Driving his Lamborghini, Lin Chu headed for Wanxiang City. In the past, this was the kind of place he would have never visited.
Too demoralizing.
The city’s prosperity was on equal display for all to see, but the invisible barriers were there all the sa.
There might not have been a sign at the entrance of a top-tier luxury mall saying, "Entry forbidden to those with insufficient funds," but as a normal person, ’why would I go looking for trouble?’
While waiting at a red light.
Lin Chu glanced at his current bank balance: 14.86 million.
He had earned a lot and spent a lot recently, yet he still had this much left.
’Almost fifteen million. On paper, it might not sound like that much, but based on an average annual salary of 200,000, it would take seventy years to earn this much.’
’Besides, making 200,000 a year was pretty difficult in itself.’
Just as he was mulling this over, his phone suddenly rang. He glanced at the screen—it was Li Kai.
"Brother Chu, are you coming diving with us? We’re planning to head out in a week, and everyone’s getting ready now. If you want to go, I can help you get your stuff and handle the paperwork."
People had been talking about it in the group chat every day.
They were all a bunch of n and won who didn’t have to work.
"You guys will have to wait and see. My company just got off the ground, so I want to see how things go for the next few days and get things stable. How long are you going for?"
Lin Chu asked casually.
Li Kai replied, "We’re planning on half a month. Any longer and we’d get sick of it, any shorter and we couldn’t have our fill of fun."
"Alright, I get it. You guys go ahead first. If I decide to go, I’ll just fly over myself. I can drop in from anywhere in the world."
Hearing this, Li Kai laughed. "Alright, up to you then. Hey... you weren’t mad about last night, were you?"
Lin Chu chuckled. "What’s there to be angry about? It’s no big deal. I’ve just been really busy the last couple of days."
Li Kai seed relieved. He chatted and joked for a few more monts before hanging up.
’Growing up, I’ve never really gone out just to have fun.’
’Forget going abroad, I’ve barely even left the province... other than Qiong Island, I haven’t been anywhere else.’
’I’ve never even set foot north of the Tropic of Cancer.’
Lin Chu mused to himself. ’I grew up in a village, went to school in Peng City, and then went straight to work. I’m this old, and I’ve never even seen snow.’
’I really want to take a proper trip sowhere.’
’Whether I go to the Philippines or not doesn’t really matter. There are plenty of fun places to see in the country, too. I should probably start with the easier stuff and work my way up.’
’Didn’t Liu Junfeng ntion taking a road trip along the country’s border?’
’That sounds pretty tempting, actually.’
He arrived at Wanxiang City.
Lin Chu drove into the underground garage, parked his car, and took the elevator up, erging into a world of luxury boutiques: Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Vacheron Constantin, and more.
He wandered into one and browsed around. He saw a belt—over twenty thousand, supposedly alligator skin. Lin Chu hesitated for a mont, then put it back, left the store without buying it.
It wasn’t that he couldn’t afford it.
He just felt it was a little stupid.
’Maybe... deep down, I’m still a poor man at heart. I don’t buy into the brand value of luxury goods, and I certainly don’t think wearing sothing like that makes you a big shot.’
’Mainly, it just wasn’t fun. It didn’t hit any of my buttons.’
There was a small Zippo kiosk near the escalators. As a long-ti smoker, Lin Chu browsed for a while, carefully considering his options. He ended up buying more than a dozen lighters, spending several thousand. They ca in all sorts of beautiful designs.
The sales clerk was ecstatic.
It was her first ti seeing soone buy lighters like he was stocking inventory.
But Lin Chu was very pleased with his purchase.
On the second floor, he spotted a LEGO store. Lin Chu’s eyes lit up, and he quickened his pace to go inside.
"Hello, sir. Can I help you find anything? Is this for you, or are you looking for a gift?"
A store employee walked over with a smile.
Lin Chu waved her off. "I’ll just look around myself."
After looking for a little while, he found sothing that caught his eye: an aircraft carrier model. It looked aweso, and it only cost a few thousand.
「A little over ten minutes later.」
Lin Chu walked out of the store carrying an aircraft carrier, a sports car, and an excavator.
He could barely contain the smile spreading across his face.
When Du Xiaoman found Lin Chu on the third floor of the mall, she was stunned to see what he was carrying.
"Honey!"
She trotted over and threw herself into his arms, her face blooming with a radiant smile.
A white lace blouse, a blue sailor skirt, and white stockings... She must have gone back to her dorm to change. She knew Lin Chu liked this style.
"What are these?"
she asked curiously.
"See for yourself."
Lin Chu handed the bags to her casually.
After looking, she paused, slightly taken aback. "Huh? They’re all toys? Are they for a child?"
Lin Chu said, "For a big kid. I’m going to play with them. Here, you carry them. They’re not heavy."
Du Xiaoman was speechless.
After a few seconds of speechlessness, she couldn’t help but laugh. "Honey, you’re so young at heart. You have to teach how to build them later. I want to play, too."
Lin Chu glanced at her and nodded nonchalantly.
A mory flashed through his mind: ’Now, buying LEGOs makes ’young at heart.’ But to my ex-girlfriend, it was just... ’immature.’’
’Fuck!’
’They just don’t get what makes a man happy.’
’A man’s happiness often cos from interacting with the world—from curiosity and the desire to explore. Traveling, fishing, hiking, playing video gas...’
’A woman’s happiness, on the other hand, mostly cos from comparison—from being better than others, being respectable, saving face, being noble, having prestige. It’s all about taking pictures; whether the food actually tastes good is irrelevant.’
’No wonder they say n are from Mars and won are from Venus.’
In what felt like a blink of an eye, they had wandered up to the fourth floor, where Lin Chu suddenly caught a whiff of a marvelous scent.
Instantly, it felt as if the aroma touched his very soul.
He felt a deep, inner sense of pleasure.
Following the scent, his gaze landed on an elegant, understated shop nad "Aroma Master."
He decided to go in and take a look.
A female employee greeted him with a sweet smile. "Hello, sir. Welco to Aroma Master. We specialize in all kinds of scents. Please, feel free to look around."
In addition to bottled perfus, they also had various types of coil incense and blended incense. The entire shop was filled with a very pleasant aroma.
Lin Chu spotted coil incense packaged in a blue-and-white porcelain jar. It was nad "Moonlit Garnts (Ambergris)" and was priced at 8,600.
An employee ca over to explain that it was made using an intangible cultural heritage technique, handcrafted by a master, and was a limited edition of only one hundred units because the main ingredient, ambergris, was incredibly rare and hard to co by.
After slling a sample, Lin Chu found it quite nice.
So he bought five jars on the spot.
’Whether it was an "idiot tax" or not, I liked the scent.’
He paid, added the store on WeChat, and left.
Du Xiaoman was speechless.
Speechless. Again.
’This is completely different from the shopping trip I had in mind...’
’What is all this random stuff he’s buying?’
’Still, just those few jars cost over forty thousand.’
She let out a long sigh. ’I can’t help but think about how many bottles of Chanel you could buy with that much money,’ she thought. ’You could even buy La r.’
Lin Chu paid her no mind, simply handing her the new bag. He then pulled out his phone and called Zhang Peng. "I have an idea, so listen up. On the strear front, I want you to find a team to film content about high-end traditional Chinese luxury goods—things like jade, swords, incense, tea, Xiangyun Sha silk... I have a use for it."
These were things that appealed to Lin Chu, even if just for personal use.
And, of course, giving them as gifts would also let him earn rebate money.
Zhang Peng exclaid, "That’s a great idea! That niche is getting a lot of traffic right now! Plus, with masters and products, we could even sell things! And with your connections, Brother Chu!"
’Huh?’
Lin Chu hadn’t expected him to think of it from that angle, but it wasn’t a bad idea. He smiled and nodded. "That’s the general idea. You can work out the details."
He hung up.
He glanced back at Du Xiaoman and saw she had beco a human shopping bag rack.
"Honey, my feet are killing . Can we find a place to sit for a bit?"
she said, her voice full of grievance.
Hearing this, Lin Chu couldn’t help but laugh. "Seriously? There’s actually a ti when a woman gets tired of shopping?"
...
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