Liu Chen was preparing to put down her phone after posting a photo of her newly groomed dog on Weibo, when she saw a QQ message from Shen Hong on her screen.
"Hmm?"
Liu Chen furrowed her brows slightly and unlocked her phone.
Shen Hong: I heard about a plot of land in C City that's up for sale. It's an industrial zone near the southwest gate, and it's exactly five mu. Do you want to take a look?
Liu Chen's casual glance widened as she read the message.
Liu Chen: What's the specific location? Is there a land title deed? Has a price been determined?
As Liu Chen sent her three questions, Shen Hong replied with an image.
After downloading and opening it, Liu Chen saw the detailed information of the plot. It was clear that the person who created this map was very meticulous, not only listing the address but also including a map of C City with the location of the land marked.
Liu Chen stared at the marked location and was momentarily stunned. It wasn't that the location was bad, but rather because this was the very place she had lived in her previous life!
In her past life, to save money, Liu Chen often moved between villages on the outskirts of the city, and this place was where her home had been before she transmigrated.
This plot of land... is actually industrial land?
Impossible?
In my past life, although I lived in a village on the outskirts, I lived in a self-built house, not a factory.
As for convenience, this place was indeed convenient for transportation. Riding a small electric scooter, it only took three to five minutes to get there by taking the small road next to the auxiliary road of the Third Ring Road.
But...
That road was just a small path, barely wide enough for a small car. Any larger van would worry about its wheels falling into the small ditch on the side.
With this thought, Liu Chen carefully reread the description of the land plot Shen Hong had sent.
"The plot is adjacent to the municipal Third Ring Road branch road?"
Liu Chen understood. This branch road, in her previous life, or rather, ten years from now, had not yet been built.
Perhaps seeing Liu Chen's long silence, Shen Hong sent another message.
Shen Hong: Once the planned road is built, transportation to this plot will be very convenient. The person who acquired the land is having cash flow problems, which is why they're willing to sell. Otherwise, they wanted to build a factory complex to rent out and do long-term business.
Hearing Shen Hong's tone, Liu Chen frowned slightly.
Liu Chen: Thank you for your kind offer, Brother Shen Hong, but I probably can't afford this land. I'll look around some more.
As soon as she sent the message, Shen Hong replied.
Shen Hong: You can definitely afford it, don't worry~
Liu Chen: Why?
After sending this question, there was no response from the other side for a long time. Just as Liu Chen was about to ask again, her stomach rumbled.
Mi Zhuzhu, who was fiddling with her camera, heard Liu Chen's stomach growl, and her own stomach let out a similar sound.
"Oh my! It's already so late! We haven't had dinner yet? Are there still places open to eat outside now?"
Liu Chen stood up and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, looking down. The commercial street, which had been brightly lit in the evening, was now dark. Apart from the streetlights, everything was pitch black.
"Probably not many places are open. Let's order room service from the hotel."
As she spoke, she saw Mi Zhuzhu holding her phone, tapping on it.
"Everyone is saying they want to go out for seafood? Should we go? It looks like most people in the group want to go. It's a place recommended by a local blogger from Shanghai."
Liu Chen didn't really want to go. In fact, apart from the friends around her and her classmates from high school, Liu Chen wasn't very motivated to make new friends.
In her previous life, she had met too many distributors as a salesperson, and the thought of it now made her feel exhausted.
However, with Meimeichang this time, apart from the bloggers initially found under Ren Mo and those that Zhuzhu knew, a significant portion of the bloggers had purely followed suit, bought Meimeichang, posted about how delicious it was on Weibo, and strongly recommended it to others.
Liu Chen actually felt indebted to this group of bloggers.
Just as she was about to say yes, the system's voice sounded in her mind before she could even open her mouth.
'As a perfect client, let all your vendors witness your immense wealth. Spend 660,000 within 4 hours for this gathering. If the mission is successful, all expenses will be refunded, and you will receive the recipe for all-purpose salad dressing. If the mission fails, there is no penalty.'
After listening, Liu Chen looked up at Mi Zhuzhu, who was waiting for her reply, and smiled.
"Let's go. I'll treat everyone to this meal."
Hearing this, both Mi Zhuzhu and Sang Ling looked puzzled.
"Chenchen, why? The top 100 bloggers who came this time, even though not all of them came for supper, there are still about a hundred people. Tonight's seafood dinner, if you treat, it will easily cost twenty to thirty thousand!"
Sang Ling also quickly advised.
"Besides, the cost of dining in Shanghai, a table might easily cost two to three thousand. If you really want the bloggers to promote Meimeichang, just a meal might not be enough."
Hearing their advice, Liu Chen waved her hand.
"It's okay. It's also a way to showcase the strength of my Meimei brand. Zhuzhu, send a private message and ask if we can go to a more upscale seafood restaurant. If we're going to treat, we should do it in a way that everyone remembers."
Otherwise, how could she spend the 660,000?
Hearing Liu Chen say this, Mi Zhuzhu blinked. She felt something was off about what Liu Chen said, but she couldn't pinpoint what it was. Fortunately, over the past year or so, she had developed a habit: if she didn't understand Liu Chen's words, she would just do as she was told.
On the 45th floor of the hotel, in Xia Lian's room.
Pink Nannan, a Shanghai local blogger who received Mi Zhuzhu's inquiry, couldn't help but exclaim in surprise while sitting on the sofa after seeing what Zhuzhu had sent.
"Wow! That blogger named Zhuzhu contacted me, saying Liu Chen wants to treat everyone to a meal and asked me to recommend a good seafood restaurant. I even joked that if she asked which restaurant, I'd go too. Then she said Liu Chen wants to invite all the bloggers."
After she said this, the other Shanghai local bloggers in the same room exclaimed.
"She's so rich!"
"What's Liu Chen's background? She's treating all the bloggers to seafood without even meeting them?"
Xia Lian heard what Nannan said and recalled the Chanel earrings on that girl's ears and the Van Cleef & Arpels on her wrist. She pursed her lips.
"I just checked Weibo. Her stepfather is the boss of a large enterprise. There were also comments saying her mother got married a few months ago and is now pregnant. She might be relying on her pregnancy to get money from her stepfather for her daughter."
Although everyone had thought this way, Xia Lian's direct statement made Pink Nannan feel a little uncomfortable.
"Oh well, no matter how she got the money, at least she's willing to treat. That's great. How about we just eat at a nearby barbecue restaurant?"
As soon as Pink Nannan finished speaking, Xia Lian had a different opinion.
"She said she wanted a good one, so you can also send a Jile Hot Pot."
When Jile Hot Pot was mentioned, the Shanghai bloggers present frowned slightly.
"The average person at Jile Hot Pot costs one to two thousand yuan. For a hundred people like us, wouldn't that be twenty to thirty thousand? Liu Chen said she wanted to treat, but you can't just fleece her like this. It makes us look like we've never seen the world."
Pink Nannan's family background was the best among these five Shanghai local bloggers, and she usually spoke quite frankly. At this moment, she directly retorted.
Xia Lian, however, put down her phone.
"What's the big deal? If she wants to save face, she needs to spend some money!"
Pink Nannan looked at what Xia Lian posted in the QQ group.
"Oh, sisters, Liu Chen said she wants to treat us to seafood, Jile Hot Pot!"
Most people saw the word "hot pot" and subconsciously thought it wouldn't be too expensive. Although they were shocked by Liu Chen's generosity, they politely expressed their thanks.
Like Mi Zhuzhu, most bloggers, upon arriving at the hotel, didn't rest but instead took beautiful photos or photos of what they brought for this trip. They were so busy that they had barely eaten dinner.
Seeing the group's enthusiastic response and looking at Xia Lian's smiling face, Pink Nannan simply stood up.
"I'm going back to my room to change. I'll see you in the lobby later."
After saying this, she left without looking back.
As Pink Nannan left, the remaining three bloggers also stood up and left. They initially thought Xia Lian was good-looking and they were all from the same place, but from this invitation incident, they could see that it was better not to interact too much with people like Xia Lian.
At this moment, Mi Zhuzhu, after seeing the messages in the group, was a bit angry, feeling that Pink Nannan had set her up. She was complaining to Liu Chen.
Liu Chen, meanwhile, opened Baidu and searched for Jile Hot Pot. She was mainly worried that the average consumption would be too low, making it difficult for her to complete the mission.
The search results showed an average cost of 1276 yuan per person. Liu Chen looked at this amount with some disappointment.
That's it?
Only a little over a thousand per person?
In the vast metropolis of Shanghai, couldn't there be a place with an average cost of five thousand per person?
Despite her disappointment, Liu Chen still called to book a table for 10:30 PM.
The person on the other end repeatedly confirmed when they heard about a dinner for a hundred people. Finally, after Liu Chen transferred 200,000 yuan via online banking, they rushed to prepare the ingredients.
At the same time, in the group chat, after expressing their thanks, everyone noticed that Liu Chen, who had offered to treat, had not said anything in the group, and they were somewhat puzzled.
Xia Lian, holding her phone, looked at the gradually quiet QQ group and smiled smugly.
"She probably went to search for the average cost of this restaurant. Smart of you, but if you think you can pretend to be rich after seeing an average cost of just over a thousand, you'll find out when you actually eat that a meal for a hundred people like this won't be less than 300,000 yuan!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Xia Lian's eyes widened as she looked at the QQ group.
"Booked, booked the table??"
Xia Lian placed her hands on the phone keyboard, wanting to say something, when she saw Liu Chen post in the QQ group.
Liu Chen: I've paid the boss 200,000 yuan, and the boss has already started preparing the dishes. Everyone eat your fill today, the boss won't refund if you can't finish it~~
Looking at the words on the screen, Xia Lian felt as if she had suddenly become illiterate. This number, no matter how she looked at it, seemed to be 200,000???