Chapter 493: First Arrival

Birds were singing and flowers were fragrant, and a gentle breeze was blowing. The afternoon sun filtered through the branches and leaves of the green trees, casting swaying shadows on the ground.

"Mom, look at how nice the weather is today. You can't just stay cooped up at home all the time; you have to come out and walk around, exercise your body, so you can live to be a hundred."

The speaker was a middle-aged man. His short hair was slicked back meticulously, and he wore gold-rimmed glasses, a well-fitting grey casual suit, and brown brogue Oxford shoes. He was supporting an old lady who was dressed just as exquisitely. Her salt-and-pepper hair was coiled at the back of her head, a pinkish-white silk scarf was tied around her neck, a blue shawl was draped over her shoulders, and she wore a black-based, red-flowered embroidered cheongsam with small black leather shoes on her feet. Although the little old lady was thin, she looked elegant. This mother and son pair carried quite an air of refinement.

Supported by her son, the old lady smiled and said in a voice that was neither too high nor too low, "The weather is indeed nice today. Son, you can't just talk about me; you need to exercise too. Look at how big your belly has gotten."

The man looked at his belly and laughed heartily, "Mom, I'm getting on in years, I'm fifty now. It's normal to put on a little weight. You haven't seen my friends; they all look like they're five or six months along. Mine is just a little bit."

Hearing her son use pregnancy to describe a man's potbelly, the old lady laughed until her face disappeared.

To keep his mother happy, the man pointed to a bench not far ahead where a man in a casual suit with his hair parted to the side was sitting, crossing his legs and fiddling with his phone: "Mom, let's go sit there for a while."

"Alright," the old lady agreed readily.

After just a few steps, the man supported his mother over. He nodded politely to the man on the bench, then sat down to the side, enjoying the warm sun and the gentle breeze.

He turned his head to look around, and inadvertently, he saw the screen of the phone the younger man was fiddling with. He paused for a moment, then spoke up with a smile: "Investing in stocks? Are you looking at the Jingyan Group's stock?"

"I occasionally pay attention to the A-share market," Wang Yan responded with a smile.

He had just appeared in this park to soak up the sun. This park wasn't an unfamiliar place; it was Fuxing Park, where he had often come in his previous life. The "Living Father" (System) wouldn't make useless arrangements. This pair of mother and son beside him could be none other than Jiang Pengfei and his mother. It wasn't just this one bench; there were many others, but they were either occupied by other people or had children playing nearby. His spot was the quietest. After arriving, he had seen Jiang Pengfei walking toward him with his mother, so he had just kept fiddling with his phone. If Jiang Pengfei hadn't stopped in front of him or come over to sit, he would have found another excuse, like making a loud phone call nearby; there were always ways.

"Right, this thing requires constant attention," Jiang Pengfei was obsessed with stock trading; as soon as stocks were mentioned, he got excited: "Let me tell you, friend, the few stocks I've been watching recently..."

Wang Yan listened with a smile as Jiang Pengfei analyzed the stocks for him, talked about the national trends, and then went back to his track record from the past few years—in short, he had made a fortune. The old lady on the side listened to her son boasting, just shaking her head silently, her mind filled with the hundreds of millions in family wealth from the past.

After listening to Jiang Pengfei ramble on for a while, Wang Yan smiled and said, "Seeing how knowledgeable you are about stocks, and how both you and your mother are dressed so brightly and exude such an air of wealth, I imagine you must have made quite a lot in the stock market these past few years?"

... The remark hit the nail on the head. Jiang Pengfei smiled awkwardly, pretending to be humble as he waved his hand, "Not bad, not bad. Oh, right, we've been talking for so long, I still don't know what you do for a living? Looking at your elegant attire and articulate speech, where are you employed?"

"I run a private equity fund."

Wang Yan's answer was relatively low-key. For this identity, he was the boss of a private equity fund, with over twenty employees including managers and finance staff. Having this status was fitting for helping this old guy survive—whether he made money or not was one thing, but at least his words carried weight with Jiang Pengfei.

Jiang Pengfei paused, "Private equity? During market hours, why are you..."

"I'm the boss, after all. Naturally, I have fund managers handling the operations. They're all quite capable. Besides, I mainly focus on the international market, so I mostly work at night."

"It might be a bit presumptuous, but I still want to ask you two questions. What is the name of your private equity fund? And roughly how much capital do you manage?" Jiang Pengfei's attitude changed quickly; he dropped his posture, and the "friend" from a moment ago became a cautious "you" (polite form): "Of course, if it's inconvenient to say, it doesn't matter. I'm just curious."

Wang Yan smiled and shook his head, "There's nothing inconvenient about it. It can all be looked up; it's not a secret. My company is called Long Teng International Investment Management, and we manage over three billion. We can't compare to those hundred-billion-yuan private equity funds, we're just making a living."

"Excuse me," Jiang Pengfei controlled himself to keep from getting too excited. He took out his phone and started searching. After scrolling for a while and muttering about the data released at the end of the year showing a 53% return over three years, he looked up with wide eyes: "Are you the legal representative?"

Wang Yan nodded with a smile, "I am Wang Yan."

Jiang Pengfei's face turned red rapidly: "Oh my, I truly didn't recognize Mount Tai. Here I was, a small retail investor, showing off my meager skills in front of you. It's really..."

"Don't say that. I'm no Mount Tai. What you were saying just now—if you operated according to what you said, you should have made over a hundred million. You are the true expert. As the saying goes, 'the great hermit hides in the city.' The ancients didn't deceive me. I didn't expect that just because I was a bit tired from driving and wanted to rest in this park, I would run into a hidden expert like you."

"Ahem..." Jiang Pengfei had bragged a bit too much and found it hard to back down. He calmed himself and said, "Like you, working in private equity, do you have any insider information? Like, any connections with listed companies? Could you reveal a little bit to me? Don't worry, I definitely won't tell anyone. I promise."

Wang Yan waved his hand, "Where would I get insider information? Private equity sounds high-end, but the work we do is much the same as what you started analyzing for me. We do the same things. Besides, if there were insider information, that would involve insider trading, which is illegal and punishable by prison. Do you want to go in?"

Jiang Pengfei shook his head in disappointment. He just wanted to know the movements of some listed companies; he didn't think it was that serious. However, since the other party wasn't willing to say more, he didn't press the issue and instead asked, "Then what do you think of the stocks I mentioned just now?"

"Although I haven't paid much attention, based on my years of experience in the industry, you'd better clear your positions and run. The financial market is treacherous and ever-changing; one second you're making a fortune, and the next you're ruined. You're currently breaking even and aren't too deep in, so there's still time." Wang Yan stood up with a smile: "Brother, I have things to do, so I'll be going first. Goodbye."

Jiang Pengfei hurriedly called out, "Wait... Since we're so fated, I wonder if I could have your contact information? I'd like to treat you to a meal later so we can have a good chat."

Wang Yan thought for a moment and handed him a business card: "It really is fate. This is my business card; my phone number is on it."

Seeing him turn to leave, Jiang Pengfei stopped him again: "Wait... Let me ask one more presumptuous question. How old are you?"

"Since we're fated, let's not be so formal. Don't use the polite 'you' (nin); it feels awkward. Just call me Wang Yan. I'm twenty-nine this year." Wang Yan smiled: "You aren't thinking of setting me up on a date, are you? I am indeed still single."

Jiang Pengfei clapped his hands: "That's great! I have a daughter who is twenty-four and just graduated from graduate school. Do you have time in the next two days? I'll book a restaurant, invite you to dinner, and we can have a good chat about stocks. While we're at it, I'll introduce you to my daughter. You're both young people; it doesn't matter if it works out or not, it's good to get to know each other, right?"

"Haha, sounds good, sounds good. I'm free anytime; I'll wait for your call." Wang Yan waved his hand with a smile and turned to leave decisively.

Although Wang Yan didn't turn back, Jiang Pengfei still waved in his direction, grinning with a fawning expression that was truly unworthy of the air of wealth he and his mother exuded. He was truly obsessed with stock trading, and having coincidentally met a professional like Wang Yan, he just wanted to suck up to him.

The old lady on the side glared at him: "Have some dignity."

Jiang Pengfei didn't care. He crouched down in front of his mother: "Mom, you sit here for a while. I'm going to follow him and see what kind of car he drives, and I'll be right back. Don't wander off."

With that, he stood up and ran in the direction Wang Yan had disappeared. He followed cautiously all the way until he saw Wang Yan get into a brand-new S8 with an A-license plate and drive away smoothly. Only then did he let out a breath, take out the business card, and save the number into his phone by matching the digits one by one. Only then did he turn around and run back to find his mother.

The old lady still didn't look pleased; it was truly embarrassing. Jiang Pengfei supported her and said with a smile: "Mom, I'm doing this because I need his help. I saw what kind of car he drives just now. If I can build a good relationship with him, I can make a fortune and win back all the money I lost before. How about this, Mom? I promise you. Once I make money, I'll definitely buy back all the houses I sold."

"You just keep on causing trouble." The old lady smiled and shook her head. She knew her son was just saying that to coax her, and she fell for it every time. If she hadn't spoiled him, the family wouldn't have lost all those houses, successfully going from hundreds of millions in assets to just ten million.

Although Jiang Pengfei was a spendthrift who relied on his parents and lacked responsibility, his attitude toward his mother was impeccable. He coaxed her patiently with a smile as they walked home slowly...

Being followed, Wang Yan was naturally aware of it. He only needed to think for a second to know it was that old guy Jiang Pengfei. After all, he had just arrived, his identity wasn't complicated, and he wasn't involved in any trouble, so who would have nothing better to do than follow him? It had to be Jiang Pengfei, whom he had just met. He wanted to see what kind of car he drove and whether he had been bragging.

The start was quite good; they had met directly, which saved him the effort of trying to get close. Moreover, the old guy even wanted to introduce his daughter to him—that was great.

Speaking of which, the two women in this show were both acquaintances. He had truly experienced so much that now he could run into acquaintances anywhere, all of whom knew his depth.

Thinking about these messy things, he listened to the music in the car and headed toward the Bund Financial Center.

His strength was actually quite decent. After all, there were at least eight thousand private equity funds in the country. His company managed over three billion in assets, ranking in the top four hundred—not weak at all.

The office provided by the "Living Father" was in the Financial Center. With over twenty people in four hundred square meters, that was twenty square meters per person, which was very comfortable. By the window on one side, he could see the surging Huangpu River, which felt nice.

Relatively speaking, he actually had a few too many employees. After all, finance was a knowledge-intensive industry. Other private equity funds of the same scale only had ten or so people.

The world-famous stock god Buffett managed hundreds of billions of dollars—trillions of yuan—with only twenty-five people. That was as intensive as it got...

However, to be honest, Wang Yan didn't really like finance. After all these years, he had liked it at the beginning, but later he had played with real industry. Of course, not liking it was one thing, and playing with real industry was another; it didn't stop him from making money. Since it came easily, why not make it? And his financial ability, tempered over these years, had long since become master-level. He no longer relied on foresight; after all, the massive amount of money he threw into the market caused too much disruption, so it wouldn't follow the previous trends anyway.

Just like how he was looking at the Jingyan Group's stock, which naturally didn't exist in the real world. And the Jingyan Group itself had problems; it was a real estate company with its own design institute, taking on old city renovation projects. To realize its so-called humanistic ideals, it wanted to build community libraries as part of the renovation.

However, apart from the variable of the Jingyan Group, the listed companies and trends in the A-share market were largely the same as in the real world. It was the same abroad. Overall, it was fine; he didn't need to spend effort researching those things, just picking up money was quite pleasant.

Therefore, he gathered his fund managers and analysts for a meeting at the company to help them analyze the current market. Their 50%+ return over three years was quite a good performance. These people were capable enough and made plenty of money. Once he explained things, they understood, and they knew how to operate afterward. With over three billion spread across domestic and international markets, they didn't make any big waves, so picking up money was quite enjoyable.

After giving instructions, the lights were already shining brightly outside, and the "Ten-Mile Foreign Field" (Shanghai) revealed its true colors. Dismissing his employees, Wang Yan left the office building and found a restaurant to eat. While eating, he received a new contact request on WeChat—it was Jiang Pengfei. He accepted it, confirmed his identity, exchanged a few polite words, and that was it. He could imagine Jiang Pengfei on the other end of the phone, figuring out how to get closer to him.

After eating, he drove straight across the river. He didn't drive far before arriving at Tomson Riviera.

Speaking of which, he had been in Shanghai for many years, but this was his first time living in this place, which was famous on the internet. His apartment was on the 36th floor, a four-bedroom, two-living-room layout of over four hundred square meters; it was certainly spacious. The decoration style was consistently simple, with a standard large study, and it even hung some of the calligraphy and paintings he had created over the years.

It had to be said that the "Living Father" was quite good; the works included everything from when he first started dabbling in the art to his works from the previous world, selecting pieces from every period and letting him see his own past. In reality, he didn't know when those works had been created. Even with his ability to never forget, he had no interest in remembering such trivial matters, and besides, he didn't have a photographic memory.

This apartment cost about 200,000 per square meter. Based on the floor, the total price was estimated to be around 90 million. This was a true first-line river view, not the "first-line" view he saw in reality through the gaps between high-rise buildings in front.

On a whim, he wrote some calligraphy for a while, then lay down on a lounge chair on the large balcony in the living room. While enjoying the view of the Bund across the river, he took a hard drive out of his space, plugged it in, and looked at the various data inside, thinking about what he should bring out after getting married in the real world...

He fiddled around until nightfall, then stared at the night view of the magic city for a while. After washing up, he lay down on the soft, comfortable bed in the bedroom to sleep. This apartment was quite nice, it was just a bit lonely living alone...

The next day, his super biological clock, unchanged for hundreds of years, woke him up early. He put on sportswear and went downstairs. Although the residential complex was equipped with a clubhouse, gym, and heated swimming pool, he still went outside to run along the path by the Huangpu River. When he returned, he did go to the heated pool to splash around for two laps, and after eating breakfast, he returned home to wash up and change clothes, starting a day of having nothing to do.

He truly had no work. The plot characters had only had contact with Jiang Pengfei and his mother, and now there was no need for him to find someone to follow or investigate. So, he was just idle. Now, the main thing was waiting for Jiang Pengfei to contact him.

After he had written calligraphy all morning and sipped tea while reading a book for a while, the phone placed to the side rang. He picked it up, saw it was a local unknown number, and placed it to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Mr. Wang, this is April from Jingyan Group. We were in contact before."

"April?" This was an English name. Wang Yan went through the plot in his mind and locked onto a buxom woman with big wavy hair: "Oh~ April, the real estate sales agent from Jingyan, right?"

"Mr. Wang has a great memory, that's me." The buxom woman's voice came through the phone: "It's like this, Mr. Wang. I'm calling you today because we've just added a new batch of apartments at Jinxiu Dongjun Huafu in Xuhui. I thought if you have time, you could come and take a look. I know you aren't short on houses or money, but buying one as a fixed asset for value preservation is also very cost-effective if you rent it out. And our discounts this time are quite good; I really suggest you come and understand it on-site."

Wang Yan was silent for a few seconds before saying: "Sure, I have nothing to do today anyway, so it wouldn't hurt to go take a look with you. You name a time, and I'll go directly to the Jinxiu Dongjun Huafu sales office."

"Mr. Wang, it depends on your time; I'm available anytime."

"Then let's make it now."

"Alright, Mr. Wang, then I'll wait for you outside the Jinxiu Dongjun Huafu sales office."

"Okay."

Wang Yan hung up the phone decisively, packed away his tea set, took his car keys, drove out of the underground garage, navigated to the destination, and headed there...

Compared to the apartment in Lujiazui, this Jinxiu Dongjun Huafu certainly couldn't be called a luxury mansion, but even so, it was over 100,000 per square meter. A large bathroom here could buy a three-bedroom elevator apartment in his hometown.

Naturally, the sales office was quite atmospheric; after all, the facade relied on this thing. At the entrance of the sales office stood a woman with an oval face, big eyes, and long, big wavy hair. She was wearing a navy blue overcoat, a black tight skirt underneath, and black silk stockings. In the 10-degree temperature of Shanghai in April, it was just right—fashionable and beautiful. The only drawback was that her makeup was a bit heavy.

Wang Yan parked his car in the parking space in front of the sales office, got out of the car in his usual casual attire with his phone and car keys, and waved at April.

April naturally noticed him, and she had already walked forward a few steps to greet him. Seeing Wang Yan waving and confirming he was the right person, she smiled like a flower, swayed her waist, and reached out her hand from afar: "Hello, Mr. Wang, I'm April. You're even younger and more handsome than I imagined."

"Oh? Is that so?" Wang Yan smiled and shook her hand, letting go immediately: "Then what did you imagine I would look like?"

Wang Yan hung up the phone decisively, tidied up the tea set, took the car key and drove the car in the underground garage, navigated to the destination...

Compared to the house in Lujiazui, this Jinxiu Dongjun Huafu of course cannot be called a luxury house, but even so, it is more than 100,000 per square meter. A larger bathroom can buy a house in his hometown, and it has to be a three-room elevator villa.

Naturally, the sales office is atmospheric, after all, the facade depends on this thing. At the entrance of the sales office, stood a plump woman with a melon-seed face, big eyes, and long wavy hair. She was wearing a navy blue coat, with a black hip-hugging skirt inside, wearing black silk stockings, which was just right in the temperature of more than ten degrees in Shanghai in April, fashionable and beautiful. The only drawback was that the makeup was a bit heavy.

Wang Yan parked the car in the parking space in front of the sales office, got off the car with his phone and car key in his usual casual attire, and waved at April.

April of course noticed, and she had already greeted a few steps forward. Seeing Wang Yan waving, confirming that it was the right person, she twisted her waist with a smile like a flower, and reached out her hand from afar: "Hello, Mr. Wang, I am April, you are younger and more handsome than I imagined."

"Oh? Really?" Wang Yan smiled and shook hands with her, touching and withdrawing: "Then what did you imagine it to be like?"