Chapter 29: 29: First Business Cycle. [3]
Benny remained silent for several more seconds.
The television continued broadcasting updates regarding Zhang Qiang’s arrest, but he had already forced himself to calm down.
Panicking now wouldn’t change anything.
The settlement would arrive soon enough.
Whatever happened, happened.
Taking a slow breath, he finally looked toward the worried Selena sitting beside him.
"I’m alright."
Selena frowned.
"You don’t look alright."
"I’m fine, really."
She clearly didn’t believe him so after a moment of hesitation, Benny decided to make up a reasonable explanation.
"Actually..." he began awkwardly, scratching his cheek. "I met that guy once before."
"The fraudster?"
"Yeah."
Selena’s expression immediately sharpened.
"What do you mean you met him?"
Benny quickly raised both hands.
"Nothing happened! I was thinking about starting a business with him."
Selena’s eyes widened.
"You what?"
"Only thinking about it!" Benny hurriedly clarified. "Nothing was signed. Nothing was finalized. I just got shocked when I saw the news."
He forced out a laugh.
"For a second there, I thought I’d almost been scammed."
The explanation sounded believable enough.
At least far more believable than the truth.
Selena let out a long sigh of relief.
Then she immediately switched into older-sister mode.
"See? I’ve told you before. If you’re dealing with money, investments, loans, or business, go through proper channels."
"Use legal institutions go through banks and lawyers. Not random people who promise easy money."
Benny nodded obediently.
"Okay, Sister."
"And don’t nod just because I’m talking. I’m serious."
"I know."
"You always say you know."
"I really know this time."
Selena stared at him suspiciously and Benny smiled innocently.
Eventually, she shook her head.
"Forget it. Just be more careful."
"Got it."
After another few minutes, Benny stretched and stood up.
"I’m a little tired, I think I’ll sleep."
Selena glanced at the clock.
The World Cup opening ceremony would begin soon.
"Alright."
Then she pointed toward her bedroom.
"Sleep in my room tonight."
Benny blinked.
"What about you?"
"I’m staying up for the match."
She grabbed a bag of snacks from the table.
"Besides, the sofa is more than enough for me."
Benny smiled.
"Thanks, Sis."
"Go already. You’re blocking the television."
A few moments later, Benny entered her bedroom and quietly closed the door.
The familiar scent of laundry detergent lingered in the air.
The room was neat and comfortable.
But Benny had no intention of sleeping.
The moment he sat on the bed, he opened the system interface.
Immediately, a countdown appeared before him.
[ First Business Cycle Remaining: 00:01:00 ]
When the countdown vanished.
The entire system screen flashed.
[ First Business Cycle Ended ]
[ Calculating Company Assets... ]
[ Initial System Capital ]: ¥500,000
[ External Financing Obtained ]: ¥100,000
[ Total Available Capital ]: ¥600,000
Expenses:
[ Commercial Office Acquisition ]: -¥200,000
[ Golden Spoon Café Equity Purchase (15%) ]: -¥100,000
[ Assistant Expense ]: -¥13,000
[ Office Desktop Equipment (10 Sets) ]: -¥160,000
[ Office Furniture ]: -¥25,800
[ Miscellaneous Expenses ]: -¥1,380
Current Assets:
[ Golden Spoon Café Current Valuation ]: ¥250,000
[ Ownership Percentage ]: 15%
[ Equity Asset Value ]: ¥37,500
Remaining Company Funds:
[ Cash Balance ]: ¥820
Settlement Summary:
Total Capital Available: ¥600,000
Current Assets:
Café Equity: ¥37,500
Cash Balance: ¥820
Total Remaining Assets: ¥38,320
[ Profit/Loss Calculation ]
Total Capital: ¥600,000
Total Remaining Assets: ¥38,320
Net Loss: ¥561,680
At this point, Benny was grinning from ear to ear.
He spent six hundred thousand yuan.
The company only had ¥38,320 worth of assets left.
A glorious loss of ¥561,680.
From Benny’s perspective, this was practically a perfect settlement.
The system screen flickered once.
Then another notification appeared.
[ Settlement Complete ]
[ Evaluating Business Performance... ]
Benny straightened immediately.
Here it comes.
A few seconds later, a new line appeared.
[ Evaluation: Poor ]
Benny’s grin widened as another line followed.
[ It is a shame that Autumn Investment Company has experienced such significant losses during its first business cycle. ]
Benny nodded approvingly.
Yes, what a tragedy.
The system continued.
[ However, Host should not be discouraged. ]
[ Every successful company experiences difficulties during its early stages. ]
[ Temporary losses are a common part of entrepreneurship. ]
[ Please continue working hard in the next business cycle. ]
Benny had to bite his lip to stop himself from laughing.
Working hard? Of course he would work hard.
Nobody would work harder than him.
Especially if the goal was losing money.
The next notification appeared.
[ Converting Settlement Compensation... ]
[ Transfer in Progress... ]
Benny’s heartbeat accelerated.
Ding!
His phone vibrated and he immediately grabbed it.
A bank notification appeared on the screen.
"Your account number ending with 2005 had been credited with ¥56,168,000."
Benny’s breathing stopped.
Fifty six million... when was the last time he had seen such an amount?
It was never, not even in the near twenty years future he had lived before.
The next second, Benny buried his face into Selena’s pillow to stop himself from screaming.
His shoulders shook violently not because he was crying.
But because he was desperately trying not to laugh loud enough for Selena to hear.
A few minutes later, after finally calming down, he looked back at the system.
[ First Business Cycle Completed ]
[ Commencing Second Business Cycle ]
The screen flashed.
[ Initial Capital has been increased ]
[ Previous Capital: ¥500,000 ]
[ New Capital: ¥5,000,000 ]
Benny stared at the new capital.
Five million yuan.
A month ago, he would have considered it an unimaginable amount of money.
But staring at it now, he couldn’t help but compared it to the ¥56,168,000 sitting in his personal account.
"...That’s it?"
The system, sensing nothing unusual, displayed its final encouragement.
[ Host is encouraged to continue pursuing business success. ]
Benny stared at the message.
Then looked at the five million yuan.
A slow smile spread across his face.
"Don’t worry."
He whispered softly.
"I have plenty of ideas."
Still, there would be plenty of time to think about business tomorrow.
Right now, there was something more important.
Quietly getting off the bed, Benny opened the bedroom door and walked into the living room.
The television was still running.
The World Cup pre-match coverage continued in the background.
On the sofa, Selena was already asleep.
Her head rested against a cushion, one arm folded across her chest and the remote loosely held in her hand.
