Daily Life

Over the next few days, Wang Yan had no heart for work. He wandered aimlessly through the streets and alleys of Jingcheng, taking in the famous scenic spots.

It was a way to relax his mind and digest the sense of strangeness and detachment he felt toward the real world.

After a full week of drifting about, Wang Yan finally felt he had completely recovered.

He then began his daily routine of harassment, checking out the major real estate developments and luxury properties in Jingcheng. A man has to live; no matter how awesome Wang Yan was, he still had to eat, drink, and attend to his basic needs.

To be honest, Wang Yan was getting a bit tired of the endless harassment calls and the endless house viewings that came with being a salesperson.

Working hard is partly for money, and partly to realize personal ideals and self-worth through one's career.

For him now, the real world was a warm, safe harbor. He had no intention of stirring up trouble here; he just wanted to live a stable life. After all, he had been powerful and dashing enough in various film and television worlds—if he messed things up here, he would only find it annoying later.

Otherwise, Wang Yan could have easily taken a trip to the Golden Triangle to seek out some "good brothers"; that would be a much faster way to make money than selling houses.

He scrolled through his skills, looking for one that could support him without having to go to work.

After flipping through them, Wang Yan locked onto stock trading. Thanks to the accumulation from two worlds, and his time as a big boss and market maker in Infernal Affairs, even if Wang Yan didn't participate in the specific operations, just being exposed to those things was enough to benefit him. His stock and finance skill had reached LV2 proficiency.

This was an objective evaluation made by the system, combining Wang Yan's honed eye, his understanding of financial markets, and the information he had been exposed to while controlling Longteng—a behemoth spanning numerous industries.

Recently, Wang Yan had heard a few things about the state of the financial market. But no matter how volatile it was, there would always be profitable companies.

With Wang Yan's experience and eye for operation, he wouldn't dare say he was guaranteed a profit. He could only say he could ensure he wouldn't lose much, and if he did, he could stop the loss in time so the damage wouldn't be too great.

Having this much was basically enough; after all, nothing is perfect. Minimizing losses and maximizing gains—the heavens were already favoring him, so what more could he ask for?

Wang Yan cashed out some money from his credit card to trade stocks; he didn't have a single cent to his name, he was completely clean.

Moreover, his capital wasn't large, so he stuck to short-term operations, grabbing a bit here and there whenever he could.

He still had to keep doing sales for a while, as that line of work carried its own risks. He said he wouldn't lose too much, but the world is unpredictable—who can guarantee anything one hundred percent?

He was buried in debt and was counting on selling houses to turn his life around.

Therefore, Wang Yan was busy on two fronts. Whenever he was free, he made harassment calls, and from time to time, he had to pay attention to various information and manage his stocks.

What he didn't expect was that Zhang Hai would actually call him.

It was a rest day, and those in the agency business relied on these two days to close deals; Wang Yan was, of course, no exception.

There was no helping it; his own social standing was right there. He had zero chance of selling villas or top-tier properties. Who was he, Old Wang? Nobody knew who he was.

Without being ambiguous, he wasn't a pretty young girl, and he had an ordinary appearance without a handsome face. Perhaps through contact, people might think he was a man of substance, but they certainly wouldn't listen to a second sentence from him. No matter how capable he was, without an opportunity to show it, it was all for nothing.

Wang Yan went about his normal routine, harassing others, hoping to trick a few into viewing houses and striving to sell two units.

Just then, Zhang Hai called. On the phone, he said his classmate also wanted to buy a house, so he introduced Wang Yan to his classmate, asking Wang Yan to help him find a suitable one.

Wang Yan was endlessly grateful for this; he hadn't expected to get a referral so soon after selling his first unit.

Zhang Hai also felt that Wang Yan was quite excellent, which was why he introduced the client to him.

When they had interacted, many of Wang Yan's viewpoints had been very inspiring to him. The process of two people meeting and communicating is a process of collision, fusion, and absorption of their worldviews and personal realms. At that time, Wang Yan had just returned from Dying to Survive, and his level was roughly on par with elites like Zhang Hai—not much stronger.

If they were to interact now, it wouldn't be an exchange; it would be Wang Yan giving one-sided guidance. One must know what Wang Yan had done in the Infernal Affairs world: building gangs, acting as a big boss, and studying Sinology, philosophy, and Taoism—all that profound stuff. The gap in their levels and realms was too vast.

Following the contact information Zhang Hai provided, Wang Yan called his classmate. He asked in detail what kind of house he wanted and what his requirements were. Finally, they agreed to go out the next day to wander around and look at houses.

After hanging up, he began to filter through listings that met the criteria. Through the phone conversation, Wang Yan had grasped the core of the other party's needs and selected a few houses as key recommendations.

With Wang Yan's level, as long as the money was sufficient and the person had the intention to buy, the deal was basically in the bag. Of course, there were accidents; one couldn't rule out people with special attributes. It didn't really matter if he couldn't sell, but such characters were a bit of a drag and affected his mood.

The next day, Wang Yan took Zhang Hai's classmate and his girlfriend to look at houses.

With his level, by deliberately catering to them, the conversation was naturally very pleasant, and the atmosphere was harmonious.

This person was buying a house to get married, just like Zhang Hai.

They were all the same age. Seeing everyone around him getting married, and then thinking about how his own classmates already had kids running all over the place, Wang Yan felt a bit of an urge to get married himself. He didn't want anything else; he just wanted stability.

In these two worlds, Wang Yan had never lacked women. In the Infernal Affairs world, they were all high-quality—either noble ladies or beautiful women—so he had become somewhat indifferent to it.

Actually, his parents were an important factor. The old couple was getting on in years and spent their days hoping to hold a grandchild. Otherwise, he wouldn't have had this thought; wouldn't it be better to just enjoy himself?

Having lived through two worlds, plus the nearly forty years in the real world, Wang Yan still hadn't managed to see through the great terror of life and death.

Children use maturity to disguise themselves, and the elderly use so-called childlike innocence to escape the fact that they are aging.

Of course, the world is vast, and there are those who can truly face life and death calmly, but how many can there really be?

He shook his head, not wanting to think about useless things. Finding a woman to marry wasn't something that could be solved in a moment; he might as well just focus on making money.

Over the course of three days, Wang Yan took the classmate to see more than ten houses, finally settling on one similar to the one Zhang Hai had bought.

This was normal; the two of them were basically the same, otherwise, how could they be together and have such a good relationship?

For this house, just like the last time, he earned about one hundred thousand.

When signing the contract, the boss of the agency Wang Yan was affiliated with looked at him differently.

Selling two units in over a month was quite enough. He had earned less than 200,000 from these two units, which averaged out to about 15,000 a month. Among the tens of thousands of salespeople in all of Jingcheng, there weren't many who could reach this level.

After signing the contract, Wang Yan treated Zhang Hai and his wife, as well as the classmate and his girlfriend, to a meal to express his gratitude.

Even though Wang Yan was an outsider to these two couples, under his guidance, everyone had a great time, and the meal was enjoyed by both host and guests. Even the two girlfriends became curious about Wang Yan, who looked ordinary on the outside but was humorous, witty, and articulate. They had an unconscious desire to delve deeper into what kind of person Wang Yan really was.

In Wang Yan's view, the two women were just so-so; he didn't feel any interest, and besides, he was a man of integrity who cared about his reputation. Otherwise, he would have really let them witness the strength of Old Wang. They could have had a thorough discussion on whether manual transmission was better or if a continuously variable transmission was more useful.

Given his current physical fitness, he could maintain high-speed maneuvers for half an hour without hitting the brakes. If he did use the brakes, dealing with two people would be a piece of cake, absolutely effortless.

Judging by the harmonious atmosphere at the dinner table today, Wang Yan would undoubtedly be the first choice for anyone around them looking to buy a house in the future.

During this period, Wang Yan had also managed to earn a bit through stock trading.

The overall economic climate wasn't great, and since he didn't possess god-like abilities, being able to turn a profit at all was a testament to his high level of skill.

The money from the house sale would take a few more days to land in his pocket, but these earnings had, to some extent, eased Wang Yan's financial predicament.

Once the money arrived, he would instantly turn his life around, and his existence would finally be truly secure. By then, if he sold another two properties and had one or two hundred thousand in hand, he would truly be like a fish in the vast sea or a bird in the boundless sky.

He didn't have any long-term plans for how to live in the real world, nor did he need any. He would just take things one step at a time; with his current skill set, there was no way he wouldn't be able to put food on the table.

He did have a short-term goal, however: to save up and buy an RV, then travel all over the country and have a good time. For him, this was now a short-term goal, whereas before, it had been a lifelong dream.

After two worlds, Wang Yan had been to quite a few places. Apart from Shanghai and Hong Kong Island, his visits to other locations had truly been superficial, as his main focus had always been on learning.

Everyone is a thinker; this statement might not be entirely true, but it can't be called wrong either.

People are inherently romantic.

Regardless of age, family background, or education, almost everyone has, to some degree, harbored thoughts of being artistic; the only difference is that while some recite poetry, others just shout profanities.

It's just that some people actually get to live out that artistry.

While others continue to drift, only remembering those past dreams or the stories they once wanted to own when they hear a song, see a story, or stumble upon a news headline.

My motherland, with its towering mountains. My motherland, with its vast territory and abundant resources.

In the future, he would properly experience this land of China, which is steeped in the blood and heritage of his ancestors from thousands of years ago.