Chapter 1: The Ordinary Wang Fan

Wang Fan, an ordinary worker and wage earner, graduated from a second-tier university in a second-tier city. According to the multiplication rule, two times two equals four, meaning he was a fourth-tier "talent"—if he could even be considered a talent—and just one member of the millions-strong army of graduates.

His job nature was, of course, "white-collar," because the company required employees to wear button-down shirts. Well, one thing that must be clarified is that the company had no concept of a uniform, so one had to provide their own shirts! If one could afford a full suit, that would be even better!

Wang Fan hadn't been in a relationship during his four years of university. There were many reasons: for instance, he was introverted, shy, and poor at expressing himself; his looks were average—though he stood at 180cm, he lacked the beauty of Pan An, possessing roughly the level of Wang Baoqiang; and his economic conditions were mediocre. Although his family didn't lack food or drink, they could only just maintain his university tuition and a monthly living allowance of a few hundred yuan.

After graduation, relying on his university "shut-in" style of learning (70% time spent idling, 20% living, and 10% studying) and a bit of luck, he had painfully passed the College English Test Band 4 and Band 6 and the National Computer Rank Examination Level 2. Combined with the undergraduate diploma and degree certificate exchanged for tens of thousands of yuan in tuition over four years, he finally found a decent job. After a long six-month internship and a three-month probation period, he finally secured a job with a monthly salary of around 2,500 yuan.

The city where Wang Fan worked was Jinhai City. Although it was one of the four municipalities directly under the central government of the Yanhuang Republic, due to factors like geography, its own economic positioning, and cultural heritage, it could only be considered at the upper-middle level of second-tier cities at best. Fortunately, while income was low, the cost of living was also lower compared to first-tier cities, and the pace of life was slow.

This was also why Wang Fan liked staying in Jinhai City: although life in his hometown was more comfortable, there were fewer job opportunities. His foundation was thin; he had spent his four years of university being mediocre, his knowledge was half-baked, and his practical skills were poor, meaning he couldn't do manual labor. While first-tier cities offered many opportunities, the "gold content" of his diploma was relatively low, so he didn't want to add to the country's troubles. With little money in his pocket, he naturally couldn't contribute his light and heat to the Republic's transportation industry; on this point, Comrade Wang Fan felt deep self-reproach, often hiding in corners to draw circles in sadness...

Comrade Wang Fan (since he had already graduated~~) now lived in a second-hand residential house near the Third Ring Road of Jinhai City. It was an old house with 25 years of age; it wasn't a gated community, just a residential building. Naturally, there was no property management; the neighborhood committee managed sanitation and collected fees. The monthly sanitation fee of 15 yuan was paid on time.

Sigh~ those who rent are bound by rules. Although he often heard that some long-term residents in the building hadn't paid their sanitation fees again, using all sorts of strange excuses, our student Wang Fan's small courage wouldn't allow it. Besides, he shared the cost with a roommate, 7.5 yuan each, which was bearable. This also proved that he was truly a "four-have" newcomer—having ideals, morality, culture, and discipline! He was a person of quality, Wang Fan often used this to boast to and comfort himself.

The room Wang Fan rented was 60 square meters, a very compact two-bedroom, one-living-room layout. The large and small rooms were 14 and 12 square meters respectively, the living room was about 14 square meters, the toilet was 2 square meters (old houses are like that~~), the kitchen was about 4 square meters, and there was another 2-square-meter balcony. Adding them up, it was about 48 square meters with an 80% floor area ratio—not bad at all!

One might not see that nowadays, developers use a 75% floor area ratio for promotion. Wang Fan had seen off-plan properties with a 55% ratio, which was enough to make one weep; a selling price of 17,000 yuan per square meter—he simply couldn't afford it! Wang Fan lived in a small room with a monthly rent of 850 yuan, which was very reasonable, accounting for one-third of his 2,500 yuan monthly income. In terms of affordability, it wasn't excessive, and his little life was quite alright: he had meat to eat, tea to drink, and a computer to use. Ah! A life of the gods!!

During his four years of university, Wang Fan studied finance and economics. The management style of Jinhai University of Finance and Economics was highly praised: reaching into a coffin to grab money—they were dead set on getting cash! Tuition and accommodation fees were, of course, unavoidable! But even getting water cost money, and showering cost money. If you wanted to play some elegant sports and saw the courts for basketball or badminton, hehe, sorry, they were charged by the hour, and you had to pay once the time was up, dear!!

In short, after four years of being tempered, educated, and put into practice by Jinhai University of Finance and Economics, Comrade Wang Fan deeply understood the importance of splitting a single cent in half to spend it. He knew the importance of "wealth management." If one only had a few hundred yuan in living expenses a month, one couldn't live a beautiful life of eating well, drinking well, renting novels, reading manga, and staying up all night without a precise plan; and it was even more impossible without the self-control to restrain the consumerist desires deep within his body. His life was very simple: fried rice was his favorite, egg pancakes were his holidays, video sites were his cinemas, and Taobao shopping was his wardrobe and shoe store. Thanks to Juhuasuan, thanks to free shipping, and thanks to Taobao trials!

Every day, when the sky was gilded with a golden glow by the newborn sun, Wang Fan would be startled awake by the ringtone on his phone ("Honey! It's time to get up" (female voice), a very tacky ringtone!). With bleary eyes, he would wash his face with cold water, drive the sleepiness back to its godfather "Duke of Zhou," and then encourage himself in the mirror: You are gold! You are gold! You are gold! You haven't shone yet because you haven't been discovered! Work hard! Work hard! Keep working hard! You will strike it rich! You definitely will! You definitely will!

Having said that, he would head to the company full of vigor. Of course, on the way, he would stop at that diligent newspaper stand to buy two tickets of Big Lotto. This was another good, persistent habit of student Wang Fan; 4 yuan every time, honest and fair—what a truly lovely quality!

On the way, Wang Fan would always pass several real estate agencies on his way to the bus stop. These were the elite teams left behind after intense market competition: I Love My Home, Lianfang, and Da Zhongyuan. Besides their beautiful billboards, each had a large glass window.

Although it wasn't quite time for the morning rush, the dutiful sales managers always hung property sales cards behind that large window, marking them with exaggerated colors like red and yellow with seductive, inflammatory phrases such as: "Manager's Recommendation," "Premium Listing," or "Seller Urgently Selling." It made one want to rush in immediately, pull out a credit card, and "swipe" to buy it. Well, okay, the latter half was Wang Fan's imagination; every day he used the "Ah Q spirit" described by Mr. Lu Xun to cultivate his temperament and improve his happiness index. The cost was extremely low, but the effect was superb!

After a slow, swaying bus ride lasting 1 hour and 15 minutes, Wang Fan finally arrived at his company's location: an orange-walled commercial building standing by the Second Ring Road. The green windows clashed terribly with the orange walls, which made Wang Fan very suspicious of the building's designer; they had not a shred of aesthetic sense, instead giving off an oily, nauseating impression.

Perhaps it was to save funds, kind student Wang thought. Of course, there was plenty of evidence to prove he wasn't just talking nonsense. For example: the revolving doors of other CBD commercial buildings could always accommodate more than three people, while the revolving door here could only fit one person; other buildings had beautiful reception halls where charming crystal chandeliers emitted colorful halos, but here there were only star-patterned energy-saving tubes emitting a pale, incandescent light. Very practical, very powerful!

After getting off the elevator and walking through his company's entrance on the right, he arrived at an office area of about 0 square meters. This was Wang Fan's company, Jinwei Freight Forwarding Company, which mainly handled trade between China, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, America, and Europe. In reality, it was just a slightly larger shell company, handling exports on one hand and dealing with shipowners on the other to earn the price difference! Wang Fan worked as an accountant here, issuing invoices, recording accounts, running to the bank, and organizing files. How wonderful life was~~

This was our lovely student Wang Fan, and our story begins with this ordinary protagonist...