The next day, Chen Yansen got up early, had a bowl of savory tofu pudding in the cafeteria, bought a glutinous rice cake, and ate as he walked.
At the intersection, Song Yuncheng, wearing a pink down jacket, had been waiting for him for quite some time.
The early winter morning was slightly chilly, and her breath formed visible puffs in the air.
"A Metersbonwe sample?" Chen Yansen walked over, glanced at the logo on her jacket, and looked at her with a half-smile.
Song Yuncheng lowered her head and said apologetically, "The hem got torn during inspection, so Sister Li gave it to me."
Sure enough, there was a pink patch on the hem—hard to notice unless you looked closely.
Chen Yansen didn't reply.
Most of the samples sent by merchants, except for the high-value ones, either collected dust in the startup room or were distributed to other students by the category operations team.
A detailed management plan needed to be drafted for this. Even small issues couldn't be overlooked.
Chen Yansen pondered to himself.
"Why are we going downtown? I have class this morning." Seeing that he remained silent and kept walking ahead, Song Yuncheng quickly jogged to catch up.
"To buy a car," Chen Yansen replied simply.
Before, when he had no money, he could make do. But now that FoxTao's net profit was in the millions per day, President Chen naturally wanted to buy luxury cars and upgrade to expensive watches.
He had no interest in pretending to be poor. If you had money, you should enjoy it—otherwise, what was the point of working so hard?
On top of that, buying a car under the company's name could offset part of the taxes. It was a win-win.
"Do you really need me to come along just to buy a car?" Song Yuncheng complained as she followed. She just wanted to return to the startup park—she hadn't even submitted the entry contracts for several B2C platforms to Teacher Wang for review yet.
But she knew if she refused Chen Yansen's request, he might threaten to dock her salary again.
After leaving the school gate, the two hailed a taxi and headed specifically to a car market known for luxury brands.
"Why didn't you ask Mengjie to come with you?" Song Yuncheng, who had been holding back the entire ride, finally couldn't help but ask after getting out of the car.
"She has class this morning," Chen Yansen replied.
"???"
Song Yuncheng was speechless. She had class, but I didn't?
That answer made her feel as if she had fallen into an ice cellar. Her heart quickly chilled, and she nearly turned around and left on the spot.
That jerk Chen Yansen, you're the worst!
Song Yuncheng cursed inwardly. How could she ever have liked such a scumbag?
"I'd rather have you come with me,"
Chen Yansen suddenly added as he walked ahead.
Hearing this, Song Yuncheng's heart, which had just hardened, instantly softened again. The corners of her mouth lifted, and her eyes curved into happy crescents.
After walking for a while, Chen Yansen stopped and looked around. The nearby 4S stores were mostly Buick, Volkswagen, Nissan, and BMW. None of the luxury brands he wanted were in sight.
Bentley, Lamborghini, Porsche, Rolls-Royce—not a single wheel to be seen. He stepped into the BMW 4S store and asked a staff member before finding out.
In 2010, Xucheng didn't sell those brands at all. You'd have to go to Luzhou or Shanghai.
Otherwise, you could only buy used.
What a joke!
Chen Yansen would never drive a used car!
"Fine, BMW it is. I'll make do for now. Show me your most expensive model,"
Chen Yansen muttered, the last part directed at the car salesman.
Dude, showing off first thing in the morning and saying you'll 'make do'? I really want to slap some sense into you.
The salesman, wearing a professional but artificial smile, led them inside while inwardly cursing.
Chen Yansen wore a wool overcoat of unknown brand. Judging by Song Yuncheng's outfit, they were both college students—where would they get the money to buy a car?
"Hello, sir. This is the latest 750Li model, equipped with a 4.4T twin-turbocharged engine. It's powerful, accelerates quickly, features an LCD screen on the center console, heated seats, and xenon headlights..."
Though the salesman didn't think they were serious buyers, he still smiled and launched into his introduction, treating it as practice while subtly ignoring them.
"It's a bit ugly,"
Chen Yansen shook his head, his face full of disdain.
"The official price is 2.058 million..." Hearing this, the salesman almost laughed in anger.
Dude, can you even afford it? Calling the car ugly!
The car itself doesn't even care about your poverty!
The salesman glanced at Chen Yansen, secretly thinking how great it was to be young—you could show off so effortlessly.
When he grew up, he'd realize even buying a ¥100,000 car was tough.
Chen Yansen ignored the salesman, directly sat in the driver's seat, and felt the seat's comfort. "The seats are alright."
The salesman smiled, speechless.
"This one will do. Can your dealership handle license plate registration?" Chen Yansen asked casually.
"Huh!? You're actually buying it?" The salesman looked bewildered, momentarily speechless, before reflexively asking.
"What's wrong? Don't want to sell it?" Chen Yansen teased.
"Sell! Of course we'll sell! This way, sir. Xiao Zhou, make two cups of tea from my drawer."
The salesman's smile widened instantly as he eagerly led the two to the rest area.
Enthusiasm level: multiplied by ten!
He then took out a list and began helping Chen Yansen select accessories.
Before Chen Yansen could speak, he offered a discount of ¥170,000, along with a bundle of gifts: maintenance vouchers, car wash coupons, a dashcam, headrests, a folding umbrella, and even a mechanical watch with the BMW logo.
"Mr. Chen, we offer license plate registration services. Just tell me your requirements, and we can get it done as early as the same day," the salesman said with a smile.
"What's the final price?" Chen Yansen waved his hand, getting straight to the point.
"2.028 million!" The salesman's heart raced, afraid Chen Yansen would find it too expensive and back out.
"Are these freebies really worth ¥140,000?" Chen Yansen chuckled, leaned back, and asked nonchalantly.
"Mr. Chen, these items might not be worth ¥140,000 outside, but that's the standard at the 4S store. We salespeople can't change that. How about this—I'll add three major services and six minor services for you. Any parts under ¥1,000 that break within a year will be replaced for free."
The salesman gritted his teeth, pretending to go all out.
"Lower the price a bit more, and I might really be tempted." Chen Yansen picked up his teacup, took a sip, and continued bargaining.
"Then let me ask my manager. Please wait a moment." The salesman looked troubled before finally getting up.
"Sure, go ahead." Chen Yansen didn't press further, knowing the other party would finish a cigarette in the time it took him to finish his tea.
He cared about the result, not the process.
Ten minutes later, the salesman returned with a new price: ¥1.988 million.
Chen Yansen knew that if it weren't for December being the off-season, he would have had to spend tens of thousands more. Seeing no further room for discounts, he readily signed the contract, bringing the final price to ¥2.26 million. He had the finance department transfer the money to the 4S store's account via online banking.
"Mr. Chen, the license plate will be ready soon. We'll contact you immediately." The salesman's attitude grew even more enthusiastic after receiving the payment.
Chen Yansen acknowledged and led Song Yuncheng out of the 4S store. "It's been a while since I've been to a hot spring. There's a pretty good hot spring hotel in Shidu."
He had taken Mengjie there last time.
"I don't want to go. I need to get back to work." Song Yuncheng refused.
"Don't you like me? Don't you want to spend more time with me?" Chen Yansen stared at her and asked with a smile.
"I also really like the cats and dogs on campus." Song Yuncheng regretted her confession and hastily made up an excuse.
"Then have dinner with me, at least?" Seeing her firm stance, Chen Yansen didn't press further and changed tactics.
"Okay." Song Yuncheng nodded, not daring to refuse Chen Yansen twice in a row.
The two took a taxi to the city center and chose a teppanyaki restaurant.
The private room was about thirty square meters, overlooking the entire CBD through the glass curtain wall.
The chef stood in front of the teppanyaki grill, preparing dishes one by one, which Chen Yansen and Song Yuncheng ate as they were served.
Chen Yansen was already accustomed to this kind of setting, but Song Yuncheng was full of curiosity, looking around and occasionally chatting with the chef.
The meal lasted over two hours, and the bill came to ¥2,300.
"I thought the food was pretty good at first, but after seeing the price, it doesn't seem so great anymore."
A flicker of surprise crossed Song Yuncheng's eyes, and she couldn't help but sigh.
"Money is meant to be spent—it has no other purpose. Once your December salary comes, you'll be able to afford meals at places like this too."
Chen Yansen was walking out when he heard Song Yuncheng's words and turned back to say.
"I wouldn't have the heart to spend that much." Song Yuncheng said with conviction.
People change.
Chen Yansen silently added to himself. In his past life, when he was broke, he and Tang Zhenzhe ate at Shaxian snack shops and squeezed into a single bed.
Later, after his company went public and he achieved financial freedom, he rarely dined at restaurants costing less than ¥500 per person.
It wasn't that he was picky—he just had more money than he could spend. Before his death in his past life, he still had ¥60 million in cash in his bank account, along with countless stocks, bonds, and large deposits.
In this life, he didn't want to repeat the same regrets.
The two spent the afternoon visiting parks, amusement parks, and KTVs in the city. Song Yuncheng remained completely unaware that Chen Yansen was using work as an excuse to take her on a date.
The call from the 4S store finally came in the evening.
Chen Yansen brought Song Yuncheng back, and by the time they returned to Xucheng University, he was already sitting in the driver's seat of a BMW 750.
Passing the security guard, he tossed a pack of cigarettes and registered the license plate.
There were parking spots right at the entrance of the startup park. Given his relationship with Cao Dahua, a simple call would suffice.
"Brother Wang, who's this kid? Driving a BMW to school?" A new security guard nudged his colleague, asking curiously.
"A business prodigy from our Virtual College. I heard he earns this much a month," the other guard said, holding up one finger.
"Holy crap! Ten million!" The new guy exclaimed, his mouth agape.
"Hmph! One hundred million!" The old guard scoffed dismissively.
Chen Yansen drove toward the startup park. Just as he was about to park, he saw five or six security guards forcibly escorting away three disheveled men.
"That's Chen Yansen!"
A man in his fifties, catching a glimpse of Chen Yansen out of the corner of his eye, immediately shouted.
As soon as he finished speaking, the three men, as if seeing a savior, rushed over, crying and pleading.
"Boss Chen, please have mercy and forgive us."
"President Chen, please be magnanimous and spare us this time. May you be blessed with great wealth and prosperity in the future."
"Please! We know we were wrong. Please give us another chance."
The last one wailed dramatically, his tone exaggerated like an opera performance.
"Captain Zhan, what are they doing here?" Chen Yansen asked Zhan Guowei from the security department.
"They're family members of those delivery workers from Yizhou. I stopped them at the gate this morning, but I didn't expect them to climb over the wall at the west gate," Zhan Guowei replied.
Family members of the delivery workers?
Chen Yansen was taken aback at first, then realized they were related to the culprits behind the Maotai product-swapping case.
Traveling all the way to Xucheng to cause trouble—are they insane?!
Chen Yansen sneered, unmoved by the pleas ringing in his ears, and suggested to Zhan Guowei, "Call the police. If they keep causing trouble every day and disrupt FoxTao's normal operations, I'll have to go speak with Principal Tang."
Zhan Guowei panicked upon hearing this and quickly said, "I'll contact the inspection station right away. Don't worry—there won't be a next time."
He then glared fiercely at the three men and roughly dragged them from the main gate of the business park toward the school gate.
Song Yuncheng watched this scene thoughtfully.
"Don't you think I'm heartless and cruel?" Chen Yansen suddenly asked.
"No," Song Yuncheng replied firmly.
"If you don't kill the snake, you'll suffer its bite. It's better to be the villain than the victim,"
Chen Yansen raised an eyebrow, calmly advising.