Encountering an old friend

The saline sea wind calmed Jiang Chen’s irrationality. He looked at the people walking by him. The scene of aged grandpas, couples, and tourists distracted him from reality for a second. He rubbed his temples tiredly to get rid of the drowsy feeling. He was a bit tired.

After the extravagant spending spree, he blew two hundred thousand in just an afternoon. After the moments of excitement, the wary feeling of an emotional roller-coaster remained.

He took a taxi to the beach; he just wanted to take a walk and feel the sea wind.

The beach was quite a famous sightseeing attraction in Wanghai City. There was the marble fence by the golden beach. The victorious comrade’s famous remake engraved into the stone statue, marking his longing legacy. Finally, the modern looking small hut filled the empty space in the picture. Jiang Chen heard this place from a couple of his buddies, but they only talked about how many hot girls there were.

They were right after all…

However, this was his first time here even though he's been in the city for four years already. He never came because of two simple reasons. He had no money, and he had no one he could bring along. But if he had the money, then there would always be someone. So him never going to the beach was because of the first reason after all.

It felt lonely shopping alone, and he felt the same visiting the beach.

Though he was still alone, he no longer pondered about life.

He had the money. Although one million was nothing in Wanghai City, there were plenty of rich people in this city and he couldn’t even buy an apartment, his mental state was drastically different. He was not arrogant, but he was certain he was wealthier than Bill Gates.

The entire gold deposit of a commercial bank was at least a couple of billion. What would all the gold in the apocalypse be worth?

Of course, he had to be careful in the sell-off strategy. A large amount of gold in the market would depreciate the value of the gold significantly. Long term wise, he only planned to raid the vault’s gold. There were many other ways to make money.

There were more attractive markets available for him to profit off of. For example, the advanced tech he could bring back. If he sold the full-sensory computer, the market cap of the company would be in the trillions. The virtual reality education system. The hibernation chamber. These were all trillion dollar ideas.

He must take a step at the time to build his empire. If he suddenly introduced the technology to the market, the money would come, but so would the government. Maybe it would even be intelligence agencies who are usually hidden in the dark. Thus, being bold would be unwise.

Once he acquired the gold, his initial capital would be ready. The planning and strategy would ensue. Step by step, once he possessed enough stake to form a conglomerate, nobody would be able to touch him.

For this one million, it was just for enjoyment purposes.

So Jiang Chen didn’t feel odd as he stood by the shore. What before could only be achieved in his dream were all within his reach. The stunning beauties, the magnificent mansion, and the luxurious cars.

He burped as he threw his beer can into the garbage. He was a little tipsy, as he took another breath of the saline filled sea wind.

"Hey dude, do you want to join us?"

A girl in a bikini smiled at him; her stunning figure was flourished with youth. Her hobby reading magazines meant that she easily saw how expensive Jiang Chen’s outfit was. The deep but lost gaze made him appear as a powerful CEO that just went through a bad breakup.

People in the middle of a breakup were the weakest emotionally. Su Fei thought she possessed the techniques of love. She first got rid of her best friend and approached Jiang Chen. Her smile was as sweet as a freshly baked cupcake.

She didn’t care how many relationships this guy went through, nor the fact that he might still be in one. She was envious of her roommate because she has a sugar daddy which meant countless amounts of money, LVs, and Hermes. She was jealous, as she thought her beauty was comparable to her roommate's.

If she tried to flirt, she would also get a rich guy, and this guy looked much better compared to her roommate’s sugar daddy.

Su Fei’s heart pumped faster as she imagined.

"Hehe, no thank you." To Su Fei’s surprise, the man only looked at her once before rejecting her with a smile.

"Leave your youth to someone more meaningful." Jiang Chen didn’t turn his head as he walked away. Su Fei stared blankly in place.

That girl must have thought I was mental. Jiang Chen hysterically laughed disregarding the looks of passersby. He stumbled mindlessly along the beach. The gene vaccine also increased his body’s detoxification process. It made the alcohol process much faster in his body. He enjoyed the slightly dizzy feeling, and he wanted it to last a bit longer.

He rejected the girl because he didn’t have any desire. Although she was quite attractive, she was still lackluster compared to Sun Jiao. As to the arrogant statement, he only said it because he felt like it.

The night began to cast its shadow on top of the Metropolitan, but the life of the city only just began. The crowded street made Jiang Chen irritable, and he wanted a moment of peace. It was too noisy here.

"Maybe it’s time to go back."

He sobered up as he still mindlessly walked through the street. All the sudden, a familiar figure caught his eye. He was slightly shocked as an odd expression appeared on his face.

Xia Shiyu graduated from Wanghai University with a major in business administration. Her stellar academic record along with a stunning appearance made everyone shower her with praise and envy, and she graduated at the top of the class. Even though the graduated from the same university, they lived completely different lives.

However, because of family reasons, she didn’t pursue graduate studies. Instead, she chose to work at a clothing store. Due to her outstanding performance, she was promoted to store manager at an excellent location. This gave her the perfect platform to display her prowess.

Once Xia Shiyu was promoted, she immediately implemented a list of action plans which increased the store's sales substantially. However, because of her strict performance measures, she acquired the nickname of the "cold beauty" among male colleagues, and b*tch among female workers. After all, everyone was envious and jealous of her, especially those of the same gender.

Not only was she accomplished in her career, but she also had a boyfriend that loved her. Her boyfriend always picked her up after work, even though it seemed like the overachieving manager was never nice to him. Due to her personality, Jiang Chen has even made fun of her, behind her back, about having a disruptive menstrual cycle because she always looked unpleased.

So this was how the tragedy happened. It was rumored that Xia Shiyu heard it by coincidence. She then investigated it and found the "mastermind" behind everything. Then, she used some petty excuses to fire Jiang Chen from the place.

Jiang Chen still remembered the coldness and mockery on her face. After all, humans are humans. Despite how righteous someone is, there may be times when they would act irrationally due to their emotions. Jiang Chen didn’t think he was wrong; it was only a joke which made him lose his job. Who cared about these types of demeanor? However, Xia Shiyu did not accept any of that. She was used to the praise of all the men. She could overlook the judgment from the females, but not the "disrespect" from men.

That was her character weakness or flaw.

At that time, Jiang Chen even wanted to take revenge. Though after he had relieved his frustration by drinking, he let it go because he thought it was not worth it. Life must continue, this is an ordered society.

Xia Shiyu was still the manager, and the store would continue to operate without him. But things felt different from that day on.

Ability is one thing, and academia is one thing, but opinion is another.

After the friendly Jiang Chen had been fired, his friends from work were enraged by the decision. Everyone started to oppose the way Xia Shiyu managed. The constantly high-pressure environment brought short-term improvements but made the overall work atmosphere was oppressive. She never was part of the team but asked the team to act according to her standard. Maybe she was justified in her management, but she didn’t consider the human emotion.

When an average salary started to conflict with exceptionally high expectations, the complaints only grew. These frustrations were reflected in the employee's work and ultimately impacted the sales figure.

Although they were pleased with this top student’s performance and her exceptional sales record, upper management ultimately decided to let the relatively inexperienced store manager and a few poor performing employees go. They replaced her with a backup talent.

She, who was appraised as the top student of the business school, actually lost her job in a matter of one year.

She was in agony and didn’t know what she did wrong. Or maybe as smart as she was, she already knew what she did wrong. However, it was too late to fix everything. She still remembered the guy she fired. It was after that that everyone began to look at her different. At first, they were respectful, but soon it was dusted with a sliver of disdain. It also applied to the male employees who used to praise her.

She also suffered in her relationship after she lost her job.

The boyfriend who used to do everything she said broke up with her. With the excuse "I spent so many years with you, and you didn’t even let me kiss you. Hehe, go be a virgin." He left immediately with his new girlfriend. Perhaps it because she couldn’t support him financially. The boyfriend didn’t even bother to hide the fact that he cheated.

It was satirical. Xia Shiyu always thought he loved her. She thought it was a kind of unconditional love. Only he persisted after her for the longest time, and he continued even after graduation. She said yes because of that. She didn’t love him, nor was she interested in any guy that chased her. She knew she would have to marry one day. So in the most efficient manner, she chose the one that persisted for the longest time.

But reality betrayed her. She almost fell in love with him. Was it because they didn’t kiss? Or have sex? Love couldn’t even stand such a minuscule test? Xiao Shiyu was lost and confused. She promised him that she would give everything of hers to him on the day they got married.

That was not what defeated her the most.

Maybe it was revenge. The guy used Xiao Shiyu's social ID as collateral for a loan and used the money to pay for a car. Each month, she would spend half her paycheck to repay the loan, which was okay until she lost her job.

A car worth 500 thousand was nothing in the past. If she worked for two more years, she could easily afford it. However, she was now unemployed and the amount was a massive hole for her to fill. Although with her ability it would not be difficult to find another job to repay the loan, there were so many graduates each year that it would be a nightmare to standout in the labor market. She already lost her competitive edge.

Also, all the offers were based on disgraceful conditions. Such as high salary in exchange for sexual favors. If the candidate did not comply, then they moved on to the next one.

In a country so populated, it was not difficult to find someone with ability.

The more satirical part was that she was not even the one that possessed the car.

She thought about calling the cops, but the loan was not from an ethical source to begin with, which meant that they would not take it lightly either. There was no way she could deal with the gang.

She fled from her original apartment and hid in temporary housing. She made a living working part-time in hopes of solving the problem through legal means. At the same time, she desperately maintained her hopes of finding an ideal job.

But her luck ran out.

A few maliciously looking guys surrounded the place she worked. They were clearly not there to negotiate.