"Alright, what are you so nervous about? Is there anything else? If not, I'm hanging up."
"Thank you, Young Master Jiang, thank you. Then I won't disturb you any further."
His voice was thick with obvious flattery and a desire to please, as if he were terrified that Jiang Cheng might suddenly change his mind.
After hanging up the phone, Shen Lang let out a long, deep breath, his face filled with the expression of someone who had just survived a disaster.
He clearly hadn't expected Jiang Cheng to let him off so easily.
Before making the call, Shen Lang had imagined many different scenarios.
He had been mentally preparing himself, ready to endure Jiang Cheng's verbal abuse once he got him on the phone.
But to his surprise, Jiang Cheng hadn't even bothered to mock him; he didn't even have the inclination to say an extra word to him.
Clearly, Jiang Cheng didn't care about him at all.
Shen Lang suddenly felt that he had lost.
This win or loss had nothing to do with their respective backgrounds or power.
It was about how they conducted themselves, their breadth of mind, and their mentality.
If he were in Jiang Cheng's position, could he have done the same?
While he usually wasn't as lawless as Chen Tie, he was still incredibly arrogant and overbearing when facing someone from a lower social stratum.
If he had been the one with this opportunity, even if he decided to let the other person go, he most likely would have taken the chance to humiliate them ruthlessly.
After all, they were used to treating those beneath them with a condescending attitude to display their own superiority.
It wasn't just Shen Lang; the expressions of the others present, which had been somewhat stiff, began to relax after the call ended.
In truth, they had all been a bit afraid that Jiang Cheng would be relentless and drive Shen Lang into a corner.
The main reason was that Jiang Cheng's background was simply too powerful.
Even though everyone there had their own backing, who could guarantee they wouldn't become the next Shen Lang when facing such a formidable opponent?
Though they were sitting there chatting and laughing now, what if they accidentally offended Jiang Cheng one day? Would they suffer the same fate?
However, judging by how Jiang Cheng handled Shen Lang, he didn't seem to be an unreasonable person.
When dealing with Chen Tie, Jiang Cheng had shown decisiveness and ruthlessness.
That was because Chen Tie had truly provoked him and even threatened to cause him trouble; thus, Jiang Cheng dealt him a fatal blow.
But the clash with Shen Lang was completely different.
After a warning shot to scare the others, Jiang Cheng didn't use the opportunity to excessively punish or humiliate him.
From this, it seemed that as long as they didn't deliberately oppose Jiang Cheng, they wouldn't face a devastating strike.
Moreover, he had only taken action to stand up for his roommate.
To be honest, if it were someone like Shen Lang or any of the others present, they might not have acted like Jiang Cheng.
Strictly speaking, the incident wasn't caused by Jiang Cheng; he could have easily distanced himself and didn't need to wade into these muddy waters.
After all, doing so sometimes requires taking certain risks and facing consequences.
If handled improperly, it could very well bring trouble upon oneself.
Just like Shen Lang last night—the trouble wasn't caused by him, but he chose to step up and help resolve it for his friend, only to kick a steel plate like Jiang Cheng.
In such a situation, although not taking action might seem cowardly to others and result in a bad reputation afterward...
It might be a bit cowardly, but at least one could stay out of it and remain unharmed.
This was especially true for Second-generation rich like them.
Unless they had absolute certainty and the power to completely crush the opponent, no one would dare to be like Jiang Cheng and directly knock the other party to the ground.
Usually, when people like them had a conflict, it would at most result in a few curses.
Just like Shen Lang and Qin Fen.
Every time they met, they would humiliate each other a bit, with neither backing down.
It was just a way to make themselves look less pathetic.
But actually asking them to smash a wine bottle over someone? Who would dare?
After the group calmed down, Zheng Zhigang, who was sitting to the side, was the first to speak: "I heard you bought a piece of land next to Cui Lake Garden?"
Seeing Zheng Zhigang bring up a new topic, Jiang Cheng glanced at him.
Jiang Cheng naturally sensed the internal feelings of the people present.
Jiang Cheng replied, "The K11 business district is right across from Cui Lake. No wonder you found out so quickly."
"Yeah, the manager in charge of this area told me when I came back this time."
Jiang Cheng looked at the information from the system and said, "This land was jointly won at auction by two Shanghai real estate giants in 2016. Xingchen recently negotiated for it and took it over."
He Youjun asked curiously, "Buying land? How big is it, and how much did you pay?"
"14,000 square meters, over thirteen billion."
As soon as he said this, Qi Yuan, who was sitting nearby, suddenly spat water all over Wang Congcong.
"Holy shit, what's wrong with you? You're so prone to spitting. Anything else would be fine, but you spat water... it's all freaking wet..."
"I got a bit shook, a bit shook. Let me wipe it for you."
"Stop, stop, stop! Forget it, where are you touching? I'll do it myself..."
Qin Fen couldn't help but interject: "Haha, Brother Wang, you're so old and you're still wetting your pants."
"Do you freaking believe I'll make you wet your pants in a bit too?"
Qin Fen retorted toughly, "Are you going to spit on me too?"
Hearing this, Wang Congcong immediately laughed and cursed, "Get lost! With your small frame, do you think you're enough for me to spit on?"
"So you're saying you can spit quite a bit? If I'm not enough, Chen Hao can join in too..."
Among the people present today, Chen Hao was the relatively weaker one overall.
Most of the time, he just sat quietly to the side as a supporting figure.
Seeing Qin Fen call him out, Chen Hao immediately replied with a grin, "I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare. I've never played this kind of game. I'll just watch you guys play."
Wang Congcong jumped up and pointed at Qin Fen, laughing as he scolded, "You bastard, I've realized your mouth is just asking for it..."
Seeing that they were about to start bickering like they usually did...
Jiang Cheng glanced at Si Nian and then immediately spoke up to save their image.
"Alright, alright, stop it. We're eating. Let's maintain some hygiene. If you want to spit at each other, go somewhere else. Don't splash it on us..."
Once he said this, the three dirty-minded guys immediately lost their urge to bicker.
Wang Congcong pointed at the two of them and said, "I'll let you guys off today for Jiang Cheng's sake..."
Qin Fen looked at Jiang Cheng and teased, "Thanks, Brother Cheng, for taking the hit for us."
Hearing this, Jiang Cheng immediately put down his chopsticks.
He laughed and scolded, "I'm disgusted. If the four of you want to play, play, but definitely don't bring me into it."
Qi Yuan immediately grinned and said with a face full of envy, "How could we? Brother Cheng, you just need to take me with you. Ignore those three old perverts. Over ten billion! I'm truly so envious!"
Jiang Cheng waved him off and said with a smile, "Alright, your family is at least prominent in Shanghai. If your dad knew you always acted like this outside, he'd beat you to death."
Qi Yuan curled his lip and muttered sourly, "That's why I say, boys should be raised with wealth. Sigh..."
Wang Congcong suddenly interjected, "So what if you're raised with wealth? Can being raised with wealth buy such a large plot of land in a location like Shanghai?"
Qi Yuan froze for a moment, then spoke as if he had suddenly realized something, "Holy shit, now that you put it that way, it seems to make sense..."
Wang Congcong continued, "Of course it makes sense. There's a wall between people. Aside from Brother Zhigang, look at the rest of us—who can afford to buy land?"
Hearing this, Zheng Zhigang quickly waved his hand and explained, "Congcong, don't say that. Even if I could, that would be the group's money, not something I could decide alone. As far as I know, Xingchen Investment is held independently by Jiang Cheng."
Hearing this, He Youjun looked at Jiang Cheng with envy and asked, "Brother Cheng, in that case, your Xingchen Company must have grown quite massive in terms of both capital and market scale, right? If so, why haven't you considered going public?"
For the current He Youjun, his biggest goal was to successfully take his e-sports company public to prove his ability.
Jiang Cheng shook his head: "I'm not interested in going public."
In the end, public companies are about financing and raising money.
For Jiang Cheng, he didn't need to rely on selling company shares to gain wealth, so going public wasn't necessary.
Furthermore, public companies are subject to many restrictions; they not only need to disclose their assets but also regularly publish financial reports and profit statuses. This didn't fit Jiang Cheng's style of keeping a low profile and making a fortune quietly.
After he said this, Wang Congcong interjected, "Why did you buy land again? Are you going to build a residential complex?"
Hearing this, Si Nian, who was quietly eating, immediately held her breath, waiting for Jiang Cheng's response.
Although she had learned from Jiang Cheng's social circle and his actions against Chen Tie that he wasn't an ordinary Second-generation rich, an amount of over 10 billion was truly beyond her reach.
Jiang Cheng looked at the Oriental Pearl and the World Financial Center outside the window and said, "Given the location, I'm planning to create a landmark building."
He Youjun's eyes flashed with excitement upon hearing this, and he immediately asked, "An office building?"
Jiang Cheng nodded: "Something like that. The transportation there is convenient, and the surrounding facilities are constantly improving. It's very suitable for building a modern office space."
After hearing this, Zheng Zhigang also nodded in agreement: "Looking at the nearby business districts and residential environment, building an office tower is indeed the most logical choice. Although the location isn't as prime as the World Financial Center, it's one of the most promising emerging business districts. If you can successfully build this office tower, it'll be a great thing for our K11 as well."
Jiang Cheng said, "The main issues now are the design of the building and the construction..."
"Have you not settled on a construction team yet?"