A Milk Tea Shop from the Start, How Is It So Hard to Lose Money?

[No Female Lead, No Romance]

Chen Mo, the top scorer in the college entrance exam, had just received his admission letter when he got bound to the [Money-Losing System]. The system's funds could only be used for investment and business operations. He'd earn a 10% reward on losses, but only a 1% share of any profits.

Hoping to lose a million yuan and collect a hundred thousand in rewards, he deliberately chose a milk tea shop in the university district's “startup graveyard.” He picked the most remote location and set the lowest prices, certain he could burn through the money and get out fast.

But then a food blogger casually filmed the place, and the five-yuan milk tea went viral, with the line stretching all the way to the alley's entrance. He tried to lose money by spending big on renovations and hiring extra staff, only to attract investors eager to pour money in. He opened branches in obscure corners, but every shop became a popular photo spot. He even cut the price of the milk tea to four yuan, and it became a sensation across the city, providing jobs for half the city's delivery drivers.

He expanded like crazy, opening twenty-four branches and pouring twenty million yuan into renovating an unfinished building into a milk tea, internet cafe, and esports complex, hoping the high costs would eat up his funds. Instead, the System kept investing more, and the more his account lost, the larger its balance became.

The employees earned over ten thousand yuan a month, the investors made millions while doing nothing, and Chen Mo was the only one stuck with a meager share of the profits. Looking at the tens of millions in his System account, he was on the verge of tears. “I really just wanted to lose some money. How did I end up founding a chain empire?”

(The story takes a while to get going. If that's not your thing, please give it a pass. Just a newcomer writing out of love for the craft.)