The prize money had been credited.
Looking at his bank account balance, Li Yuan thought smugly, Only now can I truly consider myself a millionaire. The wealth I've gained in just ten days since being reborn surpasses what I struggled for over a decade to achieve in my previous life. This is the advantage of being reborn; it's even faster than robbing a bank.
In his previous life, even by enduring the infamous "996" or even "007" work schedules and holding down a part-time job, life had been tough. After slogging away in Modu for over four years, he had only managed to save less than a hundred thousand yuan, and that was the result of being extremely frugal. Living in Modu was a great challenge. It wasn't just the astronomical rent; daily expenses also cost a fortune. Add to that the cost of dating and casual meetups, and simply not maxing out his credit cards was already an achievement.
With a huge sum of money in his account, Li Yuan opened a stock trading website. He observed the stocks he had heard about in his previous life, which were now trending upward with daily gains of around 1.2%, indicating a strong impending surge. He had already decided to invest in them as soon as possible to test the waters. Missing this opportunity to get rich would be a great pity.
Take a gamble, and a bicycle can turn into a motorcycle.
Since buying stocks at this time required opening an account at the municipal securities center, Li Yuan had to bail on his plans with Wang Shuai and the others that evening. He planned to repay them and treat them to a meal the next day. If they hadn't been so generous as to lend him their private savings, he would have earned several million less. This opportunity was simply too rare to miss.
After a simple meal of instant noodles and a Fanta at an internet cafe, Li Yuan continued typing away on his novel late into the night before crashing at a nearby budget hotel.
The next morning, bright and early, Li Yuan went to the municipal securities center to open an account. One needed to be at least eighteen years old to open a stock account, and since he was already past that age, there were no issues.
After opening the account, Li Yuan hesitated, wondering if he should invest all of his funds. Unlike betting on the sports lottery, where the results were already determined, he couldn't be absolutely certain that the stock he was preparing to buy would perform as the associate professor from his memories had claimed. If he went all in and the stock market experienced some unexpected hiccup, his hard-earned first pot of gold would vanish. But if the stock market really did soar three or four times higher as it had in his previous life, investing only a small amount would mean a huge potential loss. After hesitating for a long time, Li Yuan still couldn't bring himself to invest all his funds.
I'll keep 350,000 as a reserve. 12,000 of that will go to paying back my classmates, and I'll hold onto the rest. As for the stock market, I'll start with six million. Even if I lose it all, with 350,000 in reserve and future income from writing novels, I can still afford a house in Modu and live a comfortable life. I can definitely make a comeback.
On the spot, Li Yuan purchased six million yuan worth of Salt Lake Shares. At that time, the price was only about 4.1 yuan per share, so he acquired over 1.46 million shares. If things went as the associate professor had predicted, he could make tens of millions in just over a month. Li Yuan also took some time to observe the market and saw that his purchase hadn't caused any ripples. The stock's market cap was huge, in the tens of billions, so a few million was just a drop in the bucket.
Arriving at a Nike store downtown, Li Yuan meticulously looked through the basketball shoes. He eventually settled on Kobe's Mamba series, priced at 998 yuan per pair. Since they had just been released, there was no discount. These were gifts for his five friends: Wang Shuai, Xu Zhi, Yang Zhen, Zhang Zhongding, and Song Dongming. Paying them back with interest would change the nature of their friendship, but giving gifts worth a thousand yuan each was perfectly acceptable. They were all basketball fans who often played together, so basketball shoes were the most fitting gift.
Li Yuan said boldly, "Miss, I'll take six pairs of the Kobe IVs. Three pairs size 43, two pairs size 44, and one pair size 42."
The sales associate stared at Li Yuan in astonishment. She had never seen a customer buy six pairs of the same basketball shoes at once. Six pairs of Nike basketball shoes added up to nearly 6,000 yuan, a substantial sum back then. Her monthly salary was only about 2,000 yuan.
"Sir, these six pairs of basketball shoes are all packed for you. The total is 5,988 yuan."
"Can I pay with a card?"
"Yes, sir. With a purchase of 5,988 yuan, you're eligible for our store's promotion: 100 yuan off for every 1,000 spent. If your total reaches 6,000 yuan, you'll get a 600 yuan discount."
The promotion was essentially a ten percent discount. "Alright, then add a pair of socks for me," Li Yuan said, picking a random pair of sports socks priced at 12 yuan. That brought his total to exactly 6,000 yuan, qualifying him for the 600 yuan discount. In the end, he paid 5,400 yuan.
Carrying the large bags, Li Yuan hailed a taxi right outside the store and returned to his hometown county. Back in his rented room, he called Wang Shuai and his other classmates, also making a trip to the bank to withdraw some cash. He wasn't the type of person who liked being in debt, so repaying the money was his first priority.
Soon, Wang Shuai arrived at the school gate on a mountain bike. When he saw the several pairs of basketball shoes Li Yuan was carrying, he asked in shock, "Yuanzi, not bad! Nike basketball shoes, these must cost over a thousand each, right? But why did you buy so many?"
Li Yuan chuckled, handing a pair of size 42 basketball shoes to Wang Shuai. "Here, Kobe IVs. Just released. They're for you."
Wang Shuai didn't take them. He knew these shoes were worth over a thousand yuan. Looking at Li Yuan seriously, he said, "Yuanzi, these shoes aren't cheap. I can't accept a gift I haven't earned. You should keep them for yourself."
Li Yuan pulled an envelope from his pocket and handed it to him as well. "This is 2,000 yuan, what I borrowed from you the other day. I don't need it anymore. If you don't take the shoes, I'm just going to throw them in the trash."
Wang Shuai took the envelope. Seeing the shoebox Li Yuan had tossed on the ground, he quickly bent down to pick it up. These are designer shoes worth over a thousand yuan! How could he just throw them away?
"Yuanzi, no, Yuan, you're too generous! Did you strike it rich?" Wang Shuai grinned, laughing joyfully.
Li Yuan smiled faintly, his expression calm and unruffled. "You could say that. I made a little money."
Wang Shuai didn't press the issue. Looking at the other bags, he asked, "Are those for Dazhi and the others?"
Li Yuan nodded.
Wang Shuai couldn't help but curse. "Damn, Yuan, you really don't hold back. Five pairs of basketball shoes, that must be at least four or five thousand."
Li Yuan grinned. "We're all brothers. What's there to be stingy about? When I asked you guys for money, you didn't hem and haw."
A while later, Xu Zhi, Yang Zhen, and the others arrived at the school gate one after another.
"Yuan, you're a real class act! The most generous person in our class has to be you."
"Nike's mainline Kobe sneakers! I only ever dared to dream about these. My mom wouldn't even buy them for my birthday. Yuan truly is a rich second-generation heir! Please sponsor me! I can be versatile, play basketball and video games with you... I'm way better than any girlfriend."
Li Yuan felt goosebumps crawl up his arms and cursed, "Scram! I only like gorgeous, sweet-smelling women. I'm not interested in some foot-picking dude."
"Heh, guys, let's challenge Class 23 to a game in a few days. We'll wear our new battle shoes and blind their damn eyes," Zhang Zhongding said, stroking the basketball shoes so lovingly he couldn't put them down.
Xu Zhi joked, "But Yuan, you'd better start practicing. If you can get back to your old form, our Class 22 can thrash Class 23."
Li Yuan smiled. He felt his body gradually recovering over the past few days. And whether it was an effect of his rebirth, he noticed that both his memory and physical fitness had improved to some extent.
"By the way, guys, have you all registered for your driver's license test?" Li Yuan asked. He knew how to drive from his past life, but having been reborn, he had to take the test again. Once he got his license, he could consider buying a car.
Xu Zhi shook his head. "I'm planning to, but I think I'll wait until after the college entrance exam results are out. If I do poorly or don't get in, I'll have to repeat the year."
Zhang Zhongding also sighed. "I estimate my score to be around 500. Based on last year's cutoff scores, I wouldn't even make it into a tier-three university, just a vocational college. My parents would never agree to that. I have to get into a university, even if it's just a tier-three one."