The Rich Man's Life Begins with a Comeback

Chapter 172 Mission Settlement (4k)

Two hours later.

Passenger Mr. Gu and flight attendant Ms. Jiang lay on the spacious bed in the suite, where the blazing sunlight streamed through the porthole, turning the white bedding golden.

Jiang Ruan nestled in Gu Heng's arms for a nap. The China Southern Airlines uniform that she was wearing was now scattered on the ground, and her long hair, which had been coiled at the back of her head, was now completely loose.

Her fair and beautiful face still had a slight blush. Even though she was asleep, her snow-white arms were still wrapped around Gu Heng's narrow waist. Any slight movement from Gu Heng would make her instinctively hug him tighter.

Compared to the exhausted Jiang Ruan, Gu Heng was still in good condition.

He leaned against the headboard and picked up Xingchuan International's due diligence report again to read.

"The mouth is too honest for the body~"

Gu Heng sensed Jiang Ruan's subconscious actions and a slight smile appeared in his eyes.

After two weeks of working together day and night, according to the data displayed in the [Conquer] challenge mission, Jiang Ruan's favorability has been pushed to 84%. Although there are occasional fluctuations, it is steadily progressing.

As for why Gu Heng said that, it was naturally because Jiang Ruan was stubborn.

Her body language was more honest than anyone else's, yet every time before it started, she would put on a "bearing a heavy burden" act. If Gu Heng chose to continue "forcing" her, she would resist slightly.

But if Gu Heng chooses to "respect" her wishes, she will look at Gu Heng with her beautiful, watery eyes, or gently sway her slender waist like a kitten to tease Gu Heng.

Gu Heng raised his hand and helped Jiang Ruan tidy up her messy hair at her temples.

Suddenly, his movements paused slightly.

[Challenge Task: Self-Satisfaction]

[Task Status: Completed]

[Congratulations, host, you have received a reward: Growth Gift Pack x1]

Do you want to claim your reward immediately?

The system's light screen suddenly unfolded, displaying the following content to Gu Heng.

'I almost forgot about that...'

Gu Heng's face lit up with joy, and he quickly selected to withdraw the reward immediately through his mind.

He spent a lot of money in Zhonghai during this period, truly spending money like water.

If it weren't for the "Chairman's Father" challenge as a safety net, even if he had billions in cash in his account, he wouldn't dare to spend it at this rate.

[Congratulations, host, you have received a reward: 400 x 1000g China Gold bars]

[Note: The gold bars are being delivered. Please keep your communication channels open in the coming days.]

[Congratulations, host, you have received a reward: Sports Talent Card x1]

[Athletic Talent Card: The system will randomly select 4 athletic talents for the host to choose from. After successfully making a selection, the host will automatically receive the top-tier talent for that sport. Please choose carefully.]

The system screen suddenly changed again, and the growth gift pack was opened, revealing the rewards to Gu Heng.

The first reward alone made Gu Heng's heart pound wildly.

A full 400 gold bars!
And they are all 1000g physical gold bars!
In total, that's 40 grams, or 400 kilograms!

Gu Heng had just made a rough estimate, and excluding the expenses he incurred on the yacht that night during his stay in Zhonghai, he had spent a total of about 200 million yuan.

Most of the expenses were spent on purchasing a car.

The two limited-edition supercars alone cost Gu Heng nearly 1.4 million yuan.

The remaining 60 million was for Gu Heng's daily shopping sprees.

However, just this one wave of feedback from the Emperor's father has instantly restored Gu Heng to full health.

According to international gold price trends, today's international gold price is US$2060 per ounce, while the domestic gold price is RMB 503 per gram.

In other words, even based solely on international gold prices, the total value of these gold bars amounts to at least 200 million yuan.

In reality, the price of physical gold is much higher than the international gold price. Even the most affordable investment gold bars are currently priced at no less than 600 yuan per gram in China.

From this perspective, Gu Heng not only had a great two weeks of fun in Zhonghai, but also actually made a considerable profit.

'Daddy, the system!'

'Respect!'

Gu Heng was already looking forward to what it would be like to have 400 gleaming gold bars placed in front of him at the same time.

Compared to the cold, hard numbers in a bank account, the visual image is clearly more impactful.

Gu Heng was overwhelmed with emotion and took several deep breaths to calm himself down.

Then, Gu Heng turned his attention to the reward for the second task.

[Host has successfully used the athletic talent card]

[Randomly selecting athletic talent...]

[Athletic talent extraction complete]

The following sports talents will be selected: equestrian, sailing, soccer, and skiing.

[Please select, host...]

Gu Heng watched as the system screen in front of him changed again. He looked at the four athletic talents that his "system father" had randomly selected for him and began to think silently.

First, let's rule out football talent. The reasons are self-evident; the very phrase "Chinese football" is enough to explain everything.

Secondly, sailing is out of the question. Although sailing is very popular among the international aristocracy and is now known as a top-tier aristocratic sport, Gu Heng's current environment does not provide the conditions for him to participate in this sport.

If Gu Heng were in a coastal city like Shenzhen, Xiamen, or Sanya, he might consider it, but Beichun doesn't even have a river, let alone a sea, so it simply doesn't have the environmental conditions for sailing.

After passing up on football and sailing, Gu Heng set his sights on equestrianism and skiing.

Equestrianism and skiing are actually considered aristocratic sports.

However, in recent years, due to the influence of the Winter Olympics and the national slogan and support of "300 million people participating in ice and snow sports," skiing has gradually become popular in China and has gradually transformed from a niche sport to a mass sport.

In fact, skiing is not cheap.

Helmet, snowsuit, goggles, snow boots, snowboards—just this complete set of equipment, even if you don't pursue high quality and only pursue cost-effectiveness and practicality, the total value will easily exceed ten thousand.

Keep in mind that this is just the cost of equipment.

The subsequent venue fees, that's the real money-devouring beast.

According to domestic market conditions, the full-day ticket price for ski resorts with international standard ski slopes is usually no less than 500 yuan. Moreover, these ski resorts are usually far from the city center, and transportation costs are also a considerable expense.

For skiing enthusiasts, the pristine white powder snow is like the "powder snow" of a young girl in the eyes of a lecherous old man, making it impossible to suppress their desire to ski on it anytime, anywhere.

Many ski enthusiasts from the south even take advantage of their weekends to fly north and experience the powder snow they've been longing for, which shows just how alluring and costly skiing is.

If skiing is an aristocratic sport that ordinary people can barely reach by tiptoeing, then equestrianism is basically out of reach for ordinary people.

The price of even a single thoroughbred horse is enough to deter ordinary people.

As for subsequent maintenance, the monthly costs are like water flowing out of a bucket.

Gu Heng was somewhat interested in equestrianism.

However, after much deliberation, he finally chose skiing.

The reason is similar to that of sailing; equestrianism is still a relatively niche sport in Kyrgyzstan and even in the entire northern region.

Skiing is different. The north has unique advantages, attracting countless skiing enthusiasts from all over the country every year during the snow season. Take Changbai Mountain, which is right near Gu Heng's home, for example. It is one of the world's three major powder snow bases.

Located at 41 degrees north latitude, the same latitude as the European Alps and the North American Rocky Mountains, this is a world-renowned prime skiing zone. The snow here is fine as powder, soft, and dry, truly the finest of all snow. If Gu Heng were to choose equestrianism, he might end up isolated and lonely in the north, finding it difficult to find like-minded people.

Conversely, skiing is something that's everywhere, with as many enthusiasts as you want.

After considering it, Gu Heng gave feedback through his mind.

[Host's athletic talent selected: Skiing]

As the athletic talent card took effect, the system light screen that had been floating in front of Gu Heng slowly disappeared, and in its place appeared a ball of azure light.

Its appearance was similar to the emerald green light that Gu Heng saw when he obtained the buff [Eternal Day Engine], the only difference being the color.

"Whoosh!"

Gu Heng's mind was filled with sound effects as he watched the azure light break through the boundary between illusion and reality and merge into his body.

then……

There's no after that.

"I don't feel anything?"

Gu Heng waited silently for his body to react, but after several minutes, his body still did not react at all, and there was no "side effect" as he had when he upgraded the buff [Eternal Day Engine] that day.

"Ok."

Gu Heng stopped worrying about it.

Anyway, he's going back to Northeast China soon. The Northeast has already started to experience heavy snowfall recently. Once he gets back, he'll have some free time to find a ski resort and give it a try.

Having endured no hardship and effortlessly won two mission rewards, Gu Heng was naturally in an excellent mood.

Currently, he has three tasks that he has not yet completed: one is [Conquest], another is [Refining One's Mind and Strengthening Oneself], and the third is the challenge task [Learning from History] to unlock the first level of the [Scepter of Power].

The path to conquest is already showing signs of success, while the path to self-discipline and spiritual refinement is just around the corner.

Gu Heng has only recently begun the challenge of “learning from history to understand himself.” During his time in Zhonghai, he has only managed to read two books in depth, and he still has a long way to go to reach the list of 50 history books given by his father, Tongzi.

"【Refining the Spirit and Tempering the Mind】The only thing missing from our in-depth research is the Cloud Pavilion high-altitude restaurant and bar. Once we take over Xingchuan International, we'll complete that challenge first."

Just as Gu Heng was making these plans in his mind, a gentle broadcast notification sounded quietly in the suite.

"Chairman Gu, expected in 15 minutes."

"We are about to land, please prepare to land."

Captain Han Gang's voice came over the loudspeaker, reminding Gu Heng.

"Ok."

Gu Heng picked up the walkie-talkie and responded, then looked at Jiang Ruan beside him.

She woke up on her own without Gu Heng calling her.

"Miss Jiang, please get dressed now that you're awake."

Gu Heng teased Jiang Ruan, "The plane is about to land, your fiancé might be waiting for you~"

"What do you mean by this?"

"Self-greening?"

Jiang Ruan gave Gu Heng a charmingly flirtatious glance, then forced herself to sit up, her long, black hair cascading down her smooth, white back – a truly breathtaking sight.

She casually picked up a hair tie and tied her long hair into a simple low ponytail. Then she got out of bed from under the covers and started picking up a few things here and there.

She used to be ashamed to face Gu Heng's gaze, but now she's basically immune to it. It's just that the two of them have been so open with each other lately, and Gu Heng has even looked her over carefully in elementary school. What do these superficial things matter?

"That depends on what identity you're assuming."

Gu Heng got off the bed and picked up his clothes from the floor to put them on: "It's obvious that the identity I'm posing as is not your fiancé."

"Bad guy~"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Ruan immediately understood what Gu Heng meant. As Gu Heng walked past her, she couldn't help but raise her small fist and lightly punch him.

"You're only finding out today?"

Gu Heng raised an eyebrow and continued buttoning his shirt.

Suddenly, his hand paused slightly.

When he stood in front of the full-length mirror, he noticed that there were two small, dark red hickeys near his collarbone.

"Yo?"

When did you print it?

Gu Heng turned to look at Jiang Ruan and asked her.

"that is……"

"It's after you shoved that nasty thing into my mouth."

When Jiang Ruan mentioned that moment, her fair face couldn't help but blush slightly.

She's just beginning to understand the world, and she's still somewhat resistant to that kind of thing.

"I think you're deliberately trying to annoy Luo Xiwen."

Gu Heng buttoned up his shirt again, directly addressing the core issue.

"No."

Jiang Ruan blinked and whispered her explanation.

Gu Heng knew perfectly well that although Jiang Ruan seemed indifferent to the girls who hung out with Gu Heng in Zhonghai, it was because Jiang Ruan knew that those girls' relationships with Gu Heng were just fleeting and could never last.

Unlike Bei Chun's Luo Xiwen, who, like her, had given her virginity to Gu Heng, held a very important place in Gu Heng's heart.

"It doesn't matter."

"Whoever put it up there is responsible for removing it tonight."

As Gu Heng passed Jiang Ruan, he lifted her delicate chin and said, "If they can't get rid of them tonight, then I'll just have to transfer them to you~"

As he spoke, Gu Heng's gaze fell on Jiang Ruan's snow-white neck.

"Fine, then."

Faced with Gu Heng's "threat," Jiang Ruan muttered something to herself.

Looking at Jiang Ruan's lively expression, Gu Heng couldn't help but smile.

Jealousy means you care.

Caring means liking.

Sometimes, completely subconscious behavior is more likely to reveal a person's true thoughts.

After they got dressed, the two of them left the suite.

Back in the airline-style seats in the leisure area, Jiang Ruan and Gu Heng sat in the same spot this time.

After fastening the seatbelt, the plane began to descend a few minutes later in preparation for landing.

Gu Heng turned his head and looked out the porthole at the distant city, a hint of warmth flashing in his eyes.

Bei Chun, he's back...

(End of this chapter)