TENGDA CORP: PLEASE LET ME GO BANKRUPT!

CHAPTER 9: Cash Defense Plan

Julian hurriedly put down his fork. Cold sweat began to drench the back of his neck. His initial intention to make Chloe a financial burden had instead turned into a new problem. This girl now actually wanted to donate a massive amount of funds that could thwart his loss-making plan.

"Wait, Chloe," Julian interrupted, raising both hands to calm the girl in front of him. He adjusted his tone to sound like a businessman giving important advice. "That plan to inject funds... don't do it."

Chloe furrowed her brows, staring at Julian in confusion. "Why? Doesn't T-Store need a lot of money to burn for subsidies? The money from Ember Beauty can help ease Tengda's expense burden, Julian."

"That is exactly where it's wrong," Julian said, leaning back casually while crossing his legs to hide his panic. "Tengda Corp's business concept is full independence. If we mix cosmetic profits with digital subsidy funds, the market will see us as a corporation deliberately cross-subsidizing for the sake of a monopoly. Public sentiment could turn negative."

Julian leaned his body forward, looking into Chloe's eyes seriously. "I want Ember Beauty to stay clean, Chloe. You must keep that cosmetic profit money yourself. Use it to buy a new bag, or hold another exclusive fashion exhibition. Don't let money from the digital industry interfere with your fashion business affairs."

Hearing those words, Chloe's heart suddenly beat fast. In her eyes, Julian was not rejecting capital assistance—this man was actually protecting her. Julian was willing to bear the burden of huge losses alone on his shoulders to keep Chloe's cosmetic business looking elegant in the public's eyes.

'He... he thinks too much about my feelings,' Chloe thought, her face reddening again. Her arrogant nature collapsed instantly, replaced by a feeling of deep emotion.

"I-if that's what you want... all right," Chloe answered softly, looking away awkwardly while playing with the ends of her blonde hair. "I will keep that profit money for the development of our own laboratory. But remember, if you need help, you have to tell me!"

"Of course," Julian replied with a relieved smile in his heart. 'Just keep that money far, far away from my cash, Chloe. Please just waste it on something else.'

After Chloe said goodbye and left his room, Julian let out a long breath. One threat successfully overcome. Now he had to refocus on Harry and his developer team who were busy preparing for T-Store's launch.

That afternoon, Julian walked around the office to check on the progress. He deliberately passed by the network division, hoping to see his staff relaxing or playing games during working hours according to the rules he had previously established.

However, the sight in the network division room instead made Julian anxious.

Ten network technicians were sitting upright in front of a large monitor displaying a global server map. No one was dozing off or playing billiards. In the middle of the room, Harry was holding a whiteboard full of complex network architecture scribbles.

"Remember, team!" Harry exclaimed in a loud voice toward his friends. "Boss Julian is willing to sacrifice his personal profits for the future of small developers. We must not disappoint him! The architecture of these T-Store servers must be made as efficiently as possible so that the maintenance costs borne by Boss Julian don't swell up in vain. We have to optimize bandwidth usage to the lowest possible point!"

A network technician raised his hand. "Harry! I managed to input a new data compression system. This can cut the server load by up to 40% without reducing the d******d speed for gamers!"

"Great! Run it right now! Save every penny of Boss Julian's money!" Harry replied enthusiastically.

Julian, who was standing behind the glass door, instantly went weak. His knees felt wobbly. 'A new data compression system? Cutting the server load by 40%?! That means my cash expenses are reduced by almost half!' Julian screamed in annoyance in his mind.

He really wanted to barge into that room and scream: "Don't save money! Let the servers be wasteful! Let them burst!" But if he did that, the System would detect it as an act of deliberate sabotage from the inside, and his System Funds could be frozen.

Julian could only clutch his tight chest, then walk backward returning to his office. His bankruptcy plan was progressing slowly because his employees were too fully dedicated to their work.

That night, drizzle washed over Riverdale City once again. While staring at the preparation dashboard for T-Store, which was ready to be launched in the next three days, Julian clenched his fists.

"Only three days left," Julian whispered. "The servers might be economical, but the subsidy is still 70%. Let's see who will last longer... your server efficiency, or the wave of poor gamers who will drain this cash dry! I'm rich, I will be filthy rich Hahahahah…."