Seeing Fang Chenyi walk out, the young man's eyes lit up. He quickly took two steps forward, pulled a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes from his pocket, and offered one to Fang Chenyi as he asked:
"Haha, hey there, brother. Excuse me, are you the owner here?"
But as he got closer, he noticed Fang Chenyi's cheap clothes, the woven plastic bag in his hand, and the trash grabber.
His outstretched hand, offering the cigarette, paused instinctively. But since he'd already offered it, he didn't pull it back. A disappointed look inevitably crossed his face. 'Damn, so he's just a trash picker. I knew it. How could the owner here be such a young kid?'
Seeing the look on the man's face, Fang Chenyi didn't need a brain to guess what he was thinking. 'Sigh, looks like I really should get some decent clothes.'
Fang Chenyi noticed that although the man looked disappointed, he didn't retract the cigarette because of his clothes. His impression of the kid improved quite a bit. Waving his hand to indicate he didn't smoke, Fang Chenyi nodded and asked, a little confused:
"Yeah, I'm the owner. What's up? Do you need something?"
Seeing Fang Chenyi refuse, the young man took a cigarette for himself and stuck it in his mouth. But before he could light it, he heard Fang Chenyi's reply. The young man instantly forgot about his lighter. His eyes went wide as he stared at Fang Chenyi, his expression more shocked than if he'd seen a ghost. GULP. He swallowed hard and stammered:
"You... you're really the owner here?"
As he spoke, the young man pointed a disbelieving finger at the most luxurious villa in the area—the one Fang Chenyi had just walked out of.
Fang Chenyi nodded nonchalantly and asked again, "That's right, this is my villa. Not just this one—all of those over there are mine, too. So, what's the deal, man? If it's nothing, I've gotta go. I'm busy."
With a grand, sweeping wave of his hand, he gestured across the row of villas before him, carrying the air of an emperor surveying his domain.
However, the young man wasn't buying it. If Fang Chenyi had claimed just this one villa was his, he might have been able to convince himself to believe it—after all, he did walk out of it. But for this guy to open his mouth and claim *all* of them were his? He was definitely full of it.
Where were they? This was the most expensive neighborhood in all of Qinhuang Island. These villas were the most expensive villas in all of Qinhuang Island.
Not only were there only twelve of them in total, but the cheapest one was nearly thirty million yuan.
So, according to this kid in cheap clothes carrying a woven bag, this entire row of twelve villas belonged to him. That meant this kid was worth at least 360 million!
Holy crap, what did that even mean? If that 360 million was his total net worth, that would be one thing. But if a person had 360 million in real estate alone, then unless he was the property developer himself, he had to be a mega-tycoon worth billions.
The young man shook his head, speechless. This kid was an incredible bullshitter.
"Alright, if you don't believe me, then forget it. I've got things to do, so I'm leaving."
With that, Fang Chenyi turned to leave. He had to hurry up and move his luggage so he could get back to picking up trash. Every minute wasted meant several bottles he could have collected, and several bottles meant several thousand yuan.
With that in mind, Fang Chenyi started walking toward his sports car.
Seeing Fang Chenyi about to leave, the young man quickly stepped forward to block his path again. "Hey, brother, don't be in such a hurry to leave! Uh, I believe you now, but I wanted to ask you something. Do you, uh, know the phone numbers of the villa owners?"
Although he didn't believe Fang Chenyi owned the entire row of villas, the fact that he came out of one meant he might actually know the owner. That was why the young man stopped him again.
"188339*****"
Without looking back, Fang Chenyi tossed out his phone number. He walked straight to his supercar, pressed the key fob—BEEP BEEP—pulled the door open, and slid inside, woven bag and all.
'Holy shit, that Sesto Elemento is his? I was so wrong about him!'
The young man couldn't help but curse as he stared at the supercar he'd been admiring ever since he arrived. He glanced back at the Mercedes E-Class he'd driven here. Well now, his car wasn't even in the same league.
Damn it! He, the young heir to the Qinhuang Island Wei Long Company, was being outshined by a guy in cheap clothes carrying a trash bag.
'Uh... Damn, he just said this whole row of villas is his... Don't tell me that was true, too.'
The more he thought about it, the more possible it seemed. A guy who walks out of the most expensive villa of the bunch and drives a supercar worth tens of millions—how could he possibly be lying?
Recalling the string of numbers, he immediately pulled out his phone and dialed it. Luckily, he had a good memory; an ordinary person probably wouldn't have been able to remember it.
BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.
After a few rings, the call finally connected. A very familiar voice came from the other end.
Hearing the voice that had just been speaking to him moments ago, who else could it be but that young man? For a moment, the youth was utterly speechless. He'd just met the owner but had completely refused to believe him.
After a brief hesitation, the young man braced himself and spoke up. "Uh, hello, brother. I'm the one who offered you a cigarette just now."
On the other end of the line, Fang Chenyi held the steering wheel with one hand and put the call on speaker. Hearing the now-respectful tone, he was a little exasperated. 'Damn, you had to see my supercar to believe me? You had to get slapped in the face to realize I'm the real deal? You were just asking for it! Sigh, you really can't judge a book by its cover.'
Of course, shaking his head was one thing, but Fang Chenyi didn't hold much ill will toward the kid. Based on the fact that he still offered the cigarette, he could tell the kid wasn't a bad sort. Still, his tone was lukewarm as he said, "Yeah, I know. Just say what you need to say."
The young man heard his tone and knew that if he beat around the bush, the other guy would hang up without a second thought. So, after a moment's consideration, he got straight to the point.
"Well, it's like this, bro. I told you I was looking for the owner, right? The thing is, I want to rent one of the villas. You see..."
"Shit, why didn't you just say so? Wasting all this time just to rent a place. It's not a big deal. Go on, which house are you interested in?"
At this point, Fang Chenyi paused, then continued before the other man could speak. "Oh, right. Let me tell you this upfront. I'm not short on cash. My villas aren't for rent!"
[To be continued...]