Chapter 61: The Novel Actually Held Back Too Much

Yang Chen smiled and said to Chen Xi, "Since someone else is footing the bill, we can pick whatever we like without holding back. Just grab whatever you feel like eating, no need to be polite."

"Haha... Another debtor of yours is paying the bill? Is it really okay for us to do this?" Chen Xi asked with a laugh.

Yang Chen explained, "You have to understand that these debts originally had nothing to do with me. If I hadn't stepped in to take over the Sihai Group, they might never have recovered a cent. I am doing them a favor, and they know that very well. Besides, they all have their own agendas; they want me to prioritize their repayments, which is why they are scrambling to curry favor with me. If I allow them to pay, they should actually be thanking me."

After giving it some thought, Chen Xi realized it made complete sense. Compared to the tens or even hundreds of billions in debt they hoped to recover in the future, spending this little money on treating them to a meal was utterly negligible.

Yang Chen and Chen Xi began picking out the fruits they wanted to try. They simply had to find out what made these ridiculously expensive fruits so different from ordinary ones.

Nowadays, with the boom of short videos, people in every industry could live-stream to make money. Many also chose a specific niche to build a following through short videos before monetizing via live-streaming or product placement.

Just as Yang Chen and his companion were selecting fruits, a famous Douyin influencer couple with twenty million followers, known as Brother Daluo, entered the fruit section.

Brother Daluo's niche was extremely capital-intensive; every single episode took viewers on a tour of different high-end establishments.

For instance, a KTV room costing 3 million a night, the Haicheng Pearl Tower Hotel at 68,000 a night, a 10,000-yuan haircut, 8,000-yuan roast goose, king crab, Australian lobster, caviar...

Through his firsthand experiences, Brother Daluo offered ordinary viewers a glimpse into "a corner of heaven," showing everyone how the wealthy truly lived.

Consequently, his account gained followers at a staggering pace, breaking the ten-million mark in just half a year. He was now a major streamer with over twenty million fans, and every video garnered massive likes and comments—virtually every single episode trended.

Today, Brother Daluo was fulfilling a promise by live-streaming a tour to show his fans just how expensive the fruit at the Beijing SKP basement supermarket really was.

"Let's satisfy our curiosity and see just how expensive the items are in what is claimed to be the most expensive supermarket in the country. Brother Daluo will take you along to check it out," Brother Daluo began today's broadcast with his signature opening line.

"Oh my god, 500 yuan a box of apples! There are, let's see, 1, 2, 3... 8, eight apples in total, which comes out to over 60 yuan each. Let's grab a box to try. This Black Thorn durian is 1,400 yuan each—now that is seriously expensive. Honestly, I'm only buying this because I need material for today's video editing; otherwise, I'd never bring myself to buy fruit this expensive."

The live chat flooded with comments:

"My goodness, how on earth is this different from the apples I eat? You can buy ten jin of regular apples for 60 yuan, and here you can only get a single one."

"I can't even bear to buy a 100-yuan durian, and when I do get one occasionally, my husband starts a fight with me. What kind of people are actually eating these 1,400-yuan durians?"

"Excuse me, I'm a bit sleepy and want to go to bed early. My damn monthly salary is only enough to buy three durians. Fuck!"

"A tiny peach costs 100 yuan. Not even the Queen Mother of the West's celestial peaches would sell for this price! Who on earth is eating these fruits? Anchor, show us the customers buying this fruit; we want to see what kind of extraordinary elites are consuming these things."

***

Brother Daluo and his fans finished touring the fruit section after purchasing only a few items; some of the excessively pricey fruits were simply too expensive to justify buying, so letting the hundreds of thousands of viewers in the live stream just feast their eyes on them would have to suffice.

After making a round, Brother Daluo and his wife headed to the cashier to check out, spending a total of a little over 5,000 yuan.

"I'm sorry, family in the chat, I truly apologize. My budget is limited, so I only bought these few items and it came out to over 5,000 yuan. Regular people wouldn't even be able to buy this little fruit after working for a whole month. You guys have a direct idea of it now, right?"

Just then, the style of the comments in the live chat suddenly underwent a drastic shift.

"Holy shit!"

"Holy shit!"

"Anchor, look behind you!"

...

Seeing that the live chat had transformed into a sea of "holy shit" and noticing everyone urging him to look behind him, Brother Daluo hurriedly turned around.

At that moment, Yang Chen and Chen Xi were each pushing a shopping cart brimming with goods toward the checkout counter. The items piled in their carts were overflowing, giving off a precarious, "ready to topple" sensation.

Spotting this, the cashier supervisor supervising the cashiers quickly called out to her assistant and ran over to welcome Yang Chen and Chen Xi.

"Sir, madam, hello, welcome to BHG High-End Supermarket. Do you need any assistance?" the cashier supervisor asked with a smile.

Yang Chen said, "Please help steady these."

The cashier supervisor nodded and hurriedly stepped forward with her assistant to steady the dangerously unstable pile of goods.

Brother Daluo smiled and said, "A while ago, you all wanted to see what kind of people eat the fruit here. Well, you're seeing it now, aren't you?"

The live chat exploded:

"Holy shit! Shopping carts are truly limiting their potential."

"Huh? Brother Daluo spent over 5,000 yuan on just a tiny bit of stuff, but their cart is completely overloaded—that's got to be over 50,000 yuan, right?"

"Is this the true lifestyle of the wealthy that remains utterly out of reach for us?"

***

"Thank you, Brother Daluo, for letting us witness just how wealthy the rich really are. Buying all this stuff probably amounts to nothing more than us going to the supermarket to buy a few apples."

"Usually I just watch Brother Daluo's videos; although I feel deeply emotional, it's just a fleeting emotion. But seeing the way rich people consume with my own eyes, I really find it hard to accept. Ninety percent of people don't even earn enough in a year to pay for these two carts of goods, I can say that with absolute certainty!"

...

Meanwhile, the people who had been waiting by the cashier counter for a long time, eager to pay for Yang Chen, rushed forward.

Xue Qian, representing the Beijing Urban Construction Group, smiled and said, "Chairman Yang, Ms. Chen, you're done shopping. Let me pay the bill, you step aside."

Chen Heng, the head of Beijing Sanshui Decoration Group, quickly chimed in, "Ms. Xue should keep her money for herself; let me take care of the bill this time. Hello, Chairman Yang, I am Chen Heng, chairman of Sanshui Decoration Group. Welcome to Beijing. Please step aside, I'll pay for this."

Liu Qiangjun, vice chairman of Beijing Gangyuan Decoration Group, said, "Hello, Chairman Yang, I am Liu Qiangjun, vice chairman of Gangyuan Decoration Group. President Chen and Ms. Xue, stop arguing over this, let me do it. I received direct orders from our chairman to pay Chairman Yang's bill today. If I fail this task, I'll be penalized when I go back. I beg the two of you to show some mercy and not let me get punished back at the office. Please, I'm begging you."

Lin Taiyan, chairman of Beijing Yuanzhou Decoration Group, chuckled and said, "Hello, Chairman Yang, I am Lin Taiyan, chairman of Beijing Yuanzhou Decoration Group. Let me handle it. I have an urgent need to have a proper chat with Chairman Yang. I beg you all to do me a favor, I will remember your kindness, and I thank you all on behalf of all the employees of Yuanzhou Decoration Group."

Seeing this, the nearby cashier supervisor summoned every ounce of her focus. With so many company executives fighting to pay for this young man, it was evident that his identity and background were extraordinary indeed.

She whispered to her assistant, "Go immediately and notify the delivery department to dispatch two people here to provide home delivery service for these two guests."

The assistant nodded and quickly turned to run toward the delivery department to fetch personnel.

At this point, Brother Daluo and his fans were completely dumbfounded.

The live chat scrolled by:

"No wonder they bought so much stuff that it couldn't even fit in the carts—turns out their identity and background are anything but ordinary."

"With so many company executives fighting to pay for him, who on earth is this handsome guy?"

"What the heck! Whenever I read web novels about overpowered protagonists, I always thought those authors were morons for writing such cringeworthy plots. Now I realize those authors were actually being conservative."

"It's a good thing Brother Daluo opened our eyes, otherwise people of this caliber are someone we'd never even have the chance to lay eyes on in our entire lives."