In the summer of 2015, the heat was unbearable, but fortunately, Liu Chen had already graduated with her master's degree from Shui Mu University. She had then managed to recruit most of her classmates into Meimei Company.
Yes, it was Meimei Company, not Meimei Food Co., Ltd.
Thanks to Liu Chen's continuous innovation in single products over the years, Meimei Company had transformed from a simple food processing enterprise into a diversified conglomerate. Its subsidiaries included Meimei Real Estate Development, Meimei Department Store, Meimei Daily Necessities Company, and it had even founded Meimei Cosmetics Company.
Just looking at so many subsidiaries was enough to understand that Liu Chen had not been idle in the past few years. Besides attending classes, she spent her weekends flying across the country to inspect land parcels for auction. It was worth noting that Guo Da and his wife now jointly owned over two hundred properties nationwide, and Liu Chen would often ask them for evaluation and analysis on the land she intended to acquire.
Indeed, Guo Da and his wife had upgraded their services, establishing a company specializing in land auction value analysis. Liu Chen had been their major client over the years. Of course, starting in 2015, Liu Chen ceased acquiring new land and began diligently developing the parcels she had previously secured.
The floor plans for these developments were all obtained through system lotteries, resulting in Meimei Real Estate's houses offering an unparalleled living experience among all residential properties on the market, given the same area and price.
As this year marked the end of a learning phase, Liu Chen, following her usual habit, was supposed to spend a month at home resting.
However, this summer break was somewhat different.
Liu Chen lay in her bedroom in the villa by West Lake. Through the sheer curtains, she could see the bright sun outside and couldn't help but gasp. Even through the thin fabric, the sun was so brilliant it made her squint.
Yawning, Liu Chen picked up her iPhone from the bedside table, flipped it over to wake the screen, and saw the current temperature in Hangzhou displayed as 38 degrees Celsius.
"It's truly going to be a scorcher."
As she spoke, Liu Chen got up, slipped on a silk robe, and walked to the window. She gently parted the sheer curtain a sliver and saw the bustling tourists along the shores of West Lake, braving the scorching sun with smiles of enjoyment on their faces. Liu Chen couldn't help but admire their willpower.
As she was contemplating, the sound of a door opening came from behind her. Liu Chen turned and saw Ren Yu, dressed in a white t-shirt and blue shorts.
In recent years, Xinghai Technology had developed rapidly. As the market for smartphones matured, the overall market size for smartphones expanded. Xinghai Technology, having always been optimistic about the smartphone market, had made early deployments and vigorously launched mobile games.
The mobile version of League of Legends, released two years prior, had immediately climbed to the top three in game download charts for that year. This year, it had firmly held the number one spot and remained unchanged.
Not to mention monthly revenue, its daily revenue alone had reached twenty million. The company had directly established its own headquarters buildings in both Hangzhou and C City. Of course, the land for these buildings was sold to them by Liu Chen at market price, from which Liu Chen also made a tidy sum.
The Hangzhou building of Xinghai Technology primarily focused on PC game development, while the C City branch handled mobile games. Both were gradually becoming profitable. It was no wonder that Ren Yu's wife's main base was in C City. To stay close to his wife, Ren Yu had directly invested in a piece of land in each city to build their headquarters together.
Given the immense revenue of Xinghai Technology, the simultaneous construction of two hundred-story buildings only consumed less than a tenth of the cash flow in Ren Yu's hands.
As a shareholder of Xinghai Technology, it might sound a bit boastful, but Liu Chen sometimes felt too lazy to use the lottery anymore. She was already incredibly wealthy!
Her products were now sold globally, and sometimes, without even paying attention, the number of lottery tickets accumulated to an astonishing figure.
Therefore, she often withdrew funds and injected them into the domestic market as overseas investments for Meimei Company, building numerous schools across the country, constructing roads and bridges in western regions, and establishing a women's support foundation. This foundation offered free courses, guaranteeing that anyone willing could learn a trade to support themselves.
Due to Liu Chen's extensive charitable donations, coupled with the strong endorsement from the Shen family, the special version of the Eight Brocades she had previously gifted to the state, and the "Meimei Cow" product line exclusively supplied to the military,
Nowadays, any company in China with relatively good information channels knew that Meimei Company was under state protection and must not be interfered with.
Of course, after witnessing the advantages gained by Meimei Company, many large enterprises began to follow suit. This unexpectedly triggered a trend of charitable competition among domestic enterprises,
Shortening projects that the state had initially estimated to take two years to complete to one year, or even six months.
However, these were all unexpected gains for Liu Chen. If not for a special reason this summer break, she would have been staying in Hangzhou to prepare for their wedding. She had invited all her high school classmates and intended to give them the Bitcoins she had been holding for them.
She had purchased Bitcoin gifts for her classmates back in high school. While Bitcoin had not yet reached its future astronomical value, it was already a considerable sum. Giving it to them now, in their mid-twenties, would surely meet many of their needs.
This wedding was no simple affair like the engagement banquet a few years prior. Guests invited to the wedding spanned Meimei Company's global distributors and agents, as well as leaders from the military units they had collaborated with over the years. Elder Shen had even hinted that a surprise guest might be attending.
Thinking of this, Liu Chen couldn't help but turn back and look at Ren Yu with some concern,
"The security for the wedding banquet..."
Ren Yu placed the fruit platter in her hand on the bedside table and sat on the edge of the bed. She looked at Liu Chen, who was standing by the window, her upper body bathed in sunlight,
"The security for the wedding banquet has been entrusted to Elder Shen. Elder Shen wants you to rest assured; not even a mosquito will be able to fly in on the day of the wedding."
Liu Chen nodded upon hearing this. If Elder Shen's surprise was a figure she could only dream of meeting, then security would undoubtedly be his top priority.
Turning around and walking towards the bathroom, Liu Chen muttered,
"I'm going to wash my face. With only a week left until our wedding, how can I still feel so relaxed?"
While Liu Chen was washing her face, her phone began to vibrate.
"Ren Yu, could you check who's calling?"
Ren Yu, standing in the bedroom, followed her into the bathroom. Since the entire floor was a master suite, the bathroom space was quite large, over a dozen square meters. The double vanity meant that Liu Chen wouldn't feel cramped even with Ren Yu present while she washed her face.
"It's Mi Zhuzhu. Should I answer it on speakerphone?"
"Yes!"
Liu Chen, rinsing the foam from her face wash, nodded at Ren Yu's question.
The call was connected, and Ren Yu pressed the speakerphone button.
"Chenchen! We've just landed and are on our way! I'm going to stay at your West Lake mansion! Oh, and I have great news, I'm pregnant!"
Liu Chen, who was patting her face dry with a towel, froze mid-motion.
Bending slightly, she brought her face closer to the speakerphone and asked,
"Zhuzhu, did you just say you're pregnant?"
"Yes, yes! I've been gaining weight recently, and my appetite has been amazing. I thought something was off, so I went for a check-up yesterday. The hospital called right after I landed to say I'm pregnant, three months along!"
"Zhuzhu, have you called your dad?"
"Huh? Not yet. The first person I wanted to call after getting the news was you, haha. I want you to be the godmother of my baby!"
Upon hearing this, Liu Chen's expression softened.
"Of course. Tell the driver to take it slow. You should call your uncle; I'm sure he'll fly over today as soon as you call him."
"Hehe, I'll hang up then."
"Okay, I'll be waiting at home."
After the call ended, Liu Chen straightened up and realized she had a faint, proud smile on her face.
She could see Ren Yu standing behind her in the mirror.
"What are you looking at?"
Ren Yu raised an eyebrow.
"Nothing, I was just thinking that our new house's renovation seems to have missed a nursery."
Hearing this, Liu Chen rolled her eyes.
"Don't think I didn't see it. The nursery in your design draft was pink, if I recall correctly. I'm curious, why are you so sure I'll have a daughter?"
Honestly, Liu Chen wasn't averse to getting pregnant after marriage. Although Meimei Company's scale was even larger than she had imagined, with the advanced version of the system's resume table, she could access and retrieve information about the company's management staff in her mind at any time.
She could even see what they were doing...
Therefore, pregnancy wouldn't hinder her career. Moreover, with both her lives combined, her psychological age was approaching forty, giving her a more peaceful mindset. She also wanted to raise a child to dote on...
Ren Yu wouldn't admit that the reason she didn't want a son was the unwillingness to have another male receive Liu Chen's love, not even her own son. However, what she said was:
"A daughter, like you, who is adorable."
As Liu Chen had said, after Mi Zhuzhu's call, Mi Dad couldn't hold back. He drove directly to the airport and bought a plane ticket to Hangzhou. Fortunately, Mi Dad had already cleared his schedule for the week to attend the wedding.
While Mi Dad was still in the air, Liu Chen was sitting on the sofa, handing Mi Zhuzhu milk.
Yes, it was the prenatal milk from a system product. After several years, Liu Chen had finally found this item among the plethora of system lottery prizes.
Mi Zhuzhu chatted with Liu Chen as she drank.
"Actually, the reason I went for a check-up was that I've been feeling chest tightness when I sleep. I thought it might be a heart problem, but I didn't dare tell Lai Jielun. He was busy filming a crucial scene a few days ago and just finished. I said I'd gained weight and wanted to see what was wrong."
Lai Jielun, sitting beside Mi Zhuzhu, looked remorseful upon hearing this.
"It's my fault for not paying attention to Zhuzhu's physical condition. I've realized now that acting requires experience, and money can't be earned endlessly. I've told my agent to cancel the upcoming couple variety shows so I can spend time with Zhuzhu and patiently await the birth of our little one."
After saying this, Lai Jielun and Mi Zhuzhu exchanged a smile. Only then did Liu Chen nod understandingly.
"Oh, right... do you two remember that in high school, I said I bought each of you a gift and would give you a surprise in a few years?"
Upon hearing Liu Chen's words, both of them looked bewildered. Liu Chen sighed slightly.
"Alright, it seems neither of you took it to heart back then. However, I won't keep it all to myself. I bought each of you one thousand yuan worth of Bitcoin back then, which was about one thousand coins. For other classmates, it was around five hundred coins. Now, I'll give you the hard drive, and you can decide whether to sell it or continue holding it."
Lai Jielun had been busy moving between film sets and wasn't very sensitive to the developments in the outside world. Mi Zhuzhu, on the other hand, although she occasionally took on roles, her main focus was operating her Weibo account.
So, when she heard the word "Bitcoin," Mi Zhuzhu was slightly taken aback. Then, upon realizing what Liu Chen was referring to, she was completely stunned.
"B-Bitcoin? O-one thousand coins??? Wait, wait, Chenchen, I think I might be hallucinating because I'm pregnant. I thought I heard you say you were going to give me a thousand Bitcoins..."
Mi Zhuzhu even chuckled at her own words and shook her head frantically, trying to clear her mind.
Liu Chen quickly told Zhuzhu to stop shaking her head, lest she get dizzy.
Indeed, after shaking her head, Mi Zhuzhu felt a bit dizzy, her eyes squinting as she looked at Liu Chen pitifully.
"Zhuzhu, you indeed misheard."
Mi Zhuzhu let out a sigh of relief. "You scared me... I thought..."
"I said one thousand Bitcoins for each of you."
"J-just... just... just... AHHHHHHH!!!!! One thousand Bitcoins?!?! Really?!?! Chenchen!! Are you really going to give them to me??? Oh my god!!!"
Lai Jielun, who had no idea what Bitcoin was, seeing his wife's frantic reaction, instinctively patted her back from top to bottom as he said,
"Zhuzhu, calm down... calm down..."
Mi Zhuzhu took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, then took another deep breath...
"No, I can't calm down! Lai Jielun, you don't understand..."
"Understand what?"
"We're rich..."
"But you said we were rich the year before last..."
Liu Chen thought back; the year before last, Lai Jielun had taken on a supporting role in a TV series. His acting fee was likely substantial, probably in the millions, so saying they were rich wouldn't be an exaggeration.
Hearing this, Mi Zhuzhu calmly replied,
"Cough, cough, that money was indeed being rich, but today we've hit the jackpot!"
Then, Mi Zhuzhu spent ten minutes explaining to Lai Jielun what Bitcoin was, its price, and the value represented by one thousand Bitcoins.
Upon understanding, Lai Jielun became somewhat despondent.
"So... my acting fees over the past few years are not as much as the Bitcoins Sister Chen gave you?"
Mi Zhuzhu didn't see anything wrong with it and nodded.
"Yes!"
Liu Chen, seeing Lai Jielun's eyes on the verge of tears, quickly poked Mi Zhuzhu's hand with her finger.
Mi Zhuzhu then turned and saw her husband looking on the verge of tears. As she fumbled, unsure how to comfort him,
She heard Lai Jielun say gravely,
"I don't know anything about investments, but I will work harder to be the one who gives you the most money!"
"Hey! Hey! I'm not that interested in money! Hahahaha!!!"
When Mi Dad arrived at the address Mi Zhuzhu had sent, he saw his daughter's radiant smile and his son-in-law massaging her legs.
For a moment, Mi Dad hesitated at the doorway. He actually felt that Zhuzhu was too young to be pregnant and wanted to lecture Lai Jielun. However, upon seeing the smile on Zhuzhu's face, Mi Dad's lips moved, and he ultimately said nothing.
Mi Zhuzhu looked up and saw her father, waving excitedly.
"Dad! Come here quickly! I'm rich!"
Mi Dad's mind was in a fog. What did pregnancy have to do with being rich?
"What's wrong? Why are you rich?"
Mi Zhuzhu tapped away on her phone and then turned it over, pointing it towards Mi Dad.
"Look!"
Seeing the small phone, Mi Dad had to move closer, squinting at what Zhuzhu wanted him to see.
"Ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand, hundred thousand, million... Seven million eight hundred thousand? Zhuzhu, you two are quite capable! You've saved up so much at such a young age?"
That's almost my net profit for two years!
Mi Dad didn't say the latter part aloud. He couldn't let his son-in-law know how much money they had. With Zhuzhu's innocent and lively nature, if he were to pass away in the future, his son-in-law might sweet-talk her into giving him the money.
As for the fact that what Zhuzhu was displaying on her phone was likely their joint bank account balance, Mi Dad simply ignored it.
Liu Chen came out of the kitchen with a glass of lemonade. She had just made a drink for Zhuzhu inside and added some of the system's prenatal supplement.
"Uncle Mi, I told Zhuzhu that as soon as she called you, you'd fly over today. I won't disturb you; you two can chat over drinks, and I'll go upstairs for a meeting."
Mi Dad smiled and nodded at Liu Chen's words.
"Zhuzhu has troubled Chenchen a lot these past few years. Thinking back now, it was the wisest decision I ever made for Zhuzhu to transfer schools with you in high school."
Not only did his daughter attend a good university, but she also built her own career and met a reliable son-in-law.
Liu Chen also recalled the transfer. At that time, she had just been reborn and obtained the system, still focused on satisfying her personal material desires.
Back then, she was determined to make up for the regrets of her past life. Fortunately, she later met Ren Yu and realized that there were too many intelligent and capable people in the world. Even with the system, the money she earned from lotteries wasn't a substantial amount.
It was then that she understood that what she wanted to do since her rebirth was not to buy a house and live in leisure, nor to indulge in the fleeting happiness of material possessions with money. Instead, it was to live a truly brilliant life of her own.
Looking back now, she was fortunate to have awakened then. Otherwise, she would probably have just managed to get into a good university, graduated, and lived off rent, which, while appealing, felt less fulfilling. Helping others with her abilities and influence provided a deeper sense of satisfaction than mere material comfort.
It was a kind of social recognition.
"Uncle, I agree."
After saying this, Liu Chen bid them goodnight and went upstairs. She opened the study door and saw Ren Yu in a meeting with executives from the American branch. She smiled, opened the study's balcony door, stepped out onto the balcony, and sat on the swing, looking at the now-deserted West Lake shore.
Liu Chen had originally planned to present the two hard drives as gifts to Zhuzhu at her own wedding. However, Zhuzhu had given her a surprise first, so Liu Chen didn't dwell on the timing and immediately gave her the gifts to ease Zhuzhu's mood about her pregnancy.
At this wedding, all her high school classmates would be attending. Many of them were now working at Meimei Company, some had become bloggers inspired by Zhuzhu, others were continuing their studies, and some had even gone abroad.
However, the common thread was that they had all agreed to use Liu Chen's wedding as an opportunity to reunite.
A week later, the high school classmates who attended the wedding banquet received a special return gift.
Each of them received a hard drive containing five hundred Bitcoins, along with instructions on how to trade them.
Upon receiving the Bitcoins, the classmates were moved to tears that night, almost calling Liu Chen "Mom."
It was precisely Liu Chen's generous Bitcoin gifts that allowed some of them to buy houses before the property prices surged, while others used the opportunity to start businesses and achieved considerable success. Some even purchased properties overseas and immigrated.
While each person's use of the money differed, the common sentiment was that their greatest benefactors and benefactresses in life were Liu Chen, who had helped them get into their ideal universities in high school and, after they entered society, had lifted them beyond the initial stage of accumulating wealth through hard labor.
Furthermore, inspired by Liu Chen's actions, they were willing to help others on their life journeys.
As for Mi Zhuzhu and Lai Jielun, under Liu Chen's guidance, they invested in "Wolf Warrior" and earned a fortune. With the profits, they established a film and television fund to invest in low-budget independent films. It turned out that through Mi Zhuzhu's film and television fund, several directors and screenwriters emerged, promoting Chinese film and television culture globally.
Sitting on the swing now, Liu Chen was unaware of these future events. She felt the breeze, gazed at the bright moon overhead, and couldn't help but laugh as she reminisced about the time since her rebirth.
"What are you laughing about?"
Ren Yu, who had opened the floor-to-ceiling window at some point, suddenly spoke from behind her. Liu Chen was startled and playfully glared at her before shifting her position to make room for Ren Yu to sit.
She patted the seat beside her, signaling Ren Yu to sit down.
Ren Yu obediently sat down, not forgetting to drape a thin blanket over Liu Chen's legs.
After Ren Yu sat down, Liu Chen leaned her head gently on her shoulder.
"I'm laughing because I'm truly happy."
The gentle evening breeze stirred Liu Chen's long hair. Ren Yu reached out and took her right hand, smiling as well.