"It’s absolutely necessary," Zhou Fan said.
"My dad works at a property management company, and I’m in landscaping. Our company gets a lot of projects from my dad’s side. The shareholders are having a meal here, so it’s essential for me to go say hello and get my face known."
"That’s serious business. Go make a good impression. Maybe you’ll land even more projects in the future."
"That’s what my dad was thinking, too."
Wang Jia leaned in and said in a low voice,
"Your dad is a senior executive. If the shareholders find out he’s funneling projects to you, wouldn’t that look bad?"
"That’s why my dad told me not to mention what I do. I’m just supposed to go say hi. We’ll slowly work on that side of things later."
"That should be fine then."
"Alright, I gotta go. My dad said they’re about to leave and told me to wait for them at the entrance."
"Go on, business comes first."
Zhou Fan got up, left the private room, and went to the hotel entrance.
"Just like the old saying goes, ’It’s good to have friends in high places.’ It’s totally true. Old Zhou is about to take off!" Song Yawen said with envy.
"It’s such a huge company, the shareholders must be worth at least a hundred million. If they let even a little bit slip through their fingers, it would be enough for us to live on for a lifetime."
As he spoke, Cao Yufei walked to the window to watch Zhou Fan downstairs, ready to enjoy the show.
They were mostly done with their meal, so the others, curious, also gathered by the window.
"Jiajia, you really have an eye for picking men. Zhou Fan is definitely a man with potential. Maybe you’ll get to be a rich man’s wife someday," Zhang Qianfang said, full of envy.
Wang Jia savored the feeling. This was exactly the effect she wanted—everyone flattering her, making her the center of attention.
"Even if he strikes it rich, I’m not going to just be a trophy wife. I’m going to keep working my way up, step by step. I can’t say I’ll reach a super high position, but I should at least be able to make it to deputy director."
"No way. Zhou Fan is such a great catch, and you’re still going to work so hard yourself?"
"Of course. I want to be a modern, independent woman. I would never just depend on a man," Wang Jia said.
"The reason I’m with Zhou Fan isn’t because he’s well-off—after all, my family isn’t doing badly either. I just felt he was a good match. He’s humble, low-key, and cultured. Not like Lin Jiang, who just lives off his silver tongue."
Recalling Lin Jiang’s earlier behavior, Zhang Qianfang and Liu Yihan felt there was some truth to what she was saying.
Lin Jiang really had been a bit hot-tempered. He wasn’t exactly ideal partner material.
"Let me tell you, today is a perfect example. When you’re looking for a boyfriend, you can’t just look at their face; you have to see if your values align. Someone like Lin Jiang, who isn’t in our social or economic class, is a completely unsuitable match for us. Even if you forced a relationship, you’d probably just end up divorced."
"You have a point."
VROOOM—
Just then, a roaring sound drew everyone’s attention.
"Holy shit! A supercar!" Song Yajie exclaimed.
"It’s a Bugatti! The king of supercars," Cao Yufei marveled.
"How much does a car like that cost? It must be over ten million, right?" Zhang Qianfang said.
"I don’t know for sure, but I know Bugattis aren’t cheap. Any random model would be in the high tens of millions."
Although the guys were knowledgeable about cars, they only knew the basics, like being able to name the different supercar brands.
If you showed them a specific car and asked for the model and price, none of them had that level of detailed knowledge.
After all, things like that were too far out of their reach. They would never be able to touch one in their entire lives, so there was no point in paying too much attention.
"The people who buy these cars are probably all rich second-generation kids, right?" Wang Jia said.
"Definitely. Older rich people usually buy Bentleys and Rolls-Royces. Only young people mess with supercars."
The group had originally been standing at the window to watch Zhou Fan try to network with the bigwigs, but now they were all captivated by the supercar.
Even Zhou Fan, who was standing downstairs, couldn’t help but stare.
The roaring subsided as the supercar pulled up to the restaurant’s entrance. A rich-looking kid in shorts got out but didn’t leave, just stood beside the car.
"Goddamn, that’s enviable. That kid doesn’t even look as old as me, and he’s already driving a Bugatti. I’ll never get to drive a car like that in my whole life," Song Yawen lamented.
"You’re doing pretty well for yourself. You might not be at the top, but you’re better off than most. At least you’re doing better than Lin Jiang," Wang Jia said.
"That’s true. Once I make some money this year, I’ll buy a Panamera at the end of the year. I bet girls will be lining up to get in my car then, haha..."
"You’re so damn shameless, haha..."
The group’s attention returned to Zhou Fan.
They were all ordinary people. A supercar worth tens of millions was too distant a dream, not something a normal person should even think about, so they decided to just put it out of their minds.
At the same time, Lin Jiang and the members of the PRC Team began to file out of the hotel.
Beside him and Qin Youyou was a middle-aged man in a dress shirt, who was bowing and scraping as he spoke.
"President Zhou, you can get back to your business. We have other matters to attend to, so we’ll be leaving now."
The middle-aged man’s name was Zhou Jintao, the General Manager of Desheng Properties.
As an elder holding a high-ranking position, Zhou Jintao wouldn’t have bowed so low even for Qin Youyou, the daughter of Qin Zhengqing.
The one who truly made him act this way was Lin Jiang!
As the company’s fourth-largest shareholder, and potentially Qin Zhengqing’s future son-in-law, a man with such a dual status was more than worthy of a bow.
"Let me see you out."
The group walked out of the hotel. Zhou Jintao saw his son and prepared to introduce them.
But he saw that his son was frozen in place, not moving an inch.
"Son, come over here. Let me make an introduction," Zhou Jintao called out, saying,
"This is President Lin of our company, who is also the fourth-largest shareholder. And this is our company’s Vice President; you can just call her President Qin."
"But... but he’s my classmate..."
"Huh?"
A delighted look appeared on Zhou Jintao’s face. He hadn’t expected such a connection between them.
Qin Youyou looked at Lin Jiang. "Brother Jiang, President Zhou’s son is your classmate?"
"We were classmates," Lin Jiang said calmly.
"What a coincidence! I had no idea President Lin knew my son."
Zhou Jintao called out again, "What are you standing there stunned for? Hurry up and greet President Lin."
"But we’re not on very good terms," Lin Jiang said slowly.
Zhou Jintao’s expression froze, the string of compliments he had prepared getting stuck in his throat.
"President Zhou, I’ll be going now. You two, father and son, can have a chat."
Lin Jiang walked towards his car, and a member of the PRC Team handed him the keys.
"Brother Jiang, your car is incredible! No wonder it sells for 126 million. It’s so badass to drive."
"If you want to drive it in the future, just let me know."
"Oh no, I couldn’t. Just being able to pick up the car for you and drive it this short distance is more than enough. Thanks, Brother Jiang."
"Don’t mention it."
Qin Youyou got into the driver’s seat and Lin Jiang got into the passenger seat. They drove off under everyone’s gaze.
Zhou Fan’s mind was buzzing. The phrase "126 million" echoed endlessly in his head...
By the window on the second floor, the girls had heard the conversation between Lin Jiang and Zhou Jintao loud and clear.
The number—126 million—kept replaying in their ears.

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