How to Squeeze Five Million Out of a Cheapskate CEO

Coming soon: A Little White Cloud, synopsis at the very bottom

Mu Dong is an NPC in a game. His resentment toward the game's creator runs so deep that he somehow transmigrates to the human world, saddled with a compulsory task: "Earn five million from the author, or you're done for."

Mu Dong: "..."

To survive, Mu Dong approaches the author under the guise of an admirer, looking for ways to make money off him.

First, he sells cheap things to the author at inflated prices, pocketing the difference.

Then he secretly puts the things the author gives him on the secondhand market and turns them into cash.

Later, after nearly getting caught, he stops selling things and starts selling the right to use them instead.

A luxury hotel suite becomes a room rented by the hour, making a small profit through high volume.

A top-class horse at an upscale stable becomes a cheap pony, providing rides seven or eight times a day.

As the money in his pocket grows, Mu Dong is beside himself with joy.

But one day, the man goes on a business trip and happens to run into someone in the hourly room.

Mu Dong: "..."

Yu Cong is a business shark who built his empire from nothing. His motto in life is that he will never let anyone earn a single cent from him.

But even a ruthless man like him is taken in by a pretty young man.

He thinks the other is a poor little thing, so he softens and buys his wares, only to discover they cost no more than fifty cents to make!

The expensive gifts he carefully chose, going against his principles to buy, are immediately listed for resale online.

Worst of all, Mu Dong doesn't even spare the horse he gave him. That fine-blooded steed is turned into a rental horse, serving customers nonstop until it loses dozens of pounds.

What a disgrace!

Yu Cong scowls, ready to teach him a lesson. But only then does he discover that the other isn't even human. He's a chibi pixel NPC from a game Yu Cong created years ago.

And to teach him a lesson, Yu Cong will first have to pay a fortune to rescue him from the game.

Yu Cong: "..."

Mu Dong's Money-Making Diary:

Day 1: Cafeteria dessert, cost: 0. Sold it to Yu Cong for 100 yuan.

Day 30: A scarf knitted from yarn someone gave me, cost: 0. Sold it to Yu Cong for 200 yuan.

Day 60: He didn't give me anything, but I got a horse. I could sell the right to use it at a discount... Wait, I think I've been found out.

Day 61: Hehe. I'm done for.

Yu Cong's Cold War Diary:

Day 1 of the cold war: Great job. Keep it up!

Day 2 of the cold war: Damn it, why is everything in this game so broken? How is anyone supposed to live here?

Day 3 of the cold war: I made a game with a stony face and built the little scammer a luxurious mansion, but refused to speak to him.

Day 4 of the cold war: ...If only I could get into the game. I miss my wife.

A cheerful, adorable, stingy lamb with curly hair, a little clever but not very much, who bottoms

A proud, stubborn business shark who talks tough but is already falling for him, who tops

After his father throws him out, on the third day after his mother's death, Rong Xi is taken to a cramped, dilapidated shack, dragging one injured leg.

The fifteen-year-old has grown up in luxury and has never known such hardship or suffered such a devastating blow.

Feverish and groggy, he thinks it would be nice to fall asleep and never wake up. At least then he could see his mother again.

But he wakes up anyway. The room is as dark and damp as ever, but one thing has changed: a white cloud is floating above his head.

Just like in a cartoon, it's round and fluffy, pure white, and gently drifting in the air.

Rong Xi tries to ignore the cloud, thinking it might be a hallucination caused by his high fever.

But the cloud won't give him the chance.

The little round cloud is lively and full of curiosity. It carries its soft, pure cloud body around the room, nosing into everything. It swallows the objects it finds, then spits them back out in disgust after inspecting them.

As it turns the room upside down, it also stirs the gloomy, despondent boy's heart, giving him a glimmer of hope through years of darkness.

Rong Xi thinks the cloud will stay with him for a long time. They will go to college together and make their way in the world together.

But an accident happens, and his cloud disappears. The light that had briefly appeared has abandoned him once more.

The white cloud is a little cloud whose favorite thing is to race and drift with the wind. It never stays in one place for long.

But one day, it meets a boy.

The boy is beautiful and slender. He looks cold, but he is considerate and gentle.

The white cloud likes gentle people, so when the boy is in danger, it is willing to sacrifice itself for him.

The cloud thinks it will vanish forever, but not only does it survive, it undergoes a huge change: it now has a human body.

And the boy has changed even more.

The beautiful, slender boy has grown tall and imposing. The once-broke young man is now wealthy.

But the cloud doesn't think those things matter. The boy, or rather the man, is still as gentle and caring as ever. If that's the case, then he hasn't changed.

The cloud settles into the man's home, living just as it used to.

But one day, it accidentally stumbles upon the side the man keeps hidden.

Darkness, possessiveness, strict surveillance, constant watching. Beneath the man's gentle, handsome exterior lies a soul with bottomless desires, and a heart left shattered by the cloud's departure.

When the man used to have an episode, he would hide alone in the dark and endure it in silence.

But after the cloud returns, the mischievous little cloud always finds him and transforms its soft, fluffy body, wrapping itself tightly around him.

Don't be afraid. I'll always be here. The cloud spits out a note to tell him.

Holding the cloud, the man looks at its round, wobbly handwriting. His brow furrows in pain, but the corners of his lips lift with joy.

"Okay. As long as you're by my side, I won't be afraid. You won't abandon me again, right?" the man asks pitifully.

Whenever that happens, the cloud turns into a person, cradles the man's head against its soft belly, and kisses him. "I won't. I'll never leave you again."

Theme: Frugality is a good habit.