Pei Qian strolled further through the store and eventually made his way to the headphones section.
"Ma Yang, if I recall correctly, your headphones are some 20-yuan knockoff stall junk, right?" Pei Qian glanced at him.
"Eh …Well, yes, Broth–President Pei, they're from a street stall—but they work fine!" Ma Yang hastily corrected himself mid-sentence, catching himself just before he accidentally let slip his more casual tone with Pei Qian in front of others.
"That's unacceptable," Pei Qian frowned. "Street stall quality is still street stall quality. You think that's good enough? Look—this here is the latest headset, 2,999 yuan. Take it."
Pei Qian shoved the box directly into Ma Yang's hands.
Ma Yang froze. "Uh… President Pei… But my current job doesn't really have anything to do with headphones…"
And it was true—Ma Yang mostly did grunt work for the design team: filling forms, fiddling with the editor, making resource requests… stuff that had nothing to do with audio.
Pei Qian paused for a second and then replied, "It's for future work needs. You might need to communicate with outsourcing teams later, giving feedback on music and sound effects. Without a decent headset, how are you supposed to tell if the assets are any good?"
Ma Yang scratched his head. "But… doesn't the company computer already come with decent headphones?"
Pei Qian's expression darkened. "Those are company property. Can you take them home after hours? What if there's an emergency and you need to discuss sound design with an outsourcing studio at night?"
Ma Yang was left speechless.
Huh… That does kind of make sense…
A smile bloomed across his long face as he accepted the headset and trotted off toward the cashier.
Just like Xiao Lu, he genuinely wanted the item—but couldn't bring himself to spend his own money, and was too shy to use the special reimbursement on it.
But with Pei Qian's firm push, all that hesitation vanished.
And once the item was in hand, the feeling was clear—pure bliss.
Best part? It didn't cost him a dime. The company covered the whole thing. Where else are you going to find a deal like that?
Soon, both of them had checked out.
Xiao Lu even switched to his new phone on the spot, totally enamored.
They kept browsing the mall, and Pei Qian—hawk-eyed—continued surveilling his employees, ready to pounce on anyone who dared under-consume.
He forced Huang Sibo to buy a new tablet—calling it an "investment in productivity."
He coerced the two front-desk receptionists into buying stylish clothes—under the pretext of "elevating the company's image."
And any time he spotted a staff member hesitating in front of a product, he'd invent a completely plausible-sounding excuse to get them to buy it right away.
In rare cases where he couldn't come up with a convincing excuse—like when a male employee wanted to buy a luxury handbag as a gift for his girlfriend—Pei Qian had to reluctantly veto it and suggest something else.
After a full sweep through the mall, Pei Qian was very pleased.
Yes—everyone had almost maxed out their spending!
He checked the numbers again: the system funds had started at 1.1 million yuan, and after today's mad blitz of payroll, bonuses, shopping cards, and special reimbursements, he'd managed to spend over 530,000.
Now, only 570,000 remained.
"Hm… From here on out, it's up to me…"
Pei Qian knew his employees had done their part. The last 70,000 yuan?
He'd have to burn that himself.
Once he pushed past that 70,000 mark and flipped the balance into a net loss, every yuan spent afterward would be converted into personal wealth at a 1:1 ratio.
This was it—the final stretch of the Long March!
He had to strike the decisive blow!
Pei Qian first entered a high-end suit boutique, carefully avoiding the JXIA brand he'd purchased from before.
But he quickly exited in silence.
System rejected the purchase…
Apparently, because he had already bought too many suits last time, the system judged that he had no actual need for new clothing.
After leaving the clothing store, Pei Qian headed into a luxury watch boutique—Lawlux.
This time, the system didn't outright reject him.
However, as Pei Qian browsed from the most expensive model—priced at over 200,000 yuan—all the way to the entry-level selections, the system only permitted him to purchase a basic entry-level model for 40,000 yuan.
Sure, it was still a Lawlux, but… come on, that's too cheap.
Pei Qian felt a pang of pain.
But then again, 40,000 was still money, and that mattered right now—so he bought it without hesitation.
There's a saying: "The more Lawlux you wear, the more responsibility you bear."
Pei Qian figured, as the company boss, no one has more responsibility than me. Wearing a 200k watch would be totally justified.
But apparently, the system didn't agree.
It probably decided Pei Qian himself was only worth 40,000 yuan.
He felt thoroughly disrespected.
Time to keep shopping.
If even luxury watches were limited like this, other less "work-related" luxuries were even more tightly restricted.
Like pricey men's cologne, skincare, and grooming products—all off-limits.
Still, Pei Qian wasn't in a rush. With 40,000 already spent, he was getting close to the magic threshold.
He was going to push through—this was the final money-burning sprint!
By this time, Lin Wan and Huang Sibo had long finished using up their quotas, and were now following Pei Qian, observing him as he browsed.
Lin Wan, in particular, was incredibly curious about what on earth President Pei would buy.
But after watching for a while… her impression of him was flipped completely.
President Pei… was astonishingly frugal in his personal life?!
She could tell very clearly—there were things Pei Qian genuinely wanted to buy.
Like that classic G-brand luxury perfume gift set—priced at just over 1,000 yuan—he was obviously interested.
But after a glance… he put it back.
Then there was a tailored suit. Pei Qian even tried it on—it fit perfectly and looked great.
The price? Just over 10,000 yuan.
He still didn't buy it.
And the Lawlux watch? He looked from 200k models all the way down, and only picked the cheapest one—barely 40k.
A boss as successful as him, and he only wears a 40k watch??
Lin Wan was utterly shocked.
Meanwhile, Pei Qian was still weaving through the store, picking up small things here and there.
Anything the system banned? Instantly scrapped.
Anything it didn't restrict? Instantly bagged.
Even so, he didn't end up buying that much.
Because the system's rules and limitations were just too strict!
He managed to grab a Montglobe fountain pen, which is over 7,000 yuan. A gold-accented G-brand belt, which is over 3,000 yuan. And a men's leather briefcase, which is priced over 20,000 yuan
Some were the priciest options allowed, some were mid-tier—everything was dictated by what the system permitted.
Pei Qian simply focused on one principle:
Within allowed limits, buy the most expensive version possible.
After another lap around the mall, Pei Qian realized—he was out of things to buy.
He took a quick inventory.
Though he'd made several purchases, he didn't actually have that many shopping bags in hand.
Total spent: 73,000 yuan.
Which meant… he'd successfully pushed the company from a 30,000-yuan profit into a 3,000-yuan loss!
Pei Qian's face lit up with joy.
A historic milestone!
This was the result of his rapid-fire spending campaign, and also the long-term victory of his life philosophy:
"Don't get the best—get the most expensive."
From this point on, every single yuan he spent would convert to personal income at a 1:1 ratio.
And yet—to those watching him, that smile meant something very different.
Lin Wan, for example, felt a deep emotional stir.
Ocean Fortress was such a massive hit.
Even with a conservative estimate, President Pei was probably making two million a month in profit.
And yet… he still lived this frugally?!
<+>
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