Xu Tong also walked out of the CEO's office.

"I've redone a plan, and Aunt Su just approved it."

"Compared to the initial plan, almost all the planning is completed, except for…"

"A work-injured employee with a 0% recovery rate left."

"I'll find a way to continue persuading Aunt Su."

Xu Tong was somewhat anxious. She knew that if this goal wasn't met, Su Xiuqin would very likely die in the game, but she was truly unsure of what to do.

Li Renshu realized there might be something Xu Tong wasn't saying, considering how both she and Su Xiuqin got forced into this game.

But since the other party couldn't talk about it, asking was pointless.

This was ultimately someone else's judgment game.

Li Renshu and Fu Chen's task was to manage the company as well as possible so they wouldn't have any worries later.

"The good news is that we've initially reached a collaboration with Community 8. Starting from the next round, we'll alternate winning. For future market research, we will have a stable cash flow every two rounds."

"However… they seem to have laid off all their employees."

"I just looked at the job market and noticed a lot of new employees, who should be the ones they laid off."

Fu Chen was a bit surprised, "So fast? They made decisions quite decisively."

Xu Tong thought it was quite normal, "Tian Fan seems like a very decisive person."

"Laying people off now can not only create an advantage, but also help them go bankrupt later than us, which means more money when leaving the game."

"The question now is, should we lay off the last ten people as well?"

Li Renshu shook her head, "We won't lay them off."

Before going to the market research site, Li Renshu glanced at the company's account balance once more.

[Community 17 Limited Liability Company]

[June Company Account Balance: 139,000 minutes of visa time]

[July Estimated Income: 0 minutes of visa time]

[July Estimated Expenses: 34,000 minutes of visa time]

...

In the passage leading to the market research site.

Li Renshu turned to look at the scene outside, which seemed to have grown more desolate.

The biting cold wind blew past. Initially, there were only a few unemployed people holding signs on the street, but as the game progressed, the number had multiplied several times, forming long queues.

Li Renshu gazed at the scene outside, deep in thought.

[Now, please let Community 8 Limited Liability Company choose a business field.]

Tian Fan leaned close to the microphone, "Society."

The two parties had established cooperation, and as agreed, when it was Community 8's turn to choose a business field, Community 8 would win.

And vice versa.

This was because the community that actively chose a business field would have a certain advantage in this type of issue. As long as answers were given seriously, even if the other side reneged, they wouldn't necessarily lose.

This extra layer of insurance served both sides well.

[In a city of 20 million people, how many taxis might there be?]

Just as Tian Fan began pondering and calculating, Li Renshu spoke into the microphone.

"It's your turn to win this time, so I'll fill in 1."

"However, I must remind you that, though betrayal sometimes brings extra gains, it also leads to severe consequences."

"If it's a one-off game, the one who breaks the agreement often gains the most."

"But if it's a repeated game, then it's the trustworthy who laughs last."

"If we can cooperate all the way to the end of this game, then the next time we encounter each other in a game, we can also join hands to overcome difficulties."

"But if you choose betrayal this time, then every player from Community 17 that you encounter in future games will become your enemy."

"Your community's Jiao Hongtao should have joined our community's players in the 'Matchmaking Game' and should be aware of the true power of our community."

With those words, Li Renshu turned the tablet screen around, letting Tian Fan see the number '1' on it, and then pressed [Confirm].

[Community 8 Limited Liability Company's market research results are closer to reality, seizing this business opportunity and receiving a reward of 30,000 minutes of visa time.]

[As Community 8 Limited Liability Company invested an additional 20,000, an extra reward of 20,000 minutes of visa time will be awarded.]

Tian Fan stood up, "I've already laid off all the employees."

"Let's persist together."

...

Back in the community, Xu Tong was anxiously waiting.

"You two, come quickly! The company's estimated income even turned negative!"

Li Renshu hurried forward, and sure enough, the company's estimated income on the panel had become -10,000 minutes of visa time.

[Community 17 Limited Liability Company]

[July Company Account Balance: 105,000 minutes of visa time]

[August Estimated Income: -10,000 minutes of visa time]

[August Estimated Expenses: 32,000 minutes of visa time]

Originally, everyone thought the company's estimated income would drop to zero at most so that as long as all employees were laid off, they could remain undefeated.

But now, it was clear that was not the case.

The Imitator wouldn't leave such a low-level loophole for players to exploit.

This barely aligns with real logic since many real companies continue to accumulate debt due to loan interests or fines, even when they're essentially shells.

But for the players in this game, it's absolutely the worst possible news.

This means that each subsequent game round will deduct an additional 10,000 minutes of visa time.

The pressure on the funding chain will grow increasingly more significant.

Market research yields are fixed; now, each two rounds only earn 50,000 minutes of visa time, averaging 25,000 per round.

It's unsustainable in the long term.

Community 8 having already laid off all employees only adds more pressure.

Continuing this way will only lead to one outcome: going bankrupt before the opponent and losing the game.

Li Renshu asked, "Is Aunt Su still keeping that employee with 0% lung cancer recovery rate?"

Xu Tong nodded, "Yes."

Li Renshu got up and headed to the CEO's office, "I'll try to persuade her."

By now, Li Renshu was somewhat aware that the employee with lung cancer and a 0% recovery rate was likely tied to the judgment task.

Without understanding the game's mechanics, Li Renshu couldn't be 100% sure if ending the economic winter would conclude the game, so she had to prepare in advance.

Even though every person would be deducted 100,000 minutes of visa time after the company goes bankrupt, at least it wouldn't mean instant death.

Once back in the community, there would be interest-free loans to bail them out.

But before that, possible risks had to be eliminated, leading Su Xiuqin to give up on that employee with 0% lung cancer recovery.

Though uncertain about the exact mechanics, Li Renshu felt this was a necessary step.

However, upon entering the CEO's office, Li Renshu found Su Xiuqin not at her desk.

Scanning around, she spotted Su Xiuqin standing by the cold storage door, from which a chill emanated, deep in thought.

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