Brother Zhang's Financial Strength is a Mystery

A moment later, inside the Vacheron Constantin boutique.

The sales clerk, wearing white gloves, was diligently presenting the new watch to Zhang Yang.

"Mr. Zhang, this is the Heritage Perpetual Calendar Series you reserved. Would you like to try it on?"

"I'll give it a try." Zhang Yang hadn't seen how it looked on his wrist yet, so he extended his arm, put on the ultra-thin Heritage Perpetual Calendar Series, and turned his wrist back and forth to examine it.

His wrist, which had been bare moments ago, now exuded a subtle air of sophistication, bolstered by the seven-hundred-thousand-yuan timepiece.

Bei Wei stood to the side, holding her breath.

Seven hundred thousand—for a watch?

Had Zhang Yang's financial strength truly reached such a level?

Driving a million-yuan Porsche and wearing a seven-hundred-thousand-yuan watch were two completely different concepts. Just how much net worth did one need to afford a watch costing seven or eight hundred thousand?

Wearing the watch, Zhang Yang didn't feel the slightest bit out of place.

They say you buy a car with your annual salary and a watch with your monthly salary. With his current daily income of twenty thousand, totaling six hundred thousand a month, wearing a seven-hundred-thousand-yuan Vacheron Constantin was perfectly appropriate—not a hint of mismatch. Besides, his future was far beyond what a single watch could measure.

"Mr. Zhang, if you're satisfied, shall I process the paperwork for you?" the clerk asked politely, seeking Zhang Yang's confirmation.

"Sure, go ahead." Zhang Yang nodded.

The system had already completed the payment, so Zhang Yang simply picked up the pen, signed with a clean, decisive stroke, and logically took possession of the seven-hundred-thousand-yuan Vacheron Constantin.

On the way to the subway station.

"Brother Zhang, can I touch the seven-hundred-thousand-yuan watch?" Bei Wei followed beside him, feeling somewhat curious.

"Go ahead." Zhang Yang casually unclasped the watch and let Bei Wei hold it to examine it closely.

After a long while, Bei Wei returned the watch to Zhang Yang, unable to help but sigh: "I heard someone say that the watch our company boss wears is only worth around five hundred thousand. Brother Zhang, your watch is even more expensive than his."

Zhang Yang just smiled it off. Strictly speaking, the boss of that company didn't actually earn as much as he did in a year; after all, the company's scale was limited, and competition in the advertising industry was fierce these days.

Of course, the man had started from scratch, and achieving what he had was already quite remarkable.

While walking, the two happened to pass by a Helena Rubinstein skincare boutique.

Zhang Yang vaguely remembered that Helena Rubinstein was a top-tier luxury brand under the L'Oréal Group. A female colleague had received a Helena Rubinstein product for her birthday last time and posted it on her social media, where it received a flood of likes.

He noticed a fleeting look of longing in Bei Wei's eyes.

It wasn't that ordinary people couldn't afford Helena Rubinstein, but with prices easily reaching several thousand, being able to afford it was one thing, while being willing to spend the money to use it was another.

"Do you like this? Should I buy you a set?" Zhang Yang gestured toward the storefront.

"Ah? No, no need." Bei Wei was startled and hurriedly waved her hands to decline.

A set of Helena Rubinstein cost several thousand; how could she have the nerve to ask for that? She wasn't anyone special to him.

"You came all this way, I can't let you leave empty-handed," Zhang Yang said, watching her wave her hands, and couldn't help but chuckle. "Don't overthink it. You know me, Brother Zhang's intentions are always pure. I just don't want you to go back empty-handed, that's all."

"Brother Zhang, one shouldn't accept rewards without merit. Even if this doesn't mean much to you, it's far too expensive for me. I really don't need it." She felt that wasn't enough, so she bit her lip, reached out to take Zhang Yang's wrist, and pulled him to walk quickly past the shop.

Zhang Yang was left between laughter and tears, having no choice but to let her lead. He truly hadn't expected Bei Wei to have such strong principles.

On the subway, the two sat side by side.

"Brother Zhang, here's one for you." Bei Wei took out her earphones and shared one with Zhang Yang.

During the return trip, the music blocked out the noise of the subway.

Bei Wei's playlist was classic and nostalgic.

At times it was [On a cloudy evening outside the car window, someone is waiting in the future], Or perhaps [A long, long time ago, you had me, and I had you.]

The two sat shoulder to shoulder, listening to the music, passing station after station.

Zhang Yang looked at Bei Wei's beautiful profile, feeling a strange stir in his heart. He looked away, and his right hand, guided by intuition, boldly and seemingly unintentionally covered her delicate, warm hand.

Her hand trembled slightly but didn't pull away, simply letting him cover it.

Zhang Yang turned his head, a set of excuses already prepared in his mind, only to see Bei Wei looking at him with slightly widened eyes.

"Ha." Zhang Yang gave a dry laugh, just about to say something.

"Brother Zhang, this is my stop," Bei Wei said softly, gently pulling her hand back.

"Then... should I see you off?" Zhang Yang started to stand up as well.

"No, no need, it would delay you by at least half an hour." Bei Wei pressed down on Zhang Yang's shoulder. "Brother Zhang... get some rest when you get back."

She followed the crowd toward the door, and before getting off, she turned back to wave at Zhang Yang from a distance.

The subway continued to the next station. Zhang Yang sat in his seat when his phone suddenly received a message from Bei Wei.

Looking down, he saw it was the playlist she had sent him.

"Humble Little Wei's playlist? Humble Little Wei? Why would she choose that as her ID?" Zhang Yang muttered to himself.

Setting aside spiritual needs, human life is nothing more than food, clothing, housing, and transportation.

No matter how much money you have, you cannot escape these four words.

Zhang Yang stood in his cramped studio apartment, feeling once again that he needed to improve his living conditions.

Clothing and food went without saying; he didn't need to live in luxury, wearing hundreds of thousands in designer menswear or eating delicacies at every meal, so those were already off the table.

Transportation? He had a Porsche Cayenne to get around now, so at least in the short term, there was no need for further improvement.

Only housing was truly an urgent matter.

"It's just too small." Zhang Yang paced around the tiny apartment, sighing aloud once more.

A bed, a kitchen by the door, a bathroom—that was it.

In the past, as a wage earner relying on a monthly salary of ten thousand, living here alone was justifiable.

But now, he could bring in twenty thousand in a single day.

To have the means to improve his living environment and choose not to would be a sign of a serious mental issue.

Buying a house was an exaggeration; at his current rate, buying a large flat in his hometown in a year or so would be easy, but in Magic City? He should save his breath. However, if he couldn't buy, he could rent, right?

With this kind of income, his rental options spanned the entire Magic City. After all, even the ceiling of Magic City apartments, the Bulgari Apartment, with over two hundred square meters and a monthly rent of over a hundred thousand, was well within his reach.

Of course, spending over a hundred thousand a month on an apartment was unnecessary, but he could easily afford a budget of tens of thousands a month to rent a high-end serviced apartment.

What were the benefits of a serviced apartment?

Fully furnished, move-in ready, 24-hour concierge service, room cleaning... replacing traditional property management with hotel-style services. The comfort level compared to his current place would be like heaven versus earth.

Zhang Yang opened his phone and checked a professional app thoroughly.

"Move-in ready, smallest 69 square meters, largest 170 square meters; this one looks good." Zhang Yang quickly selected a target on the app.

This serviced apartment complex had been completed less than two years ago, was located near a commercial district, and was right next to the subway line. Prices ranged from over ten thousand a month for the smallest units to over thirty thousand for the largest.

The target demographic was corporate expatriate executives, high-level white-collar workers, and high-end business professionals, so the quality went without saying.

Right then, Zhang Yang decided to find time to go take a look and get this settled as soon as possible.

"How about tomorrow?" Seeing that it was still early, Zhang Yang called Supervisor Wang to ask for leave, planning to get this sorted out tomorrow. As for his current apartment, it still had two months left on the lease, so he would just leave it empty for now.

Work hadn't been too busy lately, so Supervisor Wang granted the leave quite readily.

Thanks to Young Master Dragon, Book Friend 20200704205643642, and Cloudless for the tips.