A moment later, inside the Vacheron Constantin boutique.
The sales associate, wearing white gloves, was enthusiastically showing Zhang Yang his new watch.
"Mr. Zhang, this is the Heritage Perpetual Calendar Series watch you reserved. Would you like to try it on?"
"Sure." Zhang Yang had never tried it on before, so he held out his wrist, put on the ultra-thin Heritage Perpetual Calendar Series watch, and turned his wrist this way and that to admire it.
His wrist had been bare, but with a watch worth 700,000 yuan on it, an air of distinction quietly emerged.
Bei Wei stood nearby, barely daring to breathe.
Seven hundred thousand for a watch?
Had Zhang Yang really become that wealthy?
Driving a Porsche worth a million and wearing a watch worth 700,000 were two entirely different things. How much would someone have to be worth to afford a watch costing 700,000 or 800,000?
Wearing the watch, Zhang Yang didn't feel the least bit out of his league.
People said your annual salary should buy your car, and your monthly salary your watch. He was earning 20,000 yuan a day now, or 600,000 a month, so a Vacheron Constantin worth 700,000 was just right for him. It suited him perfectly. Besides, his future potential couldn't be measured by a watch like this.
"Mr. Zhang, if that's all right with you, I can prepare all the paperwork," the sales associate said politely, asking for his approval.
"Sure, go ahead." Zhang Yang nodded.
The system had already paid, so all Zhang Yang had to do was pick up the pen and sign. Then, just like that, the Vacheron Constantin worth 700,000 yuan was his.
On the way to the subway station.
"Zhang Yang, can I touch your 700,000-yuan watch?" Bei Wei followed alongside him, rather curious.
"Go ahead." Zhang Yang casually took off the watch and let Bei Wei hold it and examine it.
After a long while, Bei Wei handed it back, unable to hide her amazement. "I heard someone say our company's boss wears a watch worth around 500,000 yuan. Zhang Yang, yours cost even more than his."
Zhang Yang just smiled. Strictly speaking, the boss of that company did earn less than he did in a year. After all, the company was only so big, and competition in the advertising industry was fierce these days.
Of course, the man had built everything from nothing. Getting as far as he had was already quite an achievement.
As they walked, they happened to pass a Helena Rubinstein skincare store.
Zhang Yang vaguely remembered that Helena Rubinstein was L'Oréal Group's top luxury beauty brand. One of his female coworkers had received a Helena Rubinstein product for her birthday once and posted it on her social media, where it had gotten a flood of likes.
He noticed a flash of longing in Bei Wei's eyes.
It wasn't that ordinary people couldn't afford Helena Rubinstein products. The thing was, they cost several thousand yuan apiece. Being able to afford them was one thing; being willing to buy them for yourself was another.
"Like these? Want me to get you a set?" Zhang Yang pointed at the store.
"Huh? No, no need." Bei Wei was startled and quickly waved him off.
A set of Helena Rubinstein products cost several thousand yuan. How could she accept something like that? It wasn't as if she were anything to him.
"You came all this way. How could I let you go back empty-handed?" Seeing her waving her hands, Zhang Yang couldn't help laughing. "Don't overthink it. You know I'm always straightforward. I simply don't want you going home empty-handed."
"Zhang Yang, you shouldn't accept gifts you haven't earned. It might not be much to you, but it's far too expensive for me. I really don't need it." Even after saying that, she still felt it wasn't enough. She bit her lip, then took the initiative to grab Zhang Yang's wrist and hurried him past the store.
Zhang Yang could only laugh helplessly and let her lead him along. He hadn't expected Bei Wei to have even stronger principles than he'd thought.
On the subway, they sat side by side.
"Here, Zhang Yang." Bei Wei took out her earphones and handed him one.
On the way back, the music shut out the noise of the subway.
Bei Wei's playlist was full of classics and old favorites.
Sometimes it was, "On a cloudy evening, outside the car window, someone in the future is waiting..."
Other times it was, "A long, long time ago, you had me and I had you."
Shoulder to shoulder, they listened to song after song as the subway passed one station after another.
Looking at Bei Wei's lovely profile, Zhang Yang felt his heart stir for no reason. He turned to look elsewhere, then, following his instincts, boldly laid his right hand over hers, smooth and warm, as if by accident.
Her hand trembled slightly, but she didn't pull away. She simply let his hand rest over hers.
Zhang Yang turned to face her, already prepared with a whole spiel, only to see her staring at him with slightly widened eyes.
"Ha." Zhang Yang gave an awkward laugh, about to say something.
"Zhang Yang, this is my stop," Bei Wei said softly, gently pulling her hand away.
"Then... should I walk you out?" Zhang Yang started to get up too.
"No, no. That'd delay you by at least half an hour." Bei Wei pressed a hand to his shoulder. "Zhang Yang... go home and get some rest."
She followed the crowd toward the doors. Before getting off, she turned and waved goodbye to Zhang Yang from a distance.
The subway continued on to the next station. Zhang Yang was sitting in his seat when a message from Bei Wei suddenly arrived.
He looked down. It was the playlist she'd sent him.
"'Humble Little Wei's Playlist'? Humble Little Wei? Why would she use that as her username?" Zhang Yang muttered to himself.
......
Leaving aside spiritual needs, people needed little more than clothing, food, shelter, and transportation.
No amount of money could change that.
Standing in his cramped studio apartment, Zhang Yang once again felt that he needed to improve his living situation.
Clothes and food went without saying. He didn't need fancy clothes and fine dining, designer menswear costing hundreds of thousands, or delicacies at every meal. So he no longer needed to worry about clothing and food.
Transportation? He had a Porsche Cayenne to get around in now. At least in the short term, there was no need to upgrade.
But housing had become an urgent problem.
"It's really too small." Zhang Yang walked around the tiny apartment and sighed again.
There was a bed, a kitchen by the door, and a bathroom. That was it.
Back when he was just a wage earner making a little over 10,000 yuan a month, living here alone had been reasonable enough.
But now, he could bring in 20,000 yuan in a single day.
Choosing not to improve his living situation when he clearly could was what you did when you had something seriously wrong with you.
Buying a home was a bit much. At this rate, he could afford a spacious apartment in his hometown within a year or two, but in Magic City? He'd better forget it. Still, if he couldn't buy, he could rent.
With his income, he could look across all of Magic City for a place. Even the city's top apartment complex, Bulgari Apartment, with units over 200 square meters and monthly rent exceeding 100,000 yuan, wouldn't be beyond his means.
Of course, spending over 100,000 yuan a month on an apartment was unnecessary. But he could easily budget tens of thousands a month to rent a high-end serviced apartment.
What was so good about serviced apartments?
They were fully furnished and ready to move into, with 24-hour concierge service and housekeeping. Hotel-style service replaced traditional property management. The comfort was in a different league from what he had now.
Zhang Yang opened his phone and checked a specialized app carefully.
"Move-in ready, starting at 69 square meters and going up to 170. This place looks pretty good." Zhang Yang quickly settled on a place through the app.
The serviced apartment complex had been completed less than two years ago. There was a shopping district nearby, and it was right by a subway line. Monthly rent ranged from a little over 10,000 yuan for the smallest unit to more than 30,000 for the largest.
It catered mainly to senior executives on company assignments, high-level white-collar workers, and upscale business travelers. The quality was guaranteed.
Zhang Yang decided to make time to go see it and settle the matter as soon as possible.
"How about tomorrow?" Seeing that it was still early, Zhang Yang called Supervisor Wang and asked for the day off. He planned to get the matter sorted out tomorrow. His current apartment still had two months left on the lease, so he could just leave it empty for now.
Work had been relatively light lately, so Supervisor Wang approved the leave without hesitation.
Thanks to Young Master Dragon, book friend 20200704205643642, and Cloudless for the tips.
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