"Is this Mr. Fang Jueyu?" Five minutes later, a somewhat corpulent middle-aged man hurried over, dusty and disheveled from rushing back from a business trip as soon as he had received a phone call.
"Hello, I am Fang Jueyu!" Fang Jueyu extended a hand in a symbolic handshake.
"Mr. Fang is truly talented and successful at such a young age, owning such an impressive fortune," the manager started with a loud flattery, "I am Wang Zhihai, the manager of Jiangnan Villas, currently in charge of all the logistics and property management here. If you have any issues in the future, you can directly contact me!"
"Then I'll leave it to Manager Wang!" Naturally, Fang Jueyu wouldn't divulge his own number; that was definitely something Zhuang Ying would handle.
"Manager Wang, can we go see the villa now? Mr. Fang has rushed over and is quite tired; he needs to rest." Zhuang Ying stated in her role as the assistant, knowing that if they continued with these pleasantries, they would never know when they would actually settle in.
Wang Zhihai instantly became much more alert. He seemed to have overestimated himself; although Mr. Fang appeared approachable, this assistant seemed quite formidable. It seemed they just wanted to quickly settle in, with no interest in making idle chat with a minor manager like him.
"Of course, of course, I've already brought the keys; we can go right away!" Wang Zhihai naturally didn't dare show any displeasure. "Please, take my car, it's a short distance to the Number One Villa."
"No need, we've driven here ourselves; just lead the way!" Zhuang Ying said coldly.
"Alright, please follow me then!" Wang Zhihai suddenly seemed somewhat crestfallen.
As the manager of such a property, Wang Zhihai's service vehicle was naturally not low-end, as it would be too diminishing to transport some esteemed guests in anything less; his ride was a Maybach worth upwards of three million.
When he saw Fang Jueyu's Porsche, he was quite surprised. Such a person of value driving this car appeared somewhat understated.
Fang Jueyu of course was not aware of Wang Zhihai's thoughts; in his heart, this car was already considered a luxury vehicle. Perhaps he was still not very familiar with the world of the wealthy?
The two cars drove one after the other into the complex, which centered around a huge artificial lake, and the Number One Villa was situated right in the middle of this lake, also at the center of this cluster of villas, much like the moon surrounded by stars.
There was only one specially constructed road leading to the Number One Villa, and a security guard was specifically stationed to ensure the homeowner's absolute safety.
Although mentally prepared, when Fang Jueyu saw the villa, he couldn't help but gasp. Perhaps it wouldn't be an exaggeration to describe it as a palace?
The villa had four floors in total; the bottom floor was a garage, and on top was an open-air garden, surrounded by a suspended circular swimming pool—a bold and innovative design.
The shape of the entire villa was not simply square, but rather resembled a misaligned Rubik's cube, giving it a distinctly sci-fi feel.
"Young Master, are you satisfied?" Seeing Fang Jueyu's expression, Zhuang Ying already knew he was extremely pleased with the villa.
"Satisfied... of course satisfied." Fang Jueyu was now eager to go inside and take a look.
"Then I won't disturb you two any longer!" Wang Zhihai handed over the keys to the villa and tactfully left.
"Thank you, Manager Wang!" Fang Jueyu expressed his gratitude.
"Young master, why do you seem a bit cold towards Manager Wang?" Fang Jueyu had wanted to ask this in the car.
"Master, you must understand, many people seek to interact with you and get close to you because of your wealth. I don't mean to be prejudiced against some people's status, but I saw obsequiousness and greed in Manager Wang's eyes. Such people are not worth making connections with."
"Uh-huh!" Fang Jueyu nodded, seemingly grasping something suddenly.
"Let's go, let's have a look inside first!" Zhuang Ying said mysteriously, "I've had someone redecorate this villa, though it was a bit rushed, but I think you will like it!"
Filled with anticipation, Fang Jueyu walked into the villa, hesitant to even step on the luxurious floor tiles beneath his feet.
"These tiles are custom-made, with a layer of artificial crystal added to the surface," Zhuang Ying explained, "Each tile is 40cm by 40cm, and each costs about 5000 yuan!"
"5000 yuan per tile?" Fang Jueyu almost went mad, wouldn't that be over thirty thousand per square meter? Isn't that the price level of downtown real estate?
At the entrance stood two one-meter-tall blue and white porcelain vases, the plants in them still fresh, indicating that the person who cleaned the house was quite meticulous.
"These two are Song dynasty blue and white porcelain vases, a very rare pair, probably handed down from your ancestors. The current price could reach over 12 million," Zhuang Ying added, "each!"
"Hiss..." Fang Jueyu gasped again, to place antiques at the front door, just how wealthy do you have to be?
However, he didn't doubt Zhuang Ying's words. His ancestors had acquired the "Xiao Yi" intelligent system quite early on. At that time, they were probably quite affluent, so perhaps these two vases were just ordinary objects to them, passed down from generation to generation; accumulating a large batch wasn't something strange.
"Wait, Sister Ying, you're not going to tell me that all the decorations in this villa are antiques, are you?"
"Of course, the villa also has a study, inside of which there are many original works by famous people like Tang Yin, Wang Xizhi, Zheng Banqiao, and others, not just one or two of each, of course, there are also works by foreign celebrities!"
"Are you sure they're all authentic?" Fang Jueyu double-checked.
Zhuang Ying nodded seriously.
Fang Jueyu pointed to a huge oil painting on the wall and said, "Then what is this thing? Don't assume I'm uneducable, but I recognize Van Gogh's 'Starry Night', which should be housed in the Museum of Modern Art in New York, right?"
"Heh heh heh, do you want to see what's written on the back of this painting?" Zhuang Ying laughed mysteriously again.
Fang Jueyu, baffled, walked over, took the painting off the wall, but upon closer inspection, it was noticeably different from those in art textbooks. He saw several lines of text he didn't understand on the back.
"What's this? It's not English, is it?" Fang Jueyu asked, slightly embarrassed.
"This is Dutch, translated it means: 'Thanking my Huaxia friend Fang Kun for his assistance during my most destitute times, I've made a special version of 'Starry Night' and gifted half of it to him as a token of my gratitude—Van Gogh.'"
"Fang Kun? Not another ancestor of mine?" Fang Jueyu was already feeling numb.
At that moment, he heard Xiao Yi's voice in his ear, "Yes, host, Fang Kun was the system's 91st host. At the time, Van Gogh encountered him on his global travels when he was most destitute, and he provided him with funds to study painting and traveling, so Van Gogh gifted him this painting after mastering his skills!"
"May I ask, how much would this painting sell for?" Fang Jueyu timidly inquired.
"If it were the authentic piece in New York, it would be about four hundred million dollars, and of course, it's a priceless treasure; no one would sell it even if offered money. As for your painting, given the inscription by Mr. Van Gogh and the historical significance it represents, it's worth at least six hundred million dollars!"
"Heh heh heh heh..." Fang Jueyu was utterly dumbfounded this time, and he finally understood one thing, poverty truly limits the imagination!