The next morning, Jiang Cheng rubbed his aching head and found the space beside him empty.
Holding his breath, he listened intently and realized the room was silent. Turning his head, he saw a thick stack of Chinese yuan under his phone on the bedside table.
Jiang Cheng picked up the note on the table, which read in elegant handwriting: "Thank you for your hospitality. I was very satisfied last night. This is your payment."
Jiang Cheng burst into laughter. Did she really think he was a gigolo?
To be fair, judging by the thickness, it was at least five thousand yuan, which was quite generous.
He never expected a woman to give money after offering her first time. Yu Xiaoxiao was quite an interesting woman.
Unfortunately, she didn't leave any contact information.
After tidying up, Jiang Cheng checked out of the room and looked at the five Basic Critical Cards and one Supercar Cashback Card in his system.
Jiang Cheng understood the concept of a Cashback Card, but was curious about the Critical Card. Did it mean that after spending, he would trigger a critical hit? Would it result in more money or experience, like getting loot in a game?
It would be great if it resulted in money, but if it was just experience, that would be a bit dull.
As if responding to his question, the system chimed in:
[Host, the Spending Critical Card allows for a chance to receive a money multiplier critical hit within a specified spending range, such as ten times or twenty times. The maximum multiplier for a Basic Critical Card is fifty times.]
This explanation from the system left Jiang Cheng feeling quite satisfied.
After weighing his options, Jiang Cheng had a plan.
If he went straight to buy a supercar now, he could only choose a model under ten million yuan.
Even with the highest fifty times cashback multiplier, it would only be five hundred million.
But if he first used the five Basic Critical Cards and then used the accumulated amount to buy a more expensive supercar, the cashback would be even higher.
With this in mind, Jiang Cheng had a plan.
It was 2017, and although Rongcheng had implemented a purchase restriction policy in 2014, due to economic issues, the policy was practically defunct.
Although there was no official announcement canceling the purchase restriction policy, developers were adopting a "half-concealed" approach, allowing buyers to purchase as many properties as they wanted as long as they paid in full.
The real restriction on buying property was not the purchase restriction but the loan restriction.
If you didn't need a bank loan, there was room to maneuver.
This was something Jiang Cheng knew from his father, who was in the construction industry.
With five Spending Critical Cards, each with a maximum limit of one million, Jiang Cheng planned to use them to buy property.
***
After leaving the hotel, Jiang Cheng followed the system's directions to a Porsche 918 parked nearby.
He tried pressing the Porsche key, and the car responded from a distance.
At the sound, the crowd gathered around the supercar erupted in excitement.
A girl who had been taking selfies with the car immediately started looking around for the owner.
Jiang Cheng, seeing the black Porsche a few meters away, was once again amazed.
The car's appearance was so stunning that any girl sitting in it would probably feel the heat.
He wondered how the car's air conditioning was.
The woman who had been leaning on Jiang Cheng's car was stunned by the sight of such a young and handsome man approaching.
Jiang Cheng walked towards the car, glancing at the woman who had been taking selfies with his luxury car.
He had spotted her from afar. Even with a few people watching, she continued to pose on his car.
She was wearing a strapless top, a tight leather skirt, and black high heels.
Seeing Jiang Cheng ignoring her, she quickly ran to the car window after he got in.
She flashed what she thought was a charming smile at Jiang Cheng and said, "Hey handsome, is this your car?"
"I was thinking it couldn't possibly be yours?" Jiang Cheng replied, puzzled.
The woman's expression remained unchanged as she said flatteringly, "No, no, I just thought the car was so cool, so I couldn't help but take some photos. I wonder if you could give me a ride?"
"Does my car look like a taxi to you?"
"Of course not, but you seem like someone who could fix a drain. Want to come to my place and fix mine?"
Jiang Cheng discreetly activated the Favorability Value scanning system on her.
[Name: Chen Liqi]
[Age: 23]
[Height: 168 cm]
[Appearance: 85]
[Figure: 88]
[Privacy: 28]
[Favorability Value: 90 (Intimate status.)]
The Privacy Value of 28 wasn't surprising, but a Favorability Value of 90 was a bit much, wasn't it?
Wasn't this the kind of girl who would fawn over someone just because they had money?
Jiang Cheng chuckled and said, "Forget it, squeezing in with 28 fellow enthusiasts is too much for me."
With that, Jiang Cheng started the car and drove away, leaving the woman in shock.
How did Jiang Cheng know she had been with 28 people?
The woman quickly took out a mirror from her bag and muttered, "I didn't write 28 on my face."
An old man in the crowd, seeing Jiang Cheng reject her, immediately said, "Young lady, I'm a professional drain cleaner with thirty years of experience. If that young man won't help, I can."
The woman was furious at his words: "Creepy, pervert."
"Hey, young lady, how can you say that? You invite someone to your home, why can't I? I promise no charge if I can't fix it."
"Get lost, will you?"
The crowd couldn't help but burst into laughter at their exchange.
"Old man, what she means by fixing a drain might not be the same as what you mean."
"How could it not be? Young lady, rest assured, whether it's a real drain or not, I can handle it. I guarantee it'll be fixed."
Seeing that she couldn't win over Jiang Cheng and was being teased by the old man, the woman turned red with anger and walked away.
Jiang Cheng, of course, knew nothing of what happened afterward.
Driving the Porsche 918, Jiang Cheng finally understood what it meant to have a show-off tool.
In modern society, cars and houses have become symbols of wealth for many.
Some might think a car is just a means of transportation and doesn't need to be expensive, but in reality, when your status hasn't reached a certain level of public recognition, cars, watches, and houses are the best symbols of a man's hard power.
For example, if you drive a Wuling, your relatives might not think much of it, but if you switch to a Mercedes, they'll think you've made it.
Some might mention Elon Musk's simplicity again.
But as always, Elon Musk's social status no longer requires these things to support his image.
After all, his face and name alone are hard power.
But Jiang Cheng was different. Compared to Elon Musk, Jiang Cheng was just a new player who had just registered and received a Beginner's Gift Pack.
He hadn't even reached the level of Unyielding Silver.
To put it bluntly, compared to Elon Musk, he wasn't even worth a strand of his hair.
So, he still needed these things to package himself.
Although Jiang Cheng, like Elon Musk, wasn't interested in money, the temptation of reaching the pinnacle of life and the unspoken rules everywhere was too great to resist.
So, the best way now was to continue packaging himself.
He had already navigated to the nearest real estate agency.
Why not go directly to the property development?
Finding a new residential development in the bustling center of Rongcheng? Wake up.
At this time, during the real estate boom, new developments were usually snapped up immediately or put on the secondary market by sales offices to fleece buyers.
The simplest way to get in was through a real estate agent.
Proofreader & Editor: Peter Pan