nashuaworldcup Chapter 1: Starting with 1000 million? And after tax?
Chapter 1: Starting with 1000 million? And after tax?
"Lu Ran, it's 6:01, aren't you leaving yet?"
At the workstation next to Lu Ran's, Fatty Wang peeked over, his voice laced with sarcasm.
Inside the office, a group of pianists were still staring intently at the keyboard, not one of them getting up, not even one of them looking up.
Lu Ran stretched and stopped typing frantically.
Unlike other people's computers which display edited video clips, Lu Ran's desktop is simply a Word document.
If you look closely, you can also see that it says things like "Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river, never underestimate a young man's potential."
Lu Ran openly slacking off is commonplace in the company, and he clocks out on time as soon as it's time to leave work.
After saving the document, Lu Ran held a water glass in his left hand and his phone in his right, then casually kicked the power button on the computer, shutting it down.
The entire sequence of movements was fluid and took only 5 seconds.
He stood up, patted Fatty Wang on the shoulder, and smiled slightly: "Thanks, brother. I'll bring you breakfast tomorrow. I'll be going now, everyone."
After speaking, Lu Ran waved and left the company amidst the envious, jealous, and hateful gazes of everyone, leaving a group of colleagues whispering behind him.
"Tch, what's there to brag about? He's just someone with connections!" Fatty Wang said sourly from behind.
"That's called being sensible. He doesn't even look at who introduced him. That's Director Shen Zhiwei." Another colleague chimed in, "If I had that connection, I'd be even more shameless than him. I wouldn't even bother with the credits."
...
Lu Ran neither knew nor cared about the whispers among her colleagues; they could only envy her.
But one thing they said was true, and that is... Lu Ran is indeed a person with connections, and he is also a transmigrator who has been in this parallel world for two months.
In his previous life, he was a programmer who would leave work at 4 a.m. every day, and he was even working overtime before he transmigrated.
Originally, Lu Ran thought he would have to start the 996 corporate slave life again after transmigrating to this world similar to his previous Earth. Unexpectedly, he was approached by the popular singer and senior Shen Yuege right from the start.
"Do me a favor, I need to get into a fake marriage for a year to appease my parents."
"1000 million in one year."
Although Lu Ran didn't know why this celebrity senior would contact him.
But he remembers.
The sun was shining brightly, Shen Yuege's face was beautiful, and her words were sweet.
1000 million.
So many zeros, in his past life he only lived in Sichuan... never mind, I'm getting off-topic.
In short, he still remembers his expression at the time and his subsequent cringeworthy words.
His expression was serious, and his words were righteous and firm: "Senior, money doesn't matter. The main thing is that I'm a very kind-hearted person! I'm doing good deeds like Lei Feng, and I'm determined to help you out!"
"...Um, is ten million after tax?"
And so, he and Shen Yuege got their marriage certificate and moved into the villa in Shanghai that Shen Yuege almost never returned to, driving the BMW she gave him.
Meanwhile, his father-in-law, Shen Zhiwei, a top director in China, used his connections to get him a job in the screenwriting department of Xingyao Entertainment, a leading company in the industry.
Lu Ran naturally became known as the company's "gold digger" and "lazybones".
Lu Ran had considered achieving financial freedom through songwriting.
After all, he had searched online when he first came into this world.
Aside from the familiar overalls seen in the search results for Kun Ge, none of the songs by Zhou Tao and Wang Lin, which were well-known in his previous life, were found here.
Even mainstream songs are scarce in this world.
Fortunately, Lu Ran was a bookworm for over a decade in his previous life, and with his amazing memory, he managed to recall the plot of "Battle Through the Heavens".
Lu Ran logged into the LiuMao Novel Network and registered an author account called "Heavenly Silkworm Potato".
During his daytime work hours, Lu Ran devoted himself entirely to writing; he even completed his monthly update quota at the beginning of the month.
He even added three extra chapters today.
On his way home from get off work, Lu Ran checked his account balance on his phone while waiting at a red light, his brow furrowing in worry.
The only downside to LiuMao Novel Network is that royalties don't arrive until the end of next month, leaving Lu Ran with only a three-digit balance.
"Damn it, because of the Xiong Da and Xiong Er incident, the price of 98-octane gasoline has gone up again these past few days. If this keeps up, I won't be able to afford a BMW... Should I ask Shen Yuege for pocket money?"
The thought of a grown man having to ask his "sugar daddy" for money made Lu Ran feel uncomfortable all over. Although Shen Yuege had promised to reimburse all his expenses, he refused righteously, saying that they could settle the bill together a year later.
"No way! Even if I starve to death or jump off this cliff, I absolutely cannot ask her for money beforehand! How about we look at a monthly pass for shared bikes?"
When Lu Ran realized that it would take him an hour to cycle from his company to his home using map navigation, he gave up on this unrealistic idea.
"Why couldn't I have learned some music in my past life and started a side business? Otherwise, I wouldn't be stuck here after transmigrating, unable to do anything but beg for food on online novel platforms." At this moment, Lu Ran truly understood what it meant to have multiple skills. At the same time, he thought to himself, "Wow, writing novels really has no future."
"How about we ask Shen Yuege for... a loan? We can pay her back after she gives us the money back in a year?"
Just as his left and right hemispheres were wrestling internally—
[Ding! Strong mental fluctuations and a latent need for entertainment works detected in the host...]
[The cultural and entertainment dissemination system is being activated...]
[1%... 50%... 100%! Activation successful!]
This system aims to disseminate outstanding cultural and entertainment works from Earth. The host can publish works (including but not limited to songs, scripts, novels, and animations) and earn popularity points, which can then be redeemed.
[Any work created with the host's participation will gain popularity points during its dissemination.]
Current popularity: 0
[New player gift pack has been distributed, would you like to open it?]
Lu Ran slammed on the brakes, and the car behind him almost rear-ended him.
Ignoring the insults from the people behind the car, Lu Ran was still immersed in the notification sound and hadn't come back to his senses.
system?!
A must-have for time travelers, it may be late, but it's finally here!
I was just saying I was missing something! And here it is, exactly what I wanted!
"Activate!"
Without hesitation, Lin Feng silently recited the mantra in his mind.
[Congratulations, host, you have obtained: Earth Entertainment Search Engine (Permanent), Skill: Photographic Memory (Passive), Start-up Capital: Complete lyrics, music score, and arrangement ideas for the song "The First Dream".]
Each search costs 10000 popularity points.
As the system notification sounded, a magical aura surged into Lu Ran's mind.
Lu Ran had never felt his mind was so clear. He could clearly search and recall countless works of entertainment he had seen and heard in his previous life, as long as he had a thought.
All I could recall were names.
But the song "The First Dream" is deeply imprinted in his mind.
From melody to harmony, from lyrics to arrangement.
At that moment, Lu Ran's eyes lit up, even brighter than when he left work earlier.
"With a father like the President, do you think I'll have trouble making money?"
Lu Ran turned the steering wheel and drove towards the largest fresh food supermarket on the side of the street.
"I'll treat myself to a nice meal tonight."
As for money?
Find an opportunity to sell the song online, and the money will come in big amounts, right?
"I told you, a man has to rely on himself."
"Of course, men shouldn't work too hard either. Only a fool would go to another world to be a corporate slave if they could earn 1000 million after a year."
...