At the start, I had to choose one of four options, and I immediately picked the Brahmin from the cou

"Brother Xiao, wait a minute. I don't know this place at all. What if I wander into something I shouldn't be in? Uncle Li would skin me alive!"

"Do you think my house is a den of dragons and tigers? Don't worry, there are security guards at the entrance to any place you're not allowed to enter. You can't get in."

Li Xiao's words only made Zheng Hao more uneasy. So there really were places in this garden that he couldn't enter? His mind instantly conjured up all sorts of secrets of wealthy families and scenes of shady meetings between powerful figures.

The more he thought about it, the more terrified he became. He dared not linger behind him any longer, taking small, quick steps to stay close to Li Xiao, fearing that he might go somewhere he shouldn't and be silenced.

As Zheng Hao walked through the winding corridor paved with imperial kiln bricks, his eyes couldn't take it all in. He was just like Grandma Liu, who had just entered the Grand View Garden, finding everything new and exciting.

Just take a Taihu stone used for landscaping by the roadside as an example. Its shape is unique, and it has all the characteristics of being thin, porous, and wrinkled.

His family also has one of these. His father spent nearly three million yuan to bring it back from Suzhou and puts it in the most conspicuous position in the lobby of his family's KTV. He boasts to everyone that it is an antique from the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Compared to this piece, his piece was practically an underdeveloped scrap.

"Brother Xiao, how much does this rock cost?"

Li Xiao stopped and glanced at the Taihu stone Deng Hao had mentioned. "You mean that Taihu stone? I don't know the exact price, but my dad mentioned it. Apparently, it was acquired from a dilapidated salt merchant's old house in Dongshan, Suzhou. It's an old stone from Emperor Huizong's Genyue Garden. It has a provenance and a history. The auction house's estimate for it is probably in the eight figures or higher."

"Eight... eight digits? Just this broken stone—" Zheng Hao stammered, quickly counting the tens, hundreds, thousands, and millions in his mind...

Before he could finish speaking, he swallowed the rest of his sentence back.

He suddenly remembered that he had made the same assessment of the gold brick in the winding corridor of Li Xiao's house, only to be proven wrong.

Li Xiao patted him on the shoulder, his tone carrying a hint of sympathy from someone who'd been there before, "Let's go, stop looking. You'd better not ask the price of everything in this garden, or you won't be able to sleep well tonight."

Zheng Hao nodded in deep agreement, forcibly pulling his gaze away from the seemingly randomly placed but actually valuable stones and ancient trees along the roadside.

The two passed through the last moon gate and came into view a vast pond of flowing water.

A mist swirls on the water's surface, and dozens of incredibly large, top-quality Taisho Sanshoku koi swim slowly beneath the water lily leaves. Their red, white, and black colors are pure and intense, clearly indicating their high value.

Zheng Hao swallowed hard, his eyes fixed straight ahead, like a young bride who had just arrived in the city, not daring to breathe too heavily, as if afraid that the carbon dioxide he exhaled would disturb the overwhelming atmosphere of wealth that filled the courtyard.

After passing the misty koi pond, you'll arrive at the waterside pavilion.

The room is open on three sides, with a bamboo curtain half-rolled up. An old copper bell hangs from the eaves, its tinkling sound breaking on the water's surface with a gentle breeze, exuding an indescribable air of nobility amidst the coolness.

Zheng Hao practically tiptoed into the waterside pavilion. He carefully pulled out a chair and only dared to sit down with half his buttocks on the edge. Li Xiao, on the other hand, was much more casual and sat down in the main seat very naturally.

Before long, a tea master dressed in a moon-white satin cheongsam stepped forward and poured hot tea for the two of them. The tea soup was clear and bright, with a wonderful aroma.

"Try it, this is a special pre-Qingming Longjing tea that my old man asked someone to get for me." Li Xiao picked up the teacup and took a small sip.

Zheng Hao picked up the thin, white porcelain cup, downed it in one gulp, smacked his lips, and said with a bitter face, "Brother Xiao, this tea is making me a little uneasy. But why isn't Fatty Zhou here yet? He's usually a quiet type, not much of a gossip, but he's never late. Could he have chickened out and stood us up?"

"What's the rush? You know his father, he's very strict."

Before Fatty Zhou left, Uncle Zhou would definitely call him into the study for a long lecture, emphasizing things like not causing trouble for others, not making promises lightly, and not drinking outside—three rules and eight points to note, and he wasn't allowed to leave until he had memorized them all.

Zheng Hao imagined Zhou Yanhuai standing in the study with a round belly, being scolded, and couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"So you should be grateful. Uncle Zhou has already given us a lot of face by letting his precious grandson out to partner with us."

Li Xiao put down his teacup, glanced around the three-sided open waterside pavilion, and the old copper bell on the eaves jingled twice in the wind. He turned his gaze back to Zheng Hao's face, which was still looking around. "If you can't sit still, go to the pond and count the koi."

"No, no, no, I can sit still. One of those ancestral vessels in the pool is enough to buy half of my KTV. I'm afraid if I look at them too much, they'll tarnish and I can't afford to pay for it." Zheng Haoqian chuckled twice, holding the white porcelain cup in both hands, and obediently huddled in the chair.

The two sat for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. Zheng Hao had refilled his white porcelain cup twice. Just as Zheng Hao couldn't hold back any longer and was about to take out his phone to call and urge them to hurry up, a series of slightly heavy footsteps finally came from the winding corridor with blue bricks outside.

Then, Guilan's manager led a large figure over.

At first glance, Fatty Zhou's outfit today is extremely low-key: a navy blue solid-color short-sleeved polo shirt paired with a pair of smoky gray casual trousers. He is clean and tidy from head to toe, and you can't even find a logo or print the size of a grain of rice.

Zheng Hao glanced at him, still wondering to himself, "Uncle Zhou is too strict. How come a kid from a prestigious compound is dressed like a retired cadre who took early due to illness? He looks too plain."

But Li Xiao, who had lived two lives, understood everything after only glancing at him for a moment.

The Zheng family started late and had the taste of nouveau riche who only recognized big gold chains and head-to-toe luxury brand logos, so naturally they couldn't see the intricacies of the business.

But Li Xiao is different. Although he was just an ordinary person in his previous life, he is quite different in this life, with all sorts of high-end custom-made items.

The polo shirt that Zhou Pangzi is wearing looks ordinary, without any logos, and at first glance it doesn't stand out. But the stitching at the shoulder and sleeve seams is so fine that a machine can't imitate it; it's hand-stitched, stitch by stitch.

The fabric is not ordinary cotton; it has a very restrained matte sheen in the afternoon light, a texture that only a blend of cashmere and silk can have.

His unassuming outfit, without any brand logos, could probably be worth several pairs of Zheng Hao's limited-edition sneakers.

The wisdom of not flaunting wealth within the system is perfectly embodied in this outfit.