When leaving Army Group A, Yuan Fang was driving. Chen Yang, meanwhile, was sound asleep in the back seat, completely drunk.
At lunchtime, the Liu father and son took turns toasting Chen Yang. Of course, Liu Guoqiang didn't open the commemorative bottle Chen Yang had given him, carefully storing it away in the wine cabinet. They drank specially supplied Moutai at lunch.
This wasn't one of those counterfeit "special supply" bottles; it was the genuine Moutai supplied annually to central leaders by the Moutai distillery. Liu Guoqiang was a heavy drinker, and every year he'd get several cases from his father to take back to the Southeast Province. This time, he'd brought out his entire stock.
Liu Guoqiang was known for his high tolerance for alcohol, and while Liu Zhengfeng was politically far less naive than him, his drinking capacity was practically a carbon copy. So, under their combined assault, Chen Yang quickly succumbed to the alcohol and collapsed.
Fortunately, although Yuan Fang was on vacation, the company was short-staffed, so he was assigned as the backup captain. The requirements for being a backup captain are the same as those for actual flights: no drinking before the flight, and if there's a special situation with the crew, such as the captain suddenly falling ill, the backup captain must immediately step in. So Yuan Fang didn't drink a drop, and he drove them home.
Anyway, Yuan Fang lived in the Luhang residential area, so it was convenient.
Luckily, Song Yi, Su He, and the others were home. After Yuan Fang dropped Chen Yang off at the villa, the group helped Chen Yang to the bedroom. Aunt Wu even made some hangover soup, which Su He carefully fed Chen Yang before covering him with a blanket and leaving the bedroom.
Chen Yang slept all afternoon, only waking up as dusk fell. With a headache from the alcohol, Chen Yang groggily picked up his phone to check the time and found three missed calls, all from the same number.
"Who's calling me?" Chen Yang muttered to himself as he dialed back.
The phone rang twice before the other end answered:
"Hello, Xiao Fang! This is Guo Li!"
"Director Guo! Hello, hello!" Chen Yang perked up immediately upon hearing it was Director Guo Li from the Zhonglou District Demolition Office, smiling as he said, "Sorry! I had a few drinks at noon and slept so soundly I didn't hear the phone ring. Director Guo, what can I do for you?"
"How could I possibly give you instructions! You're a millionaire now!" Guo Li joked back. "Xiao Fang, I'm just calling to let you know that the demolition compensation has been deposited into your account according to the agreement. Check the amount when you have time!"
"Really? Director Guo, thank you so much!" Chen Yang said happily. "I'll invite Director Xie out another day, and we can all get together!"
After hanging up, Chen Yang got up, hastily threw on some clothes, slipped on his slippers, and went to the study next door to turn on his computer. After waiting a short while, Chen Yang skillfully opened his online banking page, entered his account number and password, and saw a balance of 3,110,234.23 yuan. Chen Yang couldn't help but snap his fingers.
His first pot of gold had finally arrived!
Chen Yang then checked his transaction details. The first item displayed was a sum of 2,235,684 yuan that had arrived that afternoon—the demolition compensation for the house in Hengxiang.
This bank card was recently opened by Chen Yang. Previously, it only contained one million yuan in after-tax bonuses from the airline. A few days ago, Chen Yang spent some money on furnishing Su He's bedroom and renovating the study. Now, with the demolition compensation, he had a total of over three million yuan.
Chen Yang leaned back in his computer chair and pondered for a while. Now that he had the funds, and Song Yi was working hard to secure the four old houses he had his eye on, if he bought them all outright, it would be within 1.5 million yuan. That left him with over 1.5 million yuan. How to spend this 1.5 million yuan was a question worth considering carefully.
Just as Chen Yang was pondering, a "ding-dong" sound came from the speaker. He sat up straight and saw a new email. He casually opened it; it was in English. However, Chen Yang's English was quite good, and he had no reading difficulties, so he browsed it casually.
Halfway through, Chen Yang couldn't help but sit up straight, a hint of joy in his eyes. After quickly finishing the email, Chen Yang immediately pulled out the keyboard and quickly replied. Then he couldn't help but stand up, pacing back and forth in the study with a slight nervousness.
Chen Yang's anticipation at this moment was even stronger than when he was waiting for his demolition compensation. The email was only a few lines long, essentially saying: I have one of the dolls you need, and I'm willing to sell it to you if the price is right.
This was the doll Chen Yang had been searching for. This is a limited-edition figurine released in 1985 by the famous Italian toy company Yabeah. Only 300 sets were produced worldwide, almost all of which have been collected by Yabeah's most ardent fans, making them extremely difficult to find.
Ever since Chen Yang saw Xu Qingya arrive in Rongcheng at the airport, just like in his past life, he has spent all his free time searching for this figurine on major domestic and international forums and shopping websites, with only one purpose—to give it to Xu Qingya.
This story goes back to his past life. After Chen Yang and Xu Qingya fell in love, Xu Qingya once told him that her biggest regret was losing a beloved childhood toy during a trip. This lost toy was this 1985 limited-edition figurine, a gift from her parents for her fifth birthday. As a child, Xu Qingya would sleep with this toy; it was her best childhood companion.
In his past life, Xu Qingya had even shown Chen Yang pictures of the toy, and Chen Yang still vividly remembered the extremely regretful expression on her face at that time. After meeting Xu Qingya at the airport that day, Chen Yang had been searching for this doll. It was Xu Qingya's biggest regret in her past life, and Chen Yang hoped to make up for it in this one.
Unfortunately, this doll was extremely rare. Chen Yang's search was fruitless, though he left his email address in many places, hoping for a surprise. Just when Chen Yang had given up hope, an email suddenly ignited the flame of hope in his heart…
Soon, another "ding-dong" sounded. The other party was obviously online and quickly replied. Chen Yang eagerly opened it and saw that the other party had sent a picture of the doll and attached their price: 2000 US dollars.
Chen Yang ignored the price and leaned closer to the screen for a closer look. He saw a palm-sized doll, shaped like a raccoon, wearing a cartoonish light pink apron and carrying a small basket. Every detail was identical to the one he'd seen in his previous life. The seller had even included a photo of the original purchase receipt, making it highly credible.
Although the price of two thousand US dollars far exceeded the doll's actual value, money can't buy what you love. In his previous life, Xu Qingya had searched extensively but found no one willing to sell it. Otherwise, given the Xu family's wealth, she would have easily paid twenty thousand or even two hundred thousand US dollars without batting an eye.
Chen Yang replied almost immediately to the email, agreeing to the transaction. Although he knew that since the seller had taken the initiative, there was little chance of backing out, he was still eager to finalize the deal.
Finally, both parties agreed to use a mutually agreed-upon third-party payment platform. Chen Yang converted his US dollars into Chinese yuan at today's exchange rate and transferred the money to the platform's account. The overseas seller then shipped the doll via international air express. Once Chen Yang received and verified the goods, the platform would directly pay the seller in US dollars, similar to Alipay in China, but this platform allowed for direct settlement in both parties' currencies, reducing the hassle of foreign currency exchange.
Chen Yang quickly transferred over 13,000 Chinese yuan to the platform's account. Upon receiving the payment, the seller said they would immediately set off to mail it—due to the time difference, it was still noon there.
Having completed all this, Chen Yang breathed a long sigh of relief, as if he had accomplished a great mission. The seller promised to use the fastest shipping method, but from Italy, it would take at least a week. Chen Yang was destined to spend that week in anxiety and anticipation.
At this moment, Song Yi peeked in from outside the door, then walked in with a smile and said:
"Brother Yang, you're awake!"
"Yeah!" Chen Yang rubbed his still aching temples and said with a wry smile, "I drank way too much at noon, I completely blacked out, I don't even know how I got back!"
"A Captain Yuan drove you back in your car!" Song Yi said with a chuckle, "You were like a lump of mud, Su He and I had to carry you upstairs!"
Chen Yang touched his nose somewhat embarrassedly and said:
"I'm never drinking with soldiers again! They're like beasts when they drink! They're trying to get you drunk to death!"
Saying this, Chen Yang looked up at Song Yi and said:
"Hey! Xiao Yi, I've been wondering..." "Getting drunk is so awful, why do you have such a fondness for it? And you always get drunk, do you have a masochistic tendency?"
"What nonsense! Yang-ge, I rarely drink anymore, okay?" Song Yi said unhappily, "That's because I used to have nothing to do all day, what else could I do if I didn't drink? Now every day is so busy, classes, house hunting... I hardly have any free time, how could I have the mind to drink?"
At this point, Song Yi remembered the important matter and quickly said with a smile:
"Yang-ge, I came to tell you some good news! One of the four houses you listed the other day has been finalized! We've arranged to sign the contract tomorrow!"
"Oh?" Chen Yang immediately perked up, grabbing Song Yi's hand and asking, "Which one? How much did you pay?"