Reborn into this lifetime, Ye Chen was determined not only to repair his relationship with his wife and make amends to her, but also to build a commercial and financial empire to grant his wife and daughter a lifetime of glory!
In his past life, his personal wealth of 400 billion had frozen at the moment of his death from old age and illness.
Yet in this life, 400 billion was far from enough to satisfy him.
With his foreknowledge of the next sixty years, if he couldn't multiply that figure tenfold at the very least, he would have lived this second chance in vain!
However, building a business empire was not something to rush right now, nor could it be rushed.
The most urgent task was how to change Chen Yinuo's perception of him, and how to erase the wounds he had inflicted upon her.
After smoking a few cigarettes, he headed out to the computer specialty store in the shopping mall.
Using the remaining thirty thousand yuan in his WeChat account, he bought two brand-new, high-performance computers.
One was for Yinuo—after all, just last month he had secretly taken her computer and sold it.
The other was for his own convenience in searching for information to carry out his next plan.
Developing Flawless Ointment!
A miraculous ointment capable of rapidly fading scars and surface skin pigmentation!
In his past life, this had been nothing less than his booster rocket to the summit of super-wealth.
It was precisely because he held the exclusive formula for Flawless Ointment in his past life, and because he developed a Flawless Ointment that was frantically scrambled for across the globe, that he accumulated the wealth to march into various industries. This allowed him to remain a super-wealthy titan sitting on 400 billion in assets even while steadfastly refusing to go public.
Right now, however, Ye Chen wasn't thinking quite that far ahead. He only wanted to get the Flawless Ointment made as quickly as possible so that Yinuo could erase those numerous scars he had left upon her body!
Inside the rented apartment.
Drawing upon the formula for Flawless Ointment stored in his memory, his fingers flew across the keyboard as he searched online to find out where the required ingredients were sold.
After all, in his past life, Flawless Ointment didn't appear until he was nearly forty years old.
Now, a decade ahead of schedule, trying to buy those ingredients through the channels of his past life clearly wouldn't yield a complete set.
He had no choice but to inquire one by one and scavenge through the internet.
***
Over the next three days, Ye Chen ran back and forth incessantly trying to gather all the formula ingredients.
So much so that Li Changfeng and Zhang Jingshan's repeated attempts to reach him were all rebuffed.
From rushing everywhere to purchase the raw materials, down to acquiring pots, pans, and various vessels for making the ointment.
Three days in Ye Chen's world felt like they passed in the blink of an eye.
The small rented apartment had virtually been turned into a miniature workshop.
Fortunately, those memories from his past life were imprinted as if etched into his brain.
Fortunately, he could be considered a semi-competent academic prodigy back in his school days.
Otherwise, even knowing how the Flawless Ointment should be made, he wouldn't have known where to begin.
June 24th.
Evening, 7:30.
Stealing a moment of leisure from his busy schedule, Ye Chen put down the ointment-making tools in his hand, took off his gloves, sat down on the sofa, and turned on the television mounted on the wall.
On this exact evening in his past life, the Jiangzhou Government held a press conference regarding Jiangzhou's new round of planning and development. Headed by the top official of the Municipal Party Committee, leaders from the Urban Construction Bureau, the Land Bureau, the Development and Reform Commission, and the Commerce Bureau—several departments in all—attended and delivered remarks concerning the reform of urban villages.
It was precisely because of this press conference that the housing prices at Jinlin Mansion skyrocketed fivefold overnight, bringing unheralded, gold-paved prosperity to the surrounding area!
After Ye Chen calculated the time and turned on the television, the press conference, which matched his past life's memories without the slightest discrepancy, began on screen.
First came the speech by the top official of the Municipal Party Committee.
Then followed statements from the leaders of various departments.
The relocation and redevelopment project of the urban villages, along with brand-new commercial development, set their tone right there in this press conference!
***
In a courtyard somewhere in Jiangzhou.
This was the residence of former Old Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee, Zhang Weimin, as well as the ancestral home of the Zhang family.
Beneath its weather-beaten exterior laden with history, potted greenery was arranged with artistic irregularity in the courtyard. The pristine cleanliness inside and outside the house exuded an atmosphere of peace and harmony.
Inside the house, the scene on the television was the press conference convened by the municipal government.
And sitting before the television were three generations of the old Zhang family.
Former Municipal Party Committee Old Secretary Zhang Weimin, Yong'an Construction Co., Ltd. Chairman Zhang Xingguo, and Zhang Jingshan.
"Dad, the government is going to develop that urban village in the West District? How can this matter be so sudden? Did you know about this beforehand?"
Watching the press conference on TV, Zhang Xingguo cried out in disbelief.
"I knew!" Old Secretary Zhang Weimin nodded.
"What? You knew about this? Then why didn't you tell me?!" Zhang Xingguo grew anxious.
"Why should I tell you? Don't think I don't know what you're plotting. I, Zhang Weimin, have kept my hands clean and devoted myself entirely to the public all my life. Could it be that in my old age, I would leak the government's advance deployment plans and insider development information to my own son so he could transform into a blood-sucking capitalist, leaving ordinary people to point fingers at my spine?" Zhang Weimin said, bristling with anger.
Zhang Xingguo was instantly struck dumb with bitterness.
Because this was precisely the Old Master's style!
If the Old Master had even a shred of selfishness, his Yong'an Construction Company probably would have risen several levels by now.
However, after bristling with anger, Zhang Weimin added, "Little Zhou brought it up when he came over to chat with me half a month ago, asking for my thoughts. At the time, he gave me strict injunctions and urged me over and over again to keep this matter tightly under wraps, saying this is a pilot development unit from the provincial level, and anyone who dared to leak it in advance would be dealt with mercilessly. So didn't you see that before this, everything was calm and tranquil? From the provincial level down to the municipal level, not a single official dared to leak it!"
Little Zhou was none other than the current top official of the Jiangzhou Municipal Party Committee.
Beside them, Zhang Jingshan—who always loved to bicker with his father Zhang Xingguo and go against him—exceptionally did not utter a sound.
The whole person had fallen into a state of utter stupefaction!
Because that urban village slated for relocation and redevelopment was right next to Jinlin Mansion!
What did this imply?
It meant that after this press conference, Jinlin Mansion would usher in a crazy surge!
In an instant, the words Ye Chen had said to him echoed endlessly in his mind.
"Considering it fate, if you trust me, you can buy a few units!"
"If I had the money, I'd buy out the whole real estate project, but unfortunately I only have two hundred thousand right now, so I can only put down the deposit for two units!"
"Trust me and give it a try!"
"Actually, you could be a bit more unhinged, like putting down deposits for ten units at once, or buying ten units outright in full, since there's no such thing as purchase restrictions!"
At the time, he hadn't taken these words seriously at all.
Although he later followed a whim and put down deposits for two units, what he thought was that those two hundred thousand would just go down the drain. After all, he didn't think Jinlin Mansion had any room for appreciation in the near term, so he wouldn't waste any more foolish money to buy them.
But now?
This...
How on earth did Ye Chen know that area was going to be relocated and developed?
Could it be that even this old bastard Zhang Xingguo couldn't catch a whisper of the inside information, yet Ye Chen knew it?
How was that possible?!
"Grandpa, are you certain nobody leaked this relocation and redevelopment matter beforehand?" Zhang Jingshan asked hurriedly.
"Unless someone feels the official cap on their head is too heavy!" Zhang Weimin replied without a second thought.
"Then could someone have let it slip inadvertently in some occasion?" Zhang Jingshan's mouth was dry.
"If someone could let slip a matter that the provincial authorities declared would be dealt with mercilessly, do you think he could sit in a position to know about it?" Zhang Weimin hit the nail on the head.
Then he suddenly felt that this brat Zhang Jingshan was acting strange. "Jingshan, what do you mean, brat? Why are you suddenly asking about these things?"
"Grandpa, I... I put down deposits for two houses at Jinlin Mansion, right on the opening day of Jinlin Mansion. Someone told me that if I trusted him, I should buy a few more, and even said that if he had the money, he would buy out the entire Jinlin Mansion. Later, he even suggested I could buy ten units all at once!" Zhang Jingshan said in a daze.
At that moment, he felt like raising his hand and fanically slapping his own face.
If... if he had really listened to Ye Chen's words back then and bought ten units all at once.
What would it have been like?
Housing prices at Jinlin Mansion were only seven or eight thousand back then, and a single unit at most cost just over a million.
Ten units, with preferential discounts, ten million would have been enough. Ten million was an amount he could still fork out.
And after this press conference, those ten units would be worth at least fifty to sixty million.
In other words, in the span of just three days, ten million turns into fifty to sixty million!
Three days, a five to sixfold profit—damn it, even if you went to rob a bank, money wouldn't come in this fast!
At this moment, the word "regret" was no longer enough to describe Zhang Jingshan's state of mind.
At the same time, his shock and curiosity toward Ye Chen plunged into an indescribable state!
First, picking up a bargain on a Buddhist bead bracelet.
Then, his intuition that he would encounter a peach blossom tribulation.
Then, his intuition that housing prices at Jinlin Mansion would skyrocket.
Following that, his intuition that Li Changfeng's newly bought car would meet with an accident.
Every single one of these things had come true.
If one were to say all these were coincidences, could that make any sense?
"What?!"
However, as Zhang Jingshan's voice fell, Old Master Zhang Weimin and Zhang Xingguo let out simultaneous cries of astonishment.
***
Jinlin Mansion—anyone who understood the information landscape of Jiangzhou was not unfamiliar with this real estate project.
Because ever since the construction of this residential compound began, it had been dogged by all kinds of controversies.
Even people like Zhang Weimin and Zhang Xingguo believed that nine times out of ten, this project would end up smashed in the developer's own hands.
Under such circumstances...
Before the municipal government even launched its press conference, Zhang Jingshan actually went and reserved two units?
However, that wasn't the main point.
The main point was that someone told him to buy a few more? Said if he had the money he'd buy out the whole Jinlin Mansion? And even suggested Zhang Jingshan buy ten units at once?
Was this having razor-sharp vision and absolute certainty, or had he obtained inside information?
The former was too far-fetched.
The latter was impossible!
"Dad, didn't you say the inside information wouldn't be leaked?" After the outcry, Zhang Xingguo looked toward his father, Zhang Weimin.
Zhang Weimin said with absolute certainty, "It is impossible for it to have been leaked in advance. Nobody would gamble their political career! To step back ten thousand steps, even if the news really had been leaked beforehand, would someone who knew the inside information share it?"
Zhang Xingguo was struck dumb and fell silent.
"Jingshan, who was that person you mentioned?" Old Secretary Zhang Weimin asked eagerly.
"Grandpa, he's a very spooky character!" Zhang Jingshan replied with a very complicated expression.
"Spooky?" Zhang Weimin widened his eyes.
Nodding, Zhang Jingshan recounted everything about Ye Chen.
From the Buddhist bead bracelet at the Antique City,
to the warning about him being set up, the reminder to Li Changfeng,
and once again bringing up the matter of buying a house at Jinlin Mansion.
However, regarding the matter of him being set up by a trap, he glossed over it lightly.
After all, that matter was simply too humiliating to speak of.
"Are you kidding me? Could there really be such a spooky person in this world? Don't go getting yourself sold by someone and still counting the money for them!"
Hearing this, Zhang Xingguo immediately let out a snort.
Even though he was deeply shocked by it in his heart, he refused to believe there could be such a spooky character in this world.
Especially since it was spoken by this unreliable son of his, he felt it was all the more unreliable.
"Sorry, it seems I wasn't talking to you, was I? If you hate hearing it, go cool off somewhere else! As for whether I'll get sold and still count the money for someone, does that have anything to do with you? Do you need to stick your nose into other people's business like a salted fish worrying over a bland radish?" Zhang Jingshan retorted.
For eighteen years, right up to the present day, he still resented his father, Zhang Xingguo.
He believed that if not for him back then, his mother would never have died in that car accident.
"You—you little bastard, you—"
Zhang Xingguo was choked with anger, unable to catch his breath, and raised his hand, wanting to slap Zhang Jingshan across the face.
"Enough!" Zhang Weimin let out a fierce reprimand, which finally made Zhang Xingguo hold back.
"Are you two father and son ever going to finish? Were you irreconcilable mortal enemies in a past life, and you've come to this life to take revenge on each other, huh?" Zhang Weimin scolded again.
"Dad, don't you think he's getting more and more outrageous? I asked him to come to Yong'an Construction Company so he could take over and inherit it in the future, but has he listened to a single word of mine over all these years? Not listening to me is one thing, but he goes and messes around with some live-streamer agency or whatever. Can that kind of thing be reliable? Can that kind of thing be a proper profession? I scold him once and he argues with me once. Now it's even worse—I show him some concern, and he disrespectfully snaps right back at me. Does he still have me as his father in his eyes?" Zhang Xingguo said.
"I don't need your concern! As for your lousy construction company, I don't think much of it either. Whoever wants to inherit it can inherit it. Don't you have another son outside? Go ahead and make your lousy company big and strong and leave it to him—I couldn't give a damn!" Zhang Jingshan said through clenched teeth.
"You bastard, you—" Zhang Xingguo was pushed beyond the limit of endurance.
"Get the hell out of here!"
Fearing that the conflict between this father and son would escalate, the Old Master hastily shooed Zhang Xingguo out.
"Sigh—!"
Secretly letting out a sigh in his heart, Zhang Weimin knew about the rift between this father and son. Over the years, what should have been said had been said, and what shouldn't have been said had also been said.
Yet it remained impossible to heal the barrier inside Zhang Jingshan's heart.
He had resigned himself to fate; everything else would have to be left to fortune.
"Grandpa, from now on, wherever he appears, I won't! If he's at home, please don't ever ask me to come back." Zhang Jingshan softened his tone.
"How can you talk like that? No matter what, he's still your father!" Zhang Weimin said helplessly.
"Ever since I was twelve years old, I stopped treating him as my father!" Zhang Jingshan said.
"You—fine, fine..."
Zhang Weimin didn't want to wrangle over this issue any longer.
Instead, he shifted the conversational pivot.
"You said earlier that that fellow Ye Chen picked up a bargain on a Buddhist bead bracelet in the Antique City, and you bought it off him? What kind of Buddhist bead bracelet was it?"
"Grandpa, didn't Uncle Lu tell you?" Zhang Jingshan said.
Zhang Weimin said, "Lu Cheng? He didn't mention it. Why?"
"Grandpa, Uncle Lu said that string of beads is the Arhat Beads from Vajra Temple, eighteen Arhat prayer beads made by the eminent monk Hongyi back then using the branches of old agarwood. I was planning to give it to you as a surprise for your birthday in a few days!" Zhang Jingshan said.
Hearing this, Zhang Weimin instantly turned to stone.
Immediately afterward, his entire body trembled, and an unprecedented, irrepressible wave of excitement surged forth wildly.
"You—you're saying that's the string of eighteen Arhat beads that accompanied the eminent monk Hongyi in Zen meditation for decades until his nirvana and sitting transformation?"
"Um, that's what Uncle Lu said!" Zhang Jingshan said.
"Where is the item? Quickly, quickly take it out and let me have a look!"
Completely losing his composure, Zhang Weimin couldn't wait another second.
"I didn't bring it back; it's still in my office. I was planning to use it as a birthday gift in a few days to give you a surprise, Grandpa!" Zhang Jingshan said.
Zhang Weimin paused.
After all, he was a figure who had spent decades in politics. Hearing Zhang Jingshan say this, aside from feeling regret, he gradually forced himself to calm his emotions down.
He didn't rush to have Zhang Jingshan go fetch it immediately.
Suppressing the eagerness in his heart, he reined in the loss of composure and intense excitement deep within.
Taking a deep breath, he shook his head.
"Let's put the matter of the eighteen Arhat beads aside for now. That person named Ye Chen—is he really that spooky? Not only could he calculate the calamities you and Li Changfeng would face, but he also calculated that Jinlin Mansion would skyrocket?"
"Grandpa, it's just that spooky! However, I don't think he's any sort of divine fortune-teller. Based on my investigation of his past background, I found that his past was just a hopeless gambler with no life to speak of. So I really wanted to connect all of that to coincidence, but the explanation of coincidence is too far-fetched—so far-fetched that even I don't believe it. Besides, I feel that behind his facade as a hopeless gambler, he is definitely not simple. Definitely!" Zhang Jingshan stated firmly.
Zhang Weimin nodded.
After pondering for a moment, he said:
"One matter can be called a coincidence, but two or three matters—then it's no longer a coincidence! However spooky a person or matter may be, there is always a root cause that can be traced. Given the situation you described, Grandpa won't oppose you making friends with this person named Ye Chen, but you must maintain a sense of proportion. Before thoroughly figuring out his bottom line, you must never make a deep friendship with him. Grandpa knows you're a loyal and emotional person, and I'm afraid you might be swayed by your feelings in the end and end up getting conned or cheated!"
"Don't worry, Grandpa, I know what to do!"
While nodding, Zhang Weimin paused once more.
Then he continued, "Also, if there's an opportunity, you can bring him before me. I'd like to have a chat with him!"
***
On the other side, in the rented apartment.
Unaware that he had already caught the eye of the former Municipal Party Committee Old Secretary, Ye Chen did not finish watching the press conference.
After confirming that this trajectory from his past life had not been altered, he turned off the television.
Just as he was about to get up and continue working on the Flawless Ointment—
*Creak.*
The door of the rented apartment was pushed open.
"Daddy!"
Ye Youyou's joyful, cheering voice rang out.
Like a little rabbit let out of its cage, she pounced toward Ye Chen.
Meanwhile, Chen Yinuo, who entered right behind her, caught sight of the scene inside the room—which resembled an illegal, criminal miniature workshop.
In an instant, her mind flashed to scenes from television and movies depicting drug manufacturing operations.
In a split second, she almost completely broke down!
***
"You bastard, are you trying to drag me and Youyou down into hell?!"
Just as Ye Chen happily picked up Ye Youyou in his arms, before he could even speak, Chen Yinuo cried out in terrified alarm.
That's right: she had mistaken the scene of the rented apartment transformed into a mini-workshop for Ye Chen's drug manufacturing site.
And this also explained why Ye Chen had been able to get thirty thousand yuan from Zhang Jingshan.
That thirty thousand yuan was most likely drug money.
The so-called picking up a bargain at the Antique City? Fake, it was all fake.
This scumbag and beast could never change his nature of treating lying as an everyday routine; just as a dog could never stop eating shit, he would never change!
Well, fortunately Zhang Jingshan didn't know this, otherwise not only would he be dumbfounded, he'd be driven mad with anger!
Here Zhang Jingshan was, forsaking a bright and wonderful world to run off and engage in the drug trade with Ye Chen?
"Mommy, please don't scold Daddy, okay? Youyou is so scared!"
Her smiling face gone, Ye Youyou burst into tears.
"What do you mean?"