Chapter 325: Sweet for a Few Years, Bitter for a Lifetime

A gentle breeze swayed the willows, catkins drifting down into Chuyuan.

A large crane was at work, hoisting a massive statue of the Victorious Fighting Buddha. Workers below held walkie-talkies, shouting, “Slow down, slow down! What’s the damn rush? Slower!” Countless people had gathered around to watch and take pictures; a rich man’s big new toy had arrived. Some muttered disdainfully that rich people were such fools, that the Myanmar Golden Camphor wood was just hype and not actually worth that much money. Su Ran shook his head and chuckled softly. He’d been hearing a lot of similar comments lately, like ‘Myanmar Golden Camphor is just hype, it’s worthless, rich people are so dumb,’ or how the premium West Lake Longjing Tea he bought at a high price was also derided as ‘hype’ and an ‘idiot tax.’ He couldn’t help but wonder why ordinary people always called the expensive things rich people bought an ‘idiot tax.’

Su Ran didn’t get it, but he knew one thing for sure: they didn’t own any of these expensive things.

It wasn’t that Su Ran was getting arrogant now that he was rich. Rather, his current social class was truly among the small handful at the very top of the food chain. As a result, his perspective on ‘money’ was different. He only cared about using his money to buy things he liked and believed were right. Nothing else really mattered.

Phew~

At that moment, the insurance company manager standing beside Su Ran finally saw the Victorious Fighting Buddha land safely and let out a long sigh of relief. ‘That scared the hell out of me.’

Su Ran, on the other hand, wasn’t bothered. He’d bought a hefty insurance policy, after all. If it broke, he’d make a huge profit. If it landed safely, everything was fine.

Rich people never do business at a loss; it’s always a win-win situation.

CRACKLE CRACKLE… The sound of firecrackers erupted to welcome the Victorious Fighting Buddha to its new home. This had been Qi Shan’s idea. The residential community prohibited firecrackers, but Su Ran’s Chuyuan was essentially a private island on Jiangning Lake, so it didn’t matter. Of course, if someone really wanted to investigate, it still wasn’t allowed, but no one was going to make a fuss about it.

“Not bad. It’s perfect now,” Su Ran said, standing outside the massive glass wall and looking at the enormous Victorious Fighting Buddha inside.

“Young Master Su, you’re really something else,” Qi Shan said admiringly. “You actually dared to bring a Victorious Fighting Buddha home. And with a villa this huge… you can actually handle it!”

Ancient sayings and science have supposedly proven that the spatial ‘magnetic field’ a person can handle is about 38 square meters. If a person lives alone in a house over 100 square meters for a long time, they will eventually feel uncomfortable. If a person lives alone in a 200-square-meter house, one person cannot handle such a magnetic field. Over time, they will become listless and their mental state will deteriorate. But Su Ran lived alone in the 3,000-square-meter Chuyuan, and he could handle it just fine. His spirits were excellent. There was no other reason for it: he was a Divine Rich.

“I also have you to thank for helping me find such a great piece of wood in Myanmar.”

“So, does that mean you should treat me to a meal?”

“Next time. I have plans today.”

“A woman?”

Su Ran just smiled, and Qi Shan understood it was a woman.

“What about tomorrow?”

“I have plans then, too.”

“Another woman?”

Su Ran smiled again, then shook his head and said, “An old lady.”

“Holy crap, Young Master Su, your tastes are pretty damn wild, huh? From sixteen-year-olds to ninety-year-olds, you spare no one?”

“Damn!” Su Ran cursed. “By the way, I remember your wife opened a new clothing store. I even liked your post and wished her good business, right?”

“I didn’t open it, my wife did. She was bored and had nothing to do, so she insisted on starting a business. Said she wanted to earn her own money so she wouldn’t have to ask me for it and get yelled at all the time. She claims I call her difficult, say I can’t stand her, and that I’m always picking fights. I don’t get it, I haven’t said a single word. Young Master Su, you have a lot of women. Can you analyze this for me? Are they all like that?”

“Her being difficult is a good thing.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It doesn’t mean anything. I’m just asking if you’re hiring. I want to have Shen Qingning go work at your place selling clothes. It’d be better than her wandering around outside like a headless chicken, not making any money.”

“You… and that girl who looks like she really needs protecting, the one who stayed at your place before… did you two sleep together?”

“Sleep together my ass! We’re classmates. Not every woman who shows up around me is my girlfriend. Can’t I just have a female classmate or a female friend?”

“Just asking. Why are you so worked up?”

“I’m really pissed off right now.”

“Well, should I find someone skilled with their mouth to help you cool off?”

“Piss off. So, bottom line, are you hiring or not?”

“We are! Of course we have a spot for a female friend of Young Master Su.”

“…”

Su Ran was speechless. ‘So Qi Shan really didn’t believe that nothing was going on between him and Shen Qingning. This was just ridiculous. It was getting to the point where he couldn’t even get to know a woman without her being mistaken for one of his.’

“It’s still early, let’s have some tea. By the way, any leads on your end?”

“My dear Young Master Su, I’ve used my entire network and there’s still not a single trace of Uncle Qin or Xie Yiren. And you don’t even know that Uncle Qin’s full name, just the surname Qin. How am I supposed to search for him? As for Miss Yiren, her name was given to her by her Ah Weng, which makes it even harder to trace.”

“It’s a headache. The gene bank is working on it, but I don’t know when we’ll get the results. I’m worried sick. Yiren asks me about it every day with this pout on her face, ugh…”

Whenever Su Ran thought about their video calls and Xie Yiren’s pitiful expression, his heart sank.

…

「Meanwhile, in Shanghai, at the entrance of a supermarket across from the dance academy.」

“Even the grilled sausage doesn’t taste good anymore, sigh…”

Xie Yiren stood by the sausage grill at the supermarket entrance and took a bite of a sausage. It was tasteless. She hadn’t had much of an appetite recently, her mind completely preoccupied with finding her relatives. As a result, her appetite was gone, and as for her *sex* drive… don’t even mention it…

Dry. Not a drop of moisture.

She had gone out alone today to look for a part-time job. Sigh… Suddenly, she felt like she had just become another face in the crowd.