Su He calmly retorted with an expression of utter certainty:
"What? What's going on? This is your competition prize money!"
"Don't play dumb with me!" Chen Yang walked up to Su He and said, "The ten thousand yuan from the gold prize is still in the bag. I'm asking about this money."
"This is the five thousand yuan from the silver prize." Su He stared into Chen Yang's eyes and said seriously, "Chen Yang, that calligraphy was originally yours. I already feel ashamed to receive those honors. I absolutely cannot take this prize money."
"Su He, you're being too polite!" Chen Yang exclaimed upon hearing this. "Do we have to be so clear about this?" Chen Yang asked anxiously.
Seeing that Chen Yang was getting angry, Su He felt a sudden pang of guilt. She secretly glanced at his face, but quickly regained her composure and said firmly,
"Chen Yang, those are two different things! I have my own principles. Putting my name on that calligraphy piece for the competition was already ridiculous. This certificate and trophy, and I heard the school even gave me extra credits—I already feel unworthy of it. If I were to accept this prize money without a second thought, what would I become?"
Chen Yang looked at Su He. Her eyes were firm and sincere, and he was suddenly moved. Su He worked hard at the bar every day, earning only about two thousand yuan a month. Chen Yang knew her family's situation; they were definitely in need of money. Yet, faced with the five thousand yuan prize money from the competition organizers, she remained unmoved, sticking to her principles—truly commendable!
Such a good girl shouldn't be missed! As Chen Yang thought about it, his gaze unconsciously hardened. Su He noticed, her face inexplicably flushing, and she hurriedly said,
"Keep the money safe, I'm going back to the dorm!"
With that, Su He practically fled upstairs.
Chen Yang watched Su He's startled retreating figure and couldn't help but chuckle. Their relationship had progressed naturally over the past few days, but neither of them had explicitly stated it. Of course, Su He was a shy girl, so far, the most intimate gesture between them was limited to holding hands. Occasionally, Chen Yang would touch her hair or gently stroke her nose, and Su He wouldn't get angry.
But Su He would still blush uncontrollably from time to time—truly a simple and adorable girl!
…
Back in his dorm room, Chen Yang casually stuffed the bag of money under his pillow, then lay down fully clothed, hands behind his head, staring blankly at the upper bunk.
It was nearly midnight. The other guys in the dorm were all asleep, their soft snores adding to the quiet of the room.
Chen Yang, however, couldn't sleep. He'd been reborn into this world for some time now, and had overcome his initial financial difficulties, saving some money. Chen Yang roughly calculated: he'd sold music copyrights for 42,000 yuan, bought Su He a phone, and spent about 10,000 yuan on clothes, leaving him with 32,000 yuan. Adding today's 15,000 yuan, Chen Yang now had 47,000 yuan in cash at his disposal.
Still too little!
During his free time, Chen Yang had been thinking about how to quickly become wealthy. Utilizing his knowledge from his previous life and his three years of precognitive advantages, he had indeed come up with many ways to make money, but without exception, these all required a considerable amount of start-up capital. 40,000 yuan was a drop in the ocean.
If only he had 500,000 yuan! Chen Yang thought to himself.
Chen Yang had indeed spotted a great opportunity to make money in the short term, with a conservative estimate of a 100% return. Unfortunately, it required a significant amount of capital, at least 500,000 to 600,000 yuan.
Chen Yang's target was real estate. Of course, he wasn't buying houses to wait for appreciation, as most people would. Although Rongcheng's housing prices had experienced a significant surge since 2010, with average prices rising by over 10,000 yuan per square meter within three years, Chen Yang clearly couldn't wait that long. He needed projects that could quickly recoup his investment to accumulate initial capital as rapidly as possible.
With sufficient capital, plenty of profitable opportunities awaited him!
Actually, Chen Yang wanted to buy older properties. He recalled that several old residential areas in the city center were demolished by the government in the latter half of 2010 under the guise of urban renewal. These areas mostly consisted of self-built houses, and the government had strictly controlled the news of the land acquisition to prevent a few individuals from adding structures after learning about the demolition.
Once a land acquisition notice is issued, the government will strictly monitor the process to prevent illegal construction, freeze housing transactions, and complete the land acquisition and demolition within a very short time.
At this time, the average housing price in Rongcheng was around six or seven thousand yuan per square meter. These older houses, mostly built in the 1920s, would have even lower prices. However, because these houses were in very good locations, the monetary compensation for land acquisition was extremely high, far exceeding the average selling price of the houses.
In Chen Yang's memory, the monetary compensation standard in the Hongguang Road old city renovation project reached thirteen thousand yuan per square meter. Because the government strictly controlled the information, those residents who sold their houses at four or five thousand yuan per square meter without prior knowledge regretted it deeply when they saw that the buyers had made more than double their profits in just two or three months.
Chen Yang had lived in Rongcheng for more than three years in his previous life and was very familiar with the city's changes. He knew of at least four or five similar projects where the government had issued sudden demolition notices. Therefore, if Chen Yang could successfully buy the old house slated for demolition on his first attempt, he could completely forgo the new resettlement house, thus maximizing his monetary compensation. He could then continue investing in similar properties, causing his assets to snowball in a short period.
Unfortunately, the old town area of Hongguang Road will be subject to land acquisition and demolition in a month. Unless Chen Yang can come up with 500,000 to 600,000 yuan to buy a small apartment outright, he might not be able to complete the property transfer before the announcement.
However, this is clearly impossible. Turning 47,000 yuan into 500,000 to 600,000 yuan in just a few days is beyond Chen Yang's capabilities, even with his vast resources.
Chen Yang sighed deeply, watching a golden opportunity slip away because of financial constraints.
A penny can stump a hero!
In his previous life, Chen Yang lived a life of luxury and never knew the feeling of lacking money. After being reborn into this world, he truly understood the meaning of "you can't do anything without money." In his previous life, coming up with 500,000 to 600,000 yuan would have been a piece of cake! Of course, given his past life as Chen Yang, he wouldn't stoop to earning such money.
Although he hadn't figured it out, Chen Yang's sleepiness had long since vanished.
Out of sheer boredom, Chen Yang took out his iPhone 4s and opened the Tencent News app, browsing aimlessly.
In the local news section, the news of the Rongcheng Colleges and Universities Calligraphy and Painting Competition was prominently displayed, presumably because Master Bai Yan was present and even accepted apprentices on the spot.
The article was quite well-written, especially the tense atmosphere of the tiebreaker round, which was vividly portrayed, giving the reader a sense of being there. Coupled with an edited video of the tiebreaker round, this sensational news attracted many clicks from netizens. In the comments, a significant number of people ridiculed Yan Huiming for giving his "acceptance speech" before the competition.
"A giant in words, a dwarf in deeds..."
"When this guy stood on the stage during the awards ceremony, he was a living tragedy, haha..."
"The host was completely incompetent; they should have done a live interview with him after the competition, asking him how he felt."
Reading these comments, Chen Yang couldn't help but smile knowingly. Young Master Fang had absolutely no liking for this self-important President Yan.
Chen Yang's eyes swept across his phone screen. Below was the "Related Reports" section, mostly filled with news about Master Bai Yan. When Chen Yang saw one particular news item, a sudden flash of inspiration struck him, and he excitedly sat up in bed.
Leaning against the wall, Chen Yang hugged his knees and fell into deep thought. His phone, tossed aside, still displayed the headline of a news article from a few months ago:
"The Eighth Annual Meeting of the China Shoushan Stone Association Held in Beijing; Master Bai Yan Attended and Speaks."
This seemingly ordinary news item instantly reminded Chen Yang of a small incident from his past life.
Around 2011, Chen Yang returned to Beijing from the military and visited his master, Bai Yan.
The master was not only a renowned calligrapher and painter but also a great collector.
During their conversation, Master Bai Yan recounted an anecdote: a collector in Fuzhou had bought a piece of ordinary-looking Shoushan stone for four thousand yuan at a small shop in the flower and bird market. During processing, the carver accidentally cut off a corner, revealing that beneath its unassuming exterior lay an extremely rare "orange-peel red" color. The collector immediately resold it for a profit of two hundred thousand yuan.
Master Bai Yan recounted this story not because the collector had made a small fortune—such an artist always maintained a detached attitude towards money.
He brought it up for two reasons: first, Chen Yang had just returned from Fuzhou, and this incident happened there; second, the orange-peel red Shoushan stone had changed hands several times before being acquired by one of Master Bai Yan's disciples and presented to him as a gift. The master craftsman was also captivated by this exquisite Shoushan stone, even personally carving the "contented and at ease" seal.
This same seal had been used by the master that evening when he wrote calligraphy for Professor Yan and Ning Qiaoqian's mother, Cheng Susu. Therefore, when Chen Yang saw the words "Shoushan stone" in the news, he immediately recalled this. Chen Yang had also seen photos of the Shoushan stone in its original state at Master Baiyan's home; the difference between its original state and the finished seal was striking, leaving Chen Yang in awe of the wonders of nature.
Of course, back then it was merely a topic of casual conversation, but now it gave Chen Yang a glimpse of potential profit.
Considering the timeline, that Shoushan stone should still be lying dormant in that small shop at the flower and bird market, a hidden gem. Chen Yang saw this as the first opportunity to change his destiny since his rebirth.