Wednesday, October 14th.
[Infinite Money System]
[Total System Balance: ¥3,190.00]
[Available System Balance: ¥3,190.00]
[Personal Balance: ¥40,161.00]
Lin Feng observed his system.
He had come so far since receiving his first earning of 415 yuan last month.
It had barely been two months, and he was already above the middle-class income bracket.
That being said, he still felt as though he had no money.
That was mostly because his money, while infinite, worked through time. That was why he needed these businesses to succeed quickly and start generating income. His daily earnings would explode once they did.
Gaining just 120 yuan a day simply wasn't cutting it anymore.
He sighed and dismissed the system with a thought, returning his attention to Zhang Wei, who was in the middle of his report.
"...we've already conducted multiple beta tests," Zhang Wei was saying. "I've fixed most of the issues that might arise through daily use. At the moment, I'm preparing a stress test and working on some quality-of-life features on the side."
He paused.
"To be honest, I think the app is already ready for public use."
Lin Feng nodded, then turned to Chen Ming.
Chen Ming began his report instantly.
"I agree with Brother Zhang about the app," he said. "In the group chat, a lot of people are super hyped about it."
Lin Feng nodded again.
"Then if that's the case, let's do an official launch on Monday," he said. "After we're done with all the registration."
He paused, thinking.
"While we're at it, we should probably launch the part-timers too." He looked at Chen Ming. "What's your progress on that front?"
Chen Ming straightened up.
"People are really excited to work with us," he said. "I've been keeping tabs on the best candidates. I can send you a list."
Lin Feng nodded.
"Good work. Approach them and explain the payment method I developed. I'll prepare a contract." He paused. "Those who are up for it will be working by Monday. As for those who aren't interested - don't bother with them. For now, we just need ten people."
Li Jun raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that too few?"
"It's pushing it," Lin Feng admitted. "But it should work. For now, we just need a proof of concept. It would be a disaster if we took in too many people and then discovered an issue with the newly developed hybrid system."
He shook his head. "We need to test it in practice first, then decide whether to expand and improve based on the results."
The others nodded in agreement.
Lin Feng then turned to Li Jun.
"How are things on your end?"
Li Jun let out a breath.
"Just as we agreed, my uncle and I renegotiated the deal now that our little gig is registered as a legitimate business."
The others' expressions fell.
Li Jun held up a hand.
"No need to worry though - I managed to negotiate us a deal not all that different from before. Just slightly lower than what retailers get."
The others perked up with interest.
"I convinced my uncle to sell to us at 65%," Li Jun explained. "That's about the level of regional wholesalers."
Lin Feng nodded slowly.
That wasn't all that bad. It was just slightly above the previous 60%.
That being said, they needed to rework their entire pricing model.
He got everyone's attention.
"Let me share some thoughts," he began.
The others paid close attention. Every time Lin Feng had this serious expression, he was about to drop something huge.
"Before, we sold slightly below market price as an incentive - since our delivery speeds were slow and inflexible." He paused. "But now that our deliveries are about to get a whole lot faster and more flexible with the help of part-timers, this has to change."
The others nodded.
"Earlier, I was thinking of slowly bringing the price back up," he continued. "But to be honest, I don't think that will work anymore. At least, it would take too long before we became profitable."
He looked around the room.
"That's why I've decided to change our approach. Instead of gradually climbing up to market price - we're going straight to it."
The others looked surprised but continued listening.
"Since there might be some pushback, we're going to introduce another system." He held up a finger. "Remember the store credit system we introduced? We're going to use that."
He leaned forward.
"Here's how it works. You buy an item at market price, but then receive cashback in the form of store points equivalent to how much higher your purchase price was from our earlier offering."
He began illustrating with an example.
"Let's say you bought something worth 100 yuan. Earlier, we would have sold it for 90 yuan. But now, we're going to sell it for its market price - 100 yuan - and then offer cashback in the form of store points."
He held up both hands.
"Ten store points equals one yuan. So we give them back 100 store points, which they can use to buy anything in the store or get discounts."
He paused to let that sink in.
"While it looks the same on the surface, on our end, 100 store credits isn't worth 10 yuan - it's worth around 6.5 yuan. That means we effectively sold the product for 93.5 yuan."
Chen Ming opened his mouth to speak, but Lin Feng continued.
"You might be wondering - isn't this the same as just increasing the price gradually? And you'd be right to think that."
His expression sharpened.
"But there's another layer to this."
The room went quiet.
"Most transactions won't give enough points for another item. Having store points waiting in the app will incentivize people to spend them. And since they won't have enough points for a full purchase, they'll have to add cash to complete the transaction."
He smiled slightly.
"They'll see it as earning free money - something they can accumulate to eventually buy something completely 'for free.' And they'll be hooked."
He looked around at the group.
"What do you guys think?"
They just stared at him.