Upon hearing this, Charles gave a faint smile, "buddy, it's not that I look down on you, but you really can't afford it." Of course, he kept that thought to himself.
"It's not expensive, just over two million," he said casually.
The atmosphere in the car went silent, the taxi driver glanced at Charles several times before slowly saying, "Buddy, that's a bit hard to believe. I've seen plenty of watches worth millions, but I've never seen one like yours."
Charles didn't bother to explain and simply smiled, "Just kidding, don't mind me. It's just a high-quality replica."
Hearing this, the taxi driver broke into a long-lost smile, as if to say, "I knew it."
"Of course! Buddy, I'm not bragging, but there's no watch I don't recognize."
Charles smirked, not wanting to burst his bubble. "Oh? You're that good?"
The taxi driver's face was full of proud smiles. "Absolutely! To be honest, I have three main passions in life: women, watches and luxury cars. Don't be fooled by my job as a taxi driver; I keep up with all the watch info out there. There's no watch I can't identify at a glance, whether it's a replica or the real deal."
Charles could tell this taxi driver loved to boast, in front of him, Charles felt like a novice.
"Mind taking a look for me then? A friend gave it to me and I'm not really familiar with watches. I don't know which brand it's a replica of!" Charles said, trying hard to suppress his laughter as he extended his wrist.
The taxi driver glanced over, paused for a moment, then raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, this? It's a high-quality replica of a Seagull! Yeah, anyone who knows watches would recognize it, the cheap ones go for a couple hundred bucks, while the expensive ones can be thousands."
"Oh, so it's a Seagull! no wonder I haven't seen it before, you're really knowledgeable, I must say!"
"Not too bad, not too bad, you just need to learn a bit more, let me recommend a streamer who specializes in watches. Your watch looks too good to be true, so it's probably a replica! the price should be around seventy or eighty bucks, give or take."
Charles suddenly understood. So, the driver's watch expertise came from a streamer, no wonder!
The taxi driver thought Charles was convinced by his words and his vanity was greatly satisfied. He had guessed right; he had noticed Charles' clothes were all common brands, indicating a modest budget. So, he assumed the watch would be around seventy or eighty bucks.
Feeling quite pleased with himself, he extended his left hand to show off the watch on his wrist.
Charles caught on immediately to what the driver meant.
"Hey buddy, it's rare to meet a fellow watch enthusiast! Check out mine, a Longines. What do you think? Not bad, right?"
Charles played along, "wow! A Longines! I've heard even the simplest ones cost thousands!"
"Haha, that's right!"
The taxi driver was very satisfied with Charles' reaction.
"To be precise, it was fifteen hundred bucks!"
Charles admired, "Man, you're pretty loaded!"
Hearing this, the taxi driver felt quite proud, he loved being praised like this.
"Not really, not really, I don't have many hobbies, I can't afford a supercar, so I indulge in luxury watches. It took me three years to save up enough to buy one."
Charles was genuinely impressed and gave him a thumbs-up. It takes real determination to achieve something like that.
"It's nothing, really, as long as you have dreams, you'll be able to afford one too someday."
Charles nodded earnestly, "yeah! But making that dream come true might be a bit tricky!"
He knew a bit about the Longines brand, one of the top mid-range watch brands.
"No way! as long as you have dreams, you can do it!"
The taxi driver misunderstood Charles' words.
"Yeah, thanks!"
In fact, Charles wanted to say that he already had a watch worth over twenty thousand and he aimed for even better ones in the future, so why settle for a watch worth just a few thousand? but he kept that thought to himself, not wanting to seem like he was showing off. For the rest of the ride, it was mostly the taxi driver talking and Charles listening, which was quite entertaining.
Charles found it very amusing; he had never experienced anything like this before.
Before things went south for his family, Charles usually drove himself or hired a driver. After the family troubles, even taking a taxi felt like a luxury he couldn't afford.
Soon, he arrived at Riverside Avenue.
"Where should I drop you off, buddy?" the taxi driver asked. "At the One Hyde Park," Charles replied, noticing the driver's skeptical look, "yeah, that's right, just head there."
The driver didn't say anything more and drove towards the destination. To be honest, Charles had never been there before either.
You don't usually see someone living at One Hyde Park taking a taxi, so the driver's suspicion was understandable.
The taxi stopped at the entrance of One Hyde Park and couldn't go any further.
"Here we are, buddy. I can't go inside," the driver said, still unsure why Charles insisted on coming here, but he followed the instructions anyway.
The driver looked at the luxury cars passing by, his eyes filled with tangible envy, the sight of the legendary mansions left him in silent awe and for once, his usually chatty mouth was quiet.
Charles smiled at the driver's words. "Alright, thanks, buddy, how much do I owe you?"
The driver snapped out of his reverie at the sound of Charles' voice. "Thirty!"
Charles paused after scanning the payment. "That little? I remember last time I came around here, it cost over a hundred."
Hearing this, the taxi driver chuckled, "Buddy, on this ride, I found you pretty cool, even though you like to brag a bit, it's rare to meet someone who shares my love for watches. I won't charge you much, just a little for gas."
Charles couldn't help but laugh. "How can I accept that? Come on, man, fare is fare!"
Lately, every taxi driver he encountered either gave him a free ride or only charged for gas, he used to hear stories about drivers taking longer routes to make more money, were those just myths?
The taxi driver put on a serious face, "I said it's fine, so it's fine! I don't work just to pick up fares; I do it to enjoy life, you get me, right?" Charles nodded, feeling that made sense. Ever since his luck changed, things seemed to be going his way.
Seeing the driver's firm stance, Charles handed over thirty bucks.
The driver smiled contentedly after checking the money. "That's more like it! if you ever need a ride again, just call me!"
"Alright, I'll be off then. Thanks a lot!"
Charles smiled, opened the car door and retrieved his suitcase from the trunk, he nodded at the taxi driver and headed towards the entrance of the luxury apartment complex.
The driver leaned back in his seat, looking satisfied. Today, he finally got to show off in a way he never had before, previous passengers either weren't interested in watches or didn't understand them.
The expensive watch he bought seemed utterly useless, but running into Charles today was quite unexpected.
He turned his head slightly and saw Charles heading straight for the luxurious apartment complex and he froze.
"What's going on? Does this guy really live here?"
Suddenly, he was wide awake, his eyes wide open in disbelief.
Just as he suspected, he watched Charles, with a backpack and suitcase, talking to the security guard at the entrance of the complex.
Seeing the guard's respectful demeanor, he instantly realized that everything Charles had said before was true, he really did live there and... that watch on his wrist was indeed worth over two million! Thinking about it made his face flush red, if someone touched his face right now, it would be burning hot.
"Wow! Did I just get slapped in the face?"
"Trying to show off and it backfired?"
"Seriously..." He wished he could crawl into a hole.
He remembered thinking Charles' watch looked a lot like a Patek Philippe.
But he couldn't believe Charles could afford it. Even a replica would cost thousands, so he dismissed the thought. Who would've thought…
He pulled out his phone and opened the Patek Philippe website, immediately scrolling to the watches priced over two million, he began searching carefully, remembering how stunning Charles' watch had looked, a memory that hadn't faded yet.
As he looked at the prices, his eyes twitched with envy, he knew he could never afford one in his lifetime. With prices in the six or seven figures, all he could do was admire them.
Suddenly, when he reached the watches priced at over 2.9 million, a striking image caught his eye, his pupils contracted sharply,it was identical! Yes, the watch in the picture was exactly the same as the one Charles was wearing.
Over 2.9 million and Charles hadn't been bragging; if anything, he had been modest.
"Wow!" he exclaimed.
He quickly glanced over at Charles. At that moment, Charles turned his head and looked in his direction, giving a small smile and a slight nod.
Seeing that expression and recalling the scene in the car earlier, the taxi driver finally understood, Charles had been quietly watching him perform, without saying a word.
His eyes flickered as he stared blankly at the string of numbers on his phone. "Over 2.9 million... and a house in the most luxurious neighborhood! Man, is this how the rich play these days?"
The scene shifted to Charles.
Charles walked straight to the security post at the prestigious estate and came to a stop.
The security guard politely stopped Charles, without any of the disdainful behavior often exaggerated in novels.
In real life, you don't encounter that kind of snobbery often and certainly not here. After all, even the residents of such a place have a few less wealthy relatives.
Charles calmly gave his name and ID and the guard courteously asked him to wait a moment.
When the guard checked the resident database on the computer, he was completely stunned.