"Indeed, I'm glad I broke up with Lin Jiao. She's almost thirty now, and I've grown tired of her. Is it not good for me to find a young, pretty girl after our breakup? The world is full of beautiful women!"

At the barbecue stand, by the wooden table, Lu Ming was holding a bottle of liquor, joking to his buddy, Qin Yong.

Qin Yong raised an eyebrow, "Really?"

"Indeed, I’ve been wanting to break up with her, it was inevitable. You don’t understand, for our marriage, my parents had to borrow money, sell our family home and rent an apartment, and with the money I saved for five years, it was just enough for the million RMB down payment her mother demanded, a 300,000 RMB car, and a 200,000 RMB betrothal gift. After getting married, we would be in debt, there’s no hope in this sort of life, why should I even consider marriage? For what sake!?"

Lu Ming said, "Now she’s run off with someone else, let that sucker spend his money on a house and car. I don’t have to waste my money and I still have more than a million left to woo girls. Isn’t it much better and happier, hahaha!"

Qin Yong looked at the five bottles of liquor that Lu Ming had finished, then at his untouched barbecue skewers and rice noodles, and sighed silently, "If you’re at peace with it, then it’s okay. Let’s not talk about her anymore, I'm here to accompany you for drinks and snacks tonight."

"I’m not hungry, just listen to me for a bit longer."

Lu Ming interrupted Qin Yong, laughing, "Do you know how I found out that Lin Jiao was cheating on me?"

"I don’t know."

Qin Yong fell silent.

Lu Ming, face red from the alcohol and eyes also red, still chuckled, "Tonight, when I went to pick her up, that guy was just sending her downstairs. Just before the elevator doors closed, they didn’t forget to steal a kiss or two. There were dozens of people at the building entrance watching him kiss my girlfriend, haha! It was hilarious."

Qin Yong didn’t laugh.

Lu Ming added, "Those two didn't even feel embarrassed when they saw me, they even greeted me. I was a bit stunned then, didn't even pay attention to Lin Jiao, just kept on looking at that guy. Believe it or not, he was actually quite handsome, said to be the heir of the Jiang Group, Jiang Yun. He was wearing an Armani suit worth at least six figures, his watch probably worth hundreds of thousands, and there was a Ferrari parked at the door, also his. That car alone is worth a hundred of me. I'll tell you, I've worked hard for five years here in Qing City, saved up 300,000 RMB, but I found out I couldn’t even afford one of his car tyres…"

"F***, if I were a girl, I would also like him."

"When that guy saw me, he was very polite, and greeted me saying, 'So you are Mr. Lu', I really wanted to reply him with 'I am your dad', but I didn’t respond then, I was just silently staring at Lin Jiao in a daze."

"That dude told me, 'Thank you for looking after Jiaojiao,' then Lin Jiaojiao said to me since you've seen everything, don't even think about marriage..."

"We broke up."

"We were together for six years, but it only took four words to end it."

Saying this, Lu Ming forcefully sniffed, took a deep breath, and said, "What a loss. I at least deserve another 'thank you' from her."

The always silent Qin Yong gently pats Lu Ming, "Come on, let's drink. We'll make her say that 'thank you' later."

Lu Ming scoffs, "No need to make up for anything. I don't ever want to see that woman in my life again."

Qin Yong nods in agreement, silently pouring the alcohol, "Okay then!"

Lu Ming takes the glass.

One cup down.

And another one.

After a few drinks...

Lu Ming, who had been playing it cool, finally showed his despair. His face flushed with alcohol, "Yong, why am I broke? Why, after buying a car and a house, I only have two hundred thousand left in my hands? And these two hundred thousand have to go as a bride price?"

"Heh, why can't this two hundred thousand be two billion or two trillion instead?"

"Do you think it's because I'm too poor that Lin Jiaojiao wanted to leave?"

Listening to Lu Ming's muttering and series of rhetorical questions, Qin Yong pats Lu Ming on the shoulder, "It's not your fault. She's just too greedy."

Listening to Qin Yong's comforting words, Lu Ming, who had been constantly murmuring, suddenly felt as if a string within his heart snapped completely. He couldn't hold back his tears anymore, "Yong, it's been six years, a whole six years. Whatever she wanted, I provided for her. What the hell did I do wrong?"

"I bought her skincare products that cost hundreds, an iPhone 13 worth seven or eight thousand, handbags that cost tens of thousands. Even the new car that I bought for myself, I only let her drive. I treated her so well, why is she treating me like this..."

"Six years, I haven't touched her once. However, she just went to a hotel with that Jiang guy right in front of me!"

"The person that I wholeheartedly loved squashed my affection for her bit by bit. I can't stand wearing this green hat..."

...

...

Click.

The silent and dark room was suddenly opened. A streak of light slips in through the crevices, illuminating the one who opened the door, Lu Ming.

After parting ways with Qin Yong, Lu Ming returned to his rented room alone. The moment he switched on the light and saw the scene before him, he went silent.

In the living room, there were decorations of roses and balloons everywhere, with a diamond ring placed in the center.

After meeting Lin Jiao's parents, Lu Ming had planned to propose today. He was going to hand over the betrothal gifts to Lin Jiao's mother at six o'clock tomorrow morning, according to the plan, and they would set a wedding date.

Getting married was inevitable. The proposal ceremony was dispensable, but Lu Ming believed that this was a scene that Lin Jiao had always dreamed of. He had to satisfy Lin Jiao and give her a big surprise...

As it turned out, Lin Jiao gave Lu Ming a much bigger surprise first.

After being silent for a while, Lu Ming threw all the stuff away. Instead of feeling better, he felt even more miserable.

"I need to retrieve the car keys and house keys tomorrow," Lu Ming said to himself.

Lu Ming gritted his teeth.

Having bought a new car and house, he stayed in a rented place closer to his workplace. He didn't need to use the car either, so both sets of keys remained with Lin Jiao.

Previously, Lu Ming didn't think much of it, but now that she has betrayed him, he wouldn't allow her to live in his house and drive his car freely.

When the tipsy Lu Ming lied down on the bed, several notifications popped up on his phone.

Ding——

"You have one day left before the repayment day, an automatic deduction of 1699.37 yuan will be initiated at midnight. Please ensure the repayment card balance is sufficient a day ahead."

"On June 9th, your balance and savings card will automatically repay 2498.36 yuan, you can log into……"

"Your account bill for June 2nd has not been fully paid. 29.87 yuan has been repaid, with 1992.66 yuan remaining. Please repay on time."

Looking at the notices of defaults and thinking about the money his parents borrowed after selling their house, Lu Ming deeply inhaled with a slightly throbbing head, "I should use the betrothal gift money to repay the debts first, and then transfer money to my parents."

He felt incredibly relieved at this moment.

Thank heavens, they haven't transferred the betrothal gift to Lin Jiao's mother yet. Otherwise, he'd be completely destitute now.

When thinking about this, Lu Ming felt a slight pain in his heart...

He previously promised solemnly to his parents that he would stay with Lin Jiao for a lifetime. That was why his parents sold their house.

But now, how was he supposed to explain the situation to them?

"Nevermind, let's not talk about it for now…"

Lu Ming heaved a sigh, turned off the lights, and fell into a drowsy sleep enveloped by the pitch-black night.

During his slumber, Lu Ming was plagued by a throbbing headache. His mind was littered with the repetitive images of Lin Jiao and Jiang Yun kissing in front of the company, seething with anger and frustration...

However, he was completely oblivious to the subtly unfolding changes in reality.

Until the next morning.

Caught in a deep sleep, Lu Ming hadn't noticed his phone lighting up with numerous never-seen-before news alerts:

"Shocking! Yesterday, a new property launch in Qing City required an outrageous price of 65,000 per square meter! Yet it still ignited a buying frenzy. Have property prices yet to peak? How many wealthy people are there in Dragon Nation?"

"Billionaire celebrity list updated. Currently, the world's richest man according to Forbes is mega-millionaire Jeff Bezos with a net worth of 12,000 Yuan. However, Bezos proclaimed that there's another man wealthier than him, whose identity is even unknown to him..."

"So, who on earth is the unseen, unheard-of tycoon? The editors are also eager to find out. Please leave your comments below..."

Against the backdrop of constant notification pings, Lu Ming was jerkily awakened.

The morning sunlight streamed through the window as he squirmed to sit upright. Picking up his phone, he mumbled, "What time is it?"

Seeing it was only seven in the morning, Lu Ming breathed a sigh of relief...

Worried his hangover might make him late for work, hence deducting his attendance check.

Such is the life of a salaried worker. Even after experiencing the pain of betrayal from a girlfriend of six years, they are still concerned about their job performance the next day...

However, after confirming the time, Lu Ming quickly scanned through the news, feeling instantly puzzled. He wondered if he was still drunk.

"A property price of 65,000? The wealthiest man has only 12,000 Yuan? What kind of joke is this? It should be 120 billion!"

"What are these all about? The year's most ridiculous news?"

"House price is clearly ¥65000, how did it turn into change?"

"The world's richest man's wealth is '¥12 trillion,' if it's misprinted as '¥12 thousand,' that's one thing, but they even called him a ten-thousand-yuan worth of wealth?"

Lu Ming couldn't help but laugh out loud after reading this...

"The standards of these self-media are getting worse and worse!"

"A man worth ten thousand yuan becomes the richest man?"

"If I have two hundred thousand, isn't that ground-breaking?"