Tycoon: From Rags to Riches

Night fell, and the city lights began to glow.

Moonlight filtered through sparse clouds, dappling every corner of the city. Touched by the moon, the glass curtain walls of the skyscrapers lost their harsh daytime glare, shimmering with a faint halo as if veiled in silver gauze.

Jiang Ruan walked out of the Lion Sports Fitness Center. Having just showered, her jet-black hair was still slightly damp. Her face, now free of its meticulous makeup, looked fair and pure, accentuating her cool and detached aura.

She wore a light gray, square-shouldered, mock-neck short-sleeved top, a pair of black A-line high-waisted shorts, and mid-calf black combat boots. An off-white gym bag was slung over one shoulder. Her entire outfit radiated youthful energy.

"BEEP BEEP—"

Jiang Ruan had only taken a few steps from the Lion Sports Fitness Center when two short honks sounded from nearby.

She instinctively looked toward the sound and saw a Maybach GLS 600. The man in the driver’s seat was none other than Gu Heng, who had just spent nearly an hour learning the freestyle stroke from her in the pool.

Recalling the lesson in the pool, Jiang Ruan felt a faint heat rise to her fair cheeks.

He was the beginner, she the instructor.

On the pool deck, it was fine, but in the water, their proximity made a certain amount of physical contact inevitable.

Having been single her whole life, this was the first time she had ever been so physically close to a member of the opposite sex.

The feeling of her heart pounding hadn’t completely subsided even now.

"President Gu?"

"You haven’t left yet?"

Jiang Ruan clutched the strap of her gym bag with both hands and hurried over to Gu Heng’s driver-side window, leaning down slightly to ask.

"I’m a little hungry."

"Wanted to grab a bite."

Gu Heng was leaning back in his comfortable seat. He looked at Jiang Ruan with a smile and asked, "I’m looking for a dinner companion. Would Teacher Jiang care to join me?"

"Eating right after a workout... sounds a little sinful..."

Jiang Ruan blinked, and combined with her slightly bent-over posture, it gave her an unintentionally alluring look.

"But if I have the chance to eat with President Gu, I’ll be sinful for tonight."

Jiang Ruan’s tone shifted as she accepted Gu Heng’s invitation.

"Get in."

Gu Heng gestured to Jiang Ruan before slowly rolling up the window. She took the gym bag off her shoulder, opened the passenger door, and got in.

The next second, the brilliant geometric matrix headlights lit up.

The Maybach GLS 600 pulled out of its parking spot and quickly merged into traffic.

Nearby, in front of the main entrance of the Lion Sports Fitness Center.

Two young guys watched the Maybach GLS 600 drive away. They looked at each other, a shared sense of resignation in their eyes.

"If I’d known she was getting into a Maybach, I wouldn’t have just smoked half a pack of cigarettes trying to figure out where I went wrong!"

The young man in the white tank top, his arms particularly thick, couldn’t help but let out a long sigh.

"The rich end up with their Beloved, and the poor just get to watch."

"These days, you either have the cash or the looks."

The other guy, wearing a black tank top that showed off his impressive chest, consoled him, "Guys like us who have neither shouldn’t get caught up in unrealistic fantasies."

"Hey!"

"What do you mean, unrealistic fantasy?"

"I asked for her WhatsApp a while back, and I got it, okay!"

The man in the white tank top retorted, unconvinced.

"And then what?"

The man in the black tank top shot him a sidelong glance. "You can’t even see her Moments. In fact, if you message her now, you’ll probably just get a red exclamation mark!"

"Fuck!"

"You’ve got all these little sayings ready to go!"

"Are you fucking studying for the grad school entrance exam or something?"

The man in the white tank top was triggered and glared at him, cursing.

"Huh?"

"How did you know?"

"I actually am planning to take the exam. I was about to buy the prep books."

The man in the black tank top looked a little surprised.

Hearing this, the man in the white tank top froze for a second, then his eyes widened. "Bro, you’re gonna take the grad school exam? You’ve got to be kidding me!"

"Are you really the studious type?"

"With the money for prep books, wouldn’t it be better to buy a couple more tubs of protein powder and creatine!"

The man in the black tank top rubbed his chin. "You’ve got a point, but..."

"No fucking buts!"

"I can’t just stand by and watch you go down the wrong path, bro!"

"Just listen to me. We’ll train hard now, and after graduation, we’ll head straight to Ba Shu. With our physiques, we’re guaranteed to make it big there!"

Seeing his friend still hesitating, the man in the white tank top made the decision for him.

"Are you sure?"

The man in the black tank top couldn’t help but make a face like that meme of the old man on the subway staring at his phone, utterly bewildered.

"Abso-glutely!"

The man in the white tank top gave a gentle smile.

...

Of course, Gu Heng and Jiang Ruan were oblivious to the discussion between the two muscular brothers.

At that moment, the two of them were driving through the heavy nighttime traffic of the city.

"If I had known President Gu was going to ask me to dinner, I wouldn’t have taken off my makeup."

Jiang Ruan said, looking at herself in the vanity mirror above the passenger seat, her tone slightly dejected.

"It’s fine."

"It’s just a casual meal, no need to be so formal."

Gu Heng held the steering wheel with one hand and replied with a smile, "Besides, I don’t think there’s much of a difference between when you’re wearing makeup and when you’re not."

"’Not much of a difference’ still means there’s some difference."

Jiang Ruan turned her head, her clear eyes shimmering as if water were flowing within them.

"That’s not what I meant."

Gu Heng was a bit taken aback. "What I mean is, you’re beautiful in your own way, with or without makeup."

"So, do you like how I look with makeup, or without?"

Jiang Ruan’s eyes flickered. After asking this probing question, a blush crept across her fair cheeks.

"Do I have to pick just one?"

Gu Heng raised an eyebrow, a slight smile playing on his lips. "Can’t I have both?"

"Um..."

"That... that works too..."

Hearing Gu Heng’s answer, Jiang Ruan inexplicably became a little shy.

For a moment, her imagination ran wild.

’It was a complete accident that he saw me without makeup today.’

’Normally, I almost always wear makeup whenever I leave the house.’

’So, when am I bare-faced?’

’Only when I’m at home, after a shower, or when I’m sleeping.’

’And those are usually my most private moments.’

’Now, Gu Heng is saying he wants both looks.’

’Doesn’t that mean...’

At this thought, Jiang Ruan’s cheeks flushed an even deeper red.

Gu Heng, busy driving, didn’t notice Jiang Ruan’s reaction, mainly because it never occurred to him that she would read so much into it.

He followed the navigation on the screen, a bit awkwardly making a series of turns on the city roads. It wasn’t until a retro, Tang-dynasty-style building in a standalone courtyard came into view that he gradually began to slow down from his slightly faster pace...