A youth should harbor soaring ambitions and vow to be the finest in the world. Chapter 149: When one man attains the Way, even his chickens and dogs ascend to heaven (1)
After the shareholders' meeting concluded, Fang Yu pulled Zhang Hao aside into a nearby office and rubbed his hands together with a somewhat embarrassed smile.
"Old Zhang, do you think you can find a way to get two more cars? Several of my brothers are still riding electric bikes."
Zhang Hao laughed heartily.
"I thought it was some major issue. Sure, no problem. Now that the company is growing larger, the taxes we pay every year are quite substantial, and cars are great assets. Lao Hang and I have already registered two cars each under the company's name. What kind of cars do you want, Lao Fang?"
"That's great. Let's get some relatively affordable ones first. Let me think: a Land Cruiser, a 3 Series, and let's add an A5 as well."
"Very well. I'll have someone purchase them right away and deliver them to you in a few days. They aren't rare vehicles at all, so it will be very fast. By the way, I'll have the finance department wire a salary of 29,700 to your account every month, with an end-of-year bonus of 143,600."
He nodded. The figures were quite familiar; most finance departments would cap an owner's salary right within this threshold to optimize taxes.
"Alright, then I should probably head back soon. After all, I'm still studying in school."
"There's one more matter. Look at how well mobile phones are selling right now; our orders are increasing steadily, and the Koreans also want a stake in it. Just look, Samsung Electronics has sent us an invitation, wishing to commission a batch of custom smartphones."
"Oh? Of course that's fine. Samsung is the largest mobile phone manufacturer in the world. If we can incorporate their technology, it couldn't be better. Frankly speaking, the quality of current mobile phones is just too poor; they crash over nothing." He still held quite a few complaints about the engineering prototype brought over last time.
"Ah, that was just an engineering unit. I completely forgot to have it swapped for you. Wait here, I'll have someone fetch a batch of new phones for you to take back," Zhang Hao said, slapping his forehead.
Shortly after, Sun Han walked in carrying several boxes.
"President Fang, President Zhang, these are the newly manufactured mobile phones."
"Lao Fang, take these back with you. The quality is definitely superior to the engineering prototypes."
"Well, excellent. If we truly cooperate with Samsung in the future, remember to send the newest models over. I'm leaving now."
Emerging from the office building into the underground parking garage, he glanced at Cheng Chen's dilapidated Santana 2000, chuckled, and turned back.
"Brothers, the hard days are finally coming to an end. I've already arranged it with the company; they'll equip each of you with a new car in a few days."
Cheng Chen nodded eagerly, beaming with joy.
"Really? Damn it, I've had more than enough of driving this piece of junk. The carburetor constantly acts up, and there's a foul odor inside the cabin. Even Li Jing says it makes her dizzy whenever she smells it."
Lu Zhen, however, looked somewhat cautious.
"Boss Fang, what kind of cars are you getting for us?"
"Well, I noticed you were browsing the BMW 3 Series online, right? You can make do with that for now." Over the past six months, Lu Zhen and Zhao Bin had smoothly obtained their driver's licenses locally in Xianjiang—first because the fees were cheap, and second because the exams were much more relaxed compared to Nanwu.
"Really? Hehe, thank you, Boss Fang! The 3 Series is my absolute favorite." Lu Zhen excitedly ripped off his tie.
"What about me?" Zhao Bin asked with a hopeful expression.
As someone reborn into the past, Fang Yu naturally understood his friends' preferences.
"Zhao Bin, didn't you say you like sports cars the most? I've prepared an A5 for you, complete with frameless doors."
Zhao Bin clicked his tongue, looking slightly disappointed.
"Oh, an A5? That's passable, I suppose. But if the price is similar, I think the 718 looks much better, or perhaps an imported E260. I prefer convertibles."
Rolling his eyes, Fang Yu pulled open the door of the 640.
"All right, stop being so picky. Having anything to drive at all is already great. The budget is only this much. Come on, get in the car; let's head back to the internet cafe first."
Just as the two cars pulled out of the underground garage, his phone rang. Picking it up, he saw it was a call from Yan Hua.
"Brother Yu, haven't you returned yet? You have friends looking for you."
"Friends? What friends?" He glanced doubtfully at Lu Zhen in the passenger seat, wondering if these guys hadn't all followed him to Songyu.
"It's a chubby guy who claims to be your brother, and he brought his girlfriend along too."
"Huh? Baozi? Why didn't he give me a heads-up? Fine, we're getting on the highway now and will be there by the afternoon. Tell him to sit and wait at the internet cafe for a bit."
He hadn't expected Baozi and Hu Yan to show up in Xianjiang without a word of warning. Feeling somewhat perplexed, Fang Yu immediately stepped hard on the accelerator, leaving the Santana 2000 far behind, and made it back to Snack Street by 1:30 PM.
"Where is Baozi?" The moment he stepped inside, he scanned the surroundings of the internet cafe.
"Brother Yu is back? Look, he's up in the private booth upstairs," Yan Hua said, gesturing with her chin.
"Damn it, who opened a private booth for them? Did they pay?" He grumbled, tapping irritably on the counter.
"They paid, and they even grabbed a pack of cigarettes."
That completely caught Fang Yu off guard; he never imagined Baozi would actually pay. Walking straight up to the second-floor booth area—where there weren't many students online at the moment—Baozi's boisterous voice stood out particularly clearly.
"Babe, are you thirsty? Do you want me to go buy you some milk tea?"
"Baozi, how come you didn't give me a heads-up when you came over?" He yanked open the door of the small booth.
The chubby guy was extremely enthusiastic at the moment.
"Oh, Fang Yu, you're back! The little internet cafe attendant said you went to Songyu. Here, have a smoke." As he spoke, he handed over a pack of relatively decent cigarettes.
"Tsk, where has Boss Bao been making his fortune lately?"
Baozi proudly tossed his greasy, thinning hair back.
"You know my family situation; it's always been like this. This time, Yan Zi said she wanted to come visit your school. By the way, help me find a hotel—not those sketchy little motels near the campus, mind you."
Hu Yan chimed in with a sweet smile, stepping closer.
"That's right, I'm the one who asked Baozi to come. I heard Qin Luo is studying around here too, and I haven't seen her in ages."
Fang Yu curled his lip. Back in high school, Hu Yan and Qin Luo had never interacted much, yet here she was acting like they were the closest of friends.
"There aren't any decent hotels near the school. Why don't you stay in the downtown area instead? I'll treat you to dinner later."
Baozi waved his hand grandly.
"No need. Do you really think I, Baozi, would run out of money? I'll treat you to dinner tonight. Just name whatever you want to eat."
"Tsk, it sounds like Boss Bao has made a fortune then. In that case, I won't be polite. There are quite a few people joining for dinner tonight, you know," he said, pointing downward toward the ground floor.
Baozi's face twitched slightly, momentarily forgetting how many people were attached to Fang Yu's crew here. Still, for the sake of his pride, he had to keep up a bold front.
"Dinner is a minor matter. Fang Yu, go order some milk tea for us to drink."
A cup of milk tea only cost a few cents in ingredients, so he was naturally willing to spring for it. Pulling out his phone, he immediately called the nearby Qinglu shop.
"Send a few cups of milk tea over."
After hanging up, Cheng Chen and the others returned. Hearing that Baozi was here, they scurried upstairs in a flurry of small steps.
"Baozi, what brings you here?"
"I brought my Yan Zi to come brag with Fang Yu. Oh, did you upgrade your mobile phone?" The chubby fellow's sharp eyes immediately caught the new Tianxing S1 in Cheng Chen's hand.
"Oh, Fang Yu got it for us. It makes ordering takeout much more convenient."
Baozi proved uncharacteristically generous today, making it awkward for Cheng Chen and the others to give him the cold shoulder. After exchanging meaningless banter with the chubby pair for a while, Xia初然 (Xia Churan) and Li Jing arrived at the internet cafe to start their shift.
"Hey, Fang Yu, is this your girlfriend?" Hu Yan asked, looking somewhat puzzled as she stared at the radiant Xia Churan.
Baozi, on the other hand, showed some sense; he hurriedly pulled Hu Yan aside and muttered a few words in her ear. A look of sheer astonishment crossed Hu Yan's face, but she immediately pressed her lips together and stayed silent.