Ten minutes later, Yu Yun stammered out his plan. He had just leaned back in his chair when he bounced back up again. Sweat had unknowingly soaked through his clothes. He had never seen Old Deng face him so seriously before, and he felt a strange sense of pressure.
The man in front of him remained silent, deep in thought, until the steam from the hot tea completely obscured his glasses.
"Hmm, I've been thinking about it, and I have a few questions for you."
"Please speak."
Yu Yun felt that she had already gotten into character, and she even started using honorifics when talking to Lao Deng.
"You want to acquire at least 80% of the current market share of this..."
"Activation code."
"Hmm, this code, each one is currently priced at eight thousand yuan. You want to monopolize most of this stuff, create a market gap, raise the price, and then dump it after the price increase, right?"
"Yes."
"So you've devised a long-term plan, with an estimated investment of around 650,000, and with some unplanned expenses, it'll be around 700,000."
"Right."
"There are a few issues here. First, this product isn't limited in quantity. According to your description, five to ten new activation codes are being posted on the website every day. This means that the number of activation codes on the market will return to its previous level in just one week. This implies that your investment cycle won't be very long, and you might even have to achieve your goal within five days. If you don't make a profit within five days, there's basically no possibility of making a profit afterward."
"Um, that's about it."
"This contradicts your long-term plan."
"So what..."
"Have you ever considered that virtual items worth 8,000 yuan already fall into the category of luxury goods? For most people, it would take a firm decision to buy them. Luxury goods are definitely not necessities. Apart from a very small number of people, most people don't have a particularly strong demand for them. Furthermore, virtual items themselves reduce credibility to a certain extent. This means that after seeing such items increase in price, they won't choose to buy them as soon as possible but will continue to wait and see. Even if they do choose to buy, they'll be buying the remaining activation codes on the market."
"Hmm, that makes sense..."
"So, at this point, aren't the people who didn't sell you the activation codes the ones making money? Even those who sold them to you for 8,000 yuan will make money. And seeing how popular these activation codes are, they'll speed up production, so the response time won't be seven days, but five or even three days. In a short time, a large number of new activation codes that no one buys will cause the price to drop. At that point, what use are those 8,000 yuan activation codes you have?"
"Um, this..."
"Back then, their only purpose was to make you feel like an idiot."
The middle-aged man's analysis was like a bucket of cold water poured over Yu Yun's head, and he began to think about where his flawless plan had gone wrong.
Seeing his stunned expression, the middle-aged man opposite him turned his head to one side and muttered something.
"A piece of raw char siu is better than being born with you."
"Dad, what did you say?"
"I told you that this kind of virtual economy with huge price fluctuations isn't suitable for you."
The man cleared his throat and added:
"You probably inherited my genes; you're better suited for the physical retail sector."
"Um, what about the financing we talked about earlier..."
"Like I said, once you sign the IOU, the money is gone for good."
"That's such an awful thing to say..."
"That's just the way it is, it doesn't make sense logically, so how can there be any profit in it?"
Yu Yun was choked so badly that her face turned red, and the words of rebuttal stuck in her throat, unable to come out.
After a long pause, he changed his tone and said weakly:
"Do you have any advice for me regarding this business? Um, I'm asking on behalf of my son."
"I still have some thoughts on that."
The middle-aged man transformed into a kind father again, taking a sip of tea and saying:
"My suggestion is, instead of playing this hoarding game here, why not buy a helmet and three activation codes, then hire three people to work in shifts to continuously produce new activation codes for you and sell them online? Although this isn't exactly the real economy, it's at least more tangible than your idea."
"Um, aren't three people a bit too few?"
"Then thirty people, or three hundred if necessary. You know yourself that the price of this stuff will definitely drop in the long run. So instead of hoping the price will be inflated in the short term, why not join the army of activation code producers and make a quick buck before the price collapses? I've never seen such a simple assembly line setup method before. All you need is a helmet and a bed. And I have a feeling the price will drop faster than you think. You should decide sooner rather than later."
Yu Yun carefully considered his father's suggestion and felt that it was perfect from his own perspective.
Of course, he now knows that any plan seems perfect to him, but what his father said seems particularly reasonable, and the possibility of losing money is very low. Even those helmets can be resold later, and if he feels he's going to lose money, it's very easy to walk away and run away...
But he had one last question--
"Dad, I think your suggestion makes a lot of sense, but... so many people are selling this activation code, how can I get them to only buy mine?"
The middle-aged man asked with a smile:
What do you think are the common characteristics of companies that cater to a broad customer base and have a good reputation?
Yu Yun answered almost without thinking:
"Stable supply, high quality and low price."
The middle-aged man smiled, his first genuine smile of satisfaction of the day.
As if deep in thought Yu Yun went through her plan in her mind and confidently said to the man in front of her:
"Come on, I'll sign it now!"
Looking at the extra string of numbers on his bank card, Yu Yun left the office in high spirits after winning all of Daddy's gold coins.
Business transactions in 2037 were incredibly simple. Before the elevator even reached the ground floor, Yu Yun had already completed the online registration for " Great Prospects Game Studio ".
He had already figured out his next plan: order a batch of helmets, buy a batch of activation codes, book an entire floor of a regular hotel, and then launch a massive online recruitment drive to begin his own selection process for construction workers.
Meanwhile, in the game world, [ Good Times Don't Last ] had just taught a young dragon woman how to keep accounts using simple numbers.
Despite Little Green's translation skills, their communication was not as easy as they had imagined.
Due to cultural differences (since Ed wasn't a local either), many of the slang terms and strange verbal tices used in their conversation couldn't be properly expressed, forcing them to speak as formally as possible in order to fully understand each other's words.
With Seraphina as their witness, the two signed a one-month employment contract. From now on, this young dragon woman will become a permanent NPC in " Great Prospects General Store," while [ Good Times Don't Last ] picked up his weapon and went into the jungle to enjoy the last hurrah before the start of his freshman year.