Outside the banquet hall.
Chen Zheng walked out alone and took a deep breath, feeling an unprecedented sense of relief.
As for Wei Zixuan, she got up to leave, needing to handle the transfer of Lin Shubai's shares and deal with the internal affairs of the Xingsheng Group. Before leaving, of course, she gave Chen Zheng a black card loaded with ten million.
He readily agreed. After all, he had solved Wei Zixuan's troubles with a billion in stock market funds. Besides, they had agreed before their marriage not to interfere in each other's lives, only to offer a helping hand when necessary.
Chen Zheng picked up his phone to call his childhood friend.
"Mouse, didn't you want to open a restaurant? Your bro is going to sponsor you!"
Li Hao, Chen Zheng's childhood friend, was also his best friend.
"Brother Zheng, are you kidding me? You're going to invest in my restaurant?" Li Hao's excited voice came through the phone.
"That's right! Your bro won a little something in the lottery, so I have to look out for you!" Chen Zheng said with a straight face.
"Holy shit! Brother Zheng, how big of a lottery did you win?" Li Hao's face lit up with surprise.
"Don't worry about the exact amount! The short version is, I'll cover the start-up costs. You just handle the cooking and management!"
"As for the equity split, I'll just take thirty percent!"
"No way, Brother Zheng! A restaurant costs at least 300,000 to open. If you're putting up all the investment, how can you only take thirty percent?"
"Brother Zheng, even blood brothers need to keep their finances straight, so we should too. How about this: you take sixty percent of the shares, and once the shop turns a profit, we'll first pay back your 300,000 investment!"
Li Hao was excited, but he kept a level head.
"Mouse! What's our relationship? Think bigger!"
"I plan to invest 4,000,000. Besides a barbecue joint, we have to branch out into Western food, buffets, and cold drink shops."
"And if you want to develop other businesses later, you can figure that out yourself!"
"Four... four million? Brother Zheng, am I hearing you right? You're investing 4,000,000? Are you trying to open a whole food court?" Li Hao was stunned for a moment before frowning. "Brother Zheng, even if you won a few million in the lottery, opening a diversified food court seems unrealistic!"
"Don't worry! This is just the initial investment; more funds will come later! Remember those locations we looked at before? They might not be as prime as the ones downtown, but now there's a main road, convenient transportation, and an underground parking lot!"
"That building complex just went on sale, so the value is great! An initial investment of 4,000,000 will be more than enough to get started, though you'll have to handle the specific decor for the food court yourself."
"I'm just the investor. You'll be in charge of the skills and operations, so 30% is plenty. The rest is what you've earned."
Chen Zheng laid out the details, analyzing them carefully.
"I'm with you, Brother Zheng!" Li Hao fell silent for a while, then nodded emphatically. "I won't let you down, bro."
"I'm coming to find you," Chen Zheng said.
"Okay!"
He had already checked out of his bachelor apartment, so he just grabbed his suitcase and went to find Li Hao.
「A rented house in the suburbs.」
The location was remote, but the environment wasn't bad.
"Brother Zheng!" Li Hao greeted him with a huge hug, so excited he was practically vibrating.
"Mouse, since we're going to open a food court, we should get a new place tomorrow!"
Although he and Wei Zixuan were officially married, they had only known each other for a day. Furthermore, she was the president of the Xingsheng Group. He couldn't just move into the Wei Family, could he? Naturally, staying with his childhood friend Li Hao was the best option.
"You got it! Brother Zheng struck it rich, so we'll do whatever Brother Zheng says!" Li Hao laughed.
Chen Zheng also told Li Hao everything about Huang Yiyi and Wei Zixuan. Of course, he didn't mention a single word about the two billion from the stock market or the system.
"Ptui! That woman is a real piece of work! What a blind fool!" Li Hao spat angrily when he heard about Huang Yiyi.
But in the next second, he said with a sly grin, "It's like they say, a blessing in disguise, eh, Brother Zheng? To think you found a wife worth tens of billions! When are you going to let me meet her?"
"You little rascal! Don't even think about it!" Chen Zheng scolded with a laugh.
"By the way, Brother Zheng, there's a class reunion tomorrow. Want to go?" Li Hao mentioned.
"Class reunion? How come I didn't hear about it?" Chen Zheng said, surprised.
"You were so busy working because of Huang... that awful woman, you probably didn't have time to check the group chat!"
"Huang Dazhi is organizing it. It's for our high school classmates. We haven't all gotten together in years, so when Huang Dazhi suggested it, pretty much everyone agreed to go!"
"Nah, let's skip it. That guy loves to show off too much. I can't be bothered with him!"
Huang Dazhi was their old high school class president. He was handsome, and his family owned a supermarket chain, making him a minor second-generation heir. Especially back in high school, Huang Dazhi had been incredibly haughty and always looked down on the poorer students in their class.
"Brother Zheng, the great goddess Wei is going to be there! She even specifically said she wants to see you. Are you really not going?"
"Wei Xuerou?" Chen Zheng paused as a long-buried memory surfaced in his mind.
Wei Xuerou was their high school's class beauty and had also been Chen Zheng's deskmate. They were both top students, and you could say they became friends through their rivalry. During their youth, it was inevitable that some unusual feelings would blossom between them. Unfortunately, neither of them ever broke the ice.
[DING! Congratulations, Host. A choice mission has been triggered.]
[Choice One: Attend the reunion and meet your first love. Reward: 10 Charm Points]
[Choice Two: Refuse. Reward: A direct transfer of 30,000,000 cash]
Chen Zheng froze.
This is a choice between love and money, isn't it? Tch! I'm a married man now. How could I be so fickle? But…
"So, Brother Zheng? You going?" Li Hao chuckled. "Worried your wife will find out?"
He had no idea that Chen Zheng was currently torn between a massive sum of money and a memory of his youth.
Damn, that's thirty million in cash! I... Forget it! It's just 30,000,000. A drop in the bucket. I can always make it back later. I need to think bigger.
"I'm going," Chen Zheng declared.
[DING! Congratulations, Host, for making a choice. You have obtained 10 Charm Points.]
The moment the system's voice faded, Chen Zheng felt a huge weight lift from his shoulders.
"Whoa, holy crap, Brother Zheng, why do I feel like you suddenly started glowing? Am I drunk? No, wait, I didn't drink today, did I?" Li Hao stared, scratching his head in confusion.
Chen Zheng just smiled and didn't elaborate.
Ten charm points were just that awesome.