Chapter 2 – Fries, Fans, and Foreshadowing
The smell of frying oil was already clinging to my clothes.
Perfect. Smelly shirts meant customers — and customers meant I could shovel System money into the abyss.
The System's morning notification blinked in my head:
Daily Objective: Spend ¥500,000 on "Business Expansion" before midnight.
Note: Unspent balance will incur a Severe Efficiency Penalty.
Translation: Get moving, cheapskate.
I was standing in my shiny new fast-food shop, "Uncle Lucky's Fried Feast," still half-surprised the health inspectors had approved us. The menu was a mess of ideas — burgers next to braised pork rice, milkshakes alongside red bean soup. A fusion disaster. Perfect for driving away repeat customers.
Cash-Burning Scheme #1:
I decided to throw ¥50,000 at custom uniforms. Not just any uniforms — imported, double-stitched polyester in neon green. They looked like the offspring of a highlighter and a traffic cone.
My manager, Liu Fang, squinted at them. "Boss… are you sure?"
"Yes. Customers will never forget us," I said, leaving out the part where the System only cared about invoices, not fashion crimes.
"Boss, maybe we should raise prices?" my assistant suggested.
"No! Absolutely not," I barked. "We're in the noble business of losing money."
On the way back from the restaurant shop, I stopped to hand the rent envelope to Old Zhao, my landlord. He was a wiry man with a permanent squint, always in the same blue work jacket.
"You're lucky, renting here," he said, thumbing through my cash. "Kaiyuan property prices have started creeping up in the east district. My cousin doubled his rent last year. Sooner or later, you'll see this place worth three times as much."
I laughed so hard I nearly dropped my keys. "Property? I'm not crazy enough to buy."
In the back of my mind, the System beeped softly — almost… amused?
That night, the day's sales reports came in:
Fast-food shop: Profit ¥8,500
Electronics shop: Profit ¥15,200
I slammed my ledger shut. This was infuriating. I was running two businesses like a drunken idiot, and somehow… making money.
The System's message glowed:
"Efficiency Rating: S+. Keep it up."
Oh, I would. I'd burn cash so fast, the System wouldn't know what hit it.
And property? Ha! Only a fool would sink money into that.