Lin Feng's office.
He sat across from Li Jun, a laptop open between them.
"Let's go over the game's progress," Lin Feng said.
Li Jun nodded, his expression attentive.
Lin Feng pulled up the sales dashboard.
"Although the launch was abysmal, we managed to recover and maintain a steady sales rate afterward. This can be considered a moderately successful launch."
Li Jun nodded slowly.
He hadn't expected things to turn out this way.
After the Moon Fairy stream, their game had been lifted from the jaws of death. Lin Feng really had everything planned out.
He almost made me worry for a second there.
Lin Feng continued.
"We've sold a total of fifty thousand copies."
He scrolled to another section.
"We also received a notification. Based on our positive rating and stable sales, we're going to be featured on the front page in the upcoming weeks."
Li Jun's eyebrows rose.
Lin Feng leaned back.
"Currently, while moderately successful, most of our audience is local. But with a front page feature, we'll be exposed to a whole new market outside of China."
He paused.
"Though I'll admit, that's just speculation. I don't know what the gaming market looks like on that end."
Li Jun considered this.
"I think so too," he said. "But even if it's speculation, it's a reasonable one."
Lin Feng nodded.
Then his expression shifted.
"Now, about the money."
He pulled up another screen.
"In total, we made 3.5 million yuan."
Li Jun straightened in his seat.
"After platform cuts, that comes to about 2.5 million yuan."
Li Jun's eyes widened.
That was quite the amount of money.
Lin Feng lifted a finger.
"As for how we get it out, it's not that straightforward."
He began explaining.
"One way is to pay ourselves salaries. But at amounts above 100,000 yuan, the taxes on that become insane. Almost fifty percent."
Li Jun nodded along, his expression growing concerned.
Lin Feng lifted another finger.
"That's why I came up with another method."
He leaned forward.
"It's already the end of the year, so we can start receiving our annual dividends. For dividends, the tax is a flat twenty percent. Much better than fifty."
Li Jun's eyes lit up with understanding.
"We'll waive our salaries for this month and just take dividends instead."
Lin Feng continued.
"That being said, there's no need to withdraw everything. The company is still operational. I was thinking we leave seventy percent in the business and take out thirty percent."
He pulled out a calculator.
"Thirty percent of 2.5 million is 735,000 yuan. Well, more like 588,000 after the twenty percent tax, that's 588,000 yuan."
He looked at Li Jun.
"Since we have equal fifty-fifty shares, we each take 294,000 yuan."
Li Jun processed the numbers.
Lin Feng spread his hands.
"This should be a good amount of money. We can then spend the remaining 1.7 million yuan on game promotion and other expenses. If everything goes well, we should be able to make even more next month."
He met Li Jun's eyes.
"What do you think?"
Li Jun considered for a moment.
Then he nodded.
"It sounds reasonable. Let's do that."
Lin Feng smiled and turned to his laptop.
…
[Infinite Money System]
[Total System Balance: ¥396,242.00]
[Available System Balance: ¥396,242.00]
[Personal Balance: ¥498,289.00]
Lin Feng observed his system with a calm expression.
His income was coming along well. With a daily income reaching such levels, he should be able to come up with a good gift for Chairman Zhao at his birthday banquet. Who knows - good things could happen if he got on his good side.
He exhaled, leaning back into his chair.
That being said, he still had some concerns.
The truth was, he was still just a nobody. It wouldn't be long before he would be crushed by the people at the top if he stepped out of line. At the moment, his biggest strength was his money, but ironically, it was also his biggest weakness.
While he was creating a source for his money, he needed even more money for his own protection.
Putting himself out there as he did was just opening himself up to speculation. Now he was being eyed, evaluated, appraised - to see if he was just another ant.
He remembered the money in Xingyao. His Moon Fairy was working quite hard. He really needed that money, but he didn't have a way to get it into his pockets.
His expression turned serious.
He needed to make a new business. He could always provide services to his other businesses to funnel money from them and into his pockets.
Speaking of businesses, his other business wasn't doing so good...
...
Tuesday, December 1st.
The four of them sat at the study desk for their usual meeting.
This one was a little different though. It wasn't their usual daily report, but the monthly one.
Li Jun set down his phone after going through the numbers.
"After taking out all expenses, paying the part-timers, and paying ourselves a thousand yuan each... the amount left, taxes aside, is around twenty thousand."
Silence settled over the room.
They all wore different expressions, but the sentiment was the same.
It wasn't looking good.
For their expansion goal, while it was plausible, they would struggle a lot if they went through with it.
One by one, their gazes shifted toward Lin Feng.
Waiting.
Waiting for him to come up with a solution like he always did in these situations.
Lin Feng let out a long sigh.
"This isn't going to work."
The others stiffened. Chen Ming's eyes widened, and he opened his mouth to speak…
Lin Feng raised a hand, signaling for him to wait.
"It's okay. I figured as much." He looked around the room. "But there's no need to worry. I have a way to make it work."
Their expressions brightened instantly.
"A way to make it work?" Li Jun asked.
"That's right."
Lin Feng leaned forward slightly.
"Actually, there's nothing wrong with our business model. It's just that we need more time - as well as space." He gestured vaguely. "Here on campus, there's only so much we can reinvest into goods. At some point, we'll hit a hard limit. And I'm not sure if the money we'll be making at that time will be enough for an expansion."
He paused.
"That's why I've decided to speed things up a bit."