Chapter 20
The door to the lounge suddenly opened, and a pure and beautiful girl walked in. “Brother, how do I look? Do I look good?”
Guo Yan donned sportswear that perfectly showcased her youthful charm. Standing at 1.6 meters tall with an impeccable figure, she momentarily took Zhou Chao’s breath away.
“You look great, really great. Pick a few more outfits,” Zhou Chao replied.
“I’ve already chosen three sets. Do you want to take a look?” The store manager, who followed Guo Yan into the lounge, said.
“No need, I trust your taste. Let’s go, I’ll pay directly,” Zhou Chao said as he stood up from the sofa.
Following the store manager to the checkout counter, Zhou Chao handed over his credit card. “Mr. Zhou, the total comes to 56,789 yuan, after the discount, it’s 49,999 yuan. Here’s the receipt for your reference.”
“Just swipe it, no need to look,” Zhou Chao waved his hand.
After completing the payment, Zhou Chao left the Armani store with Guo Yan. Checking the time, it was already past 5 o’clock. It was time for dinner, so Zhou Chao suggested, “Let’s find somewhere to eat outside.”
Zhou Chao and Guo Yan found a Western restaurant in the IFC Guojin Center and ordered two steaks and a fruit salad. After finishing their meal, they walked out of the mall, and it was already dark outside.
Upon returning home, Zhou Chao went straight to his study, turned on his computer, and logged into DouShark. He saw that Ah Tuan and Hei Pi were both live streaming. He entered Ah Tuan’s live stream, where Ah Tuan was playing Mahjong. Reading the barrage of comments from viewers, Zhou Chao quickly understood what was going on.
Ah Tuan, nicknamed “Fraudulent Ah Tuan,” had just donated 100,000 diamonds to Mahjong in front of his viewers. Watching Ah Tuan lose in the final round, Zhou Chao’s temples throbbed with annoyance.
He swiftly switched to Hei Pi’s live stream. As soon as he entered, he heard, “Welcome, Half_a_Lifetime_of_Drifting, does Boss Drifting want to play a game together?”
“Sure, what game do you want to play?”
“Don’t Starve Together, how about we go sailing? Have you played it before?”
“Sure, I’ve played a few times, but I’m not very good.”
“Log in, log in.”
The two of them played Don’t Starve Together until almost midnight, and then Zhou Chao exited the game.
From a beginner at the start to a confident and skillful player as a Werewolf later on, he thoroughly enjoyed several hours of gaming.
In the blink of an eye, more than ten days had passed. During these ten days, Zhou Chao took Guo Yan out to play every day. They visited the Oriental Pearl Tower, the Bund, Chenghuang Temple, Modu Xintiandi, and Modu Wildlife Park. Zhou Chao experienced firsthand the horror of shopping with a woman.
At night, Zhou Chao lay in bed, unable to contain his excitement. The system upgrade would be completed tomorrow, and he wondered what the system would be like after the upgrade. With anticipation, Zhou Chao gradually fell asleep.
The next morning, Zhou Chao woke up early and half-lay on the sun lounger on the outdoor viewing terrace, gazing into the distance.
“Ding, system upgrade successful,” a crisp voice rang in his mind.
“System, what new features are available after the upgrade?”
“Host, after the system upgrade, you can check in autonomously. The longer the accumulated check-in time, the more valuable the check-in rewards. Additionally, you now have access to the system’s warehouse. Items obtained through check-in will be directly stored in the warehouse, excluding skill and knowledge-related items.”
“Congratulations, Host, on receiving a major upgrade gift package. Would you like to open it?”
Upon hearing this, Zhou Chao’s excitement made him stand up from the sun lounger.
“System, open the gift package.”
“Congratulations, Host, on receiving the Corporate Shares Gift Package, Luxury Car Gift Package, an Italian Riva 50M Race Super Yacht, 1 billion in cash, and a Sky Moon Tourbillon Ref 6002.”
Zhou Chao held onto the railing of the terrace tightly, his heart overwhelmed with joy. Setting aside the other gift packages for a moment, just the luxury yacht and 1 billion in cash already filled Zhou Chao with excitement.
After calming himself down, Zhou Chao said, “System, open the gift package.”
“Opening the Corporate Shares Gift Package. Congratulations, Host, on receiving a 3% stake in Tencent and a 3% stake in Ali Group.”
“Opening the Luxury Car Gift Package. The cars are parked in the underground garage. Please check.”
Zhou Chao collapsed onto the sun lounger, trying to digest the overwhelming impact brought by the system. The sudden massive wealth had engulfed him. Zhou Chao took a deep breath, attempting to alleviate the shock in his heart.
Tencent and Ali Group had a combined market value of nearly 6 trillion yuan. With a 3% stake in each, Zhou Chao’s shares were worth 180 billion yuan, instantly propelling him onto the domestic rich list.
“System, I hope this won’t attract attention from the authorities.”
“Host, please rest assured. The share transactions are legitimate, and the relevant information has been sent to you.”
Zhou Chao received the relevant information and rubbed his slightly weak legs. His phone rang, displaying a number from Peng City. After a brief moment of thought, Zhou Chao knew what it was about.
“Hello, Mr. Zhou Chao,” a magnetic voice greeted him, exuding a charm that made one unconsciously want to get closer.
Upon hearing the voice that he had previously only heard online, Zhou Chao couldn’t contain his excitement and blurted out, “CEO Teng, could you please arrange the full set of skins from League of Legends for me?” After uttering these words, both of them were momentarily stunned. Then Zhou Chao heard laughter from the other side, “Director Zhou, you truly are an accomplished young talent. Silently and effortlessly, you have become the second-largest individual shareholder of Tencent Holdings. Moreover, you directly acquired the shares from the Naspers Group of South Africa. It seems that your capabilities are quite impressive.”
Upon hearing this, Zhou Chao understood that Tencent Holdings would definitely investigate the matter and look into the background of its newly appointed shareholder. Following the guidance of the system, Zhou Chao responded, “CEO Teng, you don’t need to worry too much about me or the people behind me having ulterior motives. It’s purely an investment. The group is under your control, and I’m just waiting for the dividends. You don’t need to invite me to attend shareholder meetings or year-end events in the future.”
After a moment of silence, CEO Teng and Zhou Chao engaged in casual conversation. CEO Teng extended an invitation to Zhou Chao, inviting him to visit Peng City whenever he had the opportunity. Zhou Chao gladly accepted the invitation, although the exact timing was not yet determined.
With a pleasant conclusion to their call, Zhou Chao let out a sigh of relief. However, the phone rang once again, this time from Hang City. Zhou Chao smiled knowingly and answered the call.
“Hello, Weathy Ma,” Zhou Chao blurted out.
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone before the person finally spoke, “Mr. Zhou, you have quite the character.”
“Hahaha, President Ma, I apologize. As a fan of yours, I couldn’t help but be a little excited when meeting an idol. Please forgive me.”
“Hahaha, it is also my honor to be your idol, Mr. Zhou.”
“I believe President Ma should understand my situation. We are only investors without any ulterior motives,” Zhou Chao reiterated what he had just said to CEO Teng, emphasizing their pure intention of investment.
“Mr. Zhou, whenever you have the chance, please come to Hang City. I would love to meet and have a chat,” President Ma expressed. Recognizing that Zhou Chao’s ability to directly acquire shares from the largest shareholder of Ali Group indicated his significant influence, President Ma extended a gracious invitation for Zhou Chao to visit Hang City as an esteemed guest.
“President Ma, if I have the chance to visit Hang City, I will definitely come to pay you a visit,” Zhou Chao replied.