A Man with a System

"Mr. Wald, I regret to inform you that your mother passed away today, July 2, 1995, at 4:28 PM, due to a tragic car accident," the middle-aged Black police officer said in a low, heavy voice.

The man sitting across from the officer was an 18-year-old youth with black hair, white skin, sharp facial features, and a slightly youthful appearance.

Zucker Wald sat motionless in his chair.

At this moment, he was completely bewildered.

However, this was not because of his mother's unfortunate passing.

He was a transmigrator!

That's right, Zucker was a Chinese man from the Great Celestial Empire in the year 2020.

He had worked as a mid-level manager and associate producer at a film and television production company.

Of course, it was a small company.

The kind that you couldn't even find if you searched for it in Beijing.

Although he was over 30 and lacked any illustrious achievements—having never produced a blockbuster movie or hit series—his management skills were decent, and he had seen a lot, making him a sort of pseudo-veteran in the industry.

"Damn it, I just went to sleep, how did I end up transmigrating!" Zucker couldn't help but blurt out.

"What? What did you say?"

The middle-aged Black police officer was utterly confused, as Zucker hadn't spoken in English, but in Chinese—specifically, a Sichuan dialect.

"It's nothing, Officer. I... I'm just too devastated, I hope you can understand," Zucker quickly explained.

His mother died?

In his past life in China, Zucker had been an orphan, and now that the mother of this body had died, to be honest, he didn't really feel much. It wasn't that Zucker was heartless; it was just that the concept of a mother was truly foreign to him. So, at this moment, aside from the shock of transmigration, he didn't feel much else.

The confusion stemmed from the transmigration itself!

Not long after, Zucker left the police station located in North Hollywood, Los Angeles.

That same night.

Amidst his confusion, Zucker finally managed to piece together the general situation through the memories of this body.

Zucker Wald, male, 18 years old, just graduated from high school. Well, he didn't get into college, had lived a mediocre life, hadn't accomplished anything, and in short, was a very ordinary American youth.

Of course, he did have one specialty: playing basketball!

In the 1995 NBA draft held at the end of June, Zucker's predecessor had participated, but with his mediocre talent, he went undrafted without any suspense.

Oh, and he was a person of mixed heritage.

His maternal grandfather was a Chinese man who arrived in the late 1940s. Through his own hard work, he married an American woman and had a daughter—Zucker's mother, the one who had just passed away.

"Sigh, I didn't expect that I, Zucker, would be an orphan in my past life too."

Of course, it wasn't as if he had no relatives; Zucker still had an uncle alive, but it seemed the family had a falling out, and they hadn't been in contact for over a decade.

"I've transmigrated, and I'm still a loner. It's just a pity about that 70-square-meter apartment I bought on the 5th Ring Road last month!"

Zucker sighed incessantly.

Over two million yuan!

Gone in the blink of an eye!

"But that's fine, I'm used to it. Wait... no! Why am I sad? It's 1995 now, America is practically paved with gold!"

As Zucker thought about it, he no longer felt that the transmigration was so tragic.

Regardless, he had always been a loner from start to finish; did the era or location really matter? He was from 2020. Even if he didn't know every single development of the era in detail, based on what he did know, just leaking a little bit of information would be enough to make a fortune!

"Screw your 70-square-meter apartment, in this life, I'm going to live in an 80-square-meter one!"

Zucker was incredibly excited!

Well, an 80-square-meter apartment was only slightly bigger than 70.

Besides, even now, the house Zucker lived in was 120 square meters. Although it was in the suburbs of Los Angeles, it was still worth a decent amount!

"1995, this is the golden age of the internet. It's time to properly consider the future!"

A week later.

Zucker had finished handling his mother's funeral arrangements.

"Ding-dong!"

"Congratulations to the host for successfully binding to the Future Information Fragment System!"

A system?

A golden finger?!

The predecessors who transmigrated were right after all! There really is a system for transmigrators. Zucker was quite excited for a moment, but not long after, he couldn't help but complain.

"What kind of trash system is this!"

"No missions, no rewards!"

"There isn't even an exchange store; all it provides are occasional snippets of the future."

"And the vast majority are about movies—what are you even trying to do!"

It was no wonder Zucker was complaining; the system was truly trash.

Future information?

If it required him to provide it, did Zucker not already know it?

Fine, even if Zucker couldn't be omniscient and know every little detail, he was still a system, a cheat code—this pathetic function was just too useless.

What use did he have for this system?

"Ding-dong!"

"Congratulations to the host for receiving a Newbie Gift Pack!" the system's mechanical voice suddenly rang out.

A gift pack?

It better not be garbage!

"I'll see what kind of gift pack a broken system like you can provide!"

"Oh my... damn, this is good!!!"

The newbie gift pack provided two pieces of future information.

First: On August 9, 1995, Netscape went public. Its opening stock price was $28 per share, surging past $75 per share that same day, and closing at $58.25.

Second: On November 22, 1995, Toy Story was released. It grossed $192 million at the North American box office and $360 million globally, becoming the North American box office champion for 1995.

Consequently, the production company of Toy Story, Pixar, became world-renowned!

Its market value even soared past $1 billion!

"So good!"

It was no wonder Zucker praised the system; the information it provided was just too good.

That's right, Zucker was a transmigrator who knew quite a bit about America's future. He knew that by 2020, Apple and Microsoft's market values had surpassed $1.3 trillion, and that Amazon's market value was nearing $1.3 trillion, but who knew the specific details?

"Before I transmigrated, to put it bluntly, I was just an ordinary person."

"I worked in the film industry, not the financial sector. I knew about the dot-com bubble at the turn of the 21st century, but how would I know the specifics!"

Zucker had always been full of longing for the future, and now that he had obtained the system, his mood couldn't help but improve significantly!

He was going to get rich!

August 1, 1995.

Zucker walked out of the Los Angeles branch of Wells Fargo with a smile on his face, carrying several document bags.

After more than twenty days of effort, Zucker had finished handling the inheritance of his mother's estate. Although he had paid a significant amount in inheritance taxes and legal fees, he had inherited a 120-square-meter house and $20,000 in savings.

"Damn it, banks really are ruthless!"

"I mortgaged the house to the bank for a year and only got $100,000, not to mention the interest rate is as high as 12%. So dark."

In other words, in one year, Zucker would have to pay the bank $112,000 in principal and interest, or the house would be gone.

It was no wonder Zucker was unhappy; one had to know that this 120-square-meter house had a market value of over $150,000.

"Forget it, everything is ready now, all I need is the east wind!"

Without a moment's delay, Zucker took his $120,000 in savings, boarded a flight, and flew to New York that same day to find an investment firm with a decent reputation.

<> It's been a long time since I started a new book. The Chief Minister hopes everyone will show their support! Thank you!