A Wave of Wealth

Song Yanxi had been accompanying her eldest sister, Chen Yao, around the capital for several days.

There were plenty of ways to make money these days, and the hottest trend was undoubtedly internet startups.

But that was out of their league.

Even Chen Pingsheng himself said that the internet was something you could only rely on fate for.

If a good project came along in the future, they could invest in it.

But actually running one themselves? Absolutely not.

No education meant no education. Jumping into something they couldn't control would only lead to disaster.

For now, the best fit for them was still traditional businesses.

Since Chen Yao used to run a small convenience store, Chen Pingsheng suggested they stick to that.

But instead of a small neighborhood shop, they'd open one in a commercial district, spending around 400,000 to 500,000 yuan on a store transfer fee.

With a prime location, making 200,000 to 300,000 yuan a year would be a sure thing.

A convenience store—essentially a small supermarket—had decent profit margins.

This type of business didn't have many barriers to entry. It all depended on location. If the foot traffic was high, business would naturally do well.

Chen Yao was already experienced in this, making it the safest choice.

The transfer fee could be covered by them, but the rest of the investment would have to come from Chen Yao's family.

They couldn't pay for everything.

Chen Qi thought this was an excellent idea.

A small convenience store in the capital, bringing in a steady income of hundreds of thousands a year—life would be much better than in Shacheng.

If they could buy a house, the family's financial pressure would ease significantly.

But Chen Yao didn't want to decide alone—she planned to discuss it with her husband first.

Chen Pingsheng took her to the train station, waiting for their final decision.

With National Day approaching, the local fruit market seemed to have learned from their playbook.

The Farm Orchard had launched a top-up promotion.

And the discounts were much bigger than before. No more free durians.

Instead, they were giving money back for top-ups.

Top up 500, get 100.

Top up 1,000, get 300.

Many customers had already recharged their cards.

Now, all eyes were on how they would respond.

This was straight-up underhanded.

When Chen Pingsheng arrived at the company, Zhang Tao and Liu Jing were already there.

The five flagship stores in Shijingshan had completed their initial customer acquisition phase.

Now, it was time to recover their investment—or even make a year's worth of profit in a single month.

These five stores were their biggest investment yet.

They had poured 8 million yuan into setting them up.

"Old Chen, if we just stick to giving out durians, we won't be able to match the Farm Orchard's deal."

"They're giving 300 yuan back for a 1,000 yuan top-up—that's enough to buy a durian outright."

Chen Pingsheng thought for a moment. The promotion had to change.

And it had to outshine the Farm Orchard's offer.

But it needed some finesse.

Actually, the bigger the promotion, the better it was for him personally.

After all, he had the Random Multiplier ability, which meant he could increase his earnings exponentially during this top-up spree.

It was Zhang Tao and the others who would be taking the real hit.

"What do you guys think our offer should be?"

"What else? Just go head-to-head with them! If they give 100 for 500, we give 200. If they give 300 for 1,000, we give 500."

Brutal and direct.

A full-on price war.

Fight fire with fire.

Chen Pingsheng felt this was an even bigger deal than just giving away durians.

But they couldn't cap it at 1,000 yuan.

They needed a 3,000 yuan tier.

Top up 3,000 yuan, get 1,500 back plus a free durian.

If they rolled out this promotion, he was certain the planned 20 million yuan in top-ups for October could easily balloon to 30 or even 50 million.

And once this top-up frenzy ended, both they and the Farm Orchard would mutually agree to end the price war.

Then, prices would go up.

If they didn't raise prices, they'd be staring at massive losses.

After all, the bonus cash from top-ups was still real spending power, effectively giving a 25% discount on everything.

That needed to be factored in.

Only then could they ensure future profitability.

Chen Pingsheng made the call—they were going all in.

It had been ages since he last triggered a Random Multiplier.

This was the perfect chance to rake in big money.

Half would be used to dominate Shijingshan, the other half to invest in the entertainment industry.

Now that he had unlocked entertainment investments, he wanted to register a Tengying Entertainment Investment Company in the Second Ring Road.

Specializing in funding TV dramas.

And, of course, enjoying the perks of being a media mogul in an industry full of beautiful women.

After this top-up spree, he was stepping into the entertainment business.

With the Tengsheng Group's restructuring complete, their execution power had skyrocketed.

Chen Pingsheng also set huge bonuses for store managers.

Store top-ups under 3 million: Team bonus of 100,000 yuan.

Top-ups between 3 million and 5 million: 200,000 yuan bonus.

Top-ups between 5 million and 8 million: 300,000 yuan bonus.

With such high incentives, employees would go all out.

If they hit 30 million yuan in top-ups by October, each store manager would be taking home at least 100,000 yuan for the month.

Even regular staff would earn 20,000 to 30,000 yuan each.

Truly a win-win—big profits for the boss, real rewards for the workers.

Originally planned for National Day, the top-up promotion was launched early on September 25.

Just like before, mountains of durians filled the stores.

Banners advertising the deals were everywhere.

They even doubled the checkout counters, from four to eight.

There was no fear of them running off with the money.

After all, this was 2013—even shady barbershops rarely scammed people, let alone a massive fruit supermarket chain.

Especially one like Tengsheng Fruits, which had built a dominant presence in Shijingshan.

New stores popping up everywhere overnight.

By the end of this wave, Shijingshan would be completely conquered.

A regional monopoly.

Meanwhile, Farm Orchard's top-ups were static.

But he had the Random Multiplier.

How would they respond to that?

Song Yanxi stopped going out, glued to the financial reports, watching the numbers skyrocket.

Nothing felt more exhilarating than this.

Day 1: 1.2 million yuan in top-ups.

Day 2: 1.31 million yuan.

Day 3: 1.38 million yuan.

Song Yanxi felt like cash was flying at her non-stop.

Chen Pingsheng scoffed—women had no vision.

She was grinning over this small change?

Watch this.

Ding! Host has accumulated 1.98 million yuan. Would you like to activate the Random Multiplier?

"Activate."

Two golden dice appeared, now with an extra six, increasing the odds of a big multiplier.

The first die spun… and landed on five.

Chen Pingsheng's eyes lit up—jackpot!

He had been broke for two months.

Did she know how he had suffered?

He hadn't even been to a nightclub!

(Just joking—mostly, he was thrilled.)

His decision to invest 11 million yuan into Shijingshan had been brilliant.

This was true wealth creation.

Top-up bonuses actually made more money than giving away durians—no costs involved!

A pleasant surprise.

If that girl next door found out how much he was making…

She'd probably go crazy over him tonight.

Ding! Host has received an 8x multiplier.

Ding! 15.84 million yuan credited to your Alipay. Balance: 15.92 million yuan.