Chapter 49: Extra (1)

In 2010, at A University.

Just after the new student military training ended, a group of students returned to the campus by bus.

Everyone had been through a tough month and just wanted to take a shower and sleep well.

In the male dormitory, Lin Yang changed into casual sportswear, put on a black cap, and hurried downstairs. Along the way, he made a phone call and kept saying to the person on the other end, “What could be more important than food? There’s definitely something delicious. Are you coming or not?”

“Alright, alright, I’ll pack some for you.”

Lin Yang walked quickly out of the dorm, one hand in his pocket, moving forward briskly. With a height of 1.87 meters and a sunny, handsome face, he caught the attention of several senior girls who turned their heads repeatedly. He grinned and showed his neat, white teeth.

This made the girls’ hearts flutter. Just as they were gathering the courage to ask for his contact information, he had already disappeared out of sight.

Lin Yang spotted a two-tone car parked ahead and walked straight to it, raising his hand to knock on the door.

The window rolled down to reveal a cold and stern face. Upon seeing Lin Yang, Yang Liyu’s brows relaxed noticeably.

“Brother Liyu.” Lin Yang grinned and got into the car, glancing around the interior. Seeing a screen, he commented seriously, “This car’s pretty advanced. The seat is really comfortable.”

The driver in front twitched his mouth. With such an expensive car, of course, it had to be comfortable.

This kid clearly didn’t understand cars.

“Where’s your brother?” Yang Liyu asked upon noticing Lin Chao’s absence.

Leaning back lazily, Lin Yang replied, “Him? He went to some meeting as soon as he got back. He’s busy.”

What meeting?

More important than food? In his opinion, his brother was just being careless.

“Are you hungry?” Yang Liyu asked.

“Of course I am.” At the mention of food, Lin Yang sat up and began to complain. “You have no idea what kind of life I’ve been living this past month. The daily training was bad enough, but meals were a scramble. I barely saw any meat. I’ve lost weight. It was miserable. Absolutely miserable.”

He painted the story vividly, almost to the point of sniffles and tears over the hardship.

The driver wanted to laugh but saw through the rearview mirror that his boss was listening intently with a serious face.

Yang Liyu’s brows were tightly furrowed, and his thin lips were pressed into a straight line.

Strangely enough, the driver had never heard of Yang Liyu having such a relative. He remembered Yang Liyu only had a grandfather, and after the old man passed away two years ago, he had no family left in the hometown.

He had driven for Yang Liyu for years and never heard of this person.

Yet, the two seemed very close.

As Lin Yang continued complaining, his phone rang.

Seeing it was Fang Yuwei calling, he quickly answered. To avoid worrying her, he immediately switched to a cheerful tone and said, “Mom, I just finished military training. I’m doing great. I’m with Brother Liyu right now. We’re about to go eat.”

Fang Yuwei spoke to him again about something unknown. Lin Yang handed the phone to Yang Liyu and said, “My mom wants to talk to you.”

Yang Liyu reached out and took the phone, his tone softened. “Teacher Fang.”

The driver saw Yang Liyu’s attitude suddenly become gentle and heard the form of address. So it turned out to be his teacher’s child, and it made sense now.

As a student, he naturally respected his teacher. Now that the teacher’s child came to A City for university, as someone who had made a name for himself, it was only proper for him to host them.

On the phone, Fang Yuwei gave many reminders, especially telling Yang Liyu not to worry too much about the two children. Just a meal was enough. She told him to focus on his own affairs.

Yang Liyu agreed to everything.

After hanging up the phone, Yang Liyu took Lin Yang to a private dining room in the restaurant.

Knowing the food during military training wasn’t great, he had reserved a well-known private kitchen in advance. As soon as they sat down, dish after dish was served.

Clear Soup Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, Traditional Braised Pork Knuckle with Tea Oil, Durian Shrimp Balls, Premium Short Ribs, Signature Roasted Goose, Crispy Gourd and Cured Meat Stir-Fried with Fresh Abalone…

Lin Yang’s eyes were wide open. He glanced at Yang Liyu, who served him a bowl of soup.

“I’m starving.” After saying that, Lin Yang looked around. “Is anyone else coming?”

“Just the two of us. Let’s eat.”

Before Yang Liyu even finished speaking, Lin Yang had already started eating. He ate with great gusto and kept saying, “It’s really delicious. I couldn’t even see much meat in the training camp every day.”

“So happy.”

Yang Liyu looked at him with a slight smile on his lips and said softly, “Eat slowly.”

“Mm.” Lin Yang nodded repeatedly and picked up a large goose leg.

Time to dig in.

With a table full of dishes, Yang Liyu only had a few bites. Lin Yang finished half of it.

Worried he might eat too much and not digest well, Yang Liyu said to him, “Stop eating. I’ll buy you some afternoon snacks later.”

“No, I’m still hungry.” Lin Yang looked aggrieved and stuffed another shrimp ball into his mouth. After chewing a few times and swallowing it, he said, “I can still eat.”

Yang Liyu: “……”

After Lin Yang ate a lot more, Yang Liyu asked him to stop and had the waiter clear the dishes.

“I feel alive again.” Lin Yang leaned back, full of satisfaction. Seeing the waiter removing the dishes one by one, he quickly said, “My brother hasn’t eaten yet. I need to pack some for him.”

Yang Liyu said, “I’ve already had another set made.”

“Oh.”

Lin Yang was about to say how wasteful it was but then remembered he had devoured all the good stuff.

Forget it.

Let his brother eat something good too. Not coming with him was truly a loss.

Yang Liyu and Lin Yang came downstairs. The driver was already waiting.

Full and content, Lin Yang returned to his chatterbox self, talking nonstop all the way. The driver thought Yang Liyu would get annoyed and stop him, since his boss was known for having a bad temper and not giving face to anyone.

But Yang Liyu listened attentively.

Every time Lin Yang finished a sentence, if Yang Liyu didn’t respond directly, he would give a light “Mm” to show he was listening and understood.

As soon as the car stopped in front of the boys’ dormitory building, it attracted onlookers.

Li Mao was on the balcony chatting on the phone. When he looked down, he exclaimed, “Holy crap.” After saying that, he hurried inside. “There’s a Maybach parked downstairs.”

“Maybach?” Su Pei, who was on the upper bunk, jumped down immediately. “Seriously?”

“For real. Come take a look.” Li Mao and he quickly headed to the balcony.

Inside the car—

Yang Liyu handed two bags to Lin Yang. “Entrance gift.”

“What’s this?” Lin Yang was curious and eagerly opened the bag. Seeing a finely wrapped box, he opened it and saw a watch. He read the brand name aloud. “Patek Philippe?”

His gaze fell on the watch. He took it out and tried it on, admiring it for a moment. “It’s actually pretty nice. I really needed a watch. Brother Liyu, you really get me.”

The driver looked at Lin Yang fiddling with the watch casually and assumed he had no clue about watches.

A teacher’s child at best came from a working-class family and surely wouldn’t recognize such a brand. But Yang Liyu was really generous, casually giving away watches worth millions, and giving two at once.

Lin Yang wore the watch and stuffed the box back into the bag. “The other one’s for my brother, right? Is it the same as mine?”

“The same.” Yang Liyu had learned his lesson. When giving them things, they had to be exactly the same.

Lin Yang was satisfied. “Then I won’t look at his.”

Yang Liyu gave him two cards. “These are my secondary cards. Give one to Chaochao. Use them for whatever you need.”

“How much can I use?” Lin Yang looked at the black card, curious.

“As long as you follow the law, you can spend however much you want.”

Lin Yang’s eyes lit up, and he chuckled. “Then I’m going to eat out every day.”

Driver: “……”

Using a no-limit black card at cheap eateries?

Yang Liyu asked, “How much is your monthly allowance?”

“Eight hundred. My brother’s is also eight hundred.” Lin Yang said, “My dad said he did the research. Eight hundred is enough, with some left over.”

“……”

“I told him it’s not enough if you want to eat better. My brother says it’s enough!” Lin Yang said angrily, “Why don’t you just not give him the card? Otherwise, he’ll tell my mom. If he runs out of money, I’ll help him out. Anyway, he doesn’t eat much. It’ll be enough!”

In the end, Yang Liyu didn’t take the card back and asked Lin Yang to tell Lin Chao to keep it for emergencies.

Lin Yang thought for a moment and said using it for emergencies was fine.

Not having money to eat something good is also an emergency, right?

Being hungry is a big deal.

Lin Yang carried a few bags and cheerfully thanked Yang Liyu. He opened the car door and got out. “Bye, Brother Liyu.”

Li Mao and Su Pei were leaning on the balcony railing, staring unblinkingly at the Maybach below. As they watched, they sighed with emotion, wondering who was so lucky to be picked up by a Maybach.

Then the car door opened, and a familiar figure stepped out carrying a few bags.

Seeing the face clearly, they thought they were seeing things and looked at each other in disbelief.

“Lin Yang?!”

“Lin Yang?!”

That tall and handsome roommate of theirs who was always cheerful?

Lin Yang happily whistled and hummed a tune as he went upstairs, looking extremely pleased. He was busy calculating in his mind whether he should withdraw three hundred or five hundred yuan each month from the card Yang Liyu gave him to supplement his meal expenses and treat himself to more hotpot meals.

If his mom found out, he would need to come up with an excuse. Otherwise, he would not escape his dad’s scolding.

Over the years, he had done such things many times.

As soon as Lin Yang returned to the dorm room, he saw Li Mao and Su Pei staring wide-eyed. They suddenly rushed toward him, startling him so much that he backed against the door and raised his hands to shield his chest. “What are you guys doing?”

“Patek Philippe!!!” Li Mao was so shocked when he saw the watch on Lin Yang’s wrist that his voice cracked. His eyes widened like copper bells. He immediately grabbed Lin Yang’s hand and carefully examined it over and over again, not daring to touch it too much.

“What Philippe?” Lin Yang did not quite hear clearly. He raised his hand and smiled. “Isn’t it good-looking? My brother has one exactly the same. Matching watches!”

“Your brother has one too?” Li Mao was mad with envy. He turned to Su Pei and said, “This is my life’s dream.”

“If you like it, why not just buy one?” Lin Yang thought it was no big deal and even kindly suggested, “You can save up. Back then, I saved money for a long time just to buy a Transformer.”

He saved fifty cents a day for several months.

“Do you know how much this watch costs? It’s very expensive!” Li Mao clenched his fists as he listened to Lin Yang’s casual tone.

Lin Yang said, “A few hundred?”

To him, a few hundred was already considered expensive. When he was in high school, the watch he liked cost less than fifty yuan. His grandfather bought it for him, and he wore it for three years.

“That’s right!” Li Mao clenched his fists tighter. “Three to four hundred of them. Do you think I can save up that much?”

That was three to four million.

“I think you can. It’s not a huge amount. Just believe in yourself, okay?” Lin Yang sincerely believed that if Li Mao stopped smoking, he could save up the money.

Wasn’t it just three or four hundred yuan?

“Thank you for believing in me, young master!” Li Mao now totally did not believe that Lin Yang’s mom was just an ordinary teacher. Otherwise, how could he say that three or four million was not a big deal? “And you even rode in a Maybach!”

A Maybach that cost over ten million.

Only top-level bosses could afford to ride in that kind of car. When they saw one on the road, they would always keep their distance.

“To be honest, expensive cars are indeed more comfortable to ride in,” Lin Yang commented objectively.

As for what Maybach was, he did not know.

At this time, Maybach was still a top-tier luxury brand under Mercedes-Benz with its own independent logo. The price was several million, but Lin Yang had no idea what Maybach was. He had never seen the logo before.

He only vaguely knew it might be expensive because the seats were fancy. Plus, Yang Liyu seemed to be doing well since he even had a chauffeur.

As for exactly how expensive, Lin Yang had no clue. After all, the boy had never paid attention to such things. He was simply a food enthusiast.

Lin Yang’s indifferent tone made Su Pei restless. He was just about to excitedly ask when he could get a chance to ride in a Maybach too when Lin Yang already picked up his things and left the room. “I’m going to deliver food and the watch to my brother.”