Just These

At Biyue Bay Beach, Zhuang Xin arrived to find that construction had already begun.

Construction crews surrounded more than half the beach.

After entering, he called Xu Chi. Shortly afterward, Xu Chi came jogging out wearing a hard hat.

"Bro, what are you doing here?" Xu Chi asked with a smile.

"Mm. How's everything going here?"

"Things at the construction site... have been going fine. Nothing has gone wrong, but..." Xu Chi suddenly looked troubled. Then he gave an awkward laugh and lowered his head.

Noticing that something was off about Xu Chi's expression, Zhuang Xin smiled. "But what?"

"Well, it's nothing much. A dozen or so little punks showed up recently. They came here every day to make trouble the past couple of days, but after we gave them some money, they didn't come yesterday or today. I suppose we paid to avoid disaster."

"Oh?" Zhuang Xin shook his head without thinking much of it. They were probably just a few hoodlums short on cash.

He did not care about such a small amount of money. He took Xu Chi around the site and found everything in good order, which put his mind at ease.

But he still had to make a trip to the stock market to cover the funding gap.

Sitting in his car, Zhuang Xin had not even started the engine when he casually opened the system and discovered a new mission.

'Become the Stock Market Tycoon, earn at least two billion in funds. Reward: Background +1, System Ability +1.'

"A new mission." The system had only given him two missions before. One involving Nie Han'er's approval remained unfinished, while this Stock Market Tycoon mission had just appeared.

Just when he needed something, it came to him.

He happened to be heading to the stock market, and a new mission showed up.

Zhuang Xin smiled as he drove to the stock trading hall.

The moment he entered, he spotted someone he knew.

"It's her..." Zhuang Xin froze. A girl was selling off stocks, and she was the very girl he had knocked to the ground at the fitness club that day.

Her left cheek was still slightly red and swollen. It seemed she had not fully recovered.

Thinking about how hard he had hit her that day, Zhuang Xin felt somewhat guilty.

After all, she was a girl.

But it had been Zhuang Xin's first real fight, and he had not fully controlled his strength. It was understandable that he had hit too hard.

Wanting to avoid the girl, Zhuang Xin lowered his head and headed in another direction.

Yet before he had taken two steps, an eighteen- or nineteen-year-old girl in a pale yellow dress blocked his path.

"Hey, it's you!" This girl was the one at the club who had told Dong Pan to stop, afraid that Zhuang Xin might get hurt. Among that group of girls, she was the youngest.

"My name is Lin Xinya. What's yours? It's a good thing you left quickly that day. If my Eldest Sister had come, you'd have been finished." Lin Xinya sounded somewhat resentful. "You hit way too hard. Sister Pan was a little arrogant, but she was mostly joking. Everyone at the club knew that. Still, it's no wonder—you're not one of us."

"Xinya, what are you doing over there?" Dong Pan held her waist, afraid even walking might aggravate the injury on her back. When she came closer and saw Zhuang Xin, her beautiful eyes widened. "Y-you-you... it's you!"

"Uh..."

With nowhere to hide, Zhuang Xin helplessly spread his hands.

"Good! I finally found you, you bastard!" Dong Pan habitually reached for Zhuang Xin's collar, intending to teach him a lesson. But she pulled at the injury on her back, sucked in a sharp breath, and grimaced in pain. Then she remembered that she apparently could not beat him... so she let it go.

"Hmph! You beat me up like this and then ran away. Are you even a man?" Dong Pan muttered resentfully. This was the first time in her life she had been injured so badly. After going home, she had even been scolded by her parents, who told her to be more careful in the future and not act so arrogantly.

They had even restricted her bank card, leaving her without money to go out and have fun.

That was why she had come to sell some stocks and get money to go shopping.

Zhuang Xin rubbed his nose and said guiltily, "Didn't you tell me to hit you?"

"Hey, hey, hey, you heartless bastard." Dong Pan grew anxious. She knew she was in the wrong, but she still refused to lose momentum. "If you've got the guts, wait until I recover and fight me again."

"I'll be ready anytime." When it came to fighting, Zhuang Xin feared nothing.

"You... hmph! I don't care. Look at me—I won't recover for at least several months. Right now, I can barely even move around. Figure it out yourself and compensate me... Either teach me how to fight, or... I'll pester you for the rest of my life!" Dong Pan bared her little canine teeth, looking fierce.

Zhuang Xin also felt that beating such a pretty girl into this state was not very manly. Though she had indeed been arrogant that day... she had not actually done anything wrong, had she?

Besides, if she had wanted revenge, her family background would surely have allowed her to wield enormous influence. Yet she had not done so.

That showed she was not bad at heart. After a brief silence, Zhuang Xin said, "Fine. Don't say I'm not compensating you. But that depends on whether you have the guts!"

"Guts? Hmph, aside from having lots of money, guts are what I have most!" Dong Pan said proudly.

"Good! You said it. Don't get cold feet when the time comes. Once you miss this chance, it'll be gone. Go buy me a notebook and a pen. I'll wait here!" Zhuang Xin found a seat and sat down.

Dong Pan looked at his relaxed, carefree manner and gritted her teeth in irritation. Still, she had Lin Xinya support her as she went to buy a notebook and pen before returning.

After receiving the items, Zhuang Xin sat in the trading hall, watched the stock movements, and scribbled in the notebook.

Dong Pan claimed to know a little about stocks, but she could not understand a single word of what Zhuang Xin was writing.

"Hey, what are you doing? Is this what you meant by compensating me—making me stay here with you?"

"Of course not!"

Zhuang Xin had been writing for quite some time. He was almost finished.

"If you're talking about buying stocks, I can introduce you to someone. I've made quite a bit of money through him over the years." Dong Pan muttered unhappily. She had thought it would be something else, but apparently it was just stock trading.

She went to the counter and gave a few instructions.

Immediately, a young man in a suit and tie, wearing glasses, came over to Dong Pan. "Miss Dong, why are you here? I heard you were injured. Why did you come here in person?"

"Hmph! It was too boring at home. Oh, right, let me introduce someone to you." As she spoke, Dong Pan brought the young man over to Zhuang Xin.

But Zhuang Xin was still writing and drawing, completely oblivious to the world around him.

"This is..." Seeing Zhuang Xin acting this way, the young man's expression darkened. He had quite a reputation in this area. Usually, countless people begged him for favors, and he would not even give them a second glance. If not for his acquaintance with Dong Pan, he would never have come over.

"Done!"

Zhuang Xin smiled, closed the notebook, stood up, and patted the young man in front of him. "You work here, right? Perfect. I want to open a trading account and buy stocks."

The young man narrowed his eyes and sneered.

Yet inwardly, he cursed, Trying to show off in front of me? Fine, I'll indulge you. Let's see what stocks you're buying. With a dark expression, he led Zhuang Xin to the trading desk and completed all the registration procedures.

Zhuang Xin tore a page from the notebook and handed it over. "That's all. I have over one hundred and forty million in my card. Buy all of it. Put more into the first one, Mingyang Technology, and spread the rest evenly among the others."

The young man froze when he heard that. "You're playing this big?"

"Not really! If I had enough money, I'd buy even more. Oh, and this..." Zhuang Xin looked at Dong Pan. He still did not know her name.