We agreed not to date, so why are you crying now that I've become the richest man?

The underground parking garage was dimly lit. Ye Chen opened the car door and sat in the driver's seat of the Mercedes-Benz S600, casually taking out his phone to log into his personal online banking account.

The 40 million yuan loan previously made in my personal name to Xingchen Interactive in compliance with regulations, after deducting the 1.6 million yuan used to purchase Nanyang Boshi Xinju, the initial rental and franchise fees for Xia Shiqing's coffee shop, the 1 million yuan reserve fund, and miscellaneous expenses, plus the money remaining in my original card, currently leaves more than 35 million yuan in cash in my current account.

Not to mention that in Standard Chartered Bank's offshore accounts, in addition to hundreds of millions of US dollars in positions in US stock giants and futures built in batches, there is also a cash safety cushion of 200 million US dollars to back up at any time.

After confirming the account balance, Ye Chen put away his phone and dialed Xia Shiqing's number.

The phone was answered after two rings, and immediately the ear-piercing roar of an electric drill and the clanging of a hammer hitting a wall came through the receiver.

"Feed? Ye Chen!"

Xia Shiqing's voice rose eight octaves, accompanied by the sound of her hurried footsteps in the background.

After a few seconds, the surrounding noise subsided a bit, and she walked onto the sidewalk outside the shop, her breathing slightly labored.

"Why are you calling me at this hour? Don't you have classes this afternoon?"

"I just finished dealing with company matters and have nothing to do."

Ye Chen pressed the ignition button, and the twelve-cylinder engine emitted a deep and steady roar.

"Are you overseeing the renovations at the Gubei store?"

"Yes, the plumbers came in to cut the trenches today, and Tongtong and I are here checking the water supply and drainage positions for the bar counter." Xia Shiqing's tone was full of enthusiasm. "The workers are quite efficient. Do you want to come and take a look?"

"I'm already in the garage, I'll be there in half an hour."

After hanging up the phone, Ye Chen drove out of Zhangjiang Integrated Circuit Port with one hand on the steering wheel and merged into the traffic heading to Puxi.

At 4:40 p.m., the black Mercedes-Benz S600 smoothly stopped in a roadside parking space at the corner of the Gubei Golden Corner shops.

Construction barriers have been erected around the two-story high glass curtain wall, and the door is wide open, emitting a smell of cement dust.

Ye Chen pushed open the door and went inside. The floor was covered with a dustproof plastic sheet, and several workers wearing safety helmets were busy working, pushing wheelbarrows to transport broken bricks out.

In the center of the hall, Xia Shiqing had her long hair tied up in a high ponytail. She was wearing a faded old denim jacket and flat canvas shoes. She was half-squatting on the ground, holding a blueprint in one hand and a five-meter-long yellow tape measure in the other, carefully comparing the curvature of the roundabout bar counter.

Zhou Tong stood next to her, holding a hardcover accounting book in her arms and a pen tucked behind her ear, loudly counting the number of pipes with the pipe deliveryman.

The two girls, who were originally glamorous, now had white dust on their noses and trouser legs, but they didn't look spoiled at all.

Xia Shiqing was checking the measurements when she looked up and saw Ye Chen walk in. He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, leaving a faint white mark, but his eyes shone with an astonishing brightness.

"You're here! Come and see, this is the bar counter ink line that just popped up today. As you mentioned before, we made a double-flow opening, so the food preparation and cashier functions will definitely not interfere with each other in the future."

Upon hearing this, Ye Chen looked in the direction she pointed, without making a sound to disturb the workers around him, and simply walked around the first-floor lobby and the second-floor staircase carefully.

The water and electricity trenches on the ground were straight and level, with rounded transitions at all corners. The steel reinforcement protective layer of the load-bearing wall on the second floor was also sealed tightly. The construction was neat and orderly, showing how closely Xia Shiqing had been supervising the work these past few days.

"Well done, the water and electricity lines are very neatly laid out, even faster than I expected." Ye Chen turned around and sincerely praised him.

Upon hearing the praise, Xia Shiqing's lips curved into a smile, and she snapped away the measuring tape in her hand.

At this moment, Zhou Tong finished checking the last bundle of water pipes, looked Ye Chen up and down several times while holding the ledger, and then leaned over with a smile to tease him:

"Hey, Boss Ye, do you remember me?"

Ye Chen looked at the speck of ash on the tip of her nose and chuckled, "I remember, Zhou Tong."

"Oh my, I didn't expect you to actually remember me!" Zhou Tong raised an eyebrow and joked, "I thought you had long forgotten about us little people by now."

"Shiqing's best friend, and a stunning beauty at that, how could I forget her?" Ye Chen teased casually.

Zhou Tong was coaxed into smiling, and most of her previous fatigue disappeared. She then sat down on the wooden crate next to her, rubbing her calves and pouring out her grievances.

"My goodness, you may be sweet-talking, but at least I can finally catch my breath today!"

"Boss Ye, you have no idea how we got here this morning! We rushed to squeeze onto Line 2 at 7:30 to transfer to Line 10, and the crowds were so dense I almost had my breakfast dumplings squeezed out of the subway!"

"Besides, in this godforsaken place like Gubei, it's impossible to hail a taxi during rush hour. Even if you do manage to, the taxi fare alone would be enough to make you drink a lot of money just by running back and forth between the hardware market and the building materials market every day. If we keep doing this for another month, before the coffee shop even opens, my legs and Shiqing's will be in the orthopedics department."

"Tongtong, don't talk nonsense, taking the subway is quite fast..." Xia Shiqing, who was shy, reached out and tugged at her best friend's sleeve.

Seeing this, Ye Chen ignored Xia Shiqing's obstruction and reached out to grab her wrist.

Her once fair and slender fingers were now covered in a ring of dark cement dust, and there was a small cut under her nail.

Ye Chen took out a tissue and bent down to wipe the dust off her fingers little by little.

Xia Shiqing used to be a top salesperson at a Mercedes-Benz 4S store. She not only obtained her driver's license long ago, but also had better driving skills than many experienced drivers when taking customers for test drives and moving cars.

Now she's the owner of this 700-square-meter flagship coffee shop, managing millions of dollars worth of renovations and inventory. It's really outrageous that she squeezes onto the subway during rush hour every day with office workers.

"Put away the measuring tape. That's all for today. Time to go home."

Ye Chen took the measuring tape directly from Xia Shiqing's hand and casually tossed it into the toolbox in Zhou Tong's arms.

"Huh? It's only 4:50. The workers don't finish until 5:30..." Xia Shiqing was taken aback.

"Everything that needs to be explained has been explained clearly; it won't take another half hour."

Ye Chen took her hand and walked towards the door, saying to Zhou Tong without turning his head, "Close the door, I'll take you to buy a car."

Upon hearing that she wanted to buy a car, Xia Shiqing froze in place and grabbed Ye Chen's sleeve.

"No! Ye Chen, you really don't need to buy a car!"

She lowered her voice and said urgently, "We've already invested a lot of money in this shop, and I still have the million you gave me as a reserve fund in my account. How can I spend money to buy a car?"

"I find the subway very convenient. Besides, if I really need to run a building materials business, I'll save up my own money to buy a regular Volkswagen Polo for around 100,000 yuan once the coffee shop opens and becomes profitable. I can't let you pay for everything."

Seeing her earnest expression as she tried to save him money, Ye Chen raised his other hand and pinched her slightly dusty cheek, silencing her from saying anything more.

"Mr. Xia, the owner of the 700-square-meter flagship store in Gubei, drove a Volkswagen worth only 100,000 yuan to the headquarters for a routine meeting and to compete for support resources. The headquarters and other franchisees thought that our store's cash flow was about to run out."

Ye Chen took the opportunity to put his arm around her shoulder and half-pushed her out of the shop.

"The car is bought and is kept in the store. It's considered a fixed asset for daily operations. It's not only for your transportation, but also to enhance the image of our Xingqing Coffee. This is my decision, and you can't disagree."

Zhou Tong, who was standing on the steps locking the door with a large iron padlock, dropped her keychain onto her foot with a clatter after hearing these words.

She bent down to pick up the keys, looking at the young man in front of her who was dressed casually but talked about spending hundreds of thousands of dollars as if it were just buying a head of cabbage, and then at Xia Shiqing, who was being held in his arms, her ears red but her eyes full of affection.

Zhou Tong raised her left hand and pinched her inner thigh hard through her jeans.

Ouch—that really hurts!

She clutched the ledger to her chest and jogged to catch up with the two of them, her mind filled with only one thought: What galaxy did that brat Xia Shiqing save in her past life?!

The three walked to the roadside. Ye Chen opened the passenger door and let Xia Shiqing get in, while Zhou Tong, familiar with the place, climbed into the spacious back seat.

The Mercedes started smoothly and drove out of Gubei Road.

Looking at the street scene outside the window, Xia Shiqing realized that the car had passed the road to the Volkswagen 4S store. She turned on the turn signal at the intersection and stepped on the gas to turn directly into the luxury car brand cluster area on Wuzhong Road.

Zhou Tong, sitting in the back seat, peered out the car window, her breathing quickening as she watched the Audi, Porsche, and BMW showrooms flash by on the roadside.

Ye Chen glanced at Zhou Tong's naive and unsophisticated look through the rearview mirror, turned the steering wheel to the right, and slid the car into a large parking lot of a BMW authorized dealership.