I'll Bet One Hundred Thousand on a Year

Chu Tian was stunned by Chu Maoming's words. After taking a long time to process them, he summoned Little Cai over with mixed feelings of doubt and belief, asking what he had done before becoming his assistant.

"Um... nothing much. This is my first job," Little Cai said, blinking his clear, wide eyes. "I just graduated with a master's degree from the School of Economics at XX University. I originally applied to work at Chu Corporation, but less than three months after joining, I was assigned here."

Chu Tian: "!!!"

XX University was one of the country's top universities, and its School of Economics was internationally renowned. He even had a master's degree.

A talent who should have been shining in some major corporation had actually been sent by Chu Maoming to serve as his little assistant?

What a waste of talent!

"Having you work as my assistant is such a waste of your abilities," Chu Tian said, his voice trembling slightly. "What have I done to deserve this?"

"No, no, no, I think being an assistant is really interesting," Little Cai said with a bright smile. "It's way more fun than staying at the company, working overtime every day to rush proposals like a corporate slave. There are arguments to watch, gossip to feast on, and no 24/7 overtime. Who says this job is bad? This job is amazing!"

Most importantly, not only had his salary not gone down, but President Chu had even given him extra allowances.

With such an incredible job, he would fight anyone who tried to stop him from doing it!

"What about Little Huang?" Chu Tian's heart began racing. "He isn't also..."

"Oh, he isn't."

Chu Tian sighed in relief. "That's good, that's good."

"He's the national champion in the 60-kilogram sanda division for three consecutive years."

"..."

The breath Chu Tian had just let out caught in his throat again. He had never expected that hidden talents surrounded him.

Little Huang was thin and tall, quiet, and looked honest and dull-witted. Who would have thought he was so formidable?

Why had Chu Maoming placed these two big shots at his side to follow a useless person like him?

"Don't worry, Young Master," Little Cai reassured Chu Tian with a grin. "Little Huang is also very happy to work for you. The two of us are very satisfied with our current jobs. Just tell us whatever you need. Otherwise, President Chu's high salary would be going to waste."

Seeing that Little Cai did not sound reluctant in the slightest, Chu Tian finally relaxed a little. He told Little Cai about his plan and asked him to help calculate whether his existing assets were enough for the investment.

Little Cai finally had some proper work to do. He responded with great enthusiasm and happily went off to carry out the task.

Little Cai worked quickly. Before the night was even over, he came to see Chu Tian with the results.

"These are all the assets currently under your name," Little Cai said, taking out several documents for Chu Tian to review. "And this is a preliminary estimate of the investment required to produce a drama. You can take a look."

Chu Tian highly praised Little Cai's efficiency. Then, rubbing his hands together, he opened the folder with both excitement and apprehension.

Even now, Chu Tian still had little real sense of what it meant to have transmigrated into a rich second-generation heir.

It was only now, with all the assets under his name laid out clearly before him, that Chu Tian finally gained some genuine awareness that he was rich.

He personally owned five sports cars and three properties: a spacious riverside apartment, a high-end business loft in the heart of a bustling commercial district, and even a luxurious mansion—the kind with a swimming pool where people could throw parties, just like in TV dramas!

Besides that, he had been talked into investing in quite a few ventures by his fair-weather friends. Some lost money, while others turned a profit.

The most profitable was the high-end private club he had visited before. Every quarter, a substantial share of profits was deposited into his account.

Lastly, he owned five percent of the Chu family's corporate shares. It did not sound like much, but the annual dividends, together with the large allowances his parents and brother transferred to his card from time to time, were enough to sustain his current life of extravagance.

As long as Chu Corporation did not collapse, his parents remained alive and healthy, and his brother continued to hold power, he could be a freeloader for the rest of his life.

In comparison, because he spent money recklessly and lavishly, he only had a little over one million in liquid funds.

Over one million!

Chu Tian could barely recognize the word "money" anymore. To someone as inexperienced as him, over one million was an enormous sum.

But for investing in a drama, it was barely a drop in the bucket.

"I... I'm so rich," Chu Tian muttered softly, his eyes turning into dizzy spirals from the shock. "I've struck it rich..."

Little Cai showed excellent professional restraint, lowering his head and pretending he had heard nothing.

But once Chu Tian opened the investment budget, his soul, which had just floated upward, instantly crashed back to earth.

"What?" Chu Tian cried in shock. "It costs this much to make a drama?!"

Who said a few million was enough to make a drama?

Those marketing accounts had seriously misled him!!

"Yes," Little Cai immediately turned professional. "This is only the basic investment. The actors' salaries and other subsequent expenses have not been included. The fees for well-known directors and screenwriters are also far from low. If you want everything to be perfect, Young Master, then this funding gap may be..."

Little Cai did not finish his sentence, leaving him some room to maneuver.

But Chu Tian looked as though he had been struck by lightning, instantly losing his soul.

The joy he had felt upon learning how many assets he owned vanished completely.

With the pitiful amount of liquid funds he had, he would need to add another zero just to barely assemble a competent production team. This was far too difficult...

Chu Tian stared blankly ahead, realizing that he had been too arrogant. Investing was not something that could be done easily without sufficient capital to back it up.

Just as he lay sprawled on the sofa like a salted fish, staring vacantly into space and contemplating life, his phone rang with a string of notifications.

Chu Tian picked up his phone and glanced at it, only to see several people tagging him in a small group chat with his fair-weather friends.

[Jin Mao: @Chu Second, everything's been dealt with. When are you coming out to hang out?]

[@Chu Second What's been up with him lately? I even saw him on a show some time ago. He actually looked all respectable—it practically shocked my entire family!]

[@Chu Second Doesn't he love having fun the most? He hasn't joined the last few events. What has he been doing?]

[Jin Mao: Chu Second has serious business to take care of now. Stop bothering him.]

[Oh, Chu Second has serious business? Hahahaha, wasn't he chasing that pretty boy surnamed Gu before? I saw the Weibo trending topic a few days ago. He actually managed to get him. Wonder how many days this one will stay fresh.]

[I'll put down twenty thousand and bet on one week. They'll definitely break up after a week!]

[Jin Mao: Watch your mouths. Give Chu Second some face. I'll put down fifty thousand and bet on half a month.]

[You guys really aren't giving Chu Second any face. I'll join in too—thirty thousand on one month. He worked so hard to chase this one, got his brother to invest, and even followed him onto a show. If they don't last a month, he'll have suffered a huge loss!]

[...]

[Chu Second: I'll put down one hundred thousand and bet on a year.]

The moment Chu Tian sent that message, the rapidly scrolling group chat abruptly froze. Then notification chimes began ringing nonstop as everyone asked whether he had lost his mind or simply had not woken up yet.

Chu Tian gave a disdainful snort. He had signed a one-year relationship contract with Gu Shiyan. There was no reason not to bet on a guaranteed win!