Qian]
[Profit conversion ratio 1000:1, Loss conversion ratio 10:1]
[Settlement in progress…]
[Reestimating fixed asset values…]
[System Funds: 5.76 million + 16.32 million (↓8.92 million)]
[Fixed Assets: 163.22 million]
[Details: One commercial-residential villa in Mingyun Villa (9.2 million), 12 units in City Dawn Building No. 1 (41.28 million), 77 units in Shundong Garden commercial-residential building (22.89 million), 16 units in Building 8 of Binhu District (12.9 million), 16 units in Building 9 of Binhu District (12.95 million), 30 units in Building 5 of Jindi Huating Complex (64 million)]
Seeing the system funds number, Pei Qian couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.
The anxiety he’d been carrying finally eased!
Although this number was higher than he expected, it was still acceptable.
Upon closer observation, the value of fixed assets was actually fluctuating too. For instance, the commercial-residential building’s value dropped by hundreds of thousands, while residential buildings all had varying degrees of appreciation.
Now it seemed Jindi Huating Complex, or Tree Sloth Apartment 2.0 mode, wasn’t too different from Pei Qian’s expectations. Since the building prices themselves were relatively high, this settlement didn’t see significant appreciation, just a small increase.
Overall, the fixed asset amount was controlled within an acceptable range.
However, Pei Qian couldn’t help feeling emotional. Without realizing it, the fixed asset value in his hands, oh no, in Tenda’s hands, had already reached 160 million.
Although this brought a 16 million burden to system fund settlements, it also meant Pei Qian had consumed over 100 million in funds through buying buildings, which was quite worthwhile.
Without these fixed assets, Pei Qian really wouldn’t know where else to spend this money.
Moreover, most of this money was used for Tree Sloth Apartments, solving housing problems for many people, which could be considered doing good deeds.
This gave Pei Qian a sense of accomplishment.
The system interface continued scrolling.
[Settlement in progress…]
[Wealth conversion in progress…]
[System Funds: 5.76 million + 16.32 million (↓8.92 million)]
[Fixed Assets: 163.22 million]
[Personal Property: 3.148 million (↑890,000 x 110%)]
[For each cycle with wealth conversion value above 800,000, you will receive one *significantly impactful* mystery reward (currently claimable)]
[Current unfinished project: Mission and Choice project, must complete game release and movie premiere before next settlement.]
Seeing the system funds converted to personal property, Pei Qian finally felt relieved.
“Good, converted over 900,000. Although it’s a few tens of thousands less than last cycle, this cycle was only four months long and had no special tasks to reduce system funds. Converting this much money is already excellent.”
“Daily expenses also accumulated. With skin sales and miscellaneous income, it’s hardly noticeable in the current total personal property.”
“Over 3 million, ah… Personal wealth has reached a new peak again. At this rate, saving enough for a villa in a year or two shouldn’t be a problem, right?”
“But looking at the system funds and fixed assets numbers, why do I still feel somewhat pathetic…”
Pei Qian thought about how, as the CEO of Tenda Group, he could easily make millions with any casual venture, and the company held fixed assets worth 160 million, including several buildings. Yet he had to save this long just to buy a villa, which gave him a faint sense of melancholy.
However, he quickly cheered up.
“It’s fine. They say everything’s difficult at the beginning, and I’ve already passed that stage.”
“I used to profit frequently before, but now I can maintain stable losses, converting 80,000-90,000 in personal property each time. This shows I’ve figured out the system’s temperament and mastered the art of emergency spending.”
“As system funds increase, naturally I’ll lose more and convert more money!”
Pei Qian regained confidence and clicked to claim this cycle’s reward.
Last cycle’s so-called “mystery reward” was a random technological breakthrough within the next six months. Now it seemed clear that was Xunke Technology’s AI breakthrough.
Without this breakthrough, the fully automatic AI debating machine wouldn’t have been profitable, and OTTO phone’s new system wouldn’t have been so well-received. It had certainly created some difficulties for Pei Qian.
But looking at the bright side, the impact of such technological breakthroughs wasn’t too severe.
If it were breakthroughs like global gaming entering the VR era, communication technology advancing by leaps and bounds, or cloud gaming experiencing unprecedented development, they might create even bigger difficulties for Pei Qian.
So, contentment is key.
Although this reward didn’t help Pei Qian lose more money, at least it didn’t make him profit big either. He should be grateful.
If future technological breakthroughs were only at this level, Pei Qian could rest easy without worry.
But what would this mystery reward be?
[Mystery Reward (Upgraded Version): Can consume certain personal property to increase subsidy amounts for a specific industry, at a 1:100 ratio. This reward is a permanent option, but can only be used once per cycle, with personal property expenditure not exceeding 100,000 each time.]
Pei Qian: “?”
He carefully reviewed the reward explanation.
Simply put, Pei Qian could spend a certain amount of personal property to increase consumer subsidies for a specific industry.
Currently, most of Pei Qian’s industries could offer consumer subsidies through promotional activities. For example, during the 1024 Digital Festival, ROF Custom PC could promote at low prices.
Similarly, Mooyin Delivery, Slackin’ Internet Cafe, and other industries could subsidize consumers under the banner of promotions and market expansion.
But such subsidies had limits. The system would dynamically monitor to prevent unlimited loss-making sales.
This new reward rule essentially added a permanent option where Pei Qian could spend 10,000 of his own money to let an industry spend an additional 1 million subsidizing consumers.
Pei Qian was overjoyed: “Huh? This is great!”
“This makes emergency spending even easier!”
This rule was obviously meant for use during losses. Using it during profit periods would be foolish.
For instance, in this settlement, although he had successfully created losses, there were still over 5 million system funds unspent. Pei Qian only needed to spend another 50,000 out of pocket to give all 5+ million system funds to consumers as subsidies, creating a 5+ million loss, essentially earning himself another 500,000 in the settlement.
Back and forth, it was equivalent to using 50,000 to earn 500,000 in personal property.
Even elementary students could calculate this was pure profit!
Of course, the system had limits: once per cycle, and not exceeding 100,000, meaning at most 10 million in additional consumer subsidies through this method.
Of course, Pei Qian didn’t know if this limit would change later, but for now, it was sufficient.
The system interface continued scrolling.
[Next settlement: In 6 months]
[System funding replenishment incoming, target amount: 50 million]
[Replenishing system funds by 44.24 million…]
[System funds replenishment complete]
[System Funds: 50 million + 16.32 million]
[Fixed Assets: 163.22 million]
[Personal Property: 3.148 million]
[For each cycle with wealth conversion value above 800,000, you will receive one *significantly impactful* mystery reward.]
[Can consume certain personal property to increase subsidy amounts for a specific industry, at a 1:100 ratio. Current cycle has one use remaining, personal property expenditure not exceeding 100,000.]
[Current unfinished project: Mission and Choice project, must complete game release and movie premiere before next settlement.]
“Great! Next cycle will be another triumphant one!” Pei Qian felt his confidence return.
The next settlement would be in six months, July 31, 2012. For Pei Qian, this timeline was ample.
Although Mission and Choice game must release and the movie must premiere this cycle, it also meant Pei Qian could start a new project delayed until the next cycle.
As long as he spread himself thin enough, there’d be no fear of running out of money to spend.
Pei Qian already had a rough idea of what the next delayed release project would be: starting a new project for Horror Hostel!
As they say, grand works ruin nations.
Ever since “Static simplicity philosophy debating machine, dynamic haunted house roller coaster pendulum” became popular, Horror Hostel and Tenda’s various physical businesses in Jingzhou also gained popularity.
Many visitors to Jingzhou would make a side trip to experience Horror Hostel.
Even so, Horror Hostel’s massive investment meant it wouldn’t recoup costs anytime soon. Moreover, after half a year, interested people had all visited, and Horror Hostel’s popularity was gradually declining.
Since it wasn’t as hot anymore, it was perfect timing to start a new project and spend another few tens of millions!
Besides that, Pei Qian had plans for other industries too.
In summary, this cycle’s initial system funding reached an unprecedented 50 million. Pei Qian planned to make the most of this opportunity and go all out!