"Alright, then stay," Zhang Menglong didn't have a very concrete concept of his own home, or rather, he couldn't possibly imagine how awesome it really was.
If there was someone familiar with his family around, it wouldn't be a bad thing, especially since Hong Yi was quite a beauty with curves in all the right places. It was also pleasing to the eyes to have her around. Just now, when she bent over, the glimpse of snow-white skin that showed through her neckline... tsk tsk tsk...
"Hong Yi, from now on, I'll be relying on you. I hope we'll get along," Zhang Menglong said, reaching out a hand generously.
But Hong Yi took a step back and gave Zhang Menglong a respectful bow, "Mr. Zhang jests, this is the responsibility and duty of the Hong Family!"
"Feels like this girl has been brainwashed," mumbled Zhang Menglong, but he didn't take it to heart.
"Young Master, Mr. Zhang's assets have just been transferred to your name, and there are many details we need to deal with, so we'll leave Yi Yi with you for now."
"Oh oh oh, go ahead with your work, I'm fine!" said Zhang Menglong cheerfully.
With another deep bow to Zhang Menglong, Uncle Hong and his son left, and now only a man and a woman remained in the room, creating an instantly awkward atmosphere.
"Um, have you had breakfast yet? I still have an egg!" Zhang Menglong offered, holding out the boiled egg that he had almost crushed.
"Thank you, Mr. Zhang, I've already eaten," replied Hong Yi. "Do you have any plans for what's next?"
"Plans?" Zhang Menglong didn't quite understand what she meant.
"I mean, what do you intend to do for the coming period?"
"This..." Zhang Menglong suddenly felt as if his life had reached what would be an end for the average person in an instant.
If nothing unexpected happened, he was supposed to continue job hunting. If he found a decent job, he would stick with it; if he couldn't find one to his liking, he would choose an industry he preferred, gain some experience, then consider switching jobs and such.
But he hadn't expected to go home overnight and inherit a family fortune so vast he had no idea of its size until now, leaving the future to seem perplexingly uncertain.
"Weird, isn't it said that the happiness of the wealthy is unimaginable? Why do I feel like I'm staring into a fog?" pondered Zhang Menglong. To become someone who only knew how to eat, drink, and enjoy himself every day? What difference would that be from a salted fish?
"Right, that Super God Academy I saw subconsciously!" Zhang Menglong remembered his father saying that compared to their family's wealth, the Super God Academy was the real family treasure.
But he was given a challenge: to spend 100 billion within a year in order to officially inherit it and unlock its potential, which seemed like an interesting task indeed.
"By the way, Hong Yi, if I wanted 100 billion, how long would it take to gather that sum?" Zhang Menglong knew that even for the world's richest, most of the assets were not cash, and even mobilizing 10 billion in cash was no easy feat.
"If it's just 100 billion, it's available at any time," answered Hong Yi without a moment's hesitation.
"What? Anytime? Are you joking?"
"Mr. Zhang, even just among the assets managed by the Hong Family, there are always over 3 trillion in liquid funds readily available for allocation."
"3 trillion!? That terrifying number nearly made Zhang Menglong's tongue twister."
"US dollars," Hong Yi added another unit.
"Could you not give me a heart attack next time by finishing your sentence all at once? This is how you give someone a heart attack." Now Zhang Menglong finally understood why his father had warned him not to be too alarmed; it truly was the kind of fortune that could scare someone to death.
Hong Yi couldn't help but giggle internally—Mr. Zhang seemed to know nothing about his family wealth! Indeed, when she had been tasked with assessing the Hong Family's resources, even she was shocked. The so-called wealth was just a small part of the sprawling empire that was the Zhang Family.
"Mr. Zhang, this is the money your father arranged for us to give you previously," Hong Yi handed Zhang Menglong a purple bank card. "Your father mentioned some little tests he had set for you. My question about the 100 billion just now, does it have something to do with this?"
"You're not going to tell me there's 100 billion on this card, are you?" Zhang Menglong shook all over, hardly daring to accept the card.
"Yes, Mr. Zhang, this is a Honored Card from Huaxia Bank. Nationwide, wherever there is a cooperation with Huaxia Bank, whether it is hotels, shopping malls, you will enjoy the highest level of treatment."
"Holy moly, I thought the black card was already badass, but who knew there was even such a thing as an Honored Card?" Zhang Menglong played with the bank card in his hand, which seemed to be covered in a layer of purple crystal, feeling icy and hard to the touch.
"Mr. Zhang, this Huaxia Bank black card might be rare, but in every city, quite a few people possess them. However, this Honored Card, there won't be more than ten in the entire country. Its discount rate and service level are not something that a black card can compare with. Sometimes, due to its high level, it might not even be recognized by people, so it's not actually that convenient to use."
"Sounds fancy, but it seems pretty awesome." Anyway, it was his parents' money, so Zhang Menglong had no psychological burden holding it.
"Mr. Zhang, you're not planning on staying here any longer, are you?" Hong Yi asked.
"Yeah, since my parents aren't home, there's no point in staying here. I plan to go back to Jiangnan City. After all, I've lived there for over three years, and all my friends are there."
"I figured as much," Hong Yi said with a smile, "I've already arranged for someone to accompany you. If you don't have anything to attend to, we can depart right away. You can move into any of the 17 properties you own in Jiangnan City whenever you want."
"Seventeen properties? That many?" Zhang Menglong was well aware of how Jiangnan City had developed—back in his freshman year, a residential area across from their school hung a price tag of 6,666 yuan per square meter and still found no buyers.
But with the Asia-Pacific Conference's kickoff, the real estate prices in Jiangnan City soared like a rocket, and now, even 40,000 yuan per square meter was not enough to buy a property near their school.
Moreover, those schools were twenty kilometers away from the city center, where houses priced at 100,000 yuan per square meter were common.
Seventeen properties, even assuming each one was 100 square meters at an average price of 50,000 yuan, that would be close to a hundred million in value!
"Do I have any properties near our school?" Zhang Menglong inquired.
"Of course, there's one 1.2 kilometers away from Mr. Zhang's school. However, it's not very large, only 400 square meters. It might be a bit crowded," said Hong Yi matter-of-factly.
"Crowded, with a 400-square-meter house?" One of Zhang Menglong's classmates had spent nearly three million on a 50-square-meter second-hand apartment in the city center and was quite pleased with himself. Zhang Menglong had never even dared to dream of a 400-square-meter house.
But to Hong Yi, 400 square meters indeed wasn't considered large. After all, she lived in a three-story villa with an area exceeding 800 square meters. For Zhang Menglong, even a 1000-square-meter place might still feel a bit inadequate, right?
"However, I'd still recommend a different property for you. It's a bit further from the school, but you probably don't have many classes left, do you? If needed, I can arrange for a driver to take you back and forth," she continued.
"Is that place big?" he asked.
"Very big. And I can arrange for someone to take care of your daily needs and meals. It's also one of the most bustling areas in all of Jiangnan City," she explained.
"Alright, then let's go there!" Zhang Menglong decided.
"Understood. Please pack some of your important belongings, and then we can get ready to leave," Hong Yi suggested.
"Alright!" Zhang Menglong nodded, walked around the house a few times, and in the end, he only took an album with him. Nothing else seemed to matter anymore.
"Mr. Zhang, your car is ready!" A Maybach was waiting for them downstairs.
"Good afternoon, Menglong!" Just as Zhang Menglong was about to get into the car, Auntie Liu, who had just finished grocery shopping, brushed past them downstairs.
"Auntie... Auntie Liu, hello!"
"Weird, why isn't she surprised at all?" Among all the residents of Unit Two, Auntie Liu had always been the one with the loosest tongue. Any little thing would spread like wildfire once it reached her ears.
Logically, having stepped into such a luxurious car, she should have come up like usual to interrogate him for quite a while. Why was she so calm?
"Mr. Zhang, actually, the people here are aware of your identity. Like us, they serve your family as well, just not for as long as we have!" Hong Yi revealed shockingly.
"What? What do you mean by that?"
"All the houses in this complex, including all the residents, property management staff, and so on, they all belong to your family!"
"How is this even possible!" After spending the whole morning, Zhang Menglong's face had become somewhat stiff from excessive astonishment.
Although their community wasn't large, it still had 12 buildings, each with 17 floors and 4 households per floor—that was over 800 households, thousands of people, all from his family?
"Mr. Zhang, have you forgotten? Tenghui made its fortune in real estate. This small property doesn't cost much at all. As for those residents, strictly speaking, they are just staff, mainly responsible for your daily security and normal social activities. Certainly, they all signed non-disclosure agreements. I guess after so many years, they have probably started treating you as an ordinary person,"
"Isn't this a little too exaggerated?" Zhang Menglong couldn't help but smile bitterly. His parents had gone to such great lengths for him to grow up like an ordinary person, hiring thousands of actors, "Wouldn't it be nicer to just buy a house in a random community?"
"Is there a big difference between buying a single house and buying 12 buildings?"
"Isn't there a big difference?" Zhang Menglong screamed hysterically in his heart, "Is this the gap between ordinary people and tycoons? Normal people struggle just to buy one house, while his family buys 12 buildings at once, as if they are shopping for vegetables at the market?"
"No, right now, I am the tycoon!" Zhang Menglong suddenly realized the well-intentioned rigour behind the challenge his father set for him, to spend 100 billion in a year.
His concept of spending was completely unfit for owning such wealth!
"Let's go, let's go. Give me a moment to process this." Zhang Menglong sat in the car and fell into silence, even starting to doubt his life choices.
...
"Beep beep!"
"Beep beep!"
"Move it already, why isn't it moving!"
"What kind of driving is this, cmn? Such traffic and still trying to cut in? It's because of people like you that the expressway is jammed like this!"
...
The day Zhang Menglong was returning home was the afternoon before National Day. From that evening on, the expressway was jammed to the point of no return due to the citizens who had been waiting for half a year. And today was another peak period—dreaming of a smooth ride back to Jiangnan City was pure fantasy!
"I am stuck on the expressway right now, and the map tells me it'll be another 7 hours of jam. I am done for!"
"Hahaha, luckily I had the foresight. Isn't a seven-day dormitory tour fragrant?"
"You scoundrel, what's 7 hours? I'm estimated to be stuck for 23 hours, alright? I drove less than ten kilometers from last night until now!"
"Damn, they even deliver takeout to the expressway now? Delivery guys are simply invincible!"
Zhang Menglong took a brief nap and when he opened his phone, there were already 99+ complaints in the dormitory chat group.
He glanced at the time, more than four hours had passed. Under normal circumstances, he would have already arrived in Jiangnan City.
"Mr. Zhang, you're awake. We've been stuck on the expressway for over two hours now. There was a chain-reaction accident ahead, and I'm afraid you'll have to wait a few more hours."
"Oh, it's fine. We'll wait. I'm not in any rush anyway." Zhang Menglong turned on his phone to chat with his roommates, and it didn't seem too boring. After all, he had been stuck on the expressway for six or seven hours before, so he was used to this kind of situation.
Because of the time adjustment, the League of Legends S tournament had officially started that day.
"Damn, why is the signal so bad?" Apart from messages from the roommate group, the streaming videos wouldn't load properly.
"Mr. Zhang, everyone is using their phones to pass the time on the freeway, so it's normal to have no signal," Hong Yi said.
"Forget it, I'll go back to sleep!" Zhang Menglong decided to close his eyes again but just then, he started to feel a faint swelling in his lower abdomen. It seemed that since he got up this morning, he hadn't been to the restroom.
He had drunk two bowls of porridge in the morning and didn't feel anything before, but now he could feel his bladder protesting.
"I'm not going to be stuck here on the expressway today, am I?" Zhang Menglong glanced at the map. They had covered less than half the distance, and they were still on the sea-crossing bridge from their small city. Once they entered the expressway to Jiangnan City, who knew what it would be like.
There were no rest stops on that stretch of road, and his upbringing and sense of shame over the past twenty plus years didn't allow him to relieve himself by the side of the road.
But if he were to use a mineral water bottle in the car, with a girl sitting next to him, how could he possibly pee?
"Guys, is there any way to deal with a bathroom emergency in the car? Waiting online!" Zhang Menglong immediately asked in the chat group, since Sun Yulei had already been stuck in the traffic on the highway all night, he must have some experience, right?
"We're a long-distance bus to begin with, the bus has a toilet!"
"Hahaha, Menglong, can't hold it in anymore? See if you can find a mineral water bottle in the car!"
"Just crack open the car door a bit and stretch your 'buddy' out through the gap, no one will notice!"
"Hahaha, genius, genius, that's so like you!"
"You're the real player here!"
...
"These treacherous dogs, don't they know I'm in deep trouble here? And they still have the mood to joke around?" Zhang Menglong's legs had already begun to rub together uncontrollably.
"Mr. Zhang, are you in a hurry to get back?" Hong Yi could see Zhang Menglong's embarrassment. Of course, she didn't know that Zhang Menglong was just really desperate to pee.
"Yeah... quite in a hurry. A roommate of mine is in trouble, I need to rush back to school to help him. Do you have any solutions?"
"Since that's the case, let's switch to another mode of transportation to get back. Actually, I had intended to take you back this way, but I was afraid you might find it too showy."
"What way? At this point, who cares about being showy or not?"
"I understand, please give me a moment."
Hong Yi took out her phone and dialed a number, "Mr. Zhang's car is stuck on the highway, and there's an urgent matter that requires immediate return to Jiangnan City. Please arrange it right away!"
"Who did you call?" Zhang Menglong asked curiously.
"I called the person responsible for your daily transportation. He said he can send a helicopter in no more than twenty minutes!"
"I never thought I'd actually get to experience a helicopter ride!" Zhang Menglong had thought of this solution earlier, but even by helicopter, it would take an hour to get to Jiangnan City. Was he supposed to anoint the masses with a golden shower from the sky?
"Well, holding it in for another hour is better than being stuck here on the highway for several more hours!"
...
Indeed, in less than twenty minutes, a loud noise of propellers vibrating came from the sky, immediately drawing everyone's attention.
"Mr. Zhang, your private helicopter has arrived!" Hong Yi announced.
"I've seen helicopters before, why is this sound so loud?" Zhang Menglong opened the car window and stuck his head out, and the dark shadow that loomed instantly made him gasp.
This helicopter was more than 40 meters in length, which was completely different from the private helicopter he had imagined!
"Look, the helicopter is starting to land!" The people on this stretch of the highway suddenly erupted with excitement. Such a scene was not something one would see every day.
"I've seen this helicopter on military shows before, it's the Soviet Russia's Mi-26, said to be the world's largest helicopter. There are only two in service with airlines in Huaxia, why would it appear here?"
"Could it be that some big shot couldn't handle the traffic jam and called for a helicopter?"
"How could that be possible? Who has the clout to summon this aircraft? Ordinary private helicopters are usually just small ones that can fit a few people, right?"
"How rich does someone have to be to use this kind of aircraft as a private plane?"
"It's not just about having the money, for such a large helicopter, if you don't have the authority, how could you possibly get through air traffic control?"
"This is just too wild, poverty really limits my imagination!"
...
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