Everyday Romance After Becoming a Billionaire

Chapter 22: Chapter 18: Which Echelon Is Su Ran In?

"Trying to drink me under the table? You must still be dreaming."

Everyone: What in the world did he just say????

"Stop, stop, stop..." Xiao Wanqing cut in. "Don’t speak in the Sichuan dialect, or I’ll have to start speaking Shanghainese."

"Tch—like we don’t have our own dialects." Aina said haughtily. "Can any of you understand Uyghur? Su Ran, you should speak your Ninghai dialect too."

"Oh... you’re from Ninghai. Doesn’t that make you a fellow townsperson of Liu Jinyu’s?" Gao Lu said with a wide smile.

Gao Lu wasn’t as beautiful as the four girls, but she was still a 90 out of 100. A large part of her score came from her sexy figure. The system showed that she had just ’done it’ two hours ago. ’Hmm... very realistic data.’

Su Ran took a step forward and introduced himself with ease. "Hello, Sister Gao Lu. My name is Su Ran. It’s an honor to be at your birthday party. Uh... since this was so sudden, I didn’t have time to prepare a gift. How about this? I’ll toast to you."

Su Ran poured a drink, clinked glasses with Gao Lu, and said, "You can sip, but I’ll down it." He then drained the glass in one go.

Whoa~

CLAP CLAP CLAP~

The hype-squad of girlfriends started cheering.

"Su Ran, you’re so cool~"

Gao Lu also drained her glass, turning it upside down to show it was empty. She shot a flirtatious glance at Liu Jinyu, as if to say, ’Your little Ranran isn’t half bad~’

To be honest, Liu Jinyu had expected Su Ran to be reserved. She was surprised to see him so poised and natural, and she felt this was a good thing.

Su Ran was a pragmatic guy; he knew how to act in any situation. This was his close friend’s birthday party. Since he was here, he naturally had to blend in. Not doing so would just make him a killjoy.

After exchanging a few words and getting acquainted with Gao Lu, Su Ran greeted the handsome guy sitting next to her.

"You must be Brother Zhao Yang, right? It’s great to meet you. I’ve heard TAXX Bar is the most expensive internet-famous bar in Shanghai. I’m honored to have the chance to come here and broaden my horizons."

Zhao Yang felt a wave of satisfaction hearing Su Ran’s words. This was TAXX Bar, after all. He was celebrating his girlfriend’s birthday here tonight, and the booth alone had cost him over 20,000 yuan, not even including the drinks on the table. He was, without a doubt, the brightest star among this group of ordinary students.

Zhao Yang stood up, one arm draped over Gao Lu’s shoulder, and extended his other hand to shake Su Ran’s.

"Now that we’ve met, we’re friends. No need to be so formal. It’s Lulu’s birthday, and as her boyfriend, spending a few tens of thousands to treat everyone to a good time is only right..."

Holy shit?

Just a moment ago, Zhao Yang had been swelling with pride from the seemingly ordinary handsome kid’s flattery. But the next second, as they shook hands, he was stunned to see the watch on the kid’s wrist. He squinted for a closer look—the logo was Patek Philippe.

Zhao Yang slowly turned his head to look at Gao Lu.

As they were shaking hands, Gao Lu also saw the Patek Philippe on Su Ran’s wrist.

She was also completely dumbfounded. She turned to look at the awkwardly grinning, clueless Liu Jinyu. ’What is going on?’

Xiao Wanqing chuckled to herself and spread her hands, the meaning couldn’t be clearer—’It’s exactly what you think.’

Su Ran, however, didn’t notice what had captured their attention. After shaking Zhao Yang’s hand, he nodded to the two friends beside him and then sat down at Gao Lu’s invitation.

Liu Jinyu was about to sit with Su Ran, but Gao Lu slapped her on the butt. "Get over here, I need to interrogate you!" She forcefully pulled Liu Jinyu down to sit beside her.

"Ah~ Gao Lu, you brat, why’d you hit me? Su Ran, come save me~"

"One more word and I’ll spank your butt swollen," Gao Lu threatened, trying to sound fierce but just coming off as cute. Then, she turned with a wide smile to Su Ran on the opposite sofa.

"Su Ran, can I borrow your Jinyu for a bit?"

"You can, but you have to give her back."

"Alright~ I’ll give her back when I’m done playing with her, hehe~"

At the booth, with Zhao Yang at the center, the group split. To his left, Gao Lu was leading the charge as the clique of girlfriends interrogated Liu Jinyu.

To his right, Zhao Yang was busy encouraging Su Ran and his own friends to drink.

Although Zhao Yang was a rich second-generation kid, wherever there are people, there’s a pecking order. Among the rich kids, there was a nine-tiered hierarchy of contempt.

The first tier...

These individuals only felt superior for being "rich kids" during their school days. Once they saw the real world, that bubble burst. In middle school, they wore Nike and Adidas. In high school, they bought LeBron and Kobe sneakers. In college, their monthly allowance was 3,000 to 8,000 yuan, and they might occasionally buy an Off-White or Supreme piece.

The second tier...

Not quite standard rich kids, their annual living expenses ranged from two to three hundred thousand yuan. They attended foreign language schools in middle and high school, often studied abroad, and owned a base model from BMW, Benz, or Audi. At best, they were a reflection of upper-middle-class children.

The third tier...

This was the entry-level for true rich kids. This tier was mostly found in first-tier cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. Their families would buy them an apartment, and their cars were typically a CLA, an A3, or a BMW 1 Series. Various luxury and streetwear brands like Dior, Louis Vuitton, and Saint Laurent were common parts of their wardrobe.

The fourth tier...

This is the main body of rich kids. Their parents’ generation reaped the benefits of the economic boom, building a not-insignificant enterprise. The rich kids of the fourth tier were often the most humble. They knew they were wealthier than most, but they also knew there were far wealthier people out there. Most of them lacked a sense of superiority. Depending on personal preference, their cars ranged from the Audi A5 and Mercedes E-Class to the Porsche 718 and Maserati GT.

The fifth tier...

At this level, they were well-known rich kids within their small circles. Their families owned several properties, usually top-tier luxury residences in famous locations in Beijing, Shanghai, or Guangzhou, like COFCO Seaview Plaza, Tangchen Yipin, The Residence at Suhe Creek, Xidan Shangguo Jue, Capital Vision, One Sino Park, Wanliu House, Star River...

The sixth tier...

Reaching the sixth tier meant you were a top-tier rich kid in the eyes of the public.

They were the ones revving supercars down the street, popping bottles of Ace of Spades in nightclubs, and being surrounded by internet celebrities and beautiful women. The saying "to be born with a silver spoon" was made for them.

A common form of mutual flattery for the sixth tier was to address each other by their cars:

"Hello, esteemed owner of a McLaren 720S."

"Hello, esteemed owner of a Ferrari 488."

Their families usually spoiled them rotten. The probability of them becoming prodigal sons and wastrels was the highest in these six tiers.

The seventh tier...

The clear distinction from the sixth tier was that these scions began to address each other by their family enterprises.

If you put a group of sixth-tier rich kids together, they’d talk about who slept with whom in their Ferrari 488 today.

If you put a group of seventh-tier rich kids together, they’d talk about potential collaborations between their parents’ companies or whether to co-invest in some projects.

This was the fundamental difference between the top three tiers and the bottom six. They were not just rich kids, but also second-generation entrepreneurs. The education, world, environment, and family they were exposed to made it impossible for them to become mere playboys.

The eighth tier...

The level of this tier was infinitely close to those on the official rich lists.

Even without relying on their families, their personal net worth was in the hundreds of millions. Their own business partners were basically the fathers of the seventh and eighth-tier rich kids.

They bought luxury goods on an annual tab; brands would send them new collections before they were even released to the public. What the world saw as a top-tier lifestyle was just their normal standard.

At this level, they were past playing with cars. After all, they already owned "land-based aircraft" like Koenigseggs and Ferraris. Private jets and yachts were their real toys.

Finally, the ninth tier—the elite at the very top of the pecking order.

The biggest difference between the ninth and eighth tiers was that the ninth tier was famous, while the eighth was not.

Reporters would snap photos of the ninth tier, but no one would bother with the eighth, even though their wealth was also astronomical.

When a person’s wealth reaches a certain level, they begin to desire fame. And the fame of a top-tier rich kid was something the eighth tier could never achieve, no matter how much they hyped themselves up.

After all, in an entire province, there were only a few top-tier rich kids whose names were widely known. The phrase "as rare as a phoenix feather" wasn’t even enough to describe them.

But I digress.

To be objective, Zhao Yang was neither at the top nor the bottom; he fell squarely into the fourth tier, the main body of rich kids.

So which tier did Su Ran belong to?

None.

He had transcended the three realms and was not bound by the five elements.

A System-blessed Divine Rich, an absolute king.

----------------------------------------------

P.S. This is a new book from a new author! Please come support me on Qidian Chinese Website. Please add to your library, vote with your monthly tickets, send gifts, and support me in any way you can! *Whimper whimper*~