Heartthrob, Your Image is Crumbling!

Chapter 480: Lamborghini

It was a bright and sunny day.Lu Wanting, who had been in New York for half a month, held a sign high in the air. Over the past few months of working, she had grown accustomed to corporate life. Her daily attire usually consisted of a tailored suit jacket paired with a short skirt, sometimes requiring stockings and high heels.

However, over the last two weeks, she had finally found a rare sense of freedom.

Dressed in a white shirt paired with denim jeans and white shoes, twenty-four-year-old Lu Wanting still gave off the vibrant aura of a university student.

When she saw Zhou Yuwen and Su Qing approaching together, she was taken aback. "Zhou... Zhou Yuwen? Why are you here too?"

The arrangement Zhou Yuwen and Lu Wanting had discussed was solely for her to pick up Su Qing and help her settle in. He had never mentioned that he would be coming along.

Faced with Lu Wanting's confusion, Zhou Yuwen merely smiled and asked, "What? Am I not allowed to?"

Lu Wanting could not help but laugh. "No, of course you can," she replied.

Lu Wanting was driving a rented car. It was a brand that neither Zhou Yuwen nor Su Qing had ever heard of, but its exterior resembled a Volkswagen Beetle, only slightly more compact.

It looked as though the back seat could hold two people at most, and even then, it would be a tight squeeze.

Su Qing had brought four or five large suitcases, which the trunk could not possibly accommodate. They had no choice but to cram two of them into the back seat. Zhou Yuwen took the passenger seat, leaving Su Qing to resignedly squeeze into the back.

Ever since achieving financial freedom, he rarely experienced such cramped conditions. Lu Wanting also felt quite apologetic, explaining as she drove that she truly had not known Zhou Yuwen was coming.

"In principle, this car was perfectly fine for just Su Qing and me."

Zhou Yuwen expressed his understanding. Although he was financially independent, he was not quite at the absolute peak of the wealth pyramid just yet. The funds he allocated to support Su Qing's study abroad amounted to roughly five million yuan. Naturally, he did not pay this five million upfront; instead, he had given Lu Wanting a credit card with an overdraft limit.

However, for a one-off expense like renting a car, she clearly did not want to be overly wasteful.

Lu Wanting's approach to studying abroad mirrored that of most international students. Their lives overseas leaned heavily toward practicality—saving money wherever possible.

Generally speaking, there were only two types of international students. The first consisted of those from extremely wealthy families who threw money around like dirt. They had everything from luxury cars to sprawling mansions and attended endless parties every single day.

The second type, which encompassed the vast majority, were relatively ordinary. Their families might be considered well-off back in their home country, and their parents might provide them with a generous living allowance, but once converted and spent overseas, they still ended up living on a tight budget.

Before long, the car arrived at a residential neighborhood.

This was the host family Lu Wanting had arranged for Su Qing. The living environment abroad was indeed a bit more spacious than back home. Spread across the manicured lawns stretching into the distance were row upon row of detached houses.

Broadleaf trees were planted in neat lines along the sides of the asphalt road.

As she drove, Lu Wanting recounted her own past experiences studying overseas. She noted that in a capitalist society, everything revolved around capital; people here were quite pragmatic.

You could command almost anyone you met—provided, of course, that you had enough money.

The drive from the airport to the host family's house took a grueling four hours. When they disembarked from the plane, it had still been morning.

Now, however, it was already two in the afternoon.

They pulled up to a rather nice detached house.

After Lu Wanting parked the car, Su Qing stepped out and moved to grab her luggage.

"I've got it," Lu Wanting said, taking the suitcase from Su Qing's hands.

The two girls had a mild tug-of-war over the luggage. Both were proactive people, and Su Qing insisted she could handle it herself.

But Lu Wanting smiled and said, "Before, we were just friends."

"But now, we have an employment relationship."

"You're my boss. It's only right that I carry your luggage," Lu Wanting teased, winking playfully and making Su Qing feel quite embarrassed.

Zhou Yuwen did not join in their banter. He did not even make a polite attempt to carry the bags. Instead, he simply surveyed the surroundings, feeling that it did not look vastly different from certain upscale neighborhoods back home.

The architecture was somewhat distinct, but it was not as if there were no such residential blocks domestically.

Lu Wanting walked over to knock on the door. The person who answered was also a girl with Asian features.

She looked to be about eighteen or nineteen, tall and slender, with a typical Asian face, black hair, and dark eyes.

She was reasonably pretty, wearing a light green camisole crop top paired with white pants.

She spoke with a hint of impatience. "You're finally here. Weren't you supposed to arrive at noon? The landlady waited for you for ages."

Lu Wanting smiled and offered an apology, explaining that they had not anticipated the drive from the airport being so far.

The girl could not be bothered to listen to the explanation. She simply complained that the landlady had already gone out, before adding, "I'll show you around the house."

She then led Lu Wanting and Su Qing on a brief tour, showing them the living room, the dining area, the kitchen, the refrigerator, and their respective rooms.

Every part of the house was strictly divided into public and private zones. Even the refrigerator was split into three tiers: the first shelf was for the landlady's personal use, the second was used by this Hong Kong girl named Zhu Li'an, and the empty third shelf was reserved for Su Qing.

The landlady was a thirty-year-old Asian woman, a third-generation Chinese-American, and divorced.

Currently, only two international students lived in this house: Zhu Li'an, and Su Qing, who was just moving in.

While Zhu Li'an introduced the house and herself, Zhou Yuwen also took a general look around the property. It was a small duplex spanning two floors, and the courtyard was reasonably large.

However, glancing out from the window, he noticed that the lawn in the yard had not been mowed or maintained at all.

This indicated that the two women living here were rather lazy.

As Zhu Li'an was explaining the house rules to Su Qing, Su Qing's stomach growled at an inopportune moment.

Su Qing blushed. Lu Wanting knew that she had not eaten anything since leaving the airport, so she gently told Su Qing to hold on a little longer; they would go out to eat as soon as they finished unpacking.

Zhu Li'an chimed in, "It takes a twenty-minute drive from here to reach the nearest restaurant. Plus, it will take you at least three hours to unpack and clean your room."

Su Qing and Lu Wanting exchanged a glance but said nothing.

Zhu Li'an continued, "I do have some instant noodles and ham sausage here. If you don't mind, you can have them first."

Su Qing's heart warmed, feeling that she had lucked out with a kind housemate. But before she could even express her gratitude...

Zhu Li'an added with a smile, "Of course, I'm not giving them away for free. The instant noodles are five dollars each, and the sausages are one dollar each. Additionally, I can lend you my pots and bowls for free, but you'll naturally need to wash them clean for me afterward."

Hearing this, Su Qing froze for a moment, instinctively turning her head to look at Lu Wanting.

Lu Wanting offered an awkward smile, her expression practically screaming: 'See? I told you so.'

"So? Have you decided to enjoy a meal here, or would you rather starve for a bit longer?"

Standing off to the side, Zhou Yuwen finally spoke up. "I'll give you fifty dollars. Get us three bowls of instant noodles and six sausages. With the remaining money, can you help us carry our luggage into the house?"

If Zhou Yuwen had not spoken, Zhu Li'an would have completely ignored his existence. During the house tour just now, Zhou Yuwen had not followed along. His sudden appearance actually gave her a slight fright.

It was only when he spoke that Zhu Li'an noticed the handsome man.

Zhou Yuwen had already placed crisp green US dollars right in front of her.

Seeing her stare in silence, Zhou Yuwen asked, "Is that a no?"

Zhu Li'an hastily snatched up the bills and declared, "Of course you can!" And just like that, they had effortlessly hired some manual labor. Zhou Yuwen instructed Lu Wanting to cook the instant noodles. This simple, humble meal ended up being their very first dinner in America.

Zhou Yuwen asked Lu Wanting where the nearest commercial district was located.

Lu Wanting replied that it would take about an hour to drive from there to the downtown area.

Zhou Yuwen nodded and bluntly said, "Then after we finish unpacking, we'll book a hotel and stay outside for the night."

"We can take Su Qing to register at her university tomorrow when we have time."

"Stay at a hotel?" Lu Wanting felt that it was a bit inappropriate not to stay here, especially after she had gone through so much trouble to arrange the host family.

But Zhou Yuwen simply nodded. "We can't just eat instant noodles on our very first day here, can we?"

"Uh..."

Thinking about it, that did make sense.

In truth, when it came to studying abroad, Su Qing and the others could have settled in perfectly fine even without Zhou Yuwen. However, his presence certainly made everything far more comfortable.

Zhou Yuwen, for one, was thoroughly unimpressed by this host family setup.

After they finished organizing the luggage, Zhou Yuwen told Lu Wanting to keep an eye on local real estate over the next few days. He wanted to buy a property for Su Qing to live in before he headed back.

"But the host family won't refund the rent we've already paid."

"Then we just won't ask for it,"

Zhou Yuwen said flatly.

"..."

Well then, the financial backer was simply rolling in money.

Following Zhou Yuwen meant there was absolutely no need to pinch pennies. Of course, this was a privilege that only Zhou Yuwen could command, as it was his wealth to spend after all.

He booked a presidential suite in Manhattan—and booked it for an entire month straight. The suite had a total of two rooms. One was a massive master bedroom facing the city skyline from the thirty-ninth floor, boasting excellent all-day natural lighting and a large floor-to-ceiling window design.

The other was the second bedroom, which served as Lu Wanting's temporary room.

By the time they settled into the room, it was already four in the afternoon. The sun was gradually sinking in the west, yet Zhou Yuwen instructed Lu Wanting to take him to a car dealership to buy a car.

To be honest, Lu Wanting was already quite exhausted by this point. She did not recommend going car shopping at this hour, but what could she do? Zhou Yuwen was the boss.

She could only obediently drive for another half hour.

On the way, Lu Wanting informed Zhou Yuwen that even if he decided to buy a car right now, the dealership might not have any in stock.

But Zhou Yuwen simply replied, "Isn't this a world driven by capital?"

The implication was clear: as long as you had the money, what could possibly be impossible?

Lu Wanting's father had once promised that once she started working, he would give her a sum of money to buy a car. Unfortunately, after she officially entered the workforce, her old man had conveniently never brought it up again. Lu Wanting felt too embarrassed to ask, so even though she frequently browsed cars online, her dreams of owning one had never materialized in reality.

In contrast, it took Zhou Yuwen a mere twenty minutes from browsing to selecting a vehicle. For a price of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, he purchased his very first Lamborghini.

Zhou Yuwen's main takeaway was that buying a car abroad was significantly cheaper than doing so domestically.

This particular Lamborghini model would easily sell for around two million yuan back home. Even factoring in the exchange rate, Zhou Yuwen considered it a solid bargain.

Zhou Yuwen's reasoning was that even though he would not be living abroad, Su Qing could drive the car for him.

Upon hearing this, Su Qing was rendered utterly speechless.

"Then why did you buy a blue one?" she demanded.

"What's wrong, baby? Do you not like blue?" Perhaps owing to the thrill of buying a new car, Zhou Yuwen was visibly in high spirits, wrapping his arms around Su Qing and planting two kisses on her cheek.

Su Qing merely rolled her eyes at him.

Because even though Zhou Yuwen appeared to be kissing her...

His eyes were completely glued to the Lamborghini.

Still, she could understand his excitement.

Because this Lamborghini Huracán Evo RWD was undeniably stunning. It featured a blade-like body with a flattened aerodynamic profile and a hardtop convertible roof. When the accelerator was pressed, twin blasts of exhaust fired from the rear, producing an engine roar that could make anyone's blood boil with adrenaline.

The ink was barely dry on the paperwork, and Zhou Yuwen was already itching to take it for a spin.

However, Su Qing simply lacked the energy to indulge his madness. She had not slept well on the plane to begin with, and then she had endured a full day of riding in cars.

Most importantly, being in a foreign country, she did not dare to speed around wildly with him. She said,

"Take Sister-in-Law out for a spin. I'm going back to the hotel to sleep."

"Me?" Lu Wanting was instantly overwhelmed with surprise. After spending some time back home, her perception of money had shifted. One hundred and fifty thousand dollars might not sound like much in theory, but converted, it was over 1.2 million yuan.

And Zhou Yuwen just bought it without batting an eye?

He truly was a self-made billionaire.

Come to think of it, Zhou Yuwen had over sixty million yuan in pure cash deposits.

Even the fathers of her wealthy female friends might not have as much liquid cash as he did.

Just as Lu Wanting was marveling at the Lamborghini's graceful curves, Su Qing suddenly made her suggestion.

Lu Wanting wanted to decline, but Su Qing urged, "Sister-in-Law, if he wants to go for a drive, just take him. We're unfamiliar with this place and don't know our way around. With you accompanying him, I'll feel much more at ease."

"But..." Lu Wanting glanced at Zhou Yuwen, hesitating to speak.

Zhou Yuwen did not mind either way. "Then come for a spin with me," he said. "You drive Su Qing back to the hotel first, and I'll follow behind you guys."

"Oh, all right."

Since Zhou Yuwen had spoken, what else could Lu Wanting say? The two of them first escorted Su Qing back to the hotel.

Then, Lu Wanting headed downstairs to the underground parking garage.

Zhou Yuwen unlocked the car door.

It had to be said—seeing this machine on television was one thing, but experiencing its hefty, commanding presence in real life was entirely different. It radiated a pure, unadulterated mechanical aura.

Lu Wanting carefully slid into the passenger seat and closed the door.

By now, the sky had gradually darkened. Zhou Yuwen and Lu Wanting found a deserted stretch of highway.

Under the cover of night, Zhou Yuwen gradually pressed the accelerator straight to the floor.