Financial freedom starts from graduation

Chapter 524 The Ubiquitous "Privilege"

"Do you want to add me on WeChat?"

Zhou Wang was taken aback and said with some surprise.

"Yes, it's for you, boss. I was wondering if it would be convenient for you..."

The white-haired youth's eyes gleamed with a strong thirst for knowledge as he chuckled.

Zhou Wang initially wanted to refuse, after all, given his current status and wealth, even a WeChat friend slot carries an intangible price.

Xu Wenqian had complained to him that someone had approached her, asking her to simply promote Zhou Wang's WeChat account, without requiring her to do anything else, and would pay her 100,000 yuan...

The possible reason is that after experiencing all sorts of messy harassment, Zhou Wang turned on all privacy settings, and his WeChat account could no longer be found through normal search methods.

At the time, Zhou Wang even jokingly tapped Xu Wenqian on the head, saying she was a fool, why wouldn't she take this free money? It was just a WeChat notification, Zhou Wang could just refuse the friend request and that would be the end of it...

"But this feeling is like betrayal. No matter how much money you give me, I'll still feel terrible..."

Xu Wenqian blinked her eyes with a hint of grievance and said something that touched Zhou Wang, who then hugged her and gave her a passionate kiss. He then laid her down and began violently tearing at her thigh-high stockings...

Ahem, that’s too far off topic.

In short, after Zhou Wang thoroughly cleaned up his contacts, apart from some sales managers from major brands, he could hardly find any peripheral interpersonal relationships among his WeChat friends. Some "old classmates" who had never been in contact before but suddenly appeared were all deleted by him.

Therefore, Zhou Wang naturally refused the white-haired youth's request to add him on WeChat.

But then Zhou Wang seemed to think of something and asked, "Judging from your accent, you seem to be from Guangdong Province?"

"Yes, my name is A-Gui, and this is my old friend A-Jie. We both grew up in Shenzhen, but A-Jie is now considered a Hong Kong resident..."

Zhou Wang nodded thoughtfully, "Okay, add one more."

"Thank you... thank you so much, boss!"

The young man named A-Gui quickly thanked him.

After the conversation came to an end, and Zhou Wang turned around to chat and laugh quietly with Su Yaqing, A-Jie, who had been staring wide-eyed, slapped A-Gui hard on the shoulder.

"Are you crazy? Why did you add him on WeChat? And you even called him 'big boss'? What kind of big boss is he...?"

"Shh, keep your voice down!"

A-Gui was startled, but breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Zhou Wang didn't seem to be paying much attention.

Faced with A-Jie's question, he didn't know how to answer for a moment.

He hadn't faced Zhou Wang directly before, but when they made eye contact just now, he felt the pressure of being face-to-face with this incredibly handsome young man.

It was mainly those eyes that gave Ah Gui a feeling of unfathomable depth. The moment their eyes met, he chickened out, which is why he had the bright idea to ask to add him on WeChat...

But he obviously couldn't say these things directly to A-Jie; he could already imagine A-Jie's absurd expression.

"Are you stupid? Do you think he's Tony Leung, with those deep, mysterious eyes? The first thing you need to do right now is uninstall Eggplant Novels from your phone, you fucking lunatic!"

But Ah Gui was certain he really had that feeling; it was definitely not a hallucination, so he could only stammer:
"I just wanted to make friends, you saw it yourself, at least he's way better at picking up girls than us..."

"Are there only these four beauties left in the world? Besides, we don't even know what their relationship is..."

Ah Jie still looked down on Ah Gui's behavior and said unhappily, "When we get back to Pengcheng, I'll take you to a social event and show you just how narrow-minded you are..."

"Yes, yes, I'll listen to you. It's just adding contact information, it's no big deal. I'll delete him later."

Because Ah Jie's family background was much better than his, Ah Gui would habitually nod and chuckle when Ah Jie scolded him.

On the other side, Zhou Wang also heard the two whispering and arguing in hushed tones.

However, he didn't care about the specifics. They were just two strangers who had met by chance. Zhou Wang only made this move because they were native to Guangdong Province, and he thought he might need their help at some point in the future. As for whether it would be useful, he would leave it to fate...

At this moment, the plane had already taken off, and before losing signal, Zhou Wang received a text message from Xiao Wang.

Zhou Wang glanced at his phone, a look of surprise in his eyes. After a moment of stunned silence, he quietly put his phone away.

……

Shortly after takeoff, the flight attendants began serving meals from food carts.

Each airline has slightly different regulations in this regard. Shenzhen Airlines generally uses two hours as the dividing line. Flights within two hours are called "short-haul flights" and will be provided with a small snack box and bottled water. However, Zhou Wang's flight was about two and a half hours long, which is a "medium- and long-haul flight", which just meets the standard of "meal delivery".

At this moment, Su Yaqing smiled and said to the group, "Brother, and Duoduo, Tongtong, and Min'er, remember to choose chicken rice later, and be sure to ask the flight attendant for tomato sauce~"

"What's the point?"

Zhou Wang was surprised that Su Yajing had even done "strategy" for such a small detail. After all, it was her first time flying with Shenzhen Airlines, so she asked with great interest.

"I've checked on Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book). Shenzhen Airlines usually offers chicken rice, beef rice, or fish rice. Fish rice doesn't suit many people's tastes, and beef rice might get dry and hard, so chicken rice is the most reliable option..."

Su Yaqing picked at her fingers and said, "As for tomato juice, it's a hidden 'special offer.' Flight attendants usually won't ask you unless you ask, but they all say it's the best-tasting, with a very strong flavor~"

"Oh, there's such a thing? Hmm, I'll listen to you, Ranran..."

Yu Duo immediately agreed with a smile.

Zhou Wang didn't care what they ate, since there was a limit to the amount of food served on airplanes. But since this was clearly something Su Yajing was doing to improve everyone's travel experience, Zhou Wang smiled and obliged:

"Okay, if you hadn't told me, I might have actually chosen beef."

"What beef, chicken, and fish? Aren't airplane meals all as awful as pig swill?"

At this moment, Zhou Wang heard a murmur coming from behind him, and he immediately raised his eyebrows to look.

Sitting next to Zhou Wang, A Gui shifted his body awkwardly and quickly put his hands together in a pleading gesture, out of A Jie's sight.

Seeing this, Zhou Wang didn't bother arguing with his companion anymore. Just then, the flight attendant pushing the food cart came up in front of him, so Zhou Wang took the opportunity to order a chicken rice and tomato sauce.

The taste was only average for Zhou Wang, but the tomato juice, perhaps because it was his first time trying it, was actually quite good...

Just as Zhou Wang was about to enjoy his lunch, the murmurs behind him started again.

"This economy class food is absolutely awful. It's all your fault, Gui, for not letting me buy a business class ticket. I already told you to put your share on my tab too..."

"Forget it, Ah Jie, it'll cost almost a thousand more. We've already spent so much on this trip, let's save some money if we can. Of course I know you don't care, but there's no need to waste money!"

Ah Gui, who had been complained about, quickly smiled apologetically.

"No way, who could eat this pig swill? I want to eat their 'Four Treasures Rice,' that's barely passable..." Ah Jie's voice suddenly rose, and he waved to the flight attendant, "Flight attendant!"

"Hello sir, what can I do for you?"

Soon, as a flight attendant approached, A-Jie loudly stated his request, "Can we upgrade now? My friend and I want to move to business class!"

As he spoke, A-Jie pointed to himself and A-Gui.

"Sir, please wait a moment. I need to check if there are any seats available in business class. Also, upgrading to business class on the spot might be significantly more expensive than upgrading from the ground..."

The flight attendant offered a subtle reminder.

"No matter how much more expensive it is, I'll pay for it."

Ah Jie was getting impatient. "Go check it out quickly."

"Okay, sir, just a moment."

The flight attendant hurried to the front cabin, while Ah Jie, who had sat up straight, glanced around, his seemingly indifferent gaze inadvertently sweeping over Zhou Wang, Su Yajing, and the others.

The girls glanced at him curiously, while Zhou Wang found it both funny and exasperating.

The behavior of this young man named A-Jie was roughly that of a "male animal showing off its feathers," including the fact that he suddenly raised his voice, which was clearly an attempt to attract attention.

...The logic behind it is a bit naive, but given that Ah Jie is only in his early twenties, it's not hard to understand.

Since he didn't come at him directly, Zhou Wang naturally ignored him and started eating his chicken rice while watching the first season of "Chu Tian Yao" with Su Yajing next to him.

He doesn't usually have the chance to watch these melodramatic historical dramas, but he finds them quite interesting when he glances at them occasionally.

Seeing that Zhou Wang didn't react much, A-Jie was somewhat disappointed. Just as he was getting impatient, the flight attendant finally returned, saying apologetically:
"I'm sorry, sir, business class seats are full, and we may not be able to accommodate your request..."

Is it full?

Ah Jie frowned, but could only give up, "Alright then."

Ah Gui, standing to the side, finally spoke up: "Never mind, Ah Jie, this is fine too. If you don't like the food, we can go get something else after we get off the plane. It's only two hours, we'll be there soon..."

"Well, what you said makes sense."

After being comforted by A-Gui, A-Jie stopped worrying.

Seeing his friend finally back down, A-Gui breathed a sigh of relief. He could sense that A-Jie was genuinely resentful of the young man next to him. However, A-Jie was good-looking, came from a wealthy family, and had always been pampered since childhood. His girlfriends were always the most beautiful in their circle. It was only natural that he would feel unbalanced when he encountered someone even more handsome and better at picking up girls...

Just then, the flight attendant who had left earlier suddenly returned, but this time she followed another flight attendant.

The flight attendant walking in front was noticeably different in appearance, and her demeanor was more mature and dignified. She was carrying a tray, and as she approached the seats, her smile suddenly became enthusiastic.

Then, to the astonishment of A-Gui and A-Jie, she suddenly knelt down and smiled at Zhou Wang, who looked up in surprise:

"Hello Mr. Zhou, I am the chief flight attendant for this flight. This is a complimentary business meal specially prepared for you by the crew..."

As she spoke, the flight attendant bent down and used one hand to help Zhou Wang clean up the mess before placing the tray on Zhou Wang's table.

While Zhou Wang was taken aback, the flight attendant smiled and said, "Also, Mr. Zhou, we offer a free upgrade service for certain customers. If you would like, I can move your seat to business class. Do you have such a need?"

Zhou Wang glanced at the other person with surprise. At first, he was a little confused because he had never actually spent money at Shenzhen Airlines. But then Zhou Wang realized something and understood.

Before Zhou Wang could say anything, someone broke down in his defenses.

Ah Jie jumped to his feet, shouting incredulously, "Are you fucking kidding me? Didn't you just say there were no business class seats available? Why are there seats now?! And why does he get a free business class meal...?"

The flight attendant who followed seemed to have anticipated this situation and immediately stepped forward to explain in a low voice:
"Sir, we apologize, but the upgrade option for regular customers has indeed been closed. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. As compensation, we can offer you some frequent flyer miles, which you can use to redeem your next ticket..."

"I don't want to listen to your nonsense. What do you mean by 'ordinary customer'? Haven't I spent enough money with your airline already...?"

Ah Jie wouldn't listen to the flight attendant's explanation and started yelling again. Ah Gui, who was standing nearby, quickly pulled him away.

"Never mind, Ah Jie, I heard there are security personnel on airplanes. It wouldn't be good if things got out of hand..."

"I don't care about them!"

Despite saying that, Ah Jie's voice unconsciously became much softer. With the patient reassurance of another flight attendant, he sat back down, even though his face still looked terrible.

Seeing that the minor incident had temporarily subsided, Zhou Wang then politely nodded to the flight attendant who was still squatting on the ground.

"Thank you, but I don't need an upgrade, I'll just sit here."

"Okay, Mr. Zhou, please feel free to call me anytime if you need anything."

She gave Zhou Wang a bright smile again before the flight attendant, dressed in a blue skirt and black stockings, got up and left.

Su Yajing, Yu Duo, and the others standing to the side were not surprised by the "privilege" that Zhou Wang suddenly enjoyed, and even took it for granted. They just curiously looked at the plate in front of Zhou Wang.

"Brother, can you take a look at what's in the official meal?"

Yu Duo and the others who were standing nearby also looked over, and Zhou Wang laughed and said, "Didn't someone just explain it to us? It's called something like 'Four Treasures Rice'..."

Ah Jie's face flushed red again, but after calming down, he knew that speaking again would only humiliate him, so he simply kept quiet.

At this moment, Zhou Wang opened the lunchbox, and the contents were indeed similar to what he had guessed.

The so-called "Four Treasures Rice" is a special dish with traditional Cantonese flavor. It usually uses seasonal ingredients from the "Eight Treasures" menu. The dish in front of us has four ingredients: braised beef, braised honeycomb tripe, braised chicken leg meat, and braised lotus root slices.

(Shenzhen Airlines - Four Treasures Rice)

Although it looked alright, Zhou Wang was already full from eating chicken rice and had no appetite. After asking around, Su Yajing and the others also couldn't eat anymore.

Adhering to the principle of not wasting food, Zhou Wang pushed the Four Treasures Rice to A Gui, who had been secretly observing him for a long time.

"Here, I see you didn't eat much just now. You should be able to finish it, so here, have some."

"Ah, boss, this..."

"Take it. If you don't eat it, I'll just have to throw it away."

"Then I'm welcome."

Ah Gui happily accepted the food, but when he turned around, he saw Ah Jie glaring at him. He felt a pang of guilt and instinctively tried to push the food container back.

But his hands wouldn't obey his brain. Ah Gui glanced at the lunchbox a few times, but in the end, he couldn't resist. Pretending not to see Ah Jie frantically winking at him, he buried his head and started eating...

It really does smell delicious!
(End of this chapter)