Because of poverty, one had to understand everything. Take her own daughter, for instance—already eighteen years old and she had never even set foot in the kitchen.
"Li Zhiyan, would you like to be my god—"
Gu Wanzhou was just about to ask Li Zhiyan if he was willing to become her godson.
Her phone rang. Annoyed, she answered it, chatted for a few moments, and hung up.
"What's wrong, Aunt Gu?"
Li Zhiyan asked with a puzzled look.
"It's nothing. I just have some idle cash on hand. I went to look at places a while ago, thinking about buying a house."
"But then I figured out that after paying the down payment, I'd only have a few hundred thousand in cash left, so I put it on hold."
"Real estate agents have been calling me constantly lately, and it's starting to get annoying."
Li Zhiyan thought for a moment and advised, "Aunt Gu, actually, I think you should buy that property."
"Because it's a great opportunity to make money."
In both his past and present lives, Gu Wanzhou had always treated him well.
Besides, he still wanted to drive her car.
Costing him nothing to share a few words, it didn't hurt to tell her.
"Why is that, little darling?"
"Because housing prices are going to keep skyrocketing. There might even be a small surge in the next few months."
Pausing for a moment, Li Zhiyan added, "Just a guess."
Gu Wanzhou looked at Li Zhiyan in surprise.
This kid actually knew about real estate?
"Just a guess?"
"Yeah. Ever since the 2007 US subprime mortgage crisis swept across the globe."
"The whole world has been forced to foot the bill for the US. Even Lehman Brothers, one of the five major US investment banks with a 78-year history, collapsed in this disaster."
"The state also pumped a massive amount of currency into circulation, and a huge portion of this money flooded the market."
"This led to a rapid expansion of real estate, but I don't think this expansion is anywhere near its peak."
Li Zhiyan hadn't paid attention to these matters before, but after his rebirth, he had crammed a lot of knowledge. Armed with his foresight into future trends, he could deduce many things.
Anyway, buying a house right now was absolute easy money.
Gently setting down the bowl in her hand.
Gu Wanzhou looked at the young boy beside her in disbelief.
How did he understand so many things?!
She had never even heard of these terms. The string of statements left Gu Wanzhou somewhat bewildered.
"Darling, what are the five major investment banks?"
"And what does subprime mortgage crisis mean?"
At that moment, Gu Wanzhou deeply felt her own ignorance.
This kid was so talented.
Though Gu Wanzhou was a businesswoman, she was usually trapped within her own information silo.
Hearing Li Zhiyan say all this, she couldn't help but feel ignorant herself.
At the same time, a sense of shock stirred in her heart.
This child seemed to know an immense amount.
While helping Gu Wanzhou prep the vegetables, Li Zhiyan continued: "The five major US investment banks refer to private investment banks: Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers, and Bear Stearns."
"If Aunt Gu finds investment banks a bit unfamiliar."
"I think you should know HSBC in Hong Kong; the deposit interest rate they offer domestically is ten points."
"Back then, these investment banks in the US were at the height of their glory."
"Their financial reach had extended into every aspect of ordinary Americans' lives."
"However, under the global financial tsunami triggered by the subprime mortgage crisis,"
"In less than a year, most financial institutions completely collapsed."
"Among them, Merrill Lynch was acquired by Bank of America in 2008."
"Lehman Brothers has already gone bankrupt."
"Bear Stearns didn't meet a good end either, disappearing into history in 2008."
"Today, the only superpower investment banks actually left standing are Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley."
Even Li Zhiyan was a bit impressed that he could remember all these details so clearly. He figured it might be related to his rebirth, which had greatly enhanced his memory.
"Auntie understands now..."
"These super investment banks are private banks that use bank funds to make various investments for profit."
"Yet they collapsed under the subprime mortgage crisis."
"Still, what does this have to do with rising housing prices?"
The more Gu Wanzhou looked at the boy before her, the more fond of him she became, regretting in her heart that he wasn't her own biological son.
What a talented and outstanding young man.
"The full name for subprime is subprime mortgage."
"The word 'sub' implies low credit and a poor ability to repay debts."
"This is similar to our domestic credit ratings; people without stable jobs are labeled as having low credit."
"For them, trying to get a bank loan is basically impossible."
Glancing at Gu Wanzhou, whose eyes were filled with a brilliant luster, Li Zhiyan went on: "Over in the US, taking out loans is extremely common because everyone loves advanced consumption."
"For something as astronomically expensive as a house,"
"Basically, it's almost entirely funded through long-term loans."
Gu Wanzhou nodded gently. Looking at the boy before her, she felt as though Li Zhiyan were a teacher imparting knowledge to her.
"However, the unemployment rate in the US is high, and people with unstable incomes were defined as subprime credit borrowers."
"Abbreviated as subprime borrowers."
"Formal banks are unwilling to lend to these people."
"Fearing they wouldn't be able to repay, subprime mortgages came into being."
"Since banks wouldn't lend to them, private banks stepped in by charging exorbitant interest rates"
"to issue loans to these individuals."
"The returns from the subprime mortgage market were several times higher than bank loans."
"In this regard, it's somewhat similar to HSBC."
Gu Wanzhou recalled that she had once applied for a loan from HSBC herself.
The interest rate reached as high as thirty percent annually—basically a high-interest loan through and through.
"Because housing prices were rising rapidly,"
"many subprime borrowers in the US followed the herd"
"and took out loans to buy houses."
"Before 2006, the US real estate market was in a state of sustained prosperity."
"And interest rates were exceptionally low at the time."
"Consequently, the subprime mortgage market grew rapidly."
"However, the US subprime mortgage market used a combination of fixed and adjustable rates."
"For the first few years, the repayment interest rate was a fixed low rate."
"After a few years, the loan interest would be repaid based on fluctuations in interest rates."
"After 2006, as the US real estate market cooled down and adjustable rates rose,"
"the repayment interest rates for subprime loans also skyrocketed."
"These subprime borrowers already had very weak economic capabilities, and under those circumstances, masses of homebuyers couldn't repay their loans."
"So they had no choice but to default."
"When the banks repossessed the houses, there were no buyers to take them over, triggering a vicious cycle."
"A financial storm began in 2007 and completely blew up in 2008."
"The US government had no choice but to engage in unlimited money printing to rescue the market."
"And under the Bretton Woods system established after World War II, the US smoothly pushed all those printed dollars out into the entire world,"
"making people everywhere pay the price for the US."
In truth, Li Zhiyan didn't understand it either.
However, armed with his foreknowledge of future trends, he could be considered a prophet, so whatever he said was bound to be right.
Seeing Li Zhiyan talk about the financial crisis with such casual detachment, her heartbeat inexplicably sped up a little. How did this kid know about everything? When he talked to her about these things, he was inexplicably handsome.
A talented man was truly attractive.
"Therefore, under the unbridled money printing by the US in 2008,"
"our side also ushered in a wave of massive liquidity injection."
"After entering the market, this money"
"didn't flow into other industries, but was locked directly inside real estate."
"Only in this way could soaring prices be prevented."
"Real estate became our reservoir,"
"ensuring that the newly issued currency did not enter market circulation."
Li Zhiyan didn't really understand these matters either, so he simply spouted nonsense for the rest of it.
As long as the conclusion was correct, it didn't matter.
Gu Wanzhou listened in a daze, but she had been completely convinced by Li Zhiyan.
This kid had taught himself computer programming at eighteen;
he really was different from ordinary people!
"So, for many years to come, I predict that housing prices will continue to rise."
"If you buy a house now and pay the down payment, you can make a lot of money later."
Looking at Li Zhiyan, who was still helping her prep the vegetables right in front of her, Gu Wanzhou felt her heartbeat grow faster and faster.
Her hormones seemed to have started secreting and flowing.
Was this... the feeling of a heartbeat?
Thinking of Li Zhiyan's lengthy discourse just now, her heart simply couldn't calm down.
"Little darling, Auntie really never expected you to understand so many things."
"What you said just now makes a lot of sense. Auntie has decided to buy another house."
After gently stroking Li Zhiyan's head, Gu Wanzhou continued, "Auntie wanted to ask you earlier: would you be willing to be my godson?"
"From now on, Auntie will cherish you just like a mother would."
Li Zhiyan felt a bit helpless. How was it that after being reborn, Yu Sisi's biological mother wanted to be his mother, and Liu Zifeng's biological mother wanted to be his mother too? It was simply unbelievable.
However, this godmother status was out of the question.
Li Zhiyan knew very well that once you accepted a godmother, you could no longer have a *real* mother-figure relationship.
Rao Shiyun wouldn't work, and neither would Gu Wanzhou.
He still wanted to drive the car.
Ever since his rebirth, Li Zhiyan's heart had been itching unbearably.
How could he possibly agree to become a godson? Wouldn't that be adding an unnecessary shackle to himself?
A bit of roleplay while driving the car was fine.
As for actually acknowledging her as a parent, Li Zhiyan was certainly unwilling.
"I'm not willing."
Li Zhiyan resolutely refused the offer.
"What's wrong, little darling? Do you think Auntie isn't good enough?"
"Or do you think Auntie isn't pretty enough and will embarrass you when we go out?"
At that moment, Gu Wanzhou felt a headache coming on. She had originally wanted to take Li Zhiyan in as her godson so that he would stop dwelling on messy thoughts.
She was already forty-one years old, while he was only eighteen. It was impossible for her to be with him.
Although she appreciated this young man more and more, appreciation and romantic affection were two entirely different things.
Li Zhiyan looked down at Gu Wanzhou's chest, recalling the time he had embraced Aunt Gu.
He knew very well just how well-endowed Gu Wanzhou was.
"You're very pretty, of course. But what I want is for you to be my girlfriend."
"Didn't you say you would give this matter serious consideration?"
"If I really become your godson, we'd become mother and son."
"Mother and son can't date each other."
Li Zhiyan's deadpan seriousness left Gu Wanzhou both amused and exasperated. This really was turning into a troublesome situation.
If she rejected Li Zhiyan flatly, her heart simply wouldn't bear it.
He understood so much, was so talented, and had no telling how much effort behind his back. For a child born into a poor, single-parent family to still be so sincere, Gu Wanzhou genuinely couldn't bring herself to crush him.
Yet his affection for her was truly impossible to fulfill.
"Darling, it's not that Auntie doesn't like you."
"On the contrary, Auntie likes you a lot, which is why I invited you over for dinner."
Steering the conversation back to the topic of romance, Gu Wanzhou felt she might as well have a proper heart-to-heart with the boy.
"However, this kind of liking is the affection an elder has for a junior."
"Not romantic love between a man and a woman."
"Your fondness for Auntie right now is probably just a kind of adolescent fantasy."
"At eighteen years old, hormones are running high."
Li Zhiyan chimed in, "Then right now is when my hormones are running highest, and it's also when Auntie's hormones are running highest."
"Isn't that a perfect match?"
Gu Wanzhou's pretty face flushed warm again. Indeed, forty was the age when a woman's physiological desires were at their peak.
And eighteen was when a man's desires were at their peak.
From a certain perspective, Li Zhiyan wasn't wrong at all.
"Maybe there wouldn't be any problem with the two of us being together right now."
"But what about five or ten years from now? When Auntie starts getting old, will you still love me?"
"Even if we get together, it's destined not to end well."
"When we eventually part ways down the road, it will cause deep hurt to both you and Auntie."
"You're still young, but Auntie is already forty-one. I can't be so irresponsible."
"Besides, Auntie truly looks at you like a son."
As she cooked, Gu Wanzhou hoped to persuade Li Zhiyan to drop the idea of being with her.
If only she could get him to accept being her godson. Through their previous chats, Gu Wanzhou found herself liking the boy even more.
"Auntie, in life, what matters isn't the result."
"It's the process, because most of our time is spent living within the process."
"No matter what the outcome turns out to be, that's still a very, very long way off."
"What we should do is enjoy every single day in the present."
"Always worrying about things so far ahead makes life exhausting."
"Just give me a chance and let me take care of you."
Looking at Gu Wanzhou before him, Li Zhiyan felt his hormones surging out of control.
This top-tier mature beauty was simply gorgeous, and she was even Yu Sisi's mother.
The thought alone solidified his determination to win Gu Wanzhou over completely.
Suddenly, Gu Wanzhou realized she couldn't win an argument against this young boy.
It seemed there was nothing he didn't know. For a moment, a wave of helplessness washed over her.
She wanted to reject Li Zhiyan outright, yet she couldn't bear to hurt the earnest boy.
"I'm twenty-three years older than you; I'm old enough to be your mother."
"And I'm divorced, with a daughter your age."
Without backing down in the slightest, Li Zhiyan said, "I've known all that for a long time. Besides, forty is actually a wonderful age."
"In my eyes, those young girls don't hold a candle to you."
Hearing Li Zhiyan's praise, Gu Wanzhou felt a burst of delight bloom in her chest despite herself. This brat sure had a sweet mouth.
"Whether it's looks or figure, you're way more charming than those young girls."
Gazing at Gu Wanzhou's full chest, Li Zhiyan couldn't help reminiscing about his childhood.
Some young girls might be pretty, but they were flat-chested—in Li Zhiyan's book, those got an automatic zero.
He simply didn't have an appreciation for flat chests.
"You child..."
"Let Auntie think about it for a bit longer."
Gu Wanzhou realized she had no way of convincing Li Zhiyan.
No matter how many things this brat said, he always had another dozen waiting for her.
How was she supposed to talk sense into him?
It seemed she could only continue with the cold-treatment strategy. Once he started university, perhaps he would fall for young girls his own age, and then he wouldn't keep pestering her to be together every day.
Suddenly, Gu Wanzhou thought of her best friend, Rao Shiyun.
That plump woman had a serious soft spot for Li Zhiyan; she wouldn't go and proactively let Li Zhiyan drive her car, would she?
Uncontrollably, her mind conjured up an image of Li Zhiyan as a pony and Rao Shiyun as a massive cart.
For some reason, a sour feeling welled up in Gu Wanzhou's heart.
"Sigh..."
Suddenly, her neck twitched with pain from sitting too long, forcing a slightly painful moan from her lips.
Li Zhiyan knew his opportunity to complete the task had arrived.
He was well aware that this chronic ailment couldn't be cured, and modern medicine offered no good solutions.
Yet when it flared up, the agony was truly unbearable.
Not only would he massage Gu Wanzhou's neck, but he'd also get to massage her thighs.
Gazing at Gu Wanzhou's flawless, snow-white legs and breathing in the intoxicating fragrance emanating from this forty-one-year-old top-tier mature beauty, Li Zhiyan bent forward slightly.
A young dragon's desires were always so hard for a sorcerer to control.
"Aunt Gu, is your neck hurting?"
"Yeah, an old complaint."
"Actually, I can help you."
Li Zhiyan said earnestly, growing increasingly grateful to the system for giving his ordinary self a chance to shine in front of others.
Hearing Li Zhiyan suddenly offer to help, Gu Wanzhou was taken aback.
Something like this—he could help her with it?
This wasn't computer programming, nor was it discussing a financial crisis.
How could he possibly help?
"How are you going to help Auntie?"
"It's an old ailment; even doctors couldn't prescribe anything for it."
Li Zhiyan said seriously, "Aunt Gu, I've studied traditional Chinese medicine massage for a while and have quite a profound understanding of it."
"If you're willing, I can give you a massage."
"That way, the pain will ease up."
Gu Wanzhou blinked in surprise. This kid knew traditional Chinese medicine?
How was that possible? TCM was something only people in their forties, fifties, or sixties could master.
Moreover, easing the pain was sheer nonsense.
Wasn't this kid just trying to take advantage of her?
After all, during a massage, one could genuinely catch glimpses of cleavage.
At that thought, Gu Wanzhou's guard went up, but then she recalled how she had wronged Li Zhiyan by misunderstanding him back at the hotel.
She nodded.
"Well, help me massage it after we finish eating, then."
...
Once the dishes were served on the table, Li Zhiyan's appetite was thoroughly stimulated.
Women from the seventies or eighties really knew how to cook, whereas by his generation, this traditional craft had basically vanished, replaced instead by all sorts of toxic chicken soup meant to PUAs men.