"It seems, Mr. Zhang, you still don't quite understand your family history!"
"Understand my ass!" Zhang Menglong muttered to himself, "How would I know about my family history when I didn't even know my family was this rich? I didn't even know my parents could freakin' fly!"
"What do you know? Tell me about it," Zhang Menglong asked for guidance.
"Well, I don't know too much either. After all, by the time our Hong Family started following Mr. Zhang's family, the Zhang Family had already become an enormous entity," Hong Yi said. "Mr. Zhang's ancestors were all extremely wise. They started making various investments a very long time ago. You have to understand, many things were not valuable back then, but as thousands of years pass, even an ordinary cup can become priceless!"
"That makes sense," Zhang Menglong nodded.
"Let's not even mention other things for now. When Hanli Country had just been established, right next door, your ancestors bought a huge amount of land there. At that time, their government was broke, and they pretty much bought one-fifth of the country's land easily!"
"What? One-fifth of the country? Are you saying that one-fifth of Hanli Country's territory belongs to us?" Zhang Menglong couldn't find the words to describe the shock he felt that day.
"Yes, so the administrative taxes from those regions in Hanli Country, 70% go into the hands of the Zhang Family each year. You can freely buy and sell that land."
"Then your Tenghui Group..." Zhang Menglong suddenly thought of something. The Tenghui Group was thriving in the real estate industry in so many countries around the world; could it be...
"Yes, your family not only in Hanli Country but almost bought large tracts of land all over the world early on. Those lands were originally yours, and when Huiteng Group developed those lands, naturally, we could easily beat those local real estate companies!"
"Badass!" Zhang Menglong shouted internally. What about getting land from those countries' land bureaus to build and sell houses? That land was originally theirs! They just need to handle the development, sell the ownership, and then just rake in the money! No wonder Tenghui Group is so powerful; it turns out their family business is massive!
"So many things, your ancestors laid out a long time ago. Thousands of years ago, your family was already the wealthiest family in the world, and traveling all over the world was one of their hobbies."
"In the process, they met many famous painters, musicians, artists, and so on. Mr. Picasso was someone your ancestor Zhang Jun met while traveling in Europe!"
"They were close friends?" Zhang Menglong asked.
"Not really; they only met once."
"Then why did Picasso give a painting to my ancestor?"
"Because Mr. Zhang Jun thought Mr. Picasso was very talented, he gave him a sum of money as a sponsorship for his creation. In that era, that amount of money was enough for him to squander for a lifetime; hence, Mr. Picasso could devote himself entirely to his paintings."
"This... money does make the world go round."
"While Mr. Picasso was still alive, every now and then, he would send a painting he was proud of as a gift. But later on, as the paintings piled up, Mr. Zhang Jun found it too troublesome and started using them as placemats or dropping food scraps on them." Even Hong Yi found this part somewhat difficult to say.
"Shit, using paintings worth hundreds of millions of US dollars as placemats? I concede defeat!" Zhang Menglong admitted that indeed, poverty limited his imagination—such outrageous deeds were beyond his wildest thoughts.
"Give me a break, I'll just have a look!" This hall, with tens of square meters, was like a mini art exhibition. Even the cheapest painting here was priced in the tens of millions of US dollars. Now, he realized why the plane his father bought for just 12 million US dollars was now worth 1.2 billion US dollars after being refurbished.
...
"Mr. Zhang, we've arrived!" A few dozen minutes later, the plane slowly landed at Jiangnan City Airport.
"Huh? Why is there only my plane here? Where are the others?" Zhang Menglong asked curiously. The airstrip, spanning thousands of metres, was deserted—not a single person in sight.
"Mr. Zhang, this is your private airport, of course there's just your plane," Hong Yi said. "Now that you're back in Jiangnan City, I'll arrange for your private jet for long-distance travel and the planes for transporting goods to be gathered here. It should all return to normal operation within three days."
"I have other planes?"
"Of course!" Hong Yi laughed. "You own a total of 127 cargo planes, which are always on standby in various countries, ready to bring you local specialties from anywhere at any time. For example, if you want to eat the finest Australian lobster, by tomorrow morning, there will be a plane to airfreight it here for you!"
"You also have 12 private passenger jets specifically prepared for your travels, and a team of thousands ready to serve you at any time!"
"Enough, stop there, I'm about to split open, this is some serious first world problems!" Zhang Menglong exclaimed. How strong would his mental resilience need to be to withstand these constant shocks?
"Mr. Zhang, it's getting late, I should take you to where you'll be staying," Hong Yi said.
"Hmm, okay, let's go check out where I'll be staying first."
...
Most of the vehicles were stuck on the highway, but the city area and the overpass were quite smooth. Zhang Menglong opened his phone to find that there were over 99+ messages in the dorm group chat.
"Guys, check out the trending searches! Holy shit, have you seen a helicopter literally tow away a car?"
"So freaking awesome, this is the power of money! What does it take to get a helicopter to do that?"
"There must be some company CEO in that car, probably needed to hurry for some emergency, right?"
"That's for sure, I bet there's some important meeting or contract they're rushing to sign!"
"Nobody knows who it actually is, netizens have been flesh-searching for hours without any results."
"Menglong, isn't that your side's sea-crossing bridge? Did you see it? Come out and say something!"
"@Zhang Menglong, come out to witness the magic!"
"@Zhang Menglong, have you been suffocated to death on the highway? Say something!"
"Oh, my son, you died a tragic death!"
"Three minutes of silence for my son's bladder!"
...
"These damn traitors!" Zhang Menglong posted a disdainful emoji in the group.
"Yo, boss Zhang came out? How is it, is your bladder still alive?"
"Going home this time to inherit the family fortune, didn't expect it to be this complicated, did you, haha?"
"You might not believe what I'm about to say, but I truly did inherit a fortune. That Maybach and helicopter are mine!" Zhang Menglong declared in the group, sure that they wouldn't believe him!
"Hahaha, in what position were you when you dreamt this? I want to give it a try too!"
"Hurry back, we're waiting to play with you, everyone's all set!"
"Give me an hour!"
Zhang Menglong quickly left the group chat as the car entered a residential area in the city district. The previously bustling environment suddenly became quiet.
"Who would've thought there'd be such an elegant residential area in the city?" Zhang Menglong opened his location to check on the neighborhood, but oddly, although the neighborhood was shown on the map, there was no name for it.
"Mr. Zhang, we have arrived. This is your largest property in Jiangnan City," Hong Yi said.
"The largest? This place?" Zhang Menglong took a glance at the buildings in the neighborhood. They all seemed to be just one or two hundred square meters in size. Given the location and the size of the units, the price would be over ten million, but after the helicopter incident, Zhang Menglong felt a twinge of disappointment.
"Which building?" Zhang Menglong asked. There were a total of 8 buildings in the neighborhood, with the one in the middle being the tallest, surrounded by others that circled around it like stars around the moon, a rather unique architectural layout.
"Which building? What do you mean?" Hong Yi asked, puzzled.
"I'm asking which building and which floor my house is on?" Zhang Menglong repeated.
Hong Yi smiled: "Mr. Zhang, it seems you didn't quite grasp what I meant. When I said this property, I meant this entire neighborhood."
"The entire neighborhood?" Zhang Menglong's previous disappointment was instantly swept away, replaced by shock, "Is this what you call 'one property'?"
"Yes, isn't this just a property?" Hong Yi retorted.
"I find myself at a loss for words." The whole community is in one location, and if one really has to say it's a single property, it seems indeed there's no problem with that.
"Mr. Zhang, let me give you a brief introduction. This community was developed by Tenghui Group a little over three years ago when you were admitted to Jiangnan University of Science and Technology. Your father had been considering your settlement in Jiangnan City for a very long time."
"Zhang Menglong really did have foresight!" Zhang Menglong muttered to himself.
"The community consists of 8 buildings in total. The one in the center has 29 floors, and the seven buildings around it each have 17 floors. They are all built with a layout of two elevators to four apartments, ranging from 95 to 121 square meters each. Based on the property prices of this location, each square meter should be within 90,000 to 110,000."
"My god, 7 times 17 plus 29, then times 4..." Zhang Menglong quickly calculated in his head how much the entire community's houses could be worth, but his mental arithmetic wasn't up to the task anymore. Now, all he could think about was how much money this was? How many lifetimes of ordinary work would it take to earn that?
"The building in the center has the best lighting and the most comprehensive facilities, specially prepared for you." Hong Yi led Zhang Menglong into the elevator and pressed the button for the 25th floor.
"Mr. Zhang, the 25th to the 29th floors of this building are interconnected, mainly for your living and personal use. The topmost floor has a small open-air garden and swimming pool. Thanks to the advanced smart home technology, only you can enter the house before you set the permissions."
"How do I open it?" Zhang Menglong was already somewhat eager to go in and have a look.
"Your fingerprint will do."
"Beep! Verification successful, respected Mr. Zhang Menglong, welcome home!"
Click!
The door slowly swung open, and seeing the spacious foyer, Zhang Menglong couldn't help but gape.
Passing through the foyer, there was a living room exceeding two hundred square meters, and within this apartment, there was also an internal elevator for him to freely travel between the 25th floor and the penthouse.
"Mr. Zhang, the actual area of each of these five floors is over 500 square meters. Of course, if you need it, I can also arrange for someone to interconnect the floors below for you," Hong Yi said respectfully.
"No... no need, it's already big enough. Even if I live on just one floor by myself, it seems a bit too extravagant!" Zhang Menglong asked, "What about the other seven buildings and the floors below?"
"Oh, the floors below mainly include an esports room, gym, server room, guest rooms, library, etc. This building is mainly for when you or your friends come to hang out," Hong Yi explained, "As for the surrounding 17 buildings, if you decide to live here, your driver, pilot, chef, security, housekeeping staff, and other service personnel will live nearby, ready to attend to your needs at any moment."
"Compared to this, Tomson First Grade is nothing!"
In Zhang Menglong's memory, Mingzhu City's Tomson First Grade had once been considered the epitome of luxury homes, but compared to his place, it fell more than just a notch short.
After all, Tomson First Grade, no matter how luxurious, serves all its residents, while these eight buildings are all serving just him; can that even be considered the same level?
Zhang Menglong walked into the lobby, at the center of which was a set of sofas he didn't dare ask the price of, and on the wall was a huge painting, very similar in style to "Starry Night."
"This couldn't be a van Gogh painting, could it?" Zhang Menglong asked offhandedly.
"Yes, but Mr. Van Gogh's paintings only became famous after his death. This painting was a birthday gift to your father from the King of France 12 years ago, free of charge."
"This Zhang family must have some serious clout!" Zhang Menglong laughed, "Don't tell me my ancestors bought a huge chunk of French land or something?"
"That's not the case," Hong Yi said. "Historical events have a way of happening, you know. There was a time when Huaxia was not very peaceful. Actually, if at that time, the Zhang Family had still been in Huaxia, none of this would've happened. But during that period, your ancestors were all at that place."
"The Super God Academy again?" Zhang Menglong suddenly became full of interest in that place. What kind of place was it that beckoned his parents and ancestors so compellingly?
"But your family members have quite the temper, and they're not the type to let offenses go unavenged. The first thing your grandfather did when he came back was to cut off those countries' energy supply. After all, a major portion of their petrochemical resources depended on imports from Africa. And even though those oil fields and wells were ostensibly owned by countries like Saudi Arabia, in reality, the rights belonged to your family."
"Damn, ruthless!" Zhang Menglong hadn't expected his family to be not just wealthy and landowners, but also to have mines—and oil mines at that!
"Then what?"
"What could they do? Their own oil fields couldn't even produce one-tenth of the necessary supply. Apart from some stubborn elements, they had no choice but to forthrightly return the seized treasures and sign a heap of unequal treaties. On the surface, they have a very friendly relationship with the Zhang Family, but in reality, they are terrified of you!"
Hong Yi continued adding, "In Asia, it's mainly our Hong Family handling things. There are corresponding families on the other continents as well, and they have been following the Zhang family for a very long time. Any one of them could easily overturn a country with just one sentence!"
"I... I think I'm getting high blood pressure!" Zhang Menglong quickly patted his chest. According to Hong Yi, wasn't his family practically the ruler of the Earth?
"Why does this piano look so old?" Like many luxury homes, there was a piano in the corner of the hall, but this one was quite decayed in many areas. "This isn't just for show, is it?"
"Mr. Zhang, this piano is called a Broadwood, which was used by Mr. Beethoven towards the end of his life. After the death of Mr. Beethoven, it came into the hands of Master Liszt and eventually ended up in the Hungarian National Museum."
"Later, it was bought by your grandfather, originally intended for Mr. Zhang Xiaoyun to practice piano, but since he didn't like music, it was left unused. After this place was built, it was moved here."
"A piano that Beethoven and Liszt had played…" Zhang Menglong wisely refrained from asking about the price, guessing it was yet another astronomical figure with his gut feeling.
"What about this crystal statue?" Zhang Menglong had also noticed a 1:1 scale sculpture beside the piano. "Is this Beethoven or Liszt?"
"This... This is one of your ancestors, named Zhang Lanfeng. He was fond of the piano and even mentored quite a few later famous musicians while studying abroad in Europe. However, he was very low-key; aside from the individuals involved, no one else knew about these events. This statue was created after he won first prize in a royal music competition."
"By the way, this isn't crystal; this statue was carved out of a diamond!"
"Diamond? A diamond this big?" Zhang Menglong's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
"Oh, aside from the oil fields, your family has several diamond mines in Africa. This was made from a huge raw diamond carved out back in the day!"
"I can't handle this!" Zhang Menglong slumped directly onto the sofa, overwhelmed by his own family's wealth.
"Mr. Zhang, the service staff we've arranged for you have been carefully selected, and they will all be here tomorrow. Please let me know if you need anything done. You must be exhausted from the journey today; you should rest early. My residence is in building number 1 nearby."
"Alright, you've worked hard today too. Go get some rest." Zhang Menglong nodded. Right now, he wanted to be alone to process the shocks he had received throughout the day.
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