Seeing Himself

Clothes made the man, and gold made the Buddha.

It was a commonplace saying, but a true one.

Setting aside so-called brand value and quality, products from major brands like Hermès had no trouble crushing cheap goods in design, cut, and material alike.

In some respects, expensive things had their reasons for being expensive. Whether they were worth it was a matter of personal judgment.

Although Gao Jing knew nothing about luxury goods and had little experience with clothing coordination,

the luxury outfit he had picked by instinct brought out his excellent physique and looks exceptionally well.

It steadily placed his overall attractiveness above the eight-point line.

His temperament received an extra boost as well!

So when Gao Jing carried two Hermès paper bags and strode into the Louis Vuitton store next door on his long legs, stars sparkled in the salesgirl's eyes.

Her voice and smile were as gentle as could be, and her service as attentive as could be.

Gao Jing did not waste words and continued unleashing the power of money.

How could one outfit possibly be enough?

He disliked most of Louis Vuitton's trousers. They were too gaudy and flashy.

He picked out a pair of black-blue straight-leg jeans, tailored from high-quality Japanese selvedge denim.

They felt comfortable when he tried them on and cost 6,600 yuan.

Then he selected a white pure-cotton DNA shirt for 6,250 yuan.

None of the shoe styles caught his eye. He felt the calfskin sneakers from Hermès went perfectly with this outfit anyway.

So he ignored them.

Then Gao Jing bought a black pocket wallet made of Louis Vuitton's classic embossed Taga leather.

3,250 yuan.

He also got a black Kasai clutch in Epi leather for 13,300 yuan.

In total, Gao Jing spent 29,400 yuan at Louis Vuitton.

After receiving his marathon championship prize money last time, he had paid off Huabei and Jiebei, then bought new equipment.

All told, he had already spent more than 200,000 yuan.

Less than 200,000 yuan remained in his account now.

Yet the current Gao Jing carried himself in Hermès and Louis Vuitton as though he possessed twenty million yuan.

If he wanted it, he bought it!

In truth, although he did not have much cash, more than sixty cubic meters of top-grade Purple Sandalwood timber still lay in the Copper Anchor's storage space.

Even by the lowest estimate, it was worth thirty or forty million yuan.

As for the Copper Anchor itself, it was an invaluable treasure!

That was where Gao Jing's confidence came from.

As he paid the bill, the Louis Vuitton salesgirl's gentle, sweet voice drifted into his ears.

It was soft and tingling.

Yet Gao Jing felt surprisingly calm.

With a Great World in his possession, as long as he did not die, he was destined to become a tycoon of colossal wealth.

Gao Jing had once thought he would need quite some time to adapt to a wealthy life.

But at this moment, he discovered that he had underestimated himself.

In that instant, Gao Jing's soul seemed to leave its shell and float upward, examining himself from a higher place.

Was he still the person he had once been?

A famous person had once said that life was a process of seeing heaven and earth, seeing all living beings, and seeing oneself.

Seeing heaven and earth was easy. Seeing all living beings was easy too. Seeing oneself was often something people avoided.

And so they often lost their way.

Now Gao Jing had seen himself, and he remained steadfast, rational, and composed.

"Sir? Sir?"

The salesgirl's concerned voice snapped Gao Jing back to his senses.

He turned his head. "Hm?"

Under Gao Jing's gaze, the worldly and experienced heart of the Louis Vuitton salesgirl suddenly skipped a beat.

She hurriedly smiled. "You may choose a gift now."

Gao Jing came to a realization. "Oh."

Louis Vuitton did not offer discounts either. Once customers reached a certain spending amount, they could choose one gift—a pair of cufflinks, a key pouch, a lighter, or some other little item.

Gao Jing chose an all-aluminum business card case with a mechanical button.

He actually rather liked lighters, but the card case happened to be useful.

Next time.

Carrying even more paper bags out of the Louis Vuitton store, Gao Jing headed toward the escalator.

A song began playing over the mall's broadcast system.

"Change your life, make yourself happy. Let go of obsession, and the weather will turn pleasant."

"Every passing step brings a harvest. What are you waiting for? Make the right choice..."

To the music, Gao Jing could not help quickening his pace.

"I am still that youth from before, not changed in the slightest."

"Time is merely a test; the faith planted in my heart has not diminished at all!"

"The youth before your eyes still wears that original face..."

Arriving on the first floor of Vientiane City, Gao Jing selected the latest Mate 30 RS Porsche at the Huawei flagship store.

12GB+512GB, all-network 5G, obsidian black, 12,999 yuan.

It replaced the Xiaomi phone that had been with him for several years.

After using the store's Wi-Fi to transfer his data, Gao Jing sat down at the Starbucks across the way.

He had just finished two pastries and a cup of coffee when his newly bought phone rang.

Not long afterward, a man in a suit appeared before Gao Jing.

He was a SwiftRide Car Rental service specialist, there to deliver Gao Jing's car.

The night before, Gao Jing had booked a Mercedes-Benz S350 through the SwiftRide Car Rental app and selected door-to-door delivery.

Their meeting place was here.

Gao Jing had gotten his Class C driver's license the year he graduated. Since he often ran around outside on business, not knowing how to drive simply would not do.

Although he could not afford to buy a car, he had driven quite a few.

Because of work requirements, he had registered as a SwiftRide Car Rental member long ago.

It was just that he had previously rented cars in the tens-of-thousands to hundred-thousand-yuan range and gone to the branch himself to pick them up.

After signing the rental agreement, Gao Jing received the S350 parked in Vientiane City's underground garage.

The black Mercedes-Benz was a 2017 model, maintained fairly well and scrubbed spotless inside and out.

The price was not too expensive—1,080 yuan per day.

Only the off-season offered rates like this.

During the Spring Festival, May Day, and National Day holidays, or on auspicious days suited for weddings, the rent would at least double.

The Mercedes-Benz S350 was already filled with gas.

After checking it over and finding no problems, Gao Jing signed the vehicle handover form.

He tossed all the paper bags into the trunk, then immediately set off for Beiyang City, 350 kilometers away.

He took the highway the entire way.

At four in the afternoon, Gao Jing checked into the Beiyang Grand Hotel.

Beiyang was a county-level city with a population of over one million. Its local economy was highly developed, and its GDP ranked among the nation's top hundred counties.

It was also a famous hometown of furniture, boasting the largest timber trading market in the Jiangnan region.

Gao Jing also knew that beside the Beiyang timber market stood a historic Rosewood Street.

Its trading scale was enormous.

But this was Gao Jing's first time in Beiyang.

He had come to scout the market.

After spending a night in a business room at the Beiyang Grand Hotel, Gao Jing drove to the timber market the next morning.

The market was bustling with people, packed shoulder to shoulder and extraordinarily lively.

After parking the Mercedes-Benz, Gao Jing asked around a little and smoothly found Rosewood Street.

Although it stood right beside the market, the atmosphere of this old street was entirely different.

Many shops lined both sides: raw timber stores, furniture stores, decorative ware shops, and processing workshops.

Dalbergia odorifera, also known as huanghuali, sandalwood rosewood, rosewood, black rosewood, chicken-wing wood, and other precious timber could all be found here.

A faint sandalwood scent drifted through the air.

In front of many storefronts lay logs of old timber, with small groups of people gathered around them.

Some watched quietly without revealing a thing, some squatted down to study the wood carefully, some haggled with the shopkeepers.

Others held saws and cut into the timber.

Now and then, cries of surprise or sighs could be heard.

Gao Jing knew they were gambling on wood—or rather, gambling on timber.

There was a saying that nine out of ten sandalwood logs were hollow. Little-Leaf Red Sandalwood in particular had an extremely high hollowness rate. It was said that among wild Little-Leaf Red Sandalwood, truly solid pieces made up less than ten percent!

The even more expensive huanghuali also had hollow sections, while its distinctive ghost faces and rippling grain were crucial signs of its value.

That was what made it worth gambling on.

Before a log was cut open, it was difficult to judge what exactly lay inside.

The cut surface might look outstanding, yet the interior could already be rotten beyond use.

Just like gambling on jade roughs, gambling on timber was a common sight.

Gao Jing walked back and forth along Rosewood Street once.

He went in and out of more than a dozen stores, asking about the current market prices for sandalwood and Little-Leaf Red Sandalwood.

At this point, the effect of Gao Jing's full set of luxury brands became obvious.

Seeing Gao Jing's clothes, appearance, and bearing, the shopkeepers would never have imagined that he rented a tiny single room in an urban village.

They all assumed Gao Jing was a rich young master, so their attitudes naturally became especially enthusiastic.

They basically told him everything they knew and held nothing back.

Of course, quite a few took him for a gullible fat sheep and quoted prices with little restraint.

However, Gao Jing was not some Little White fresh out of the gate.

Though he did not know much about this field, after making a round of the shops, he had a grasp of the market prices.

It was a pity that those shop owners had expended so much effort and saliva, only to gain nothing from Gao Jing.

Their feelings had been wasted for nothing.

At last, Gao Jing entered a small shop at the end of the street.

First update delivered.

Note: This chapter's BGM was excerpted from singer Meng Ran's "The Youth."

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