“No way.”
Wen Ying smiled, but her words carried a sharp edge. “When you had 400,000, you gave it all to some new friends to squander. Only when the money was gone did you remember your old friend. Why should I treat a fool to dinner?”
Wang Shuang clutched his chest dramatically, collapsed backwards, and kicked his legs in the air. “I’m the victim here! Have pity on me… If you think a full meal is too expensive, just buy me a coffee, okay?”
This was a high-end hotel. Even a single coffee wasn’t cheap.
Wen Ying really couldn’t stand this clown. “I thought you were looking for investment to start a second business.”
Wang Shuang grinned shamelessly. “I did think about it, but I need a little time to prepare. Let me summarise my lessons from this failure first!”
Yep, this was the Wang Shuang she knew.
Wang Shuang had never been the smartest, but he had his strengths. The guy was pathologically optimistic. One or two failures couldn’t crush him!
Even someone as brilliant as Xie Qian could get stuck in a mental rut and fall into depression, but the word “depression” probably didn’t exist in Wang Shuang’s dictionary.
“You blew through 400,000. Are you going to tell your family? If you don’t want to, I’ll keep it secret for you.”
Poor academic slacker Wang didn’t yet know he’d already become a mortgage slave. Now he’d lost the down payment for another flat. Talk about adding insult to injury.
Wang Shuang waved his hand decisively. “No need to keep it secret. I’ll tell them myself! Actually, I don’t think the 400,000 is a total loss. The office lease will expire eventually, and the clothes in the warehouse won’t go bad. If I can sell them, I’ll recover some blood.”
Wen Ying reminded him, “They all refuse to disband the team. If you try to clear the inventory, they’ll probably demand their share of the stock… Though Senior Sister Hang should be able to keep the others in line.”
The clothes in stock were only worth a few tens of thousands.
Wen Ying didn’t care about that small amount, and the old Wang Shuang wouldn’t have cared either, but Hang Xiaowen and the others definitely would.
Why let go of something you could get for free?
Then again, it wasn’t certain.
If Hang Xiaowen was smart enough, she wouldn’t fight Wang Shuang over such a trivial sum. Leave some room for future favours. Wang Shuang was only talking about dissolving the team and closing the company, not cutting ties with Hang Xiaowen and the rest.
A rich second-generation friend was worth far more than a bit of leftover stock!
“You’re right. I’ll probably have to trouble Senior Sister Hang one more time.”
He said “trouble,” but there wasn’t a trace of apology in his tone.
Hang Xiaowen had drawn a salary throughout the start-up, paid by Wang Shuang himself. Helping him out now was only natural!
Straight men, whether top students or bottom of the class, really did think alike. At this moment, Wang Shuang and Xie Qian were operating on exactly the same wavelength.
President Ran wanted to introduce his daughter to Xie Qian, and Xie Qian felt he would have nothing in common with a girl who studied music composition.
Wen Ying had only met Hang Xiaowen once, yet she had already noticed the girl’s interest in Wang Shuang… but Wang Shuang was completely oblivious. All of Hang Xiaowen’s flirtatious glances were wasted on a blind man.
Being blind wasn’t so bad!
Too much sensitivity only brought extra trouble.
Wen Ying was finally satisfied. “Looks like you really have raised your awareness. Fine, coffee today is on me. Dinner tonight is still on you.”
Wang Shuang made a protective clutch at his wallet. “I’m genuinely broke. Can you and Xie Qian order something cheap?”
“That’s not for me to decide. You’ll have to ask Xie Qian.”
Wen Ying was secretly gloating.
Wang Shuang broke into a cold sweat. “If Xie Qian scolds me, will you put in a few good words for me?”
As he spoke, he pulled out his phone to check the time.
“…Huh, why isn’t Xie Qian here yet?”
Wen Ying smirked. “You think Xie Qian is as idle as you? You turned a simple e-commerce start-up into a total mess. Xie Qian has a logistics company and a film company. Of course he’s busy!”
Fair point.
Wang Shuang immediately started sighing.
The gap between people really was huge.
After thinking it over, he decided it wasn’t his fault. Before he got into a 211 university in Shanghai, the highest educational attainment in his family had been “high school”… If he wasn’t as smart as Xie Qian, he could only blame his dad, Wang Jun, for dragging him down!
With that thought, the pressure in Wang Shuang’s heart instantly vanished.
Then he remembered how Peng Guoqing didn’t even dare estimate his college entrance exam score after finishing. Wang Shuang, already safely enrolled at a Shanghai 211, felt even happier.
If spending 400,000 could get you into a 211 university, Peng Guoqing would definitely think it was worth it!
Wang Shuang decided to treat his lost 400,000 as private tutoring fees.
…
Wen Ying guessed wrong.
Xie Qian wasn’t busy with company matters at the moment. Accompanied by Gong Sheng, he had just finished viewing five river-view properties.
When Wen Ying bought property, she only cared about location and how quickly it would appreciate. She just followed her memories from her previous life and bought decisively: fast, accurate, ruthless!
Xie Qian, however, had more to consider than just location. At least, location wasn’t everything.
Prime locations appreciated quickly, perfect for investment. But if he planned to live there himself, many other factors came into play.
The build quality of the building.
The size, layout, and orientation of the flat.
The facilities and amenities.
The standard of the property management.
Even the quality of the neighbours.
Most estate agents would break into a cold sweat dealing with a client like Xie Qian. If there were an internal ranking for “most difficult customers,” Xie Qian might not take first place, but top three was guaranteed!
Fortunately, the agent today was Gong Sheng.
Gong Sheng knew what the boss cared about and thought he was prepared.
But once they were actually viewing properties, Gong Sheng nearly had a breakdown.
How could he guarantee the quality of the neighbours?!
Even if the current neighbours were decent, who knew if they’d sell later? Gong Sheng couldn’t predict the future.
“If you don’t want to be disturbed by neighbours, your only option is the top floor.”
Ordinary buyers tended to avoid top floors.
They worried about cold winters, scorching summers, and potential leaks after a few years.
But for owners with enough money, those issues were trivial.
Top floors had plenty of advantages: unobstructed views and no neighbours upstairs making noise!
Xie Qian was quite tempted.
Of the options Gong Sheng had shown him, Xie Qian liked two in particular.
One was a top-floor duplex.
The other was the top-floor flat where he currently stood.
The duplex’s drawback was that each level felt a bit cramped. To make each floor more spacious, he could buy the neighbouring unit and knock through.
The flat’s advantages were its generous size, excellent layout, two lifts serving just one household per floor, and superb privacy.
Xie Qian didn’t agonise for long. In the end, he pulled out the details for the flat and asked Gong Sheng, “Didn’t you say the flat directly below this one is still unsold?”
“Yes, it hasn’t moved. The size makes the total price high, so it’s hard to sell.”
Xie Qian handed the brochure back to Gong Sheng. “Then this one it is. And buy the one below as well.”
For a moment, Gong Sheng was speechless.
Because of its size and prime riverfront location, one flat already cost more than an old villa in Jing’an District. And Xie Qian was buying two at once!
Was a river view really worth that much?
Gong Sheng turned to look out the window. The rolling river offered no answer. He could only think: The boss has money. The boss does whatever he wants!
