Guide To Lying Flat And Getting Rich As A Kept Alpha - Chapter 19

19

Before the official launch of VCD players, Sunday Audio had already achieved impressive sales. By the month leading up to the Spring Festival, when VCD players officially hit the market, it marked the end of the domestic video hall era. Every store of Future Appliances was packed with customers. Priced at 1,800 yuan, VCD players were a steal compared to 4,000–5,000 yuan color TVs or 7,000–8,000 yuan VCRs. With aggressive promotional campaigns, everyone was eager to catch the first wave of sales.

Future Appliances included a free movie disc with every VCD player purchase and also sold additional discs. Many customers bought discs on the spot, while others asked where they could find a wider selection.

“There’s a place called Sunday Audio that has a huge variety of discs,” a beta woman said cheerfully. “My husband went there a couple of days ago and bought a bunch. I’m taking the player home today to test it out. They say you can return it with the receipt if it doesn’t work.”

Cheng Youqing, who was inspecting the store, was very satisfied with the bustling sales scene. After observing for a while, she asked the sales manager, “Are there many people asking about discs?”

“Quite a few. A lot of customers buy discs here, but since our focus isn’t on selling discs, our stock isn’t comprehensive. Customers have been discussing where to find a wider selection.”

Cheng Youqing nodded and signaled her assistant, who handed her a bulky mobile phone.

Thanks to the official launch of VCD players, Li Baitian was swamped at the store. She sent a pager message to Luo Hetu: “Come over, we’re running out of stock fast.”

So Luo Hetu headed to the store.

There was a phone in Li Baitian’s store that also served as an order line. While it was busy, the phone rang, and Luo Hetu picked it up casually.

The phone was used for customers to inquire about disc availability and reserve items in advance.

“Hello.”

There was a brief silence on the other end. “Miss Luo?”

Luo Hetu recognized the voice. “President Cheng?”

“I was just looking to reach you. I have a business proposal—would you be interested in discussing it?”

This time, Cheng Youqing chose the meeting spot: an old-fashioned, expensive coffee shop.

Luo Hetu carefully observed the decor and clientele.

Cheng Youqing took a sip of her coffee and got straight to the point. “Our company, Future Appliances, sells VCD players, but we don’t deal in discs. Some merchants want to enter the disc market, and we’ve shared information with them as a gesture of goodwill. However, their stores opened later, and their stock isn’t as comprehensive as yours. You have a keen business sense and bold vision. Opening an audio store before the VCD player launch allowed you to capture a significant market share.”

“Your advantage is your extensive inventory and established reputation. I propose a collaboration: open a Sunday Audio branch next to Future Appliances. You sell discs, we sell players—a win-win situation.”

Luo Hetu grinned. “I’ve thought about something similar, but I was considering selling VCD players in my Sunday Audio stores. Since you’ve brought this up, your idea works too.”

“Does Miss Luo have enough capital to open new branches? If not, you could set up a display counter inside each Future Appliances store, and we’d charge rent.”

Luo Hetu was about to agree but suddenly remembered her supply constraints. She still hadn’t found a suitable disc production vendor.

“Let’s tentatively agree on this. I’ll need to discuss it with my partner first.”

Cheng Youqing nodded. “Can I expect your response tomorrow?”

“Sure, I’ll call you.”

Cheng Youqing nodded, picked up her bag, paused briefly, and then left.

Luo Hetu scratched her head, feeling the situation had escalated. Partnering with Future Appliances would be highly profitable, but without sufficient supply, it was all for naught.

Unable to wait, she immediately accessed the system mall.

Completing daily tasks earned her up to 300 gold coins. Providing new recipes for the milk tea shop required hundreds of coins per recipe, and the audio store’s growing demand had already forced her to restock twice, each time costing hundreds of coins. If she expanded too quickly, her gold coins wouldn’t last.

Propping her chin, she browsed the system, considering hunger marketing but dismissing it as unsuitable. The disc market would soon see an influx of vendors, and hunger marketing would quickly lose its edge.

She grumbled inwardly about still being so “poor” after half a year of effort.

Ye Qingzhu and Li Baitian each sneezed, as if sensing Luo Hetu, the hands-off boss, wasn’t satisfied with her two cash cows.

Luo Hetu stirred her Americano with a spoon, aimlessly browsing the mall.

“Luo Hetu? What are you doing here?”

Luo Hetu: …

She was a side character, right? She’d already distanced herself from the main storyline of the protagonists, so why did they keep showing up?

Chun Yuyan and Zhang Sheng appeared together like conjoined twins, accompanied by a well-dressed man and woman.

Zhang Sheng, exuding an air of superiority, said, “Luo Hetu, this is our usual spot. I see you’re done with your drink. We have important matters to discuss.”

Luo Hetu was about to retort—What nonsense, there are plenty of empty seats, are you targeting me?—when her hand slipped, accidentally clicking an option in the mall.

It was the familiar [Download to Medium] option.

She panicked. Normally, if she’d already purchased a disc in the mall, clicking this would make a fully produced disc appear out of nowhere.

She definitely didn’t want to conjure a disc in front of Chun Yuyan and Zhang Sheng.

They’d probably dissect her for it.

She stood up, planning to distract them with some dramatic, self-sabotaging antics to ensure no one noticed the disc appearing out of thin air.

All four stared, baffled, at Luo Hetu, who had suddenly stood up as if preparing for something.

Just as she was about to ruin her image, a new interface appeared—one she’d never seen before—halting her performance.

The interface, like a nagging mother, prompted her to choose between [Provide Physical Medium] and [Purchase Medium in Mall].

Huh?

Previously, if she hadn’t bought a disc in the mall, clicking the download option would prompt an “insufficient medium” warning, requiring her to purchase a medium in the mall before downloading. The result was a finished disc. The same applied to printed novels—she paid for paper and printing, clicked print, and a bound book appeared.

Purchasing discs or paper in the mall meant they were considered “mediums” and couldn’t be used outside the system. Any downloads to a medium had to use mall-provided materials, purchased and then downloaded to produce the final product.

But now, there was an option to provide her own physical medium.

First, this added a step: buy a medium in the mall, wait for it to appear physically, then use another interface to download.

Second, and most crucially, could she use any compatible physical medium to download mall data?

Blank VCD discs were no longer rare or expensive on the market. In the mall, buying discs cost gold coins, but downloading data was free.

If she bought blank discs outside and downloaded data for free, wouldn’t that be far better than scraping by with the limited coins earned from tasks?

Chun Yuyan watched as Luo Hetu shot up, about to do something, then froze like she was possessed.

In an era of limited information, most people believed in supernatural tales, and Luo Hetu’s odd behavior made all four feel uneasy.

Chun Yuyan: “Hetu, are you… okay?”

Snapping back, Luo Hetu rushed out, hurling a curse at Zhang Sheng: “Take it, take it! There are so many seats in this place, and you’re fighting over this one? Petty people never make money!”

Zhang Sheng: …