"Pfft, what are we even talking about? Calling us well-off just because we're eating shrimp? You, the big tycoon, spent over a hundred thousand in just two days out at sea. It makes me want to buy a boat and go fishing immediately, hahaha!"
"Yeah, and you've become a huge internet celebrity too," Chen He chimed in from the side.
Zhang Guifang gave Liang Minfeng a look. "Fishing? Just eat your food."
"Heh, in a few days, when everyone's taking a break, I'll take you all out on my boat for a couple of days. It's pretty awesome out at sea."
Chen He and the others immediately became interested, gathering around Li Haochen, chattering about what to prepare and what fishing rods to buy. The girls, like Ruan Shanshan, were also enthusiastic.
After chatting idly for a while longer, Li Haochen rode his electric bike to Binhai Plaza.
Having felt the agony of manual reeling during the past two days of fishing, he decided to buy one or two sets of electric reels to save energy and improve efficiency.
He arrived at a fishing tackle specialty store on the third floor. It was the same beautiful saleswoman as last time. After appreciating her beauty for a while, he stated his purpose.
"Miss, could you recommend a good electric reel for me? One with plenty of features."
The beautiful saleswoman talked for half an hour, mentioning brands like Daiwa and Shimano, with prices ranging from three to four thousand to tens of thousands. Fortunately, Li Haochen had strong willpower and wasn't fooled into buying a tens-of-thousands-dollar one. He wasn't going tuna fishing, so why bother with something so expensive? In the end, he settled on a Daiwa Seaborg 600MJ, which could reel in a 28kg fish and had excellent line capacity. He also added a fishing rod, a Dragon Constellation 2.1 400 with an electric reel seat.
"You have to spend money to make money."
Li Haochen gritted his teeth and bought two sets, along with a 300-meter spool of #5 and #8 main line. The total price of nearly twenty thousand made him tremble with heartache. Fortunately, the beautiful saleswoman gave him a 300-meter spool of #5 main line, a spool of #4 leader line, and some accessories, which somewhat cheered him up.
As he left the store, the beautiful saleswoman followed him with a beaming smile all the way, watching him leave before returning to the store. How could she not be happy? She had earned over a thousand in commission.
"Since I'm here, I might as well go up and take a look."
Li Haochen went down to the supermarket and bought a lot of fruit, then headed up to the top floor, to Yipin Stewed Meat.
It was past mealtime, and only a few customers were dining at Yipin Stewed Soup. It wasn't busy. Liu Zijun was sitting at the checkout counter, watching a Korean drama. The plot must have been very engaging, as her eyes were narrowed, and she was giggling non-stop.
"What's so funny!"
"Ah... Haochen, you're here. Where's Yanran?" Liu Zijun seemed a little excited to see Li Haochen. She even stopped watching the Korean drama, poured a cup of hot tea, and brought it out. "Alas, you're both busy people. It's hard to meet up now. Tell us, what's it like being an internet celebrity? Heh heh!"
"Uh...!"
Seeing Li Haochen's speechless expression, Liu Zijun also started laughing.
"How's business?"
A large influx of tourists had arrived in Binhai these past few days, and most businesses were making a fortune. Yipin Stewed Soup was no exception, and business was surprisingly good, with both meal times being incredibly busy.
"It's very good. If it stays this way, I might be able to buy an apartment by the end of the year, heh heh!"
"Oh... That's great! Congratulations, hehe!"
Li Haochen chatted with a few classmates for a while before leaving. When he reached the first floor, he suddenly spotted a familiar figure.
"Li Qianrong?"
Li Haochen thought he was mistaken. He moved closer and, upon closer inspection, confirmed it was her.
Li Haochen hesitated for a moment but decided to go over and say hello, as they had been classmates for several years in high school.
"Qianrong... Long time no see."
"Ah..." Li Qianrong seemed a bit taken aback by Li Haochen's appearance, her eyes flickering slightly. "Haochen, it has been a while. How have you been recently?"
Li Qianrong certainly knew about Li Haochen's recent activities. She just didn't know what to say, hence the question.
"I'm alright. How about you?" Li Haochen, struggling to find conversation, scratched his head awkwardly.
"I... I...!" Li Qianrong desperately wanted to say she wasn't doing well, but the words wouldn't come out. She sighed with a wry smile, but when she saw Li Haochen, a strange thought occurred to her.
"I broke up with him...!" She didn't know why she said it, and she was eagerly anticipating Li Haochen's response.
"Uh... so..."
"Qianrong, hurry over here and pour some tea for Mrs. Li!"
"Oh, coming." Li Qianrong responded, then turned to Li Haochen and said, "I'll get back to work then. Let's chat again when we have time!"
"Phew~"
Li Haochen felt as if he had been rescued because he truly didn't know what to say.
"I should at least say hello before leaving!"
Seeing Li Qianrong busy inside, Li Haochen felt it would be rude to leave immediately, so he wandered around inside on his own. A sales assistant did notice him, but because Li Haochen's attire was too ordinary, she didn't approach him.
Looking at the watches in the display cases, he inwardly exclaimed that he couldn't afford them. The prices ranged from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands, even millions.
As he looked, he was drawn to a ladies' watch. Its price wasn't very high, he simply liked it. It had a silver-plated matte dial with black Roman numeral hour markers and minute tracks, slender black 18k gold oxidized hands with openworked tips, and a baton-shaped small seconds hand. It was understated and elegant.
Li Haochen found himself staring at it, mesmerized.
"You like this one?"
"Oh, it's quite nice. Are you not busy anymore?"
"As you can see, I'm just an intern. My duties are to pour tea, serve water, and clean. Heh heh!" Li Qianrong's tone was clearly tinged with a bit of complaint, but there was nothing she could do. This was the reality for newcomers.
"Can I take a look?"
Li Qianrong didn't think much of it. She knew Li Haochen could afford this watch, and perhaps even one worth over a million. However, it wouldn't be her wearing it, which made her feel a pang of envy.
Li Qianrong went inside, put on gloves, and carefully took out the 1921 model.
Holding it in his hand, Li Haochen examined it. The actual watch looked much better than it did behind the thick bulletproof glass. He was overjoyed. Just as he was about to say something, he was startled by a sharp voice, nearly dropping the watch.
"Hey, what are you doing? Who allowed you to take out the watch?" A tall saleswoman quickly walked over, pointing at Li Qianrong and shouting angrily.
"Xin Jie, I... this customer wanted to look at this one..."
"What 'I'? You just let anyone look? Do you know what kind of place this is? Do you think anyone can just come and look? What if the watch falls or gets scratched? You'll be responsible!" Liu Yongxin shouted at Li Qianrong, but in essence, she was implying that Li Haochen was a poor bum who wouldn't spend money, so why bother. Of course, she was also unhappy with Li Qianrong because male customers paid more attention to her.
"Why the loud shouting? What kind of decorum is this? Don't you know there are distinguished guests here?"
"Manager!"