A watch worth over four hundred thousand-would selling your tiled-roof house even cover the change?

An hour later.

A woman in a smart business suit, her hair cropped neatly short, walked into Song Qiuya's office with two assistants.

She was around thirty-five or thirty-six, with a brisk stride and a sharp, capable look in her eyes.

"Shuting, let me introduce you. This is Chen Lin," Song Qiuya said with a smile.

"Mr. Chen, I've heard so much about you." The visitor was Chen Shuting, the owner and general manager of Yicheng New City Design Company.

Chen Lin rose to shake her hand. Without wasting a word, he laid out his ambitious vision for the Water Restaurant and water park.

"...What I want is something breathtaking. One of a kind!"

The two young designers behind Chen Shuting listened with shining eyes, typing rapidly on their laptops and pulling up reference images.

"Mr. Chen, take a look. This is a floating-platform project we designed. The costs are manageable, and construction doesn't take long."

The photograph showed a wooden restaurant built on a massive pontoon platform.

Chen Lin took one look and shook his head.

The reservoir in Chen Family Village had an average depth of over five meters. The spot where he wanted to build the restaurant was probably seven or eight meters deep.

A floating-platform design just didn't feel solid enough underfoot.

"I don't want a floating platform."

"I want piles driven into the bed. Build it up from the bottom."

Chen Shuting exchanged a glance with the designers behind her, their expressions turning serious.

She chose her words carefully. "Mr. Chen, if we use underwater pile foundations, the cost... could multiply several times over. And there may be additional expenses for geological surveys and construction later on."

Chen Lin waved a hand dismissively.

"Don't worry about the cost."

He said those words as casually as could be.

Yet the air in the office seemed to freeze for a moment.

"Quality and the customer experience come first."

"I want it to feel just like a building on dry land-solid, safe, and grand!"

Chen Shuting studied the almost absurdly young man before her.

There wasn't a trace of showing off on his face, only an almost obsessive determination to get the final quality he wanted.

The last hint of condescension in her heart vanished completely.

"Then here's what we'll do, Mr. Chen." Chen Shuting's tone grew deeply earnest. "The morning after tomorrow, I'll personally lead a team to survey and inspect the site. Only with firsthand data can we give you the most suitable design."

"No problem!"

With the time agreed upon, Chen Shuting briskly left with her team.

Once again, only Chen Lin and Song Qiuya remained in the office.

With business settled, Chen Lin relaxed completely.

He looked at Song Qiuya. Since she wouldn't accept money, he would give her something else.

"Come on. I'm taking you somewhere."

Without giving her a chance to react, Chen Lin caught her slightly cool wrist and headed out.

Half an hour later, they arrived at Yida Plaza, Yicheng's most upscale shopping mall.

Holding Song Qiuya's hand, Chen Lin passed all the dazzling luxury boutiques and went straight to a store with an understated yet unmistakably luxurious entrance.

Vacheron Constantin.

Chen Lin's gaze fell on Song Qiuya's smooth, snowy-white wrist.

It was bare.

He felt it was missing something.

Still holding her hand, he walked inside.

"Welcome to Vacheron Constantin." The sales associate wore an impeccable professional smile.

Chen Lin's eyes swept quickly over the display, soon settling on a watch.

A moonphase watch from the Traditionnelle Collection.

Its rose-gold case was warm and elegant. On the simple white dial, a deep-blue moonphase window was adorned with tiny diamonds that formed stars.

It looked less like a timepiece than a work of art for the wrist.

"Hello. Could you take this one out so we can try it on?" Chen Lin pointed at the watch.

The sales associate immediately put on white gloves and carefully lifted it out.

Song Qiuya's breath caught. Of course she recognized that watch.

She thought Chen Lin wanted to buy it for himself and was about to offer her opinion, only to see him walking straight toward her with it.

Was he...

Buying it for her?

Song Qiuya panicked.

That watch cost enough to cover the down payment on an apartment in Yicheng!

But Chen Lin gave her no chance to refuse. He firmly took her right hand and moved to put it on her wrist.

"Hubby, I love this watch!"

A woman's affected, sickly-sweet voice suddenly sounded beside them.

Chen Lin paused and turned to look.

He was amused.

Wang Lida and his girlfriend with the smoking-hot figure.

Small world.

Wang Lida spotted Chen Lin too. The smile on his face froze, then gave way to surging anger.

"Chen Lin!"

He gritted his back teeth, his voice dripping with venom.

"You've got the fucking nerve to show your face in front of me? I haven't settled the score with you over last time!"

The woman beside him recognized Chen Lin as well. Her brows shot up, and her eyes widened furiously.

"It was all your fault, you bastard!" she shrieked, pointing at Chen Lin. "That nonsense you spouted last time nearly made me break up with Lida! A pig farmer? My ass! Ever heard of Yicheng Shengnong Group? It's worth hundreds of millions!"

The more she spoke, the angrier she became, her chest heaving.

Last time, she had believed Chen Lin's offhand remark about "raising pigs." Feeling utterly humiliated, she had fled on the spot. If Wang Lida hadn't later taken her to his company's headquarters, she would have nearly missed out on a rich husband.

She hadn't forgotten that grudge for a second.

Wang Lida sized Chen Lin up, cast a contemptuous glance at Song Qiuya beside him, and finally fixed his eyes on the expensive watch.

"Well, well, Chen Lin. Look at you, bringing a girl somewhere like this to show off."

Wang Lida deliberately raised his voice, drawing the attention of the other customers in the store.

"What? Got your eye on it?" He pointed at the Traditionnelle watch and sneered. "Do you know how much that costs? Four hundred and eighteen thousand! If you sold those two shabby tiled-roof rooms your family lives in, would it even cover the change?"

He knew exactly how poor Chen Lin's family was.

A country boy coming into a place like this could only be pretending to have money he didn't.

Wang Lida grew even more confident.

"Stop looking. You can't afford it anyway. Want me to point you in the right direction? Turn left outside, and there's a Little Genius kids' smartwatch counter two hundred meters down. That's more your speed."

Faced with Wang Lida's barrage of insults, Chen Lin didn't so much as twitch an eyebrow.

It was as though he hadn't heard the barking behind him.

He merely turned away, completely ignoring the posturing clown, and spoke calmly to the somewhat flustered sales associate.

"I'll take this one. Wrap it up."

His words were clear and decisive.

The entire store instantly fell so silent that a pin dropping could have been heard.

Wang Lida's mouth, poised to spew another stream of mockery, froze half-open as his face turned a dark, purplish red.

The woman beside him froze too, her face full of disbelief.

He's faking it! He has to be bluffing!

The sales associate was startled as well, but her professional training helped her recover quickly. She asked tentatively, "Sir, are you certain? This watch costs four hundred and eighteen thousand yuan."

Chen Lin pulled the black bank card from his pocket and handed it over.

"Charge it."

At the sight of the solid-black card, the sales associate gave a slight shudder. Any remaining doubt vanished. She immediately accepted it with both hands and respectfully headed to the register.

"Beep."

The faint sound of the card terminal printing a receipt was more shocking than a thunderclap in the silent store.

The receipt printed, and he signed.

The whole process flowed smoothly, taking barely a dozen seconds.

When Chen Lin signed his name without the slightest change in expression, Wang Lida was utterly dumbfounded.

He stood rooted to the spot, his mouth half-open and his mind completely blank.