Chapter 18: The More You Spend, the More You Have

Wang Ling, as the chairman of a venture capital firm, owned a large number of companies and, within just a few years, had multiplied the five-hundred million US dollars in startup capital his father gave him several times over.

But all of these were merely his side jobs. To the vast majority of netizens, his main gig was being an internet celebrity. On Weibo's trending searches, his name would appear every now and then, even leading some to suspect that he had bought an army of fake commenters.

Now, his Weibo follower count had exceeded 40 million, even more fearsome than many top-tier celebrities. Each of his Weibo posts could cause quite a stir.

Whenever he saw something he didn't like, he never kept it to himself. Although he was a rich second-generation who occasionally looked a bit unkempt, it had to be said that his values were pretty upright compared to many. This made him incredibly popular online.

This Weibo post had been up for less than a minute, and already there were over a thousand comments, with the number growing at a frightening rate.

"Hahaha, Principal Wang, you finally had a day when someone dunked on you with money?"

"Yo, did 'Ajax' dunk on you? Is it that Dunk Brother?"

"The person above, Dunk Brother has already started birdging."

"What a sight to behold, someone actually wealthier than Principal Wang?"

"Principal Wang, hurry up and tell us how that big shot dunked on you. We want to know just what kind of thing it takes to make you post something like this."

...

Stimulated by the users' questions, Wang Ling instantly felt the urge to share. He directly posted the photo of the Lamborghini Venom he had taken at "Mount Akina Club," along with other sports cars, on his Weibo.

"First time seeing someone treat sports cars like cabbages, buying more than twenty at once and even giving me one as a meeting gift. That's all, off to dine with the big shot!" After posting this, Wang Ling turned off his phone and focused on the conversation and the meal.

But at that moment, Weibo exploded.

"What the heck, a Lambo as a meeting gift? What kind of deity is this? Doesn't that car cost at least ten million?"

"Bro, that's Lamborghini Venom, it's a global limited edition, just a few of them out there, don't even dream of it unless you have fifty or sixty million!"

"Damn, such inhuman opulence! Does this tycoon still lack friends? It doesn't matter about money, I just want to make friends."

"That's not just inhuman opulence, man, there are also a Pagani Wind God, Aston Martin Valkyrie, Apollo Sun God, Koenigsegg One1, Lamborghini Hermes—all limited edition supercars in that photo!"

"Can someone enlighten us on who this magnate is? It couldn't be Qin Feng, could it?"

"With that kind of financial power, maybe even Qin Feng doesn't measure up, right? Who would dare to reveal that kind of person? You might accidentally not see tomorrow's sun!"

"Don't forget, the guy can even get a Mi-26 as a private helicopter. Worshiping such a godly tycoon is all we can do!"

"@Wang Deyun take a look at someone's friends (strong hint)."

"One of my roommates wants to know where to meet this big shot."

"Old perv, I reckon your roommate is just thirsty for his body!"

"If you were this rich, I'd be thirsty for your body too!"

...

Although it was their first meeting, they were not the slightest bit restrained. The group behaved like friends who hadn't seen each other in ages. Even though there were many topics Zhang Menglong couldn't join in on, if he were to let out a fart, the others would nod and praise him. That was the power of money.

Truly worthy of a five-star hotel, the bill for just this one meal came to over a hundred thousand; of course, Wang Ling saved tens of millions this time, so the hundred thousand he spent was nothing to him. He didn't even feel a pinch and even thought about having another round.

After exchanging contact information, everyone went their separate ways, back to their homes and moms. Of course, out of courtesy, Wang Ling and Qin Feng made plans with Zhang Menglong to hang out in Mingzhu City if he ever found the time—though that was a big if.

"That felt amazing!" Zhang Menglong lay back on the sofa as soon as he got home, thinking to himself this must be what it's like to be a second-generation rich kid!

"Right, I wonder how much money I spent today." Zhang Menglong took out his phone, then suddenly remembered he hadn't downloaded the online banking app, since he never used Huaxia Bank for his living expenses or tuition fees before.

But when he linked his account and saw the long string of digits representing his balance, he was dumbfounded.

"What the hell! Weren't they talking about spending 100 billion? They didn't say it was in US dollars!" Zhang Menglong had struggled to spend just over twenty billion that day, and was shocked to find that the amount had almost septupled beyond his expectations.

"Huh? Mr. Zhang, didn't your father tell you that the 100 billion he mentioned was in US dollars?" Hong Yi looked surprised because she was the one who had arranged the transfer to that card, and she had known from the start that it contained 100 billion US dollars.

Because of the Honored Card's special features, Zhang Menglong could spend without worrying about currency exchange rates, so he had no idea the card was loaded with US dollars!

"How on earth am I supposed to spend all this?" Now Zhang Menglong understood why his old man had deemed this task a test. Without some serious skills, even spending money could prove impossible!

"Ding! Respected Mr. Zhang Menglong, your account 620394xxxxxxxxx at Huaxia Bank has received a deposit of 24,760,000 yuan!"

"Ding! Respected Mr. Zhang Menglong, your account 620394xxxxxxxxx at Huaxia Bank has received a deposit of 12,360,000 yuan!"

"Ding..."

In an instant, several notifications arrived on his phone. Each deposit was in the tens of millions, some even in the hundreds of millions. A quick calculation showed that nearly ninety percent of the money he'd spent that day had returned to his account!

"What in the world is going on?" Zhang Menglong was completely bewildered as he looked at his phone.

"Mr. Zhang, did you buy a lot of cars today?"

"Yes, I meant to spend over twenty billion, but what...?"

"Mr. Zhang, most car companies in the world are part of your property holdings."

"How is that possible?"

"Of course, not all shares of some companies are in your name; they may be held under one or several other persons' names. But those people belong to your family, so it's no problem to say those assets are yours. After all, there's a limit to corporate shareholding in many countries, and it can only be circumvented this way."

"But why did the money return?"

"Mr. Zhang, you've essentially moved your own money from your left pocket to your right, but it's still your money. The money spent on those sports cars isn't actual income for the companies, so after taxes, it went straight back to your account."

"So what you're saying is, I spent the whole day buying cars, just for the sake of it?"

"That would be one way to look at it."

"I bought a watch last year!" Zhang Menglong booted up his computer and began to calculate according to today's exchange rate, "That's not right. Today's exchange rate is 1 to 6.77 between the US dollar and Huaxia currency. How come my balance still exceeds 100 billion US dollars?"

"Mr. Zhang, the money in your bank naturally accrues interest. The larger the capital, the higher the interest. Your funds garner over four billion US dollars in interest a year. It seems likely that today's interest earnings have already been credited to your account."

"Over four billion US dollars a year, that's close to ten million in Huaxia currency every day..." Zhang Menglong suddenly realized that no matter how he spent money, completing the challenge to spend 100 billion US dollars in a year was utterly impossible.

Zhang Menglong sighed deeply, "Can I...can I swear now..."