Chapter 40: Linda Will Think Something Wicked

Beep... The sound was especially crisp. After the payment went through, the receipt printed out.

At that point, Hammon stood up, sipping his beer and said with a chuckle, "Kai, your car should be just about done with maintenance. Why don’t you go down and check it out."

"I, I’ll go check!!!"

Seeing that squinty-eyed expression that clearly meant "time to leave," Kai was so flustered he stammered and headed downstairs.

Tina, feeling embarrassed too, followed along.

Even she knew by now that the 800,000 payment had gone through. They were clearly annoyed and kicking him out, which proved Kai’s status here wasn’t high at all.

"How the hell did he fake that?"

Downstairs, Kai was still fuming. But Tina was already lost in thought.

"Tina, I know a good seafood place..."

Before he could finish, Tina had already flagged down a taxi on the roadside. She turned back and said weakly, "Another day. I’m not feeling well right now."

With that, Tina left straight away. Kai cursed angrily, but drove off dejectedly as well.

Angler called over a female staff member to take Anna to pick out accessories. Even though the car was bought, it would still take a few days to get everything ready before pick-up.

Ryan started on his second bottle of beer. Angler leaned in and asked with a chuckle, "Ryan, you’re really generous. If you don’t mind me asking, what business does your family do?"

Hammon was also staring wide-eyed. Ryan panicked for a moment, but then smiled bitterly and said, "Brother Angler, don’t ask about that. I won’t say, so please understand."

"As long as the money is legal, everything’s fine."

Many truly old-money families were extremely low-key. In fact, none of their family members’ names would ever appear on any rich list.

So-called "richest men" were just the ones visible on paper. Beneath the iceberg, you’d never know how deep their wealth really went.

Angler gave a knowing look and clinked his bottle with Ryan’s.

"Got it. I was really out of line there. I won’t pry from now on."

Hammon laughed and said, "Ryan really knows how to live. Damn it, honestly, I shouldn’t be driving either. If I had a driver, I could go out and fool around every day."

They were asking probing questions, and Ryan answered them all honestly.

For example, where he liked to travel, what brand of cigars he preferred, and so on.

Ryan just shook his head directly. He’d never had the time or money to travel for fun, and as for cigars, he couldn’t stand them and had zero interest.

In Hammon and Angler’s eyes, this was exactly what a true heir from an old-money family looked like, not indulging in pleasure, no time for leisure.

In traditional families, there was still some resistance to new cultures, especially the brainwashing of luxury brands.

Nonsense like Louis XIII, it couldn’t compare to a thirty-year-aged alcohol. The real luxury goods of top-tier families weren’t things like LV at all, but items like inksticks and such.

"Brother, you don’t go to bars either???"

Hammon asked in surprise.

Ryan said honestly, "Not really. And generally, elders don’t have a good impression of those places."

"Don’t laugh at me, but even stepping into a bar private room gives me a headache from all the noise."

Well, his prestige went up another notch. In their eyes, he was probably a scion from a strictly disciplined family, someone to be pitied.

They raised their bottles again, and the three men clinked glasses together.

Angler asked, "Ryan, get your driver’s license. My family runs a driving school over here."

What he meant was, if Ryan signed up, they’d fast-track him through everything with a green light, Angler would make sure of it.

Even though it was a small matter, Hammon, the second boss, immediately thought ahead. If this guy really got into driving, with his spending power, how many luxury cars would he buy?

"No thanks. Brother Angler’s right, I’m still too lazy."

Ryan declined. If he bought a car, he wouldn’t be able to drive it anyway. It was better to keep up his current image.

All the paperwork was done, but picking up the car would take a few more days. The interior needed some work, plus specialized oil and other details.

Angler walked them all the way to the entrance and said, "Don’t worry, brother. I’ll make sure this car is done up beautifully."

"Thanks, Brother Angler!"

Ryan joked, "You and Brother Hammon have a pretty twisted relationship dynamic. You should sort that out."

After some laughs, they were originally going to take a taxi, but Angler insisted on having his driver take them back to school.

"Layla’s at home, so it’s not convenient tonight. Brother, how about we go to the Brilliant Hotel instead?"

She hadn’t even taken a sip of her beer, but by now Anna’s heart was completely intoxicated.

She had confirmed it, that supercar worth over 800K was now officially under her name, paid in full, with not a cent of loans.

In the world of gold diggers, there were plenty of hard lessons.

Back in their first year of high school, a huge scandal broke out in the girls’ dormitory. A girl found a wealthy sugar daddy to keep her, and he bought her an Audi TT.

It was worth over 200,000, but he only put down a down payment of a little over 20,000 and slept with her for half a year. When he found a new girl, he stopped paying the loan.

The car was eventually repossessed by the bank. After the auction, she was left with a mountain of debt because the interest on the loan was high, a warning to every materialistic girl.

The apartment Anna lived in was actually just a single room. If her sister was staying over, it wouldn’t be convenient to bring someone back, but she was also hinting that she’d never brought any man there before.

"Let’s take a walk first."

The flashy Car didn’t drive into the school. At Ryan’s instruction, it pulled over by the roadside.

Ryan got out, and Anna followed. Ignoring everyone else’s surprised stares, she immediately wrapped her arms around his, acting incredibly affectionate.

Tonight, she was completely drunk on it, millions in gifts, an 800K luxury car. It was almost like a dream.

Especially with that loser Kai constantly provoking them, she had zero doubts. In fact, she knew who Hammon and Angler were; if he were pulling any tricks, there was no way he could fool those two.

---

Back at the girls’ dormitory, Tina returned exhausted, like a walking corpse.

What nearly broke her was the message Anna sent her. They’d added each other on WhatsApp before, but they’d barely interacted.

This was the first time they’d exchanged messages. Anna sent a screenshot of a one-million-dollar Brilliant Hotel membership card, a screenshot of millions in gifts on TikTok’s backend, and tonight’s payment receipt for that Ferrari, 800,000.

Tina was on the verge of collapse. She got back before lights out. Ignoring whatever her roommates were doing, she took off her clothes, changed into her pajamas, and burrowed under her blanket, covering herself completely.

The blanket trembled slightly, she was clearly crying.

Linda sensed something was off, but with everyone around, she didn’t say anything.

After lights out, she slipped into Tina’s bed in her light nightwear, wrapped her arms around Tina from behind, and asked, "Tina, what’s wrong with you??"

"Weren’t you out talking about that part-time job tonight? This is the first time I’ve seen you so down."

Tina stayed buried for a while, she hadn’t actually fallen asleep. She sighed and stayed silent for a long time.

Linda was patient enough and just held her without pressing further. The single dorm beds weren’t comfortable even for two girls squeezed together.

After a long while, Tina finally spoke hoarsely, "Linda, I’m starting to question whether everything in the past was real."

After a little digging, Linda said in shock, "Not just a one-million card and a 58,000 bag, you’re saying tonight he bought Anna an 800,000 sports car?"

"And then tipped over million in gifts? You’ve got to be joking."

Tina said with utter regret, "I wish it were fake. But I just checked, he really did tip that much."

Linda opened her phone and was stunned for a moment, then said, "Damn, Ryan is that rich?"

"I don’t know!"

Tina only knew one thing, right now, she felt like crying but had no tears left.

Linda, always the wisecracking best friend, pulled back her blanket and gave her a smack on the butt, which was only covered by lacy underwear.

She said impatiently, "Tina, are you really that stupid?"

"What, what did I do?"

Tina asked while covering her butt, the smack was loud and crisp too.