Everyday Romance After Becoming a Billionaire

Chapter 12: Chapter 11: Criminal! This Life Is Worth Serving Time For.

"My dad said the old man was a master chef in Xiangjiang when he was young, and his stage name there was ’Stephen.’ It just stuck after that. I have no idea where in Shanghai he is now that he’s retired, but I can ask my dad to pull some strings and try to find him."

"Don’t worry about it. I don’t want to owe anyone a favor. I’ll figure something out myself. But thanks anyway, Wenwen."

"Oh? And how are you going to thank me?"

"I’ll find this Steve, learn a few dishes from him, and cook for you next time."

Ning Wenwen wanted to keep chatting for hours, but Su Ran let out a tired yawn. "I’m exhausted. Let’s leave it at that. Sleep well, bye."

"Alright... Bye."

Ning Wenwen couldn’t sleep, so she pulled out her phone to play a game.

Timi~

She glanced at her friends list and was shocked to see that Su Ran had been in a match for one minute...

The two of them, who had just promised to go to sleep, had hung up only to meet again in the Valley of Kings.

Ning Wenwen was fuming. Every time she called Su Ran, the conversation never lasted more than three minutes before he came up with some excuse to hang up. It was so deliberate it couldn’t be more obvious.

This was just too much.

But keeping his distance was necessary.

After a night of showing off with Han Xin in the valley, the morning sun rose bright and clear. The peaches on the trees were still green and unripe, not yet ready for picking. They needed more time to mature before they could be harvested.

When Su Ran woke up, he saw his messages had exploded. 99+ unread from Ning Wenwen.

’Ah, I forgot to set my game status to invisible.’

He immediately sent Ning Wenwen a complete set of Little Luban skins to appease her. She would see it when she woke up.

Su Ran decided to head to Shanghai a day early. He wanted to visit his uncle first, then figure out how to complete the ’Gourmet Grand Battle’ mission.

A few days ago, his uncle had called. When he heard Su Ran had gotten into Ning University, he even sent him 600 yuan.

It was a heartfelt gesture from an elder. If he didn’t accept it, his uncle would have been furious.

His uncle was an honest man, and a husband who had married into his wife’s family. With a tigress for a wife at home, his entire monthly salary was handed over. Who knows how long it had taken him to save up that 600 yuan.

If Mrs. Su knew her own brother was living in such "misery," she’d probably be rolling in her grave.

As the younger generation, Su Ran wouldn’t comment on his uncle’s life. It was a dynamic they had both accepted.

Of course, he had learned a profound truth from his uncle’s marriage—a man must make himself strong. Only by making more money can you have a say in things. When looking for a wife, find someone gentle, never someone you can’t handle. Otherwise, your life will be miserable.

Su Ran liked money. He liked it a lot. No one dislikes money.

Having grown up in the countryside, Su Ran understood this truth well.

Zhang Erniu, from the same village, used to engage in all sorts of petty theft as a child. Uncle Wang had said Zhang Erniu was already a lost cause and that the kid would never amount to anything.

Later, Zhang Erniu got into the earthmoving business and became a millionaire. A cheerful Uncle Wang then said he’d always known that Zhang Erniu was a clever kid and that he was destined for greatness.

In short, society is a whore who only fawns on the rich.

The amount of money you have determines how harmonious your life is, and how gentle and considerate the girls around you are.

Once you’re rich, everyone around you treats you well. Does it matter if their affection is fake?

Not in the slightest.

After breakfast, Su Ran asked his neighbor, Uncle Qin, to keep an eye on his house to prevent break-ins, and also to help feed the chickens and ducks in the yard.

Just imagine, a Divine Rich raising a flock of quacking ducks and clucking free-range chickens in his yard.

’Hmm, it’s quite interesting.’

The poultry was from before he became a Divine Rich. If pork prices hadn’t dropped, the pre-Divine Rich Su Ran would have even considered raising a few pigs.

These birds were all grain-fed. Even with money, you couldn’t always buy authentic free-range chicken. So, Su Ran had no intention of selling them. He’d keep them for himself. And if someone was lucky enough to be recovering after childbirth, he’d stew an old hen for her to drink the soup.

"You go on and have fun. I’ll watch the house for you."

"Okay, Uncle Qin. I’ll be off then."

Su Ran packed a few changes of clothes, locked the door, and caught a bus at the village entrance to the city, where he would transfer to an airport shuttle.

The farthest he had ever traveled was to the provincial capital, the city where Ninghai University was located.

This time he was going to the great metropolis of Shanghai, and he was a little excited.

As for Liu Jinyu, Su Ran planned to contact her after visiting his uncle.

That girl... she was something else.

His flight to Shanghai was at 9 a.m. Su Ran chose first class. The ticket cost 8,070 yuan. It was peak summer travel season and the flight was full; besides, the only seat available from the previous night was in first class. The alternative was a 6:30 p.m. flight, and since Su Ran was in a hurry, he didn’t fuss. It wasn’t like he couldn’t afford it now.

It was his first time on a plane. He wasn’t going to pretend otherwise. He had never flown before, and he enjoyed pressing his face against the first-class window to look at the sea of clouds.

’A hick? Never seen the world?’

Having grown up all alone, subjected to countless scornful looks and discrimination, Su Ran had long stopped caring about what others thought of him.

He lived his own life and never paid any mind to what others thought.

A flight attendant sitting across from him watched as the young, handsome man gazed outside with a curious look.

Flight attendants have a certain tendency when they encounter a handsome man: they constantly check in, asking if he needs a blanket or some juice. A moment later, she came over and pressed a button above his seat, all to attract his attention.

Of course, there’s a prerequisite—you have to be sitting in first class.

And as for them, word is that most beautiful girls become flight attendants just to burnish their credentials, fighting tooth and nail for a chance to serve passengers in first class.

After a two-hour flight, the plane landed safely at Shanghai International Airport.

"Ladies and gentlemen, our flight has now arrived at Shanghai International Airport. Please gather your belongings and wait for the deplaning announcement..."

The flight attendant put down the microphone and politely told Su Ran that he could deplane.

First-class passengers have the privilege of deplaning first, while the passengers behind them have to wait for the announcement.

It’s true that all cabin classes arrive at the destination at the same time, but you get to get off the plane before everyone else.

Money really is a wonderful thing. It can’t buy you time, but it can buy you priority.

He walked out of the airport and gazed at the towering skyscrapers, a city where the rich and powerful gathered.

A Divine Rich belongs in a decadent, international metropolis like this.

The Shanghai of the have-nots, the Shanghai of the haves.

He hailed a taxi and went to his uncle’s company, only for the receptionist to tell him that Zhang Guohua had resigned two months ago.

So much for the surprise. It had fallen flat.

Walking out of the company building, Su Ran called Zhang Guohua, but his phone was off.

’I should have just called him first instead of trying to plan a surprise.’

Fortunately, Zhang Guohua had once sent Su Ran his home address. He found it in his chat history and had the taxi driver take him there.

Huizhi Lake District.

The complex opened in the early 2000s. It was the couple’s marital home, over a hundred square meters. The wife’s family had paid for it when the price was low. Now, it was worth over ten million.

Su Ran bought some fruit and milk at the entrance to the district. He walked inside and, following the address, arrived at his uncle’s front door.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK~

"Who is it?" a man’s voice called from inside.

"Uncle, it’s me, your nephew!" Su Ran called out, laying on a thick Ninghai accent.

"My nephew!"

In the living room, his aunt was sitting on the sofa with her legs crossed, eating melon seeds, while Zhang Guohua was mopping the floor. The moment he heard "my nephew," he tossed the mop aside and strode to the door, laughing. He opened it to find Su Ran, indeed, standing at the door with a grin, holding bags of fruit.

"Well, I’ll be! My good gracious," his uncle exclaimed in his heavy dialect. "It really is my nephew! C’mon in, c’mon in!"