Chapter 14: Brother Zhang's Financial Strength Is a Mystery
A moment later, inside the Vacheron Constantin store.
The sales clerk, wearing white gloves, was attentively presenting Zhang Yang's new watch.
"Mr. Zhang, this is the Patrimony Perpetual Calendar you reserved. Would you like to try it on?"
"I'll try it." Zhang Yang had not yet seen how it looked on his wrist, so he raised his wrist and put on the ultra-thin Patrimony Perpetual Calendar, turning it over and examining it.
His wrist, which had previously been bare, now carried a subtle aura under the enhancement of a watch worth 700,000.
Bei Wei stood quietly to the side.
Seven hundred thousand, for a watch?
Brother Zhang's financial strength had actually reached this level?
Driving a one-million Porsche and wearing a watch worth 700,000 were completely different concepts. Just how wealthy did someone have to be to wear a watch costing seventy or eighty thousand?
Zhang Yang wore the watch without feeling unworthy of it at all.
They say you buy a car with your annual salary and a watch with your monthly salary. Now that he earned 20,000 a day and 600,000 a month, wearing a Vacheron Constantin worth 700,000 was perfectly appropriate, without the slightest mismatch. Besides, his future value could never be measured by just this one watch.
"Mr. Zhang, if everything is fine, I'll prepare all the paperwork for you?" the clerk politely asked.
"Go ahead." Zhang Yang nodded.
The system had already completed the payment. Zhang Yang simply picked up a pen, signed neatly, and smoothly took away the Vacheron Constantin worth 700,000.
On the way to the subway station.
"Brother Zhang, a watch worth 700,000… can I touch it?" Bei Wei followed beside him, clearly curious.
"Go ahead." Zhang Yang casually removed the watch and let Bei Wei hold it and examine it carefully.
After a long moment, Bei Wei returned the watch to Zhang Yang and couldn't help sighing. "I once heard someone say that the watch our company's boss wears is only around 500,000. Brother Zhang, your watch is even more expensive than his."
Zhang Yang just smiled.
Strictly speaking, the boss of this company really didn't earn as much as he did in a year. After all, the company's scale was limited, and the advertising industry was quite competitive now.
Of course, the boss had started from nothing. Being able to reach this level was already quite impressive.
While walking, the two happened to pass a Helena Rubinstein skincare store.
Zhang Yang vaguely remembered that Helena Rubinstein was a top luxury brand under the L'Oréal Group. Last time, a female colleague had received a Helena Rubinstein product for her birthday and immediately posted it on her social media, receiving a pile of likes.
He noticed the fleeting look of longing in Bei Wei's eyes.
It wasn't that ordinary people couldn't afford Helena Rubinstein. The key was that products often cost several thousand yuan. Being able to afford it was one thing, but being willing to spend that much to use it was another.
"Do you like it? I'll buy you a set." Zhang Yang pointed toward the store entrance.
"Ah? No, no." Bei Wei was startled and quickly waved her hands to refuse.
A set of Helena Rubinstein products easily cost several thousand. How could she accept that? She wasn't anything special to him.
"You came all this way with me. I can't let you leave empty-handed." Zhang Yang couldn't help laughing at her reaction. "Don't overthink it. You know me-my thoughts are always simple. I just don't want you to go back with nothing."
"Brother Zhang, I can't accept something without reason. Maybe it's nothing to you, but for me it's too expensive. Really, there's no need." After saying that, she still felt it wasn't enough. Biting her lip, she suddenly reached out, grabbed Zhang Yang's wrist, and quickly pulled him past the store entrance.
Zhang Yang didn't know whether to laugh or cry and could only let her pull him along. He hadn't expected Bei Wei to have even stronger principles than he imagined.
On the subway, the two sat side by side.
"Brother Zhang, here, take one." Bei Wei took out her earphones and handed one to Zhang Yang.
On the return trip, the music blocked out the noise of the subway.
Bei Wei's playlist was classic and nostalgic.
Sometimes it was:
'On a cloudy evening outside the car window, somewhere in the future someone is waiting.'
Or:
'A long, long time ago, you had me, and I had you.'
The two leaned shoulder to shoulder, listening to music as the train passed station after station.
Zhang Yang looked at Bei Wei's pleasant side profile, and something in his heart suddenly stirred. He looked away. His right hand followed instinct, seemingly unintentionally yet boldly covering that delicate and warm hand.
The hand trembled slightly but didn't pull away, simply allowing his to rest over it.
Zhang Yang turned his head back, already having prepared an explanation in his mind, but all he saw was Bei Wei looking at him with slightly widened eyes.
"Ha." Zhang Yang gave an awkward laugh and was just about to say something.
"Brother Zhang, this is my stop." Bei Wei spoke softly and gently withdrew her hand.
"Then… I'll walk you out?" Zhang Yang also moved to stand up.
"No, no. It'll delay you at least half an hour." Bei Wei pressed down on Zhang Yang's shoulder. "Brother Zhang… go back and rest early."
She followed the flow of people toward the subway door. Before getting off, she turned back and waved at Zhang Yang from a distance.
The subway continued toward the next station. Zhang Yang sat in his seat when his phone suddenly received a message from Bei Wei.
Looking down, he saw that she had sent him a playlist.
"Bei Wei's Humble Playlist? Humble Wei? Why would she use that as her ID?" Zhang Yang muttered to himself.
~~~~~
Putting aside spiritual needs, life ultimately revolves around clothing, food, housing, and transportation.
No matter how rich you are, you can't escape those four aspects.
Standing inside his small studio apartment, Zhang Yang once again felt the need to improve his living conditions.
Clothing and food weren't an issue. He didn't need extravagant luxury clothes worth hundreds of thousands or gourmet delicacies every meal, so those were no longer concerns.
Transportation? He now had a Porsche Cayenne for daily use, so there was no need for further upgrades in the short term.
Only housing had become an urgent issue.
"It's really too small." Zhang Yang walked around the small apartment and sighed again.
A bed, a kitchen by the door, a bathroom. That was it.
In the past, as an ordinary worker earning around ten thousand a month, living alone here was acceptable.
But now he could earn 20,000 in a single day.
If he had the ability to improve his living conditions but chose not to, that would truly be ridiculous.
Buying a house might be unrealistic. At his current pace, buying a large apartment in his hometown within a year or so would be easy. But in Shanghai? Better not even think about it.
However, if he couldn't buy, he could rent.
With his income, he could choose from nearly the entire city of Shanghai. Even the top-tier apartments in the city, such as the Bulgari Residences—over 200 square meters (~2,153 sq ft) with monthly rent exceeding 100,000—would still be affordable for him.
Of course, spending over 100,000 a month on an apartment wasn't necessary. But he could easily set aside several tens of thousands a month to rent a high-end serviced apartment.
What were the advantages of serviced apartments?
Fully furnished interiors, move-in ready, 24-hour concierge service, room cleaning… hotel-style services replacing traditional property management. In terms of comfort, the difference compared to his current place would be like heaven and earth.
Zhang Yang opened his phone and checked a professional app carefully.
"Move-in ready, smallest unit 69 square meters (~743 sq ft), largest 170 square meters (~1,830 sq ft). This place looks pretty good." Zhang Yang quickly selected a target on the app.
This serviced apartment building had been completed less than two years ago. It was surrounded by commercial districts and located near a subway line. Monthly rent ranged from just over 10,000 for the smallest units to over 30,000 for the largest ones.
The main tenants were corporate expatriate executives, senior white-collar workers, and high-end business professionals, so the quality spoke for itself.
Zhang Yang decided he would find time to visit and settle the matter as soon as possible.
"Maybe tomorrow." Seeing that it was still early, Zhang Yang called Supervisor Wang to request leave, planning to finish this matter tomorrow. As for his current apartment, the lease still had two months left, so he would just leave it empty for now.
Recently the workload wasn't heavy, and Supervisor Wang readily approved the leave.