Trillionaire's Slice of Life

Chu Mo, dressed in a custom casual suit and wearing golden glasses on the bridge of his nose, gently stepped forward, followed closely by five or six tall and muscular bodyguards behind him. When Chu Mo, emanating a chilling aura, strolled towards the center, countless gazes from the crowd immediately centered on him.

The middle-aged man with a shaved head wearing sunglasses also squinted his eyes, but Chu Mo did not even glance at him at the moment.

Chu Mo walked straight to the frail middle-aged man. The elderly-looking face by his side gradually merged with the tall and upright figure in his memory. Twenty years ago, when he was still a child, this man had once given him walnuts to eat...

After a moment, the reminiscences in his mind slowly faded, and Chu Mo, standing gently in front of the other man, said:

"Uncle Zhang, I'm Chu Mo, who grew up playing with Zhang Zhen."

Zhang Zhen was the son of the middle-aged man in front of him and was about the same age as Chu Mo, the two being only a month apart. He was Chu Mo's best friend during their childhood.

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man with deep wrinkles on his forehead immediately widened his eyes. He looked at the young man before him, dressed in a suit and exuding a distinguished air. The middle-aged man with half-gray hair wiped the corner of his eyes vigorously and said incredulously:

"You are... Xiao Mo? The child from the Chu Qi family? I heard you stayed in Modu after graduating from college and made something of yourself! How did you know I was here?"

Chu Mo's father was named Chu Qi.

Chu Mo nodded slightly, his voice gentle:

"Uncle Zhang, Aunt Liu called my mom, who then got in touch with me. She said Uncle Zhang, you've encountered some trouble, so I came to have a look. Tell me what happened, and rest assured, in Modu, no matter how big or small, I can get you justice."

As soon as Chu Mo finished speaking, the middle-aged man in front of him looked a bit happier. Being alone and helpless in Modu, he had been beaten and scolded by others, even too scared to talk back. Now that he had someone to back him up, he felt much more at ease.

He was about to sigh and explain the whole situation to Chu Mo when the bald man with sunglasses across from them preempted:

"Young lad, you must be the rescue that old man has brought in. I always do things by the book, let's handle this according to the rules so neither of us gets shortchanged. It's not a big deal. This old man broke my stuff, a teapot from a few hundred years ago used by an emperor of the Ming Dynasty, worth just over ten million.

Young man, I can tell you're someone respectable, so don't say I'm swindling you. This is the appraiser's certificate for the antique. If you don't believe it, you can take these fragments on the ground to someone knowledgeable and ask."

The bald man wore an arrogant expression, his entire being emanating hubris. After removing his black sunglasses, he revealed a pair of sharp, hawk-like eyes. As the bald man sneered, Uncle Zhang, standing beside Chu Mo, turned ashen again.

Uncle Zhang's frail body shook several times. Clearly, something worth over ten million was way beyond his limit. Uncle Zhang had no special skills; he was just a laborer on construction sites along with fellow townspeople, scrimping and saving all year and managing to save up a hundred thousand at best, which he sent back home and used for Aunt Liu's medical treatments.

He didn't have the money to compensate for an antique worth millions.

Chu Mo naturally noticed the helplessness of the middle-aged man beside him. He exhaled softly and then looked at the broken porcelain under the feet of the bald man.

If that item was real, Chu Mo believed it could be worth over ten million, as he had just seen the collection at Elder Lu's home, with hundreds of antiques, none worth less than ten million, and even an inconspicuous small vase could start at several tens of millions.

Of course, as it stood, Chu Mo could not verify the authenticity of that item, unless he invited Elder Lu, whose extensive knowledge would no doubt be able to discern the real from the fake. However, it would hardly be worth bothering Elder Lu for a broken vase.

As for the so-called expert appraisal certificate that the bald man was holding, that was highly questionable. It's just a piece of paper; anyone could get one with a little money.

As Chu Mo pondered quietly, Uncle Zhang at his side said cautiously:

"That teapot... I barely touched it, and I don't know how it broke. The item is worth over ten million, even if you sold me, it wouldn't be enough."

Chu Mo shifted his gaze from the teapot on the ground and, seeing Uncle Zhang's regretful and despondent expression, he noticed the striking slap mark on his cheek.

Chu Mo did not ask why Uncle Zhang had touched the antique. He wasn't particularly interested in the details—whether it was a setup by the man across from them, or if it were true that Uncle Zhang had damaged someone's property, none of that mattered.

To Chu Mo, an object worth ten million wasn't something to dwell on; Elder Lu Siyue had recently given him blood jade and a jade ring worth one and a half billion, and as far as Chu Mo was concerned, anything that could be bought with money was trivial and not worth mentioning.

Compared to a ten million worth antique, Chu Mo was more concerned about the slap that Uncle Zhang had received. Whoever slapped him must have used quite some force, leaving Uncle Zhang's entire face red and the mark still vivid.

As a middle-aged man constantly working away from home, he needed to earn money to treat his chronically ill wife, to support his wife and children back home. And to have such a pillar of the household slapped in public—should his wife and children back home find out, they would be heartbroken. Experience more on My Virtual Library Empire

Chu Mo turned his gaze to the bald man across from him and said in an even tone,

"We accept the loss of the antique, and we'll compensate for the money. You just said it was over ten million, how much above ten million exactly? Is fifteen million enough? Let's do this, I'll count it as twenty million. Send me your bank account number, and I'll transfer the twenty million to you right now."

Chu Mo's expression was calm as he took out his phone from his pocket, opened WeChat, and prepared to record the other party's bank account number, then send it to Zhan Bingxue or Qin Zixuan so they could transfer the money to the other party as soon as possible.

With a natural expression and not a single thought of bargaining, Chu Mo even increased the price from over ten million to twenty million without a question. This composure and the way he carried himself with ease clearly were not something an ordinary family could display.

For the first time, the bald man across from him showed a serious expression. If Chu Mo had tried to haggle or cozy up to him, the bald man wouldn't have spared Chu Mo a second glance. But now, as Chu Mo offered to return the twenty million without a second word, hesitation appeared on the bald man's face for the first time.

Behind Chu Mo, four or five tall and muscular bodyguards followed, and his clothes were custom-made. A man like him making such an offer clearly didn't consider twenty million a big deal. And with such a person, it was best not to offend him, if possible, instead of trying to get on his good side.

After a moment of consideration, the bald man nodded slightly and then said heartily,

"Young man, you've got guts, bumping up the value from one point two million to two million. I, Wang Hao, am not one to take advantage of others. You are generous, and I can't be stingy. So let's call the one point two million a way to make friends—I, Wang Hao, don't want it!"

Calling himself Wang Hao, the bald man had a bright smile on his face, and even his fierce, triangular eyes seemed to soften quite a bit. When he stepped forward to extend his hand to shake hands with Chu Mo, Uncle Zhang standing beside was dumbfounded.

He couldn't understand it. Chu Mo hadn't done anything, and yet the bald man, who was so menacing before, was now the one seeking to make peace, even forgoing the demand for the antique worth over ten million. Of course, no matter what, since the other party was willing to reconcile and forego the compensation, it was undoubtedly great news for Uncle Zhang.

If the other party had insisted on pursuing the matter, even if Chu Mo had fronted the money for him, Uncle Zhang would never have been able to repay it. Now that the other party was willing to write off the money, it was undoubtedly the best outcome for Uncle Zhang.

However, what puzzled Uncle Zhang even more was that Chu Mo did not extend his hand to shake with the middle-aged man in front of him. Instead, he took the phone in his hand to the front and dialed a number. After a moment, the call was answered. In front of the middle-aged man, Chu Mo gave an order,

"Xiao Xue, I'm right in front of Modu Financial Tower. Have someone bring me twenty million in cash immediately; it's urgent."

As soon as he finished speaking, he hung up the phone and then, looking at the bald man in front of him, Chu Mo said in a steady voice,

"As you said, everything has to follow certain rules. It was wrong of my uncle to break your antique, and when you make a mistake, you have to accept the punishment—that's only fair. Whether it's one point two or two million, we are willing to pay what we owe, not a cent less."

After Chu Mo spoke, the complexion of the bald man across from him became even more serious. He had already held Chu Mo in high regard, but now that Chu Mo could have someone bring twenty million in cash with just a phone call, it was apparent he wasn't just some ordinary rich second generation.

Just then, the sound of sudden braking filled the air, and the crowd around them looked toward the perimeter. In just a moment, Jiang Tao, the detective agency president with the stature of a tiger standing two meters tall, approached swiftly with several dozen bodyguards, clearly not ordinary people, in tow.

The crowd watching the excitement quickly made way and opened an entrance. Approaching Chu Mo, Jiang Tao, with the sharp eyes of a hawk, swept the area to ensure Chu Mo was unharmed. Then the detective agency president, whose presence was even more imposing than that of the bald man across from him, slightly bowed and said,

"Mr. Chu, I am sorry for being late!"

Chu Mo waved his hand, indicating it was nothing to worry about. He turned his eye towards Modu Financial Tower, and soon enough, he saw a middle-aged man in a suit carrying an iron box, quickly crossing the street accompanied by a dozen people and striding towards them.

The middle-aged man, sweating profusely, didn't bother to wipe the sweat from his forehead when he arrived in front of Chu Mo; he just opened the iron box and said, panting slightly,

"Mr. Chu, I apologize, we had to gather the money, and it delayed some time. Here is the twenty million, please count it."

Chu Mo gestured for him to put the money down. Then, looking at the bald man across from him whose face had become unusually solemn, he said evenly,

"I don't like owing people anything; otherwise, I can't sleep at night. Here is the twenty million, not a penny more, not a penny less. Count it carefully, I'm leaving the money here. Whether you take it or not is up to you. Now, let's settle the matter of the broken antique. We're even now.

Next, let's deal with the matter of the slap on my uncle's face."