Shopping

They had lunch inside the luxury car dealership, where the sales staff were especially enthusiastic after selling several cars.

By the time lunch was over, the paperwork for the first car, a Mercedes-Benz G63, had been completed. Ning Yifan had the sales staff take care of the remaining cars and arrange to have them driven to his hometown later.

At the same time, he had them scrap the old Santana, which his family had driven to the dealership that morning and which was over a decade old. They could send his father's belongings back in one of the new cars.

With the car-buying taken care of, Ning Yifan drove the Mercedes-Benz G63, now fitted with a temporary plate and all the paperwork in order, through the streets of Chengdu toward Chunxi Road.

The day's experiences felt like a dream to his parents.

"Why did you buy so many cars?" his father muttered from inside the car, his mind filled with the scene of Ning Yifan buying several more cars at the luxury dealership. "There isn't even enough room to park them all at home!"

Ning Yifan said earnestly, "Because you like cars, Dad! We can buy a few and take turns driving them."

"You can take the Mercedes-Benz G63 fishing, drive the Mercedes-Benz MVP when the whole family goes out, and take the BMW 760 or Audi Q8 when you go to see your friends.

"Just like when you bought me lots and lots of toys I liked when I was little. You didn't say you liked any of the cars when we were looking at them earlier, but I could tell which ones caught your eye. Your expression gave you away. I wanted to buy the cars you liked and give them to you!"

"You silly boy. Why waste all that money?" His father's eyes grew a little red.

Ning Yifan smiled. "Don't get too happy just yet. There's even better news coming! These cars are just the first batch. If there are any cars or other things you want in the future, just buy them!"

Then he turned to his mother, who was sitting primly in the back seat. She still wasn't used to switching from the old Santana to the Mercedes-Benz Big G. "Same goes for you, Mom. After today, our family has money!"

"When we go shopping this afternoon, buy whatever you want! There's plenty of room in this car, so we can bring it all home. We'll get new clothes for Grandpa, my brother, Dad, and you, Mom."

"Oh, Dad, send me your bank card number. I'll transfer some money to you in a bit. You and Mom can go shopping, and I'll buy some electronics for our relatives and friends."

"Ah, oh, okay," his father replied. He searched his wallet for his bank card, took a picture of it, and sent it to Ning Yifan on WeChat.

They parked in the lot on Chunxi Road, Chengdu's bustling commercial street. Ning Yifan got out, pulled out his phone, and forwarded the photo of the bank card his father had sent him to the bank's customer service agent on WeChat. He told them to transfer a hundred million yuan from his account to his father's.

Ning Yifan had several billion yuan deposited with the bank, making him a VIP customer. He even had a dedicated customer service agent available around the clock to handle his financial matters.

The bank responded to Ning Yifan's request in less than a minute.

The amount was too large for a transfer of a hundred million yuan to be processed without Ning Yifan confirming it in person.

As a workaround, Ning Yifan had to settle for transferring one million yuan to his father's bank card, the maximum amount the bank could process without him appearing in person.

The customer service agent confirmed the transfer with Ning Yifan.

The bank then called Ning Yifan to verify his identity.

In less than two minutes, a debit notification arrived on Ning Yifan's phone. At the same time, his father received a text message confirming the transfer.

The entire transfer took less than five minutes. The customer service agent replied quickly on WeChat, and the transfer was handled promptly and conveniently. Everything was done in service of the customer!

After the transfer, Ning Yifan explained to his parents, "I wanted to transfer a hundred million, but the bank said the amount was too large and I'd have to go there in person to confirm it. So I could only send one million for now. You two can use it first. If it's not enough, just tell me. I'll go to the bank in a couple of days and transfer a hundred million to you. Actually, I'll just send ten billion! If you run out, we'll talk about it then. Buy whatever you want!"

He talked about a hundred million and ten billion as if they were a few dollars!

His parents didn't know what to think. They felt almost numb.

His parents went shopping.

Ning Yifan also went around the shops, picking out things he liked.

The New Year was just around the corner, and his family would need to visit their relatives and friends. His family might be moving soon, too, and local custom called for inviting relatives and friends over for a meal to celebrate the move. They could make it a New Year's reunion dinner while they were at it.

His memories of his relatives went back to his childhood. They had always been close, so now that he was making money, buying them a few gifts felt only natural.

His eldest aunt's son and daughter, his youngest aunt's daughter, his uncle's son, his maternal aunt's daughter, his maternal uncle's son, and his little niece all needed gifts.

Unlike families with complicated relationships, Ning Yifan's relatives were close. They got together for every holiday, and whenever a family ran into trouble, the others helped without thinking about what they might get in return.

Ning Yifan still remembered when his younger brother had been hospitalized as a child and needed an operation that cost over a hundred thousand yuan. Ning Yifan also needed money for school, and the family couldn't afford the expense at the time. When they told his aunt, she took all of the family's savings the very next day. She even borrowed some money from a friend to cover what Ning Yifan's family was short.

There had been many times like that. His relatives had helped his family, and whenever one of them needed help, Ning Yifan's family had readily offered money or a helping hand.

As long as the family had money, anyone who needed some could borrow it just by asking. Once they had money of their own, they paid it back right away. The whole extended family helped one another.

Now that Ning Yifan was doing well, he naturally wanted to show his elders some appreciation and give his cousins and younger relatives some more expensive gifts. Enjoying their admiring looks sounded pretty great, too.

On the street, Ning Yifan spotted an Apple mobile phone store. He thought about how his female cousins, his youngest aunt, and the other women in the family all used Apple mobile phones.

His mother needed a new phone, too, and so did his eldest aunt. Ning Yifan quickly counted up how many he needed...

After looking around the store, Ning Yifan walked out carrying two bags filled with products, including several Apple brand tablet computers and laptops.

Behind him, a female employee from the Apple store followed, her face flushed as she gazed at his back. She was carrying two large bags filled with fifteen of the latest Apple mobile phones, the 13 Pro Max 1TB model.

Ning Yifan remembered that his maternal aunt's daughter had wanted an Apple laptop for a long time. She liked hanfu and taking photos, and wanted to use a computer to edit pictures in Photoshop. She had mentioned it to Ning Yifan several times.

Since he was already buying one for his maternal aunt's daughter, he might as well get one for his eldest aunt's daughter and his youngest aunt's daughter, too. He couldn't play favorites. The same went for the tablet computers. If anyone else wanted one, they could come and get it.

He didn't understand why the women in his family liked Apple products, but Ning Yifan respected their preferences.

With the female employee in tow, Ning Yifan loaded all the items into his car. He ignored her request to sit in the Mercedes-Benz G63 for a while and continued shopping.

With the electronic gifts for the girls and women taken care of, it was time to buy gifts for the boys and men in the family.

He stuck with electronics. When he passed a Huawei store, Ning Yifan went in and bought a bag full of phones, enough for both the adults and the children.

When he passed an ASUS store, Ning Yifan went in and bought several Republic of Gamers laptops with top-of-the-line specs: RTX 3080 graphics cards, 48 GB of memory, and 4 TB SSDs.

That should be more than enough for his younger brother and cousins who liked playing League of Legends.

All told, the electronics cost Ning Yifan nearly six hundred thousand yuan.

Spending money felt great!

Was this the joy of being rich?

After buying electronics for a whole bunch of relatives, Ning Yifan called his parents, who were still out shopping.

Compared to Ning Yifan's extravagance, his parents were much more conservative. They had bought a mountain of clothes, enough to leave his father struggling to carry them, but most of the clothes cost only a few thousand yuan apiece. They had spent just over a hundred thousand yuan in total.

His mother had to shop for clothes for five people: Ning Yifan, his younger brother, his grandfather, his father, and herself. Her enthusiasm for shopping had never been higher!

Anyone who'd tried it would know how it felt to buy whatever you liked without worrying about the price!

It was getting dark by the time the family finally prepared to head home.

Before they left, Ning Yifan stopped by a hotel on the street and paid a little over a thousand yuan for a whole table's worth of food to take away.

Ning Yifan drove on the way back, too. He was a little worried about letting his father drive today. His father was normally a steady driver, but he wasn't quite himself today. He seemed to be floating on air!

Ning Yifan was afraid his father would float right off the road.

After an hour on the highway, the Mercedes-Benz G63 pulled up outside their apartment building.

That morning, they had left in their old Santana. Now they were back in a completely different car. It was a scene his parents had never even dreamed of, yet it had really happened.

Carrying all their bags and bundles home, Ning Yifan called to his younger brother, Ning Yishun, who was studying, and asked him to help carry everything.

"What did you buy that you need my help carrying it?" his younger brother asked curiously.

"Take a look and find out." Ning Yifan gave him a mysterious smile. "There's a gift for you in there, too. I'm sure it's exactly what you want!"

"What is it?" His younger brother's curiosity was piqued.

"You'll find out soon enough!" Ning Yifan took the stairs two at a time and led his brother over to the Mercedes-Benz G63.

"What are we doing here?" His younger brother stared blankly at the obviously luxurious car Ning Yifan had walked over to. "Where's our car?"

Ning Yifan patted the Mercedes-Benz G63. "This car is ours now!"

"What happened? Did you start sleepwalking, big bro?" Although he didn't know the exact model, his younger brother recognized the emblem. There was no way their family could normally afford something like this.

"Pretty nice car, huh? I just bought it today!" Ning Yifan said as he opened the trunk.

Seeing Ning Yifan really take out the keys and unlock the car, his younger brother asked, "How much did it cost?"

"After all the paperwork, it came to about three million yuan, I think," Ning Yifan replied casually.

"Did we win the lottery?"

"What lottery? Winning the lottery takes way too long. Allow me to introduce myself: I'm Ning Yifan, chairman of Shenma Technology Company. Study hard, and when you get into college, I'll buy you a sports car and make you the coolest guy on campus!"

"What are you even talking about?"

"It's a long story. Let's carry everything upstairs first, and I'll explain later."

Ning Yifan opened the trunk and started taking things out one by one. At first, it was just the clothes the family had bought. His younger brother only gave them a casual glance. At his age, he wasn't interested in big-name clothing brands.

Clothes were clothes. As long as they were comfortable enough to wear, that was fine. He felt much the same way Ning Yifan did!

But the items that came out next caught Ning Yishun's attention.

The bags and bags of phones made his younger brother, who usually used one of Ning Yifan's old Xiaomi mobile phones, stare in disbelief.

Then came the tablet computers and laptops. When he spotted the Republic of Gamers logo on one of them, his breathing grew heavier!

Seeing all those digital devices, his younger brother asked, "Did you start a wholesale business for electronics or something?"

Ning Yifan replied casually, "There's one in there for you!"

Those few words sent his younger brother's work rate through the roof. He dashed up and down the stairs several times, still moving at a brisk pace, all the while muttering about Republic of Gamers, Scion of the Evil Eye, Huawei Phones, and Apple tablets.

Ning Yifan, his younger brother, and their father made three or four trips before they'd carried everything they'd bought that afternoon home. The winter clothes were especially bulky.

Once everything was put away, their mother had reheated the food they'd brought back from the hotel and set it on the table.

His father and grandfather each poured themselves a small glass of liquor. His mother carefully sampled all the dishes on the table, deep in thought. She was probably trying to figure out how to cook food like the kind served in those big hotels. She was always interested in learning how to cook.

His younger brother had barely taken a couple of bites before turning to look at the pile of electronics. He'd take a couple more bites, then look back at them again, as if they were a feast for the eyes.

The family enjoyed a warm dinner together. As they asked questions, Ning Yifan briefly told them about how he had made money by starting a company.

In recent years, he'd been interested in electronic products. While he was in college, he'd tried teaching himself about digital technology, software, hardware, and manufacturing. The material in the books had been surprisingly easy to master, and he'd continued studying electronics over the past couple of years.

Then, when he started working this year, he'd decided to try making a product of his own. He hadn't expected to succeed, but he'd come up with the Phantom Projector.

The Phantom Projector had sold like hotcakes thanks to its powerful performance, earning him a fortune.

Ning Yifan had spent four years in college and another year working after graduation without staying home for long. And, like his younger brother, he'd always shown an interest in electronics.

There were also several computers at home that Ning Yifan had pieced together from discarded parts. They'd all stopped working by now, but they were proof of his interest.

His parents were surprised that Ning Yifan had such a talent for electronics and had managed to make money by creating such a good product, but they didn't doubt him too much.

That was because they didn't understand how difficult the technology behind the Phantom Projector really was. They thought it was much like the college students they'd seen in the news who'd started a business and made a successful product. Their son had simply made one that had become especially popular.

But no matter what, wasn't everything working out perfectly? Their family no longer had to worry about money.

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed dinner.

His father and grandfather had a little too much to drink and went to wash up and turn in early.

His mother sorted through the pile of clothes, deciding which needed dry cleaning and which could be washed by hand.

Ning Yifan and his younger brother were still the ones who cleared the table and washed the dishes. His younger brother was unusually efficient today. He tidied up the kitchen in no time, leaving Ning Yifan barely any chance to help.

After doing the dishes, his younger brother promised their mother he'd go to bed at eleven and wouldn't spend more than three hours a day playing on the computer or his phone until after the college entrance exams. Once she agreed, he took a Republic of Gamers laptop he'd carefully picked out, a Huawei phone, and an Apple tablet back to his room to explore them.

After telling Ning Yifan to get some rest early, his mother, who'd spent half the day looking at cars and the other half shopping, finally felt tired after a whole day of excitement and went back to her room to rest.

Ning Yifan took out the bedding he'd folded up and put away that morning, laid it out, and got ready to rest.

As he made his bed on the sofa, Ning Yifan thought to himself that there was just a week left before the New Year. He had to sort out the house situation before then!

He didn't want to sleep on the sofa anymore!

Before entering his dream to study, Ning Yifan took a moment to calculate how much he'd spent that day.

The cars had cost about fourteen million yuan in total. His mother had bought more than twenty sets of clothes for a little over a hundred thousand yuan, and the electronics Ning Yifan had bought for his relatives had cost around six hundred thousand.

Just under fifteen million yuan. He might as well call it fifteen million.

Meanwhile, Shenma Technology Company had been running automatically all day, earning about a hundred and thirty million yuan in profit...

That was pure profit after accounting for the company's expenses, taxes, and raw materials!

He'd spent the whole day shopping and bought all sorts of things, including several luxury cars, yet it hadn't even added up to a fraction of Shenma Technology Company's daily profits!

Looks like he needed to step up his spending!