Reaching the age of thirty, my income randomly doubled-Chapter 894 - 673: May Day Mini Break

The May Day holiday is just around the corner.

Chen An’an was in her dorm room arduously studying math formulas, even tying a red headband reading "work hard, harder, and harder still" across her forehead.

The ritualistic vibe was strong, but she barely lasted three minutes before she felt sleepy enough to nod off.

That was until the other girls in the dorm returned, and one of them asked her,

"An’an, I noticed a guy from the class next door often sneaking glances at you. Do you think he likes you?"

"No way! Who would dare like An’an? She’s famous for being a fighter."

"So what if she can fight? It’s not a flaw or anything; just look at how gorgeous An’an is."

"Oh, shut it... Don’t talk to me about stuff like that. Who would be dumb enough to date in high school? Such pointless drama."

Chen An’an got up again, hugged her book, and pretended to study for another two minutes. But as her eyelids drooped, she pinched herself hard on her thigh.

"Don’t you guys need to study? Do you even plan to get into a good college?"

"Of course, we do! But working hard in class is enough. There’s no need to stress yourself out during free time too."

Fine… With a natural inclination more for effort than for brilliance, Chen An’an couldn’t come up with any better solution.

If you’re tired, sleep. Maybe you’ll wake up and suddenly understand everything.

The phone in her pocket rang. It turned out it was her mom calling.

Her mom informed her to prepare for a trip to Capital City during the May Day holiday to attend her cousin’s wedding banquet.

Her cousin was marrying a woman from out of town. While his own salary was modest—just five or six thousand a month—the out-of-town bride was impressive.

Her monthly salary was easily three or four times that, a typical case of high education and good career.

If you ask why she’d be interested in the cousin, the answer is simple.

Just like the locals in Magic City: finding an out-of-town bride is as easy as picking from a big pile.

Even if their own earnings are fairly ordinary, it doesn’t matter.

The advantages of being born in a big city are that evident; an ordinary person might spend their entire life trying to bridge such geographic gaps.

Chen An’an had gotten used to it. Her family didn’t have the best relationships with their relatives in Capital City.

Only in cases of weddings or funerals would they attend.

This was no different. It had been quite a while since she last went to Capital City.

Thinking about it brought a hint of anticipation—perhaps she’d study in Capital City for college.

Out of the three little ones in the family, Song Yanxi had decided not to bring everyone to Capital City—just the spoiled brat would tag along.

When the May Day holiday arrived, Song Yanxi took her along to Capital City, accompanied by Grandma Liu Fen and Aunt Song Wu.

Aunt Song Wu didn’t plan to ever get married now. Even though Chen Pingsheng had introduced her to reliable prospects, she refused to let marriage tie her down.

She could date whoever she wanted, but marriage? Absolutely not.

Watching other people get married didn’t affect her much—she was the type to enter the fortress of marriage once and never want to step inside again.

Liu Fen hadn’t been back to Capital City for some time. This visit felt like a triumphant homecoming.

It was all thanks to her son-in-law. Unfortunately, Chen Pingsheng didn’t come; he didn’t have time.

Relatives in Capital City used to be quite frustrating, but since her family moved to Magic City and thrived there, these Liu family relatives had quieted down.

Whenever there were even minor matters, they’d make sure to inform Liu Fen.

The saying is true: wealth in a remote location brings relatives from afar.

Getting married in big cities isn’t difficult. If you can’t find a suitable local girl, there are plenty of eager out-of-town brides lining up to squeeze in.

Whether it’s Capital City, Magic City, or Greater Guangdong, traditionally these places still prefer local girls to out-of-town ones.

Every time Liu Fen returns, she’s surrounded by relatives asking, "What’s your son-in-law investing in nowadays? What stocks has he bought?" frёeweɓηovel.coɱ

When Liu Fen answers these questions, her chin is held high.

Her son-in-law’s every move is under scrutiny, not only by outsiders but also by those very relatives.

The main reason is his remarkable success in stock trading over the past seven to eight years, earning fortunes beyond imagination.

Even Liu Fen, who followed along buying stocks, reaped similar rewards. Though her fortune isn’t massive, she can easily pull out a billion or two.

Every bit of it came from riding the family’s investment wave.

With such achievements, how could she not be proud?

In contrast, Chen An’an disliked flaunting their wealth, particularly in front of the Capital City relatives.

Back when her dad didn’t have money, these relatives were unbearably pragmatic.

But once he had wealth, they all transformed into sycophants.

Chen An’an simply had one meal in Capital City and, afterward, went with Song Yanxi to their old big Siheyuan.

That sprawling courtyard barely saw residents throughout the year. It was bought for two billion, with another billion-plus spent on renovations.

Now, you wouldn’t dare to even think about it without seven or eight billion.

This is what wealth looks like—houses everywhere, many of them occupied by caretakers year-round.

...

Er Piya didn’t follow her sister to Capital City for the wedding banquet. She had a blast during the May Day holiday.

She invited a large group of classmates over to fish, displaying bold imagination. Fishing on the rooftop wasn’t enough; she decided to build a winter-warm, summer-cooled fishing dock right in the middle of the lake.

This is the fun of being rich. After reporting briefly to the family, she hired a designer to plan and build her dream lake-center fishing dock.

Chen Pingsheng didn’t interfere—it was just a trivial matter.

The days passed leisurely, and suddenly it was mid-May.

The executive class delivered two pieces of bad news: one was about a real estate developer, Liu Hai, who had just formally declared bankruptcy.

Getting through the bankruptcy process was a feat in itself.

In recent years, many small real estate developers in the country couldn’t stand their ground; it’s just that their failures hadn’t been exposed.

This was to avoid stirring up negative sentiments, obviously.

He wasn’t the only one to go bankrupt—among the real estate developers Chen Pingsheng had known, eight out of ten couldn’t hold on.

Such was the case in real estate, and the same held true for the tech industry.

The glorious era of real estate and the golden days of mobile internet were officially over.

The future belonged entirely to the AI era.

Chen Pingsheng planned to go overseas at the end of June, taking the whole family along.

It was both for work reasons and to embark on a global family vacation.

In late May, when Chang Fu came to find him again, it triggered a major scolding from Yang Qian.

Chang Fu’s investments in domestic A-shares over the past two years had been nothing short of disappointing.

On the other hand, his investments in the short-video sector were somewhat successful.

In comparison, Gao Hu seemed more grounded, sticking to being a top-tier influencer and livestream seller.

Every now and then, Gao Hu would swap girlfriends—to him, changing girlfriends was easier than changing outfits.

Within their industry, the entertainment and influencer worlds had gathered most of the domestic beauty resources.

Chen Pingsheng found some time to visit him and learned that Gao Hu was still planning to get married someday—just after clearing his debts first.