Chapter 59: The Past of Wei Lin

The next day.
November 15th, Friday.

Zhao Yuanqing skipped going to the company and drove to the provincial capital early in the morning, arriving at the Bentley dealership by nine o'clock.

After some bargaining with the salesperson, he secured a ready-stock Continental GT with all packages fully upgraded, whose order had been transferred from someone else. After discounts, the total price on the road exceeded four million.

At eleven, he received a call from Wei Lin and decisively liquidated the two stocks in his portfolio.

Purchased on October 21st, sold on November 15th.

In just 26 days, four million turned into fourteen million—a 2.5-fold return!

He paid a partial deposit first, and once the dealership transported the car over from another province, he would clear the remaining balance.

"Damn, this is so fucking exhilarating! Making money in the stock market is way faster than the old man's company!"

After swiping his card, Zhao Yuanqing dialed Wei Lin while on his way home: "What other stocks are performing amazingly? Let me know quickly; the cash in my hands is already burning a hole in my pocket!"

Wei Lin: "Get lost!"

...

That night, Linjiang City's most high-end restaurant—Pinyuan.

In a private dining room where the minimum consumption started at 800 per person.

Zhao Fulong, acting as the host, held a wine decanter in one hand while pulling Zhao Yuanqing with the other, making the rounds to propose toasts at various tables.

"This is my unfilial brat. Yuanqing, this is Uncle Qiu."

"Yuanqing, this is Uncle Fu."

"Yuanqing, greet Aunt Ling!"

Since he had already decided to hand over the company to Zhao Yuanqing as his successor, Zhao Fulong, being the father, naturally needed to pave the way in advance and introduce all his business partners.

"Hello, Uncle Qiu! Hello, Uncle Fu! Hello, Aunt Ling!"

Zhao Yuanqing nodded and bowed subserviently.

He cupped his wine glass with both hands, holding it exceptionally low, and drained the tiny cup of liquor with a wide smile.

Just like his old man, Zhao Yuanqing was naturally gifted with a high alcohol tolerance and possessed extraordinary social skills.

As he was about to finish making the rounds, his expression remained completely unchanged, handling everything with effortless ease.

"This is Uncle Ma, who works in finance."

"Back when our company was just starting out in the early years, your Uncle Ma was a tremendous help. In the future, you'll definitely have occasions where you need to ask for his help, so hurry up and offer him a proper toast."

Zhao Fulong led him to the very last person, smiling as he said, "Your Uncle Ma is renowned not only in our Linjiang City, but throughout the entire province, and even nationwide!"

"Uncle Ma, I toast you! Drink at your own pace, I'll finish mine!"

Zhao Yuanqing snatched the decanter his father was holding and gulped down the remaining drops of liquor in one breath.

"Old brother, investing in your company back then was one of my most correct decisions." Ma Yungui smiled faintly, stood up to drink a small cup himself, and said, "Yuanqing, come, the two of us should get closer in the future."

He poured a small cup for himself, then poured another for Zhao Yuanqing, and the two clinked glasses before finishing their drinks.

"Yuanqing, how much have you lost on those two stocks you bought?" Zhao Fulong deliberately brought this up to poke fun at his son, laughing as he said, "Instead of letting you idle away a few spare bucks, you might as well hand them over to Uncle Ma. In Linjiang City, I don't know how many people are begging Uncle Ma, desperately wanting to hand their money over to him to manage."

"Yuanqing, you dabble in stocks too?" Ma Yungui, wearing tortoiseshell glasses with sparse hair, asked with a smile resembling a schoolteacher.

"Uh, a good friend picked two stocks for me, and I've been playing around with them recently." Zhao Yuanqing beamed so brightly his brows lifted, and he said, "The car money my dad gave me got put into it. I just booked a Continental this morning, and there's still quite a bit left over."

"Oh?" Zhao Fulong was momentarily stunned, asking in surprise, "You booked it?"

Zhao Yuanqing nodded with a smile: "Booked!"

Ma Yungui was left speechless and asked, "Yuanqing, would it be convenient for me to take a look at your stock account?"

"Of course it's convenient!"

As if offering a priceless treasure, Zhao Yuanqing opened his stock trading account and showed him his recent transaction history.

"Bought on October 21st, sold this morning."

"26 days, 2.5 times!"

Ma Yungui stared at Zhao Yuanqing and let out a soft exclamation: "Tongxin Technology! Meijia Pharmaceuticals!"

Zhao Fulong was shocked and hurriedly leaned in to take a look, freezing immediately afterward: "Four million, 26 days, turned into fourteen million?"

"Can the stock market make money this easily?"

"In 26 days, it multiplied by 2.5!"

"Old Zhao, this son of yours is incredible!"

Everyone at the table was exclaiming in astonishment.

Ma Yungui stroked his chin, pondered for a moment, and asked, "Yuanqing, what's your friend's background? How many years has he been playing this game?"

Zhao Yuanqing didn't hide it and replied candidly, "He's been playing since college. Even I didn't expect him to be this formidable."

"If there's an opportunity, I'd like to meet him," Ma Yungui stated his stance.

"Uncle Ma, whenever you want to meet him, I'll set up the appointment. He's right here in Linjiang City," Zhao Yuanqing said cheerfully.

Since his good brother had caught Ma Yungui's eye, he shared in the glory and was more than happy to arrange a meeting between the two.

"No rush, no rush for now."

Ma Yungui waved his hand, knowing he had consumed quite a bit of alcohol today and his mind wasn't entirely clear. He planned to go back, ponder those two stocks carefully, and then decide.

When the banquet ended, on the way back, the father and son sat in the back row.

Zhao Fulong suddenly asked, "Which friend of yours is this?"

Knowing what his father was asking about, Zhao Yuanqing replied, "Wei Lin."

"The one who makes caps?" Zhao Fulong was taken aback.

"Mhm, that's him," Zhao Yuanqing nodded.

"That kid certainly has ability, though he's always been suppressed by Zhuang Dasheng's side. I really didn't expect..."

The business tycoon of Linjiang City wore a pensive look, truly remembering Wei Lin's name for the very first time.

...

Saturday, morning.

Linjiang University, basketball court.

Wei Lin was dominating the court.

Because Zhao Yuanqing had a business dinner last night and Wu Feiyu was away on a business trip, that basketball match hadn't happened.

Following the fourth round of life evolution, Wei Lin had a surge of raw physical strength with nowhere to vent. To show his appreciation for Lin Nanxi, he decimated her defenses and left her utterly defeated that very night.

On the second day, he came over to torment Lin Bo, Ni Yang, and their group.

"Brother Wei, did you specifically train your vertical jump?"

After failing to block a shot, Lin Bo watched helplessly as Wei Lin executed a powerful slam dunk. Landing heavily on the ground, he said dejectedly, "I remember when you were younger, you didn't have a leap like this, did you?"

"What do you mean 'when I was younger', am I old now?" Wei Lin grinned widely, glanced at the female college students gathered near the court, and said, "For some reason, I've really been enjoying playing basketball lately."

In the back of his mind, the affection value stood at 75/1000.

Among those points, 5 had been contributed by the underclasswomen watching him play, putting him in a state of high delight.

Whether it was at Feiyu Sports Center or the Linjiang University basketball court, as long as there were girls who loved watching basketball, he could harvest extra favorability through games.

Gathering little by little, it still added a substantial amount of affection value.

The underclasswomen in college were much simpler than the women outside. As long as a guy played basketball well and was handsome, they would very easily offer up their favorability.

"Brother Wei is not old at all! When it comes to men, someone like Brother Wei is the most charming!" Ni Yang showered him with extravagant flattery.

"Stop buttering me up, check the ball, let's keep going!"

Wei Lin passed the basketball to him.

...

Across the teaching building.

Mu Lanyan, who had come to the school for some business, stood by the window overlooking the basketball court, watching Wei Lin command the court and draw cheers and screams from several young girls.

"Such a show-off!"

The young teacher let out a soft huff.

Her time slots for going to Liker Fitness differed from Wei Lin's, and the two hadn't run into each other ever since that incident, yet she still held a grudge against Wei Lin for deleting her WeChat.

"Teacher Duan, is that guy playing basketball downstairs Teacher Wang's son?"

Teacher Mu asked deliberately.

"Indeed, that's Wei Lin."

Wearing thick prescription glasses, Duan Qinglong had already noticed Wei Lin earlier and smiled as he said, "This kid is a real character; he was an outlier back when he was in school."

With her back to him, Teacher Mu's pretty face was filled with curiosity: "How so?"

"He caused plenty of trouble while in school, yet his grades were exceptionally good. Back then, he loved playing basketball, played video games, and skipped classes from time to time, yet whenever exams rolled around, he was always near the top of the list."

Reminiscing about the past, Duan Qinglong slowly said, "In his junior year, a batch of transfer students from junior colleges arrived and stirred up trouble everywhere. The various factions of bad kids from our own school had been fighting each other for years before those transfers arrived, acting like a plate of scattered sand."

"Both sides fought a few battles in secret, and the transfer students always had the upper hand, leaving our school's guys suffering consecutive losses."

"It wasn't until Wei Lin's roommate got cut in front of and bullied by the transfer students in the cafeteria that this kid suddenly stepped out and rallied the school's various factions of bad boys into a single united front."

"I don't know the exact details, but I do know Wei Lin received a disciplinary demerit for fighting, though from that day on, those little transfer troublemakers quieted down."

Duan Qinglong smiled faintly and added, "Wei Lin also pulled off another stunt that made him famous across campus: during the campus Top Ten Singers competition, he confessed his feelings to a senior student right in front of all the teachers and students."

"Heh, his skin is thick enough, but that senior student had thin skin and ran away before he even finished singing."

At this, the elderly teacher chuckled to himself.

"Did the two of them end up together?"

Teacher Mu's curiosity peaked to the absolute limit.

"No." Duan Qinglong shook his head, pondering for a moment before saying, "I recall that seemed to be the only romance of Wei Lin's that didn't work out."

Teacher Mu expressed her shock: "All the others worked out?"

"Mhm." Duan Qinglong leaned closer, looking at Wei Lin as he leaped high to lay the ball up on the court, and said, "This kid has strong organizational skills, good grades, and is capable of fighting—he's the type who is well-versed in both orthodox and unorthodox paths."

Teacher Mu frowned: "Fighting?"

"He always stood up for others, unable to bear seeing his friends and roommates getting bullied. He never bullied anyone else himself," Duan Qinglong was quite certain of this, adding, "Teacher Wang's child won't have any flaws in his character."

Teacher Mu nodded inwardly, and after thinking for a while, she sent a message to Wang Suru asking, "Auntie Wang, did you cook today? Can I come over and have another free meal?"

...