"Finally, it's all settled!" Yang Ruoqian looked at the company's financial statement with a grin, watching the bank loan balance swim downstream and become a big, fat zero. He let out a triumphant howl, "Ten years, ten years! Do you even know how I spent my time during these ten years?"
Ten years ago, during the real estate market's "splashy" era, Yang Ruoqian put up his parents' house, which they'd snagged at a discounted price years earlier, as collateral. Brimming with confidence, he rode the wave and launched a company that sold live streaming gear.
In the end, he almost went bankrupt amidst the chaos of countless companies and the live streaming industry's "tide-turning" trend.
Over the past decade, he walked on eggshells daily, slowly transforming a company drowning in debts of millions, monthly "money-drains," and teetering on the brink of bankruptcy into a healthy, profitable enterprise. With marginal profits, he painstakingly paid off the loans until today when all the loans were paid off.
Having a healthy debt was like "casting a wider net" for production, but after ten years of living life on a "slippery slope" and working at least 12 hours a day, Yang Ruoqian simply had no energy left to run the company.
Now, all he wanted was to "phish" out a buyer for this small but profitable company, turn it into cold, hard cash, and enjoy the rest of his life.
"Today, I'm giving myself an early finish."
Yang Ruoqian closed his laptop. Just as he was about to reel himself out of the chair, his heart suddenly caught a line and his vision dived into darkness. His whole body went overboard, uncontrollably flopping to the ground.
Splash! Yang Ruoqian crashed to the floor. On the brink of losing consciousness, he could only hear a faint, high-pitched "whale" sound in his ears as his awareness swam away.
...
Clap!
As if he'd been jolted awake from napping in class, Yang Ruoqian's eyes snapped open. His hands instinctively grasped the edge of his desk.
But he soon realized that his surroundings hadn't changed much, and he was still sitting in his same old office chair. The only difference was that, for some strange reason, the office seemed much newer.
"Did I almost 'deep-sea dive' into the great beyond?" Yang Ruoqian wiped the "sweat off his scales" and surveyed the clean and tidy environment around him. "I hope the janitor doesn't think I'm just taking a nap."
Splash! The office door suddenly swung open, and a middle-aged man walked in, placing a document on Yang Ruoqian's desk.
"Mr. Yang, this is my resignation letter."
Yang Ruoqian was momentarily "hooked." Not because someone was "resigning, but because he didn't recognize the person in front of him at all!
"Who are you, and are you even an employee of my company to resign?" Suppressing his doubts, Yang Ruoqian took the letter and quickly scanned it. When his eyes fell on the signature, "Chen Dongqiang," the name seemed vaguely familiar, but he couldn't quite figure out where he had seen him before.
Until he saw the date below the signature.
March 10, 2015.
Wait, 2015?
The "light-bulb" in Yang Ruoqian's mind "flashed" instantly—March 10, 2015? Wasn't that the exact date, ten years ago, when his company was on the brink of bankruptcy?
Could it be... could it be that just when he had navigate out the company's difficulties with tremendous effort and was about to enjoy his "carpe diem," he had been "cast" back to the point when the company was "angling" for disaster?
Yang Ruoqian's mind reeled, and he casually wrote his signature onto the resignment letter, allowing Chen Dongqiang to go through the HR procedures.
After watching Chen Dongqiang leaving the office, Yang Ruoqian immediately opened his brand-new laptop and started checking the timeline.
After thorough search, Yang Ruoqian confirmed that he had indeed been sent back to the year he had just graduated from college, at the low point of his career.
"Me, you, ***!"
Yang Ruoqian nearly cursed out. This feeling was like spending ten hours successfully completing a challenge in a difficult level in a game and then forgetting to save the checkpoint!
Who could understand this frustrating feeling?!
"No, it's not that bad," Yang Ruoqian reassured himself. "At least I know which stock will rise and which finacial products to invest in..."
At most, he could bridge the financial gap in a few months, avoiding complete bankruptcy.
However, when Yang Ruoqian opened the stock market app, he was surprised.
"What's Macrohard Corporation? TBM, what is that?"
Looking at those familiar yet unfamiliar company names, Yang Ruoqian's optimism was instantly dampened.
Thinking of using his previous life's memory to profit in stocks? He'd end up "sole-y" in his underpants!
No, it was even worse!
If the whole world had completely changed, then simply following his previous path and trying to save the company in ten years might not work anymore!
"I don't want to play this game anymore. Let's start start over."
Just then, in the lower right corner of Yang Ruoqian's vision, some small text suddenly appeared.
[D-list Celebrity Cultivation System]
[Host: Yang Ruoqian]
[Company Funds: $200,000 (Replenished to $200,000 at the end of each month. Warning: These funds cannot be used to repay loans)]
[The system will evaluate the celebrity rank (Nobody, Unknown Artist, semi-unknown Artist, Newcomer, Rising Star, B-list, proper Celebrity, Global Superstar) of the host's artists (including actors, singers, and live-streamers) based on their "real fans" every month and distribute bonuses to the host's personal and company accounts accordingly. The lower the fame of the host's artists, the higher the bonuses!]
[Nobody (Less than 10,000 fans): Bonus $50,000,000. Unknown Artist (10,000 fans): Bonus $5,000,000. semi-unknown Artist (50,000 fans): Bonus $500,000. Newcomer (100,000 fans): Bonus $50,000. Rising Star (500,000 fans): Bonus $5,000. B-list (1,000,000 fans): Bonus $500. Proper Celebrity (5,000,000 fans): Bonus $50. Global Superstar (More than 50,000,000 fans): Bonus $5]
[Only one streamer and one artist can be recruited each month. Host, please choose carefully!]
[Note: The host must "operate normally" the artists under their management! The system will indicate eligible artists and streamers. Apart from this, no rewards will be given.]
[The host is not allowed to pay himself in any direct or indirect way!]
[It is strictly prohibited to delay or procrastinate in properly operating the artists under your management in any way.]
[The following 213 actions are considered violations:...]
"This... this is..." Yang Ruoqian looked at the panel, and his previously despondent face suddenly lit up. "A SYSTEM?!"
He stared intently at the system's features, reading each line carefully.
" Celebrity Cultivation System, but in reverse. The less famous the artist, the more profit I can make."
"Only individuals recognized by the system can be recruited, preventing anyone from casually teaming up with a passer-by.
The 213 violations covered a wide range of behaviors, eliminating the possibility of exploiting any loopholes. To receive a reward, one had to honestly manage an artist with no prior fame.
"In my previous life, I struggled because too many companies were competing, and the live streaming industry was beginning to saturate, with resources concentrated at the top," Yang Ruoqian muttered to himself. "Now, if I enter the live streaming industry, am I lifting one "flounder" after another?"
Doesn't that mean he can reap huge profits from the system?
This business could work, it had potentials!
At the very least, it held more potential than starting from scratch and struggling for another ten years!
With a determined mindset, Yang Ruoqian gathered his company's remaining four employees and announced a major piece of news to them.
"Due to the company's current poor performance, after careful consideration, I've decided to explore new opportunities, expend our business channels, and enter the untapped blue ocean market..."
"Mr. Yang, could you get straight to the point? We're really busy."
"We can't be satisfied with just supplying live streaming equipment. We're going to "dive-rectly" into the live streaming industry and the entertainment industry!"