Lin Feng and Su Yue stepped through the entrance of the apartment.
Mengqi and Yanzi were already waiting inside.
"Welcome," Mengqi said with a small smile. "Let me show you around."
She led them through the space.
The living room was spacious and well-lit, with large windows overlooking the complex below. A comfortable couch sat in the center, facing a modest entertainment setup.
"This is the main area," Mengqi said. "Kitchen is through there."
She gestured toward an open doorway that led to a modern kitchen already populated with new appliances.
They continued down a hallway.
"Three bedrooms," Mengqi said, opening each door in turn. "This one is yours, Su Yue. This one is for Yanzi. And this one..."
She glanced at Lin Feng.
"For when I'm working here," she finished.
The tour concluded back in the living room.
The four of them sat down together.
Mengqi turned to Su Yue.
"This will be your new residence," she said. "The complex is gated with 24-hour security at the entrance. Much safer than your old place."
She gestured toward Yanzi.
"And this is Gu Yanqing. She'll be in charge of your personal security."
Yanzi gave a slight nod.
"You can call me Yanzi."
Mengqi continued.
"She'll accompany you whenever you go out. She'll also be driving you to and from school."
Su Yue's eyes widened.
She turned to Lin Feng.
"Isn't this a little much," she said. "The apartment, the security - how much is all of this costing?"
Lin Feng waved his hand dismissively.
"You don't need to worry about that."
"But…"
"You're our talent," he said. "Protecting you is part of our contract."
He met her gaze.
"This isn't charity. It's an investment."
Su Yue opened her mouth to protest further, but Mengqi cut in.
"He's right," she said. "This is standard in the industry. You're worth protecting."
Su Yue looked between the three of them.
Finally, she relented.
"Alright," she said quietly. "Thank you."
...
Later that day.
Lin Feng sat in his office.
He pulled up his system.
[Infinite Money System]
[Total System Balance: ¥31,018.00]
[Available System Balance: ¥31,018.00]
[Personal Balance: ¥175,964]
He blinked.
He had been so busy he hadn't realized he had crossed one hundred thousand.
He looked at the invoices spread out before him.
Thirty-five thousand for the apartment - first month's rent, deposit, and processing fees.
Fifty thousand for Iron Guard Security Group - Yanzi's first month.
Eighty-five thousand total.
He initiated the transfers.
The money left his account.
He sighed.
Now he was broke again.
He leaned back in his chair for a moment.
Then he opened his laptop.
Now that Su Yue's matter was somewhat handled, he could relax a bit.
He pulled up the Fool's Gambit project.
He decided to write some code before lunch.
…
Later that day.
Lin Feng exhaled and stretched his arms above his head.
He looked at his screen.
The shop architecture was basically complete now. All that remained was linking it properly with the player economy. There were also the jokers and other card modifiers to populate, but that was a whole other task - one that could be handled later. He had already abstracted the process of creating such modifiers.
He could generate them whenever he wanted, so there was no need to worry about that now.
For testing purposes, there were already basic jokers and modifiers in place.
This should be enough for the day.
He glanced out the window. The sun was already setting.
He shut his laptop and stood up.
He packed his things into his backpack, slung it over his shoulder, and left the office.
…
Lin Feng pushed open the door to the dorm.
Zhang Wei sat closest to the entrance, hunched over his desk.
"Hey," Lin Feng greeted as he walked past.
Zhang Wei gave a small nod in acknowledgment.
Lin Feng continued inside and sat down next to Li Jun.
He looked around the room.
"Where's Chen Ming?"
Li Jun just shrugged.
"Well, you know him."
Lin Feng sighed.
They were having their monthly report now, and this guy still wasn't here.
Li Jun leaned back in his chair.
"I'm almost done with my task," he said. "Why don't we take the time to review each other's progress?"
"Sure."
Lin Feng took out his laptop and opened it up.
The two spent the next several minutes going through each other's code.
They seemed to be progressing quite well. Lin Feng estimated they should be done with this set of tasks by tomorrow.
Li Jun spoke up.
"I pushed my plan.md for the engine to the repo."
He scratched his cheek, looking a bit embarrassed.
"Though it's not as detailed as yours. I was hoping you could look at it and..."
Lin Feng smiled.
"I understand. I'll give it a look."
At that moment, the door swung open.
Chen Ming walked in with a grin on his face.
"Did you guys miss me?"
The others looked at him with blank expressions.
He raised his hands placatingly.
"Alright, alright. I'm sorry. I lost track of time."
He closed the door behind him and came to sit next to them.
They all straightened up.
"Alright," Li Jun said. "Let's begin."
He pulled out his phone and opened a document.
"First, part-timer payments. All part-timers have been paid according to our model. We've also withheld their taxes as planned."
He scrolled down.
"The same goes for our own salaries."
He lifted his phone and tapped the screen.
A moment later, notifications began ringing on everyone's phones.
They had all received one thousand yuan from Xunfeng Delivery.
Li Jun continued.
"With all salaries paid, our profit stands at 3,200 yuan."
He glanced at his notes.
"From this, we take 3% VAT, which comes to 96 yuan. Then there's the surcharge - 12 yuan. So in total, we're paying 108 yuan in taxes. Plus the withholdings, of course."
He looked up.
"That means we're left with 3,092 yuan in actual profit."
He paused.
"Now, this doesn't mean we're broke. We still have goods worth about six thousand yuan in inventory."
He set his phone down.
"For the profit, I was thinking we reinvest it into the business."
He glanced at Chen Ming.
Chen Ming nodded and took over.
"At the moment, we've fully expanded into the campus. But honestly, we're running out of supply quite often."
He crossed his arms.
"I feel like even if we spent all of this to expand our stock, we might still be overwhelmed by the sheer number of orders."
Lin Feng nodded slowly.
"Use it all."