Instead of getting angry, Ye Chen laughed and asked him, "How much commission would you get for selling one of these?"
The salesman said with contempt, "Ten thousand yuan!"
Ye Chen nodded. "Very good. You've just lost ten thousand yuan."
With that, Ye Chen turned and walked out.
Just then, he ran into the dealership's manager coming in. His name tag read: Sales Manager, Wang Haibo.
Ye Chen asked him, "Are you the person in charge here?"
"Yes." Wang Haibo nodded. "How can I help you?"
Ye Chen pointed at the salesman and said, "You'd better fire him. Keeping him here will only hurt your dealership's business."
Hearing that, the salesman hurried over. "Manager Wang, don't listen to his nonsense! There's something wrong with this guy! He's just a loser mooching off our Wi-Fi and air conditioning!"
Ye Chen smiled. "Whether I'm a loser or not, just wait and see."
With that, he left and went straight to the BMW showroom next door.
As soon as he entered the BMW dealership, Ye Chen spotted a BMW 760, one of the most luxurious cars there. It was the top-of-the-line BMW 7 Series and, without exception, BMW's most expensive model.
The BMW 760 had a twelve-cylinder engine with immense power, and its interior was luxuriously appointed to an outrageous degree.
He was also acting a little out of spite. Didn't those idiots at Audi look down on him? Fine, he'd buy a top-of-the-line BMW and show them.
He had plenty of money anyway!
He immediately called over a BMW salesperson and asked, "Can I drive this 760 away right now?"
The young saleswoman stared at him. "Sir, this car only arrived in the showroom today. Are you sure you want to buy it?"
"Yes." Ye Chen nodded. "I'm sure. Take me to pay by card!"
"Huh? This car costs 2.6 million yuan!" The young woman was utterly dumbfounded.
She had been selling cars for quite some time, but she had never seen a customer walk in and ask to pay by card without saying anything else.
Was this guy messing with her?
Ye Chen smiled. "I know. I saw the price. Just tell me, are you selling it or not?"
"Yes, yes, of course I am..." the young woman said happily. "Please, right this way!"
Under her guidance, Ye Chen promptly paid by card and took delivery of the car, all in one smooth sequence.
When he drove out in the BMW 760, which had cost over 2.6 million yuan, everyone at the Audi dealership stared in astonishment.
Ye Chen drove the BMW 760 straight to the Audi dealership's entrance, opened the trunk, and loaded his electric bike inside. Only then did he drive off with a swagger.
The salesman who had looked down on Ye Chen stood there slack-jawed. Beside him, Manager Wang Haibo said coldly, "Go to HR and hand over your work. You're fired!"
"Manager..."
"Get lost!"
The other Audi employees were scared out of their wits too. Good heavens, none of them had expected the man on the electric bike to be so bold, buying a car worth over 2.6 million yuan just like that!
The salesman who had looked down on Ye Chen was even more full of regret. Not only had he missed out on a major customer and over ten thousand yuan in commission, but he had also lost his job. If he had known this would happen, he wouldn't have looked down on him with his dog eyes even if someone had beaten him to death...
After driving the BMW 760 away, Ye Chen realized he had been a little impulsive.
It wasn't that he begrudged the money. The main problem was that the car was too expensive. How was he supposed to explain it to Xiao Churan?
He couldn't very well claim that 2.6 million yuan had fallen from the sky, could he?
After turning it over in his mind, he suddenly came up with a brilliant idea.
He then drove to a roadside repair shop and paid the owner twenty yuan to replace the BMW 760 badge with a BMW 520 badge.
The BMW 5 Series and 7 Series looked very similar, with the main differences on the inside. Most people would have a hard time telling them apart from the outside and mainly relied on the rear badge.
The 520 was the lowest-trim model in the 5 Series. Its power, handling, and everything else about it were average.
The 760 was the highest-trim model in the 7 Series. Its power and handling were superb, and everything else about it was excellent.
Driving the 760 with its 520 badge, Ye Chen thought to himself that Xiao Churan didn't know much about cars and hadn't studied them. If he told her it was a BMW 520, she probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference.
The repair shop owner clicked his tongue as he watched. This guy looks pretty honest, but I never expected him to be so crafty. He deliberately changed the badge on a top-of-the-line 760 to a 520. He must be planning to play the pig to eat the tiger!
After buying the car, Ye Chen remembered that Wang Daokun's restaurant was opening at noon today, and he needed to prepare a gift.
Thinking that Wang Daokun had been one of the few classmates who had treated him well in college, he drove straight to a large art consignment shop and spent 200,000 yuan on an early painting by Huang Shen, a Qing dynasty painter.
Huang Shen was not particularly famous, so most people wouldn't recognize his paintings.
He bought this antique painting partly because he felt he should give Wang Daokun a gift of some substance, but also because he didn't want anyone to know how much it was actually worth.
He figured that if anyone asked, he could casually say it had cost a few thousand yuan and get away with it.
It was nearly noon by the time he bought the painting, so Ye Chen called his wife, Xiao Churan, and told her he was going to Dihao Group to pick her and Dong Ruolin up.
But when they met, Xiao Churan discovered that Ye Chen was actually driving a BMW 5 Series!
She stared at Ye Chen, dumbfounded, and asked in surprise, "Where did this car come from?"
Ye Chen smiled. "I bought it for you!"
"You bought it?" Xiao Churan was even more surprised. "Where did you get the money?"
"My private savings," Ye Chen said. "Look, I've been a live-in son-in-law in the Xiao Family for so long, and I didn't spend a penny on our wedding. All these years, I've eaten, lived, and used things at the Xiao Family's expense. What's so strange about me saving a little money for myself?"
Xiao Churan said, "But you could have kept your savings for yourself! Why buy such an expensive car? It must have cost 400,000 yuan, right?"
Ye Chen smiled. "You're my wife. If I don't spend my savings on you, who else would I spend them on? Should I go out and spend them on a mistress? Besides, you're a director now. If you don't have a presentable car, people will laugh at you."
At that moment, Dong Ruolin also spoke up. "Churan, you really do need a more businesslike car, and this one suits you well. Ye Chen cares about you. You should be happy!"
Xiao Churan nodded and said, deeply moved, "Ye Chen, thank you!"
Ye Chen gently squeezed her hand and said with a smile, "Why be so polite to your husband?"
Then he motioned to the two women and said, "Let's go straight to Wang Daokun's restaurant!"
Xiao Churan hurriedly asked, "Did you buy him a gift?"
"I did," Ye Chen said. "I bought him a painting."
"A painting?" Xiao Churan asked curiously. "What kind of painting?"
Ye Chen said, "It's one of those antique paintings sold on Antique Street. I saw that it was a pomegranate tree, which symbolizes many children, much wealth, and many blessings. I thought it was pretty good, so I bought it."
"How much did it cost?" Xiao Churan asked.
"A few thousand yuan."
Xiao Churan nodded and smiled. "Then you might have been swindled! You can't buy a genuine antique painting for a few thousand yuan."
Ye Chen smiled. "It doesn't matter. The thought is what counts. A modest gift can carry deep affection."
Xiao Churan nodded in strong agreement. "You're right. What matters most is the sentiment. Let's head straight over now!"