Chapter 45: Chapter 45: Reward Optimization

Deep down, Gao Yuan refused to admit he was useless!

In the past, he’d often lamented that while talented people were common, those who could recognize talent were rare, always feeling his own abilities went unappreciated.

When an opportunity presented itself, he lacked the ability to seize it, and would think, ’If only I had money, I’d be better than any of them!’

Now that he had the Money Power System, he found he didn’t even have the right to make such complaints anymore.

From the day it awakened, any failure could only be attributed to his own incompetence.

Gao Yuan could have just slacked off, done nothing, and waited for the System’s daily cash-back limit to increase on its own.

He would achieve financial freedom sooner or later, after all!

But, Gao Yuan’s restless heart wouldn’t stay quiet. Especially with the System as his powerful backer, he couldn’t resist the urge to make some waves.

’What if I could actually build a real career out of this?’

That kind of accomplishment would bring a sense of fulfillment the System could never provide—it would be an affirmation of his own life!

After much thought, Gao Yuan decided that short videos could only be a hobby. Posting some clips while cooking for the two women was fine as a way to document his happy life.

But as for actually trying to make a living as an influencer, he really couldn’t stomach the idea.

’I still need to find a path that’s a better fit for me.’

With this in mind, Gao Yuan replied to Li Mengqing in the group chat, "This account is just for documenting our lives. I’m not thinking too far ahead for now."

This statement essentially defined the scope of his short video venture for the time being.

"Our lives?"

"Someone’s use of the word ’our’ was just perfect!"

Seeing Gao Yuan’s message in the group, Lin Wanyu let out a giggle and started her teasing again.

’This little minx... not even her period can tame her!’

Gao Yuan was helpless when it came to Lin Wanyu.

She was a real character, but crucially, she knew how to read a room and act appropriately. On top of that, she would act all cute and coy at the drop of a hat. Who could possibly resist that!

Ignoring Lin Wanyu’s antics in the chat, Gao Yuan asked the two women, "What kind of skincare products are you two using these days?"

"Helena."

"The La Mer my ’brother’ gave me!"

The moment they both answered, Gao Yuan felt the atmosphere in the chat shift instantly.

"Oh, a gift from her ’brother’..."

"Yeah, so what? It *was* a gift from my ’brother’!"

"..."

Seeing the two women starting to act up, Gao Yuan immediately felt a headache coming on.

Without a second thought, he sent a message to the group: "We’re going shopping tonight. A full set for each of you!"

"I couldn’t possibly accept!"

"Thank you for your generosity, Brother!"

At that moment, Gao Yuan suddenly felt that having multiple women in his life was not necessarily a good thing.

Seeing the two of them bickering in the group, Gao Yuan knew he couldn’t let the situation escalate. He quickly changed the subject, ready to discuss business.

"Sister Qing, there are a lot of women at your company. Could you help me gather some data on skincare products?"

"I just need to know the brands they use and their prices."

Seeing Gao Yuan’s message, Li Mengqing wasn’t sure why he wanted that information, but she replied directly, "No need for a survey. We deal with skincare products a lot in my line of work. I have this year’s industry report right here, I’ll send it to you."

Gao Yuan was thrilled.

With a ready-made report, he could learn so much more about the skincare industry.

"Brother, you don’t actually have to buy us skincare products," Lin Wanyu said seriously, suddenly sitting up to face Gao Yuan, who was looking over the report.

"Oh?"

Gao Yuan looked at Lin Wanyu, confused. "But you use them anyway, right? What’s the difference between me buying them for you and you buying them yourselves?"

"Qingqing and I don’t normally use those big-name brands. I was just being playful in the chat earlier."

Gao Yuan was even more astonished.

He couldn’t figure it out. ’Big-name brands at least have some quality assurance. Given their spending habits, would they really use generic, off-brand products?’

’Besides, Helena and La Mer are considered top-of-the-line. Could there be something even better?’

Seeing Gao Yuan’s confusion, Lin Wanyu decided to drop the pretense. She turned to him and said directly, "Brother, my family’s business is actually in skincare."

"So, Qingqing and I both use products made by our own company."

"And don’t look down on domestic products. Ours are actually no worse than those big-name brands, we just can’t sell them at such a high price."

Lin Wanyu’s words hit Gao Yuan like a clap of thunder, leaving him completely stunned.

’So this whole time, the little rich girl’s family was in the skincare business. No wonder she’s so loaded.’

’Skincare is an industry with insane profit margins. As long as your products don’t have any negative side effects and your marketing is on point, it’s more profitable than robbing a bank.’

"What brand do you make?"

"We make all kinds of brands. Our main business is ’brand empowerment.’"

When he heard Lin Wanyu use the word "empowerment," Gao Yuan almost bit his tongue.

’He’d heard that word so much over the past two years he was sick of it.’

What Lin Wanyu called "brand empowerment" was just a fancy way of saying they were a contract manufacturer. The factory produces the product, then hands it over to the client to be sold under their brand name.

It was like a certain famous cosmetics brand known for its eyebrow pencils, which was just a shell company that made a killing off women nationwide through "brand empowerment."

"So, what’s your annual production value?"

Gao Yuan was asking to get a sense of the scale of Lin Wanyu’s family’s factory.

"I don’t know. I’ve told you before, I don’t pay attention to that stuff. But it’s at least five hundred million, I think!"

Lin Wanyu truly didn’t care about it. The only reason she came up with the five-hundred-million figure was that she had occasionally overheard her father and younger brother talking.

Gao Yuan stared at Lin Wanyu in astonishment. ’I can’t believe I’m dating an heiress with such a massive family business!’

Based on the car she drove, he hadn’t thought much of it before, assuming her family’s assets were in the hundreds of millions at most.

After meeting her parents, he had revised that estimate upward by a factor of ten.

But he never expected that her family’s business had an annual production value of no less than five hundred million. He had been completely misled by her!

Suppressing his shock, Gao Yuan asked the question that mattered most to him.

"The production formulas for the skincare products—are they your own, or are they provided by the brands?"

The skincare formula provided by the System was supposed to be one-of-a-kind.

’Based on its described effects, it should be far superior to any product currently on the market. Even the top-tier brands would be a joke in comparison to a product made by the System.’

His main worry now was what would happen if the formula leaked. All his efforts would be for nothing, and he’d just be paving the way for someone else to reap the rewards.

"Some brands provide key, semi-finished ingredients, and we then produce the final product according to the formula they provide."

"But the formulas for most skincare products are transparent; there aren’t many secrets. So most of the time, our factory provides samples and descriptions of their effects, and the client just has to put their label on it."

After hearing what Lin Wanyu said, Gao Yuan was unsure of what to do next.

’Originally, I was thinking of starting a small workshop and expanding the business step by step. My current funds might have been enough for that.’

’But after hearing that Lin Wanyu’s family made skincare products, my mind immediately jumped to contract manufacturing.’

’But that would mean handing over the secret formula. Even with a patent, once the formula was leaked, someone else could just add one little thing and claim it as their own product.’

’As a brand that had just been registered, I wouldn’t even get the leftovers.’

’The System has given me another puzzle to solve! Why couldn’t it have just provided a perfect solution?’

[Ding! System upgrade reward optimization initiated!]

Gao Yuan had barely finished complaining when a System prompt rang in his mind.

The notification was about an optimization for the system upgrade reward.

Gao Yuan couldn’t help but wonder, ’Is the System going to help me solve this problem?’

[Ding! System upgrade reward optimization complete. Please claim your reward again!]

[Upgrade Reward: One set of skincare product formulas.]

[Note: The complete set of skincare product formulas provided by the System can fundamentally change the user’s skin condition, effectively increasing skin vitality by 10%. (Effective only upon certification by a System scan.)]

Looking at the System reward again, Gao Yuan saw that a few more words had been added to the end of the note.

"Effective only upon certification by a System scan!"

He understood what this meant. Even if he handed over the formula and someone else produced the exact same product, its effects would be completely different.

This fundamentally prevented any losses that would have been caused by the formula leaking.

’The System really came through!’

For the first time, Gao Yuan found himself sincerely thanking the Money Power System from the bottom of his heart.

"Brother, why the sudden interest in skincare?"

"You’re not planning on giving them to some other girl, are you?"

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