The next morning, Chen Yichen went back to the luxury mansion.
This time, he wasn't there to view the property.
He was there to sign the contract.
NT$375 million.
All cash.
Payment completed within forty-five days.
Those terms would make any real estate agency take a second look at a client.
As soon as Chen Yichen walked into the reception center, Agent Zhou from the day before was already waiting at the door.
“Good morning, Mr. Chen.”
“Morning.”
“The owner will be sending a representative over today as well. We've prepared all the contract documents.”
“Good.”
“Would you prefer coffee or tea?”
“Coffee.”
The coffee arrived in less than two minutes.
It wasn't in a paper cup.
It came in a proper porcelain cup and saucer, with a small plate of cookies beside it.
Chen Yichen lowered his head and glanced at it. He suddenly remembered signing the lease on his old NT$14,000 studio apartment. Back then, the landlord had brought a stack of A4 papers and negotiated everything at a convenience store.
Now, he was only buying a house, yet the entire world seemed to be operating by a different set of rules.
At exactly eleven, the owner's representative arrived.
He was a man in his fifties, dressed in a dark suit, with an assistant at his side.
The two sides exchanged a few simple pleasantries.
The other man took one look at Chen Yichen.
It was only a brief glance.
But Chen Yichen understood it.
Confusion.
He was too young.
He had no assistant.
No older relative.
No one from a company accompanying him.
He looked like an ordinary young man who had come to buy a house on his own.
But the house he wanted to buy cost NT$375 million.
The owner's representative quickly put his doubts away and held out his hand.
“Mr. Chen, it's a pleasure.”
“Hello.”
“Agent Zhou mentioned that you're paying the full amount in cash?”
“That's right.”
“The owner placed a great deal of importance on that, which is why he was willing to come down on the price.”
“I know.”
“As long as there are no issues with the payment schedule, everything else will be easy to handle.”
Chen Yichen nodded.
“I'll follow the contract.”
He said it calmly.
There was no reason for him to worry.
He had more than NT$40 million in his account right now.
Tonight, it would be more than NT$50 million.
Tomorrow night, more than NT$60 million.
Ten million dollars every day.
The contract wasn't pressure. It was just a countdown.
When he officially signed his name, Chen Yichen lowered his head and glanced at the total price.
NT$375,000,000.
In the past, he hadn't even dared to imagine NT$37.5 million.
Now, his brain automatically translated that string of numbers into:
A little over thirty days.
After they finished signing, the owner's representative asked, “Mr. Chen, what line of work are you in?”
The question had finally come.
Chen Yichen paused for half a second.
“Investments.”
Those two words were incredibly useful.
He didn't need to explain a company.
He didn't need to give his position.
As long as the other person saw that he could actually produce the money, most people wouldn't press him about what, exactly, he invested in.
Sure enough, the man only nodded.
“I see.”
See what?
Chen Yichen didn't know either.
But he didn't say anything more.
When they left at noon, Agent Zhou walked him all the way to the entrance.
When they were almost at the car, he suddenly asked, “Mr. Chen, may I ask you something?”
“What?”
“Are you planning to purchase any other real estate afterward?”
“Maybe.”
Agent Zhou immediately became even more polite.
“We have several properties that haven't been publicly listed yet.”
“How expensive?”
“They range from NT$200 million to over a billion.”
Over a billion.
Chen Yichen wasn't shocked by the number the way he would have been in the past.
Instead, he asked, “What kind of properties are worth over a billion?”
“Some are entire-floor residences, some are standalone houses, and we also have a few commercial properties.”
“Send me the information.”
“Of course.”
“Don't send me anything too ordinary.”
Agent Zhou paused.
“Understood.”
Chen Yichen got into the car.
It wasn't until the door closed that he laughed.
Don't send me anything too ordinary.
Coming from him, the sentence somehow no longer sounded out of place.
On the drive home, he suddenly received a call from an unfamiliar number.
“May I speak with Mr. Chen?”
“Who's this?”
“Hello, I'm the luxury-watch consultant who assisted you with your purchase yesterday.”
“Oh.”
“We've received several pieces this week that aren't being publicly displayed yet. I wanted to ask if you'd be interested in taking a look first.”
Chen Yichen raised an eyebrow.
“Why me?”
The other person chuckled.
“Because your purchase history yesterday was impressive. We notify our important clients first.”
Important client.
When he used to go to department stores, he wasn't even sure whether the salesclerks remembered him.
Now, after buying a watch worth more than NT$4 million just once, the store was already calling him proactively.
“How much?”
“One of them is currently priced at over NT$8 million, and another is close to NT$15 million.”
“Send me the photos.”
“Certainly.”
The call ended.
Less than five minutes later, another call came in.
This time, it was a car dealer.
“Mr. Chen, you previously mentioned a special-allocation vehicle. We just received some news.”
“Go on.”
“A slot that a previous customer canceled has become available. The price will be higher, around NT$70 million.”
“When can I see it?”
“Tomorrow at the earliest.”
“Okay.”
“Then I'll reserve a viewing time for you.”
Chen Yichen gripped the steering wheel.
He suddenly found it rather interesting.
He used to constantly search for ‘rich people's toys.’
Now those things were starting to seek him out.
Not because he had become more handsome.
Nor because he was famous.
Simply because of his spending history.
Once you proved that you knew how to spend money in a certain circle, the door opened on its own.
A little after three in the afternoon, Chen Yichen returned home.
His phone had far more messages than before.
Not just from Zhang Jiahao.
Luxury-watch consultants.
Real estate agents.
Car dealers.
Bank financial advisors.
Even the restaurant from yesterday had messaged him to ask whether he wanted them to reserve a private room for him.
He suddenly realized that wealth wasn't just about buying things.
It also changed how proactively other people approached him.
Before, he had to make reservations.
Now, people asked when it was convenient for him.
Before, he had to wait in line.
Now, people said they could reserve a spot for him first.
Before, he worried that others would think he couldn't afford something.
Now, they worried about failing to notify him first.
At four in the afternoon, a bank representative called.
“Hello, Mr. Chen. We've noticed that the recent activity in your account has been rather substantial.”
Chen Yichen immediately became alert.
“What happened?”
“Please don't worry. There are currently no irregularities with your account.”
He relaxed a little.
“Then what is it?”
“Your asset scale now meets the service standards for our private banking division. We wanted to ask whether you have time to learn more about it.”
Private banking.
This was the first time those four words had come directly to him.
“What makes it different?”
“You would have a dedicated wealth manager. We also provide more comprehensive services in asset allocation, foreign currencies, investment products, cross-border needs, real estate financing, and other areas.”
Chen Yichen was silent for a moment.
“Do I have to invest?”
“Not necessarily.”
“Then sure.”
“I'll arrange a specialist for you.”
“Okay.”
After hanging up, he sat on the couch.
He didn't actually need wealth management.
Ordinary people managed their money to make it grow.
He didn't need to.
Every night at midnight, the most absurd ‘return’ was already added automatically.
Still, he wanted to see how banks treated a person once that person's assets grew large enough.
At six-thirty that evening, Chen Yichen met Zhang Jiahao for dinner.
The moment Zhang Jiahao sat down, he asked, “Have a lot of people been contacting you lately?”
“How do you know?”
“Your phone's been vibrating nonstop.”
“It's not that bad.”
“Who are they?”
“Real estate agents, car dealers, banks.”
Zhang Jiahao stared at him.
“What the hell have you turned into?”
Chen Yichen laughed.
“I'm still me.”
“Bullshit.”
Zhang Jiahao picked up his water and took a sip.
“Your bank used to call only to ask if you wanted a credit card.”
Chen Yichen burst out laughing.
“Seriously.”
“And now?”
“They're asking if I want private banking.”
Zhang Jiahao nearly choked.
“Private banking?”
“Yeah.”
“How much money do you actually have?”
That question again.
But this time, Chen Yichen didn't immediately dodge it.
“Almost NT$50 million.”
“Didn't you just buy a car worth over NT$40 million a few days ago?”
“Yeah.”
“Then how do you still have almost fifty million?”
Chen Yichen said nothing.
Zhang Jiahao furrowed his brow.
“Here we go again.”
“It's not that I don't want to tell you.”
“Then what is it?”
“I'm still waiting.”
“Waiting for what?”
“For a full month to pass.”
“Why do you have to wait a month?”
Chen Yichen looked at him.
“Because if it doesn't stop after a full month, I'll believe this is real.”
Zhang Jiahao stared at him.
“What is?”
Chen Yichen paused.
This time, he was closer than ever to saying it out loud.
“Something completely ridiculous.”
“How ridiculous?”
“More ridiculous than winning the lottery.”
Zhang Jiahao was silent for several seconds.
“Now I want to know even more.”
“Just over twenty days.”
“Damn.”
“When the time comes, I'll show you directly.”
“Show me what?”
Chen Yichen smiled.
“You'll know.”
After dinner, the two of them went upstairs and sat in a bar for a while.
Zhang Jiahao suddenly pointed at a group of people.
“Hey, is that Xu Mingjie?”
“Who?”
“The guy who makes short-form videos.”
Chen Yichen looked over.
A man around thirty was sitting with several people.
He didn't recognize him.
“Never heard of him.”
“He's really popular.”
“Oh.”
Chen Yichen genuinely didn't care.
In the past, whenever he ran into influencers or celebrities, he would at least take a few extra glances.
Now, his mind was more occupied with the NT$70-million car he was going to see tomorrow and the house worth more than NT$300 million.
Unexpectedly, more than ten minutes later, a server walked over.
“Mr. Chen.”
“Yeah?”
“Mr. Xu would like to ask if he could come over and say hello.”
Zhang Jiahao froze.
“Who wants to say hello to whom?”
The server pointed toward the table from before.
“Mr. Xu.”
Chen Yichen looked over.
The other man also nodded in their direction.
“Sure.”
A short while later, Xu Mingjie really did come over.
“Sorry to bother you.”
“No problem.”
“I saw the car you had downstairs.”
So it was about the car.
“It's beautiful.”
“Thanks.”
“Did it just arrive recently?”
“I only bought it recently.”
“No wonder. I rarely see one with those specs.”
They chatted for a few minutes.
Xu Mingjie took the initiative to add him as a contact.
“If there's a get-together sometime, you should come.”
“Sure.”
After he left, Zhang Jiahao didn't say a word.
Chen Yichen looked at him.
“What?”
“He came over to meet you?”
“Because of the car.”
“But you didn't even know who he was.”
“I know now.”
Zhang Jiahao leaned back in his chair.
“This world is seriously realistic.”
Chen Yichen didn't argue.
Because over the past few days, he had been seeing it more and more clearly.
It wasn't that people had suddenly become snobs.
It was that when certain signals coming from a person changed, everyone naturally reassessed that person's value.
The car.
The house.
Spending history.
The places he went.
Even the watch on his wrist.
Those things all spoke for him.
At eleven forty that night, Chen Yichen returned home.
He tossed his jacket onto the couch.
There were several new messages on his phone.
One of them was from Xu Mingjie.
“There'll be a private gathering next week. Come if you're free.”
An address was attached below.
Chen Yichen looked at it for several seconds.
He didn't reply right away.
He walked to the window.
From here, the city's tightly packed lights looked like another world.
He used to think that being rich simply meant living in a better house and driving a better car.
Only now did he understand that money also pushed people into different circles.
It wasn't that you forced your way in.
Once the asset signals around you became obvious enough, someone would open the door for you.
11:59 p.m.
His phone sat on the table.
Midnight.
Buzz.
General Deposit: NT$10,000,000.
Latest Balance:
NT$58,247,903.
After reading the notification, Chen Yichen showed no expression.
He simply turned his phone facedown.
Tonight, what truly interested him was no longer this ten million dollars.
It was something else.
Tomorrow, he was going to look at a car worth over NT$70 million.
Next month, he was going to buy a house worth NT$375 million.
After that, he might really come across private jets, yachts, and assets worth over a billion.
The money was still increasing.
And his world was expanding outward, day by day.
Only at this moment did Chen Yichen finally understand—
Being truly rich wasn't just about being able to buy whatever you wanted.
It was when people started to feel that simply getting to know you was worthwhile.