Guide To Lying Flat And Getting Rich As A Kept Alpha - Chapter 13
13
Li Baiwu: “…Didn’t you know to come upstairs and sit?”
Li Baitian scratched her head: “I felt a bit embarrassed.”
She was used to being overlooked by her family, so even at her brother’s house, she wasn’t sure what to say to her talkative, gossip-loving male omega sister-in-law.
Li Baiwu sighed helplessly and led her upstairs.
Her sister-in-law brought Li Baiwu some sobering tea and left the living room to the two of them. Li Baitian didn’t bother with small talk and got straight to the point, asking if they were about to launch a new audio-video player.
Li Baiwu looked at her in surprise: “How did you know?”
“When’s it coming out?”
“That’s a secret. Can’t say.” Li Baiwu shook his head.
Li Baitian pouted: “Just tell me if it’s soon, okay?”
Li Baiwu coughed lightly and took a sip of water.
“I’ll take that as a yes!” Li Baitian said excitedly. “She really knows everything, doesn’t she?”
“Who?” Li Baiwu asked warily. “Be careful. Don’t let someone trick you.”
It wasn’t unreasonable for Li Baiwu to worry. He happened to be acquainted with Cheng Youqing, the Omega CEO of the Cheng Corporation, and had heard that this was the first major project under her leadership. The entire company was tightly controlling who knew about it. In Jiang City, no more than ten people were in the loop.
“What’s the point of tricking me? Bro, I think I’ve met someone incredible.”
The more Li Baitian thought about it, the more she felt that Luo Hetu was both mysterious and impressive. She could write thrilling books, run a successful milk tea shop, and now she even knew about the upcoming new player and had already figured out how to make money from it.
Either she was a genius, or she had a genius backing her.
Li Baitian hurriedly left Li Baiwu’s house. The next day, she waited anxiously at her shop until Luo Hetu finally showed up. She grabbed her and said, “Why don’t you have a pager? I’ll get you one. When I page you, you call me back.”
Even though Li Baitian wasn’t valued by her family, she seemed to have the fine qualities of the wealthy: living freely, having passionate hobbies, and spending money extravagantly.
Luo Hetu looked at the outdated gadget in her hand and really didn’t want it. It wasn’t that she couldn’t afford one; she just didn’t like the idea of being reachable all the time.
The two of them talked all day about how to decorate the shop, how much it would cost, and who would handle what. Li Baitian took care of everything herself, while Luo Hetu was only responsible for supplying VCD discs.
Li Baitian was buzzing with excitement: “I knew this business would work. Last night, I stayed up making a movie list for you. Just follow this list, and it’s all good films—guaranteed to make money. Your supplier can get these movies, right?”
“I can guarantee quality, but not quantity.” Luo Hetu said, taking the movie list.
She wasn’t lying. Recently, as the mall system gradually opened up to her, she had more tasks to complete daily. People often saw her staring blankly at a wall, muttering to herself, but she was actually solving coding problems. She did them in the morning, at night, whenever she had time. By now, she had accumulated over 2,000 mall coins.
After dinner at home, she worked out for a bit, then lay on the sofa and opened the system.
Since she had suggested this business to Li Baitian, she had researched how she could profit from it. From what she could see, with the rise of VCD players, VCD distribution was about to explode and would sweep the nation within six months. By then, a pirated disc would sell for about 10 to 20 yuan, with ample supply and easy access.
Luo Hetu’s plan was to capitalize on this timing gap. Before VCDs took over the country, at least in Jiang City, she wanted Li Baitian’s audio-video business to gain a solid foothold. Her shop would be the first to offer the fastest and most comprehensive selection of VCDs. Once people in the city bought VCD players, they’d all come to her shop to pick out discs.
By the time competitors caught up, Li Baitian could source discs from the same booming channels as everyone else. What would set her shop apart was that whatever disc someone wanted, Luo Hetu could provide.
She used Li Baitian’s movie list to produce discs through the system.
The system worked like an online shopping platform—bulk purchases were cheaper. One hundred discs cost only 80 coins, but 100 disc cases cost 100 coins, making the cases more expensive than the discs. If she hadn’t stopped selling books recently and saved up her mall coins, this order would’ve wiped out her coin stash.
Luo Hetu ran a small-scale operation from home, producing discs effortlessly and completing Li Baitian’s movie list. Out of caution about the market and her lack of trust in Li Baitian’s taste aligning with market demand, she carefully studied newspapers, magazines, entertainment news, and film reports from that era, taking notes as she went.
These past few days, she hadn’t just been eating and sleeping—she’d been researching relentlessly. If Ye Qingzhu saw her now, she’d probably drag her to the hospital.
While Li Baitian began renovating her shop, Luo Hetu kept producing discs at home, aside from doing system tasks. Ye Qingzhu knocked on her door several times, and Luo Hetu sighed, thinking it might be time to buy a house.
Her activities were hard to explain. She maintained an air of mystery with Li Baitian, who only knew she had connections to get the first batch of goods. If anyone found out she was conjuring discs out of thin air at home, they’d probably want to dissect her glands.
So, while Li Baitian’s shop was being fitted with shelves, Luo Hetu bought four bungalows.
These four bungalows were located in a residential area, a key plot point in the novel. It was a golden location in Zhang Sheng’s journey to amassing wealth.
Zhang Sheng’s boss didn’t just own the Dynasty Dance Hall; he also ran a company with some cunning tactics and was collaborating with several real estate firms to develop this area. In a few years, it would become Jiang City’s new commercial hub, and Zhang Sheng would make a fortune from it.
After buying the four bungalows, Luo Hetu was broke again.
She chose one with decent interior decor to live in, bought curtains, locked the door, pulled the curtains, and started her makeshift disc-making workshop. For the first batch, she produced 1,000 VCDs and CDs, including over 400 movies and songs by more than 200 artists. To cater to the public’s demand for affordable, high-volume products, she also made over 50 compilation albums, personally curating the tracklists. She even downloaded official disc covers and sealed them in plastic. She was a one-woman factory, so exhausted she lost a few strands of hair.
Feeling drained, she rode her bike to complain to Ye Qingzhu about being broke and to Li Baitian about being tired.
By mid-December, Li Baitian’s shop was fully renovated. The day after VCD player ads started airing on TV, “Sunday Audio-Video” officially opened.
Luo Hetu looked at it with satisfaction, clapped her hands, and prepared to leave.
“It’s the first day, and I’m nervous. Help me see if there’s anything to improve,” Li Baitian said.
“VCDs haven’t officially launched yet, so not many people have bought players. You won’t be too busy. Just note down what customers want.”
“But when VCDs officially go on sale in a few days, you’ve got to come help me.”
“By then, you and your staff will have it under control. No problem.” Luo Hetu yawned heavily and patted Li Baitian’s shoulder. “I’m exhausted. I need to rest.”
Li Baitian: … She finally understood that Luo Hetu’s hands-off approach wasn’t personal.
“It’s just a business deal. Why are you so tired?”
Luo Hetu gave her a resentful look. “You think deals are easy these days? Don’t you have to give something up?”
Li Baitian’s eyes widened in shock.
Who on earth did she make this deal with?!