"Dad, Mom, I'm back."
On the way home, Zhuang Xin had drunk half a bottle of red wine, leaving his face flushed.
The moment he entered, he let out a wine-scented burp.
His mother, Xu Yunfen, seemed numb to the Lincoln Limousine that had brought her son home. Since yesterday, countless important figures they normally could never reach had come to visit.
They had brought innumerable gifts as well.
And any one of those gifts alone was worth more than all the salaries they could earn in their lifetimes...
"I really never expected such earth-shaking changes to happen to our family in just over a day." Xu Yunfen looked at her husband with emotion.
"I never expected my background to be so damn impressive either." Zhuang De held a set of chess pieces carved from white jade, unable to put them down. According to the person who had delivered them, even a single piece could sell for hundreds of thousands.
The entire set was worth even more. Without ten million, no one could buy it.
He had always loved chess. When he received this set, it felt like a dream.
"Old man, your background is so distinguished. Back then... I mean, when Zhuang Xin's grandfather was still alive, didn't he ever mention anything?" Xu Yunfen asked curiously.
Zhuang De shook his head. "He never did. Back then, A-Xin's grandfather—my father—only said that we had fled here to escape hardship. He never spoke about the family's affairs."
"And back then, we were terribly poor. Sometimes we couldn't even afford food. My dad could only go out and do manual labor, and his hands would crack and bleed every day... Who would have thought that such an ordinary man, a laborer... would be the only male descendant of the Zhuang family, the number one family in Juncheng?"
His parents were still marveling over it all.
Zhuang Xin rolled his eyes. If he hadn't activated the Background System, the two of them would still be ordinary people.
After casually eating something, Zhuang Xin returned to his room and took a nap. When he woke up, he found his phone vibrating nonstop.
"What's going on? I think I set it to silent last night."
When he opened it, he found dozens of messages inside.
"Manager Zhuang, here are Shuangjia Group's financial reports for the past month."
"Manager Zhuang, are you there? I'm your personal secretary."
"Young Master Zhuang, I'm Lin Xiaoyue, vice president of Longxue Brewery. Are you there? Have you looked over the materials I prepared for you?"
"Young Master Zhuang, if you see this, please reply. Also... all of this year's payments have been transferred into your bank card. Please check the statements and verify the amount to see whether there are any discrepancies."
"Boss Zhuang... Have you seen the message I sent you? I'm Xiao Han, the Deputy General Manager of your New World Mall. You still need to make decisions regarding several major brands that want to move in."
These were all companies he had signed for? He had only gotten the contracts yesterday, and they already had his contact information?
There was no need to think about it. Qu Hongyun must have arranged it.
"Whatever. I'll find some time to go take a look."
Zhuang Xin got out of bed and stretched lazily.
He scrolled through the unread messages, then casually opened his social media app and added the personal secretary from Shuangjia Group, Lin Xiaoyue from the brewery, and Xiao Han from New World Mall as friends.
Then he started browsing Moments. After only a few glances, he noticed a post that looked very familiar.
"I finalized a storefront at New World Mall yesterday, but today they suddenly went back on their word. They have no integrity at all. I'm furious."
It was followed by a string of angry little emojis.
They looked rather cute.
"This nickname looks familiar, but I can't remember it right now."
Zhuang Xin casually replied, "Do you know who I am? If you guess it, I'll help you pull some strings."
After closing the app, he came to the living room, but he did not see his parents.
"What's going on? There's no breakfast... They usually prepare breakfast." He scratched his head and walked over to the table, where he saw a letter. After opening it, Zhuang Xin cried out, "Holy shit!"
His parents had actually gone to visit relatives?
They had even taken all the gifts from the house with them.
Were they going back to show off their wealth?
Normally, Zhuang Xin's family had been seen as the poor relatives.
Whenever they visited relatives, people feared they had come to take advantage of them.
Now that they had money, and were even members of the Zhuang family, Juncheng's number one family, the old couple probably could not resist going back to hold their heads high.
"Whatever. I'll make something for myself."
He cooked a bowl of egg noodles, then posted a selfie of himself eating noodles on Moments with the caption: "Poor..."
A moment later, comments immediately appeared.
Axi: "Manager Zhuang, you're joking. If you're poor, then there are no rich people left in the world."
Xiao Yueyue: "Boss Zhuang, are you experiencing life? I don't understand the world of rich people..."
Xiao Han: "Young Master Zhuang, when are you coming to the company? I've been waiting for you forever, boohoo~"
Zhuang Xin silently replied, "Stop messing around." Just as he was about to close the app, someone else replied.
But it was not a reply to Zhuang Xin's post. It was a reply to that familiar nickname he had commented on earlier.
Qianshui Rouqing: "I know you, Zhuang Xin... And you still made me guess? I have you saved in my contacts."
"Who are you..." Zhuang Xin replied.
Qianshui Rouqing: "Wow, Zhuang Xin... Are you kidding me? You seriously don't know who I am? I'm Qiu Qi, the girl who had a crush on you in high school."
Zhuang Xin: "..."
With that, Zhuang Xin finally remembered.
Back in high school, there really had been a girl who confessed to him.
It could be said without hesitation that that had been the peak of Zhuang Xin's life.
After entering society, he had slapped himself more than once. Why had he not accepted her back then?
If he had, he would not have been single for over twenty years.
Sometimes, Zhuang Xin would even check this girl's profile through their class group chat.
In just five or six short years, she had grown into a graceful young woman, utterly different from the little girl she had been back then.
"Of course I remember. I was just joking with you." Zhuang Xin replied guiltily.
Qianshui Rouqing: "Pfft, I think you really forgot me. Did getting rich make you forget your old classmates? By the way, is it true that you know someone? I really need a contract from New World Mall right now. I've gone there more than ten times and still couldn't get one. This is so hard. I'm so troubled~⊙﹏⊙~..."
Zhuang Xin: "Alright, I'll help you ask around."
Qianshui Rouqing: "Really? If it works out, I'll be your girlfriend."
Zhuang Xin teased, "I rejected you back then. Even if you wanted to be my girlfriend now, I might not necessarily want you."
Qianshui Rouqing: "Pfft, do you know how many people are chasing after me now?"
With a ding, a window popped up in the social media app. It was a photo she had sent...
Young Master Zhuang stared blankly. Qiu Qi was this beautiful now?
(Reader group: 571840873. All readers are welcome to come cross-dress.)
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