“…So, I have decided to shut down Stark Industries’ weapons division. Effective immediately!”
Tony Stark’s earth-shattering announcement during the live television broadcast instantly caused an uproar at the press conference.
For a moment, the entire venue descended into a chaotic clamor, with people talking over one another.
“Heh, pretty badass.”
Gao Ming glanced at the television without the slightest change in expression before grabbing the cheeseburger in his hand and taking a huge bite.
He narrowed his eyes in enjoyment and mumbled through the food, “Mmm… cheeseburgers really are pretty good. No wonder Tony Stark likes them so much…”
At that moment, Gao Ming was sitting inside a McDonald’s.
On the table in front of him, more than a dozen hamburgers had already been piled into a small mountain.
Customers and employees around the restaurant stared at him in complete astonishment as he devoured one burger after another.
After arriving at this McDonald’s, Gao Ming hadn’t even given his indecisiveness a chance to act up.
He had simply ordered thirty hamburgers, with all kinds of flavors included.
At first, the employee at the counter thought Gao Ming was joking.
But after seeing how serious he was and realizing that he wasn’t kidding, the employee hesitantly quoted the price and accepted Gao Ming’s payment.
When Gao Ming carried the mountain of hamburgers—which was almost large enough to block his face—to a seat, everyone around him unconsciously turned their attention toward him, curious to see what this young Chinese man was planning to do.
After all, hardly anyone actually believed he intended to eat that entire mountain of hamburgers.
Then, everyone was stunned.
Gao Ming completely ignored the strange looks around him and wolfed down hamburger after hamburger.
Before long, more than a dozen crumpled wrappers had accumulated beside the table.
If Tony Stark’s “shocking declaration” on television hadn’t diverted everyone’s attention, Gao Ming would probably have ended up surrounded by spectators.
Whether anyone paid attention to him didn’t matter to Gao Ming.
In fact, he preferred it when nobody bothered him while he was eating.
After sweeping through the remaining hamburgers and downing the Coke beside him, Gao Ming finally stood up, rubbing his stomach with lingering satisfaction, and walked out of the McDonald’s.
He hadn’t expected the slight enhancement to his physical constitution from the Ox Talisman to improve his digestion this much.
Fortunately, the Horse Talisman could give him seemingly endless vitality.
Otherwise, having an increased appetite wouldn’t exactly be a good thing.
If this continued for too long, he’d eventually eat himself into poverty.
“I’ll leave Tony Stark alone for now. I’d better get Wilson to help me out a little.”
After all, he had helped Wilson completely transform himself and obtain a new life.
Asking him for some money shouldn’t be too much, right?
Gao Ming found the business card Wilson had given him back then and dialed the number printed on it.
“Hello?”
Wilson’s deep, imposing voice came through the phone.
It seemed that he had managed to maintain his image as a major underworld figure during this period.
“It’s me, Wilson.”
“…Who are you?”
“Huh?”
Hearing Wilson’s tone, Gao Ming froze for a moment before remembering that he had apparently, seemingly, and perhaps… never actually told Wilson what to call him.
Gao Ming awkwardly said, “The person who helped you separate good and evil. Remember?”
“So it was you, sir!”
Wilson’s stern tone immediately disappeared, replaced by excitement.
“Ahem. I forgot to introduce myself earlier. You can call me ‘Mr. Gao,’ just like Melvin does.”
Gao Ming cleared his throat a couple of times before speaking seriously.
“Understood, Mr. Gao,” Wilson respectfully replied.
“How have things been lately? Nobody noticed that anything was wrong, right?”
Gao Ming started with some small talk.
After all, immediately asking for money would be a little too vulgar.
“No problems. Everything is going smoothly. None of my men have suspected anything. I’ve been doing everything I can to invest my money into charitable causes.”
Wilson’s voice became somewhat dejected as he continued.
“I’ve committed too many crimes. No matter how much I try to make amends, I can never bring back the people I’ve killed…”
Gao Ming was genuinely embarrassed.
A once ambitious underworld king had somehow been transformed by him into something resembling a compassionate religious believer.
Still, this change was a good thing.
With Wilson pushing for reforms, the overall atmosphere in Hell’s Kitchen would improve to some extent.
“So don’t waste the opportunity I’ve given you. Do more good deeds and make your city genuinely better. That’s the only way you can atone for the sins you’ve committed in the past.”
Gao Ming spoke earnestly.
“…I understand, Mr. Gao.”
Wilson regained his spirit and replied solemnly, “I will work toward making every resident of Hell’s Kitchen live a happy and fulfilling life!”
“Mm. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”
Gao Ming praised Wilson’s ambition before casually adding, “Oh, right. There’s something I need your help with.”
“Please tell me, Mr. Gao. As long as it’s something I can do, I’ll do everything in my power to accomplish it.”
Hearing how serious Wilson sounded, Gao Ming suddenly felt a little guilty.
He laughed awkwardly.
“Ah, well… it’s not really anything important. It’s just that I’m a little short on money lately. Ahaha…”
Wilson: “…”
Silence descended on the other end of the phone, making Gao Ming increasingly uncomfortable.
What Gao Ming didn’t know was that Wilson was completely stunned.
He hadn’t expected someone as extraordinary as Mr. Gao to actually be troubled by money.
But Gao Ming had given him a new life.
For such an act of salvation, Wilson naturally intended to repay the favor.
After remaining stunned for a moment, Wilson finally recovered and answered respectfully, “Of course. How much do you need? Do you need cash?”
“Ahem. Just give me whatever you think is appropriate. No need for cash. I’ll give you my bank account number, and you can transfer it…”
Although embarrassed, Gao Ming still gave Wilson his bank account number.
As for whether Wilson might trace his identity through it, Gao Ming believed Wilson was a smart man.
There were some things he shouldn’t investigate.
“Understood. I’ve written it down, Mr. Gao. Please wait a moment.”
“Ha, no rush, no rush. Thanks.”
Having someone transfer money to him for no reason made Gao Ming feel rather uneasy.
After exchanging a few more encouraging words, Gao Ming finally hung up and awkwardly scratched his hair.
Looks like my skin still isn’t thick enough.
I need to work on that…
After wandering around the streets for a while, Gao Ming estimated that enough time had passed.
He took a detour and arrived at the nearest bank.
He casually walked up to an ATM, inserted his bank card, and checked how much money had appeared in his account.
“…”
Looking at the long string of zeros after the “1,” Gao Ming carefully counted.
“Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten thousand, hundred thousand, million, ten million, hundred million…”
“Oh. So it’s one hundred million…”
He silently pulled out his card.
Gao Ming felt that he needed to calm down for a while and contemplate life.
How much money was one hundred million?
Gao Ming had absolutely no concept of it.
As an ordinary person who had never held more than ten thousand yuan in his hands before—though he wasn’t an ordinary person anymore—he had never seen this much money.
He didn’t even know how he was supposed to spend such a huge fortune.
How about having fried dough sticks and soy milk every day, drinking one bowl of soy milk and dumping another?
No, I’m abroad now.
I should say hamburgers and Coke every day, drinking one cup of Coke and dumping another…
Damn.
If I spent money like that, it’d probably take me until my next lifetime to use it all.
But wait, I’m immortal now.
I actually have enough time to spend it all…
Poverty really limits the imagination…
One hundred million had fallen into his hands so easily that Gao Ming was completely bewildered.
Had he just become a billionaire?
No. He couldn’t become complacent.
Just think about Tony Stark.
When fighting the Chitauri army, that guy had casually bought an entire building just to blow it up.
Compared with a truly wealthy man like that, having one hundred million was nothing.
There was no comparison without pain.
The moment Gao Ming thought about Tony Stark’s terrifying wealth, the excitement that had nearly gone to his head immediately subsided.
At least he hadn’t been completely blinded by this sudden fortune.
But he really was excited.
This was one hundred million!
One hundred million!
“My family’s door is always open~”
His phone rang.
His ringtone was set to Beijing Welcomes You, after all.
It was 2008.
Incidentally, the Olympics in this world had indeed been held in China in 2008, just like in his previous life, beginning on August 8.
It was already the end of August now, and the Olympics had concluded, so Gao Ming’s idea of returning to watch them in person had naturally fallen through. Follow the newest chapters on novelping . com.
Someone was calling.
Gao Ming excitedly pulled out his phone and saw that the incoming call was from Wilson.
He answered while wondering if Wilson had discovered that he’d accidentally added a few extra zeros.
“Wilson, what’s the matter?”
Gao Ming finally suppressed his excitement and returned to his usual tone.
If he’s actually calling to say he made a mistake, should I pretend I didn’t hear him?
Wilson said, “I’m sorry, Mr. Gao. The amount I personally have available as liquid funds is only this much. I’ve recently invested quite a lot into charitable organizations, and to avoid letting the people under me notice anything, I can’t temporarily move the company’s funds. I’m really sorry.”
Hearing the genuine apology in Wilson’s voice, Gao Ming couldn’t help feeling a wave of guilt.
At the same time, he was somewhat shaken.
One hundred million was actually considered “only this much” in Wilson’s eyes.
As expected, differences in social status truly shaped people’s understanding of money.
Before obtaining his superpowers, Gao Ming had merely been an ordinary citizen.
There was no way he could understand how wealthy people thought.
I still have a lot to learn…
After thinking it through, much of the joy brought by the money faded.
Gao Ming said indifferently, “You don’t need to give me that much. I’ll keep a little for myself and transfer the rest back to you later.”
Wilson immediately refused.
“No, no, no. This money is for you, Mr. Gao. You don’t need to—”
Before he could finish, Gao Ming interrupted him.
“That’s enough. Compared with me using all this money by myself, wouldn’t it be more meaningful to use it to help more people? Just make sure every cent goes where it’s needed. Work toward turning Hell’s Kitchen into a better city as soon as possible.”
“…I understand. Thank you, Mr. Gao.”
After a moment of silence, Wilson spoke solemnly.
Gao Ming hung up the phone.
He inserted his card into the ATM again and looked at the long string of zeros on the screen.
He smiled faintly.
I’d have no idea what to do with this much money anyway.
Might as well use it for charity.
After thinking for a moment, he decided to keep one million.
To him, that was still a huge amount of money.
But compared with one hundred million, it was only one percent.
To Wilson, it was even less significant.
And one million would be more than enough to improve Gao Ming’s current life.
He kept only one million for himself.
As for the remaining ninety-nine million, Gao Ming didn’t even blink—
He blinked once.
Twice.
All right.
Gao Ming was actually on the verge of tears.
With a bitter expression and trembling fingers, he reluctantly transferred the money back to Wilson.
Then he leaned his upper body against the ATM, completely devoid of the will to live.
Ahhh!
One hundred million!
I hadn’t even gotten to enjoy it, and I already gave it away!
Why did I have to pretend to be so generous?!
After muttering to himself for a while, Gao Ming returned to normal.
Although he hadn’t gotten to experience the life of a billionaire properly, he didn’t regret giving the money back to Wilson for charity.
He straightened his clothes and retrieved his card.
“Now I just need to think about how to spend this one million. What a headache. One million isn’t a small amount either…”
If you had one million, how would you spend it?
As a Chinese person, Gao Ming naturally had a very typical Chinese idea—
Buy a house!
Gao Ming was still living in the apartment rented by Erzhong.
He had originally chosen it because of the low rent, but the surrounding environment wasn’t very good.
In fact, it could even be described as rather unpleasant.
The area was surrounded by bars and various entertainment venues, and at night, quite a few thugs could be seen swaggering around and causing trouble.
Of course, thanks to Gao Ming’s recent efforts to clean things up, the atmosphere had improved considerably.
Still, living in such a lousy place was ultimately unpleasant.
“All right. I’ll find myself a nice new place to live!”
Gao Ming excitedly began searching for his new home.