A leisurely life starting in a bar after being reborn

After hanging up the phone, Fu Yan placed it on the stone table, leaned back in his wicker chair, and looked up at the grape trellis above him. At the end of March, it was still bare, but now the leaves had sprouted, a tender green, swaying gently in the night breeze.

Nearly 20 million was invested today. Cai Yunfei thought the amount was large, but Fu Yan didn't—this amount was just pocket money to him. What truly made him happy wasn't how much money was spent, but that it was spent on the right people.

Wu Jing's "Wolf Fang" is about making friends and betting on the future.

Liu Jiang's "Setting Off Today" is a gamble on a good story.

I bet Cao Baoping and Deng Chao's "The Equation of Love and Death" is a good movie.

Three investments, three different logics, but they all have one thing in common—he had heard about, seen, or knew the outcome of each in his previous life. The greatest advantage of a time traveler isn't money, it's information. And the greatest value of information isn't used to make money, but to avoid making mistakes, and it's also a way to preserve the value of money.

The gate rang; Xu Wenshu had returned. Fu Yan could now recognize her footsteps, stood up from the wicker chair, and walked towards the gate.

"How was your day?" Xu Wenshu asked as she changed her shoes.

"I invested in three movies at once."

"Another movie?" Xu Wenshu looked up at him. "Are you opening a bar or a film production company?"

"Running a bar is my main job, investing in movies is a side job, it's all just for fun." Fu Yan went over to help her with her bag. "Are you hungry? Sister Zhou left some food for you."

"I'm starving, I've been recording all day."

The two walked towards the main house. Fu Yan followed behind, watching Xu Wenshu's back, when he suddenly remembered something—he had promised to buy her a car, but he hadn't done it yet.

I'll ask Zhao Gang tomorrow.

……

Fu Yan had been putting off buying Xu Wenshu a car for quite some time.

Every time she remembers, it's either because something's up or she's forgotten. Xu Wenshu doesn't urge her; she just likes cars, but she doesn't really care whether she drives them or not.

She would occasionally show a bit of interest, then give Fu Yan the look she gave a heartless man, which was more effective than a death knell.

Finally having some free time today, Fu Yan dragged Zhao Gang out the door.

The principles are clear—practical and beautiful. That's all. For women, a car's performance, specifications, and features are all unimportant; as long as it looks good, everything else can be ignored.

I went to several dealerships and looked at quite a few models. Xu Wenshu would probably like the MINI Cooper; it's round and quite cute. But Fu Yan thought it was pretentious, like driving a tank while wearing a princess dress—it didn't suit her at all. The Beetle was the same; the design was nice, but it felt cramped inside, and the back seats were basically just for show.

Zhao Gang chimed in from the side, "Mr. Fu, how about we take a look at SUVs?"

"She can't drive anything too big. She drives the 599 like a tractor. Giving her a big SUV would be even worse."

Zhao Gang fell silent.

Finally, the two went to a parallel import car store. Fu Yan went in and glanced at the cars, and his eyes lit up.

A row of cars was parked in the showroom, with two side by side in the middle—a red Mercedes-Benz C-Class and a white Audi A4. Both were sports versions, with larger wheels and a more energetic front end than the regular versions. Most importantly, the colors were perfect. The red wasn't a tacky bright red, but a darker vermilion red, understated yet eye-catching; the white wasn't a stark white, but a warm white with a pearly sheen, shimmering softly in the sunlight.

"What's the price of these two cars?"

The salesperson came over and quoted a price: the Mercedes-Benz C-Class is about 20,000 to 30,000 yuan more expensive than the Audi A4, but the difference isn't that big.

Fu Yan walked around the two cars, then opened the door and sat down for a while. The Mercedes-Benz C-Class had a more refined interior than the A4, with better seat support and a nice-feeling steering wheel. The A4, however, excelled in handling; its steering wheel was lighter than the Mercedes-Benz's, making it more driver-friendly for beginners.

"Okay, these two will do." Fu Yan got out of the car. "The red Mercedes is for Xu Wenshu, and the white Audi is for Fu Xiao."

Zhao Gang, standing nearby, added, "Mr. Fu, doesn't your sister not have a driver's license yet?"

"I think so? Oh well, whatever. Even if she doesn't have a license, I'll just buy it and keep it until she passes the test."

Fu Yan swiped his card and gave the car dealership Xu Wenshu and Fu Xiao's ID information. The dealership would handle the rest of the procedures, and they would just have to wait for notification to pick up the cars. The two cars were only 10,000 to 20,000 yuan more expensive, which wasn't unfair—although Fu Yan felt it couldn't be completely fair, since it was impossible to buy two identical cars just to maintain balance.

But once it's bought, it's bought, and nobody's allowed to have any objections.

-

Back at the courtyard house in the afternoon, Fu Yan continued to lie there like a corpse.

He was half-reclining on the sofa in the living room, one leg propped up on the armrest, scrolling through news on his phone. His eyelids started to droop as he scrolled. Sunlight streamed in through the window, warm and inviting. Aunt Zhou was tidying up in the kitchen, the occasional clinking of dishes adding to the soporific effect.

Just as he was half asleep and half awake, a voice entered his ear.

"Meow……"

It's very fine and soft, like scratching silk with the tip of a fingernail.

Fu Yan opened her eyes, thinking she had misheard.

"Meow……"

Another sound came.

He looked up and towards the direction of the sound—under the grape trellis, a kitten was crouching.

It's so small, probably only a little bigger than Fu Yan's palm. It has orange fur all over its body, a small white patch on its belly, two ears that are perked up, and round eyes that are tilting their heads to look at Fu Yan.

The kitten wasn't afraid of people; it just squatted there, its tail tip twitching as if it was assessing whether the yard was big enough for it to live in.

Fu Yan immediately perked up.

He had wanted a cat since he was a child, but his family wouldn't allow it—his mother said cats shed, his father said cats scratched the sofa, and they just wouldn't let him have one. Later, he went abroad and lived in an apartment in New York, where he could have a cat, but with his lifestyle, constantly traveling for work, he couldn't even take care of himself, let alone a cat.

Now it's great, we have our own yard and we can make our own decisions.

Fu Yan slowly sat up from the sofa, trying not to make a sound, afraid of startling the little one. He bent over and moved step by step towards the grape trellis, gently coaxing, "Come here, come here, don't be afraid, don't be afraid, little Mimi..."

I had just reached out my hand, and before I could even touch the cat's fur, the gate rang.

With a creak, the door opened a crack, and a small figure squeezed in.

It was a little boy, somewhat resembling someone from Xinjiang, about three or four years old. He was wearing a blue and white striped onesie and little slippers that made a clattering sound as he walked. He went straight for the grape trellis as soon as he entered, his goal clear, completely oblivious to the fact that Fu Yan was squatting nearby.

Then, before the kitten could react, the little boy bent down and picked it up—two fingers pinching the scruff of the kitten's neck, its four paws flailing in the air, meowing loudly.

The little boy hugged the cat to his chest, turned around and walked away, staggering like a little penguin that had just learned to walk.

Fu Yan froze on the spot.

What's going on? The cat he wanted in his yard, and some tiny little thing just showed up and snatched it away? What kind of tactic is this? Is it some kind of tiny robber?

After a brief three-second mental freeze, Fu Yan finally came to his senses, got up, and chased after the girl.