Chapter 10: A Hidden Big Shot

Back at the dorm, Li Hang pushed open the door and waved to the others. “Guys, I need the bathroom. I’ve been holding it all the way back. Then I’m taking a shower.”

Shi Xiao made an OK sign without looking up. Xu Haodong murmured acknowledgment. Li Hang went into the bathroom, shut the door, and breathed a long sigh of relief.

Ten minutes later, he stood, feeling considerably lighter. He opened the window and sprayed air freshener before showering.

As the hot water ran, he looked down at his body. The same belly protruded roundly, rolls of fat circled his waist, and his arms and legs were absurdly thick. He pinched his stomach. It was soft and oddly pleasant to squeeze, like cotton.

“Flabby weight…” he muttered. It looked alarming, but it was a mixture of water and fat. He ought to lose it quickly at first.

[Ding! One jin lost, 100 million yuan gained!]

Li Hang blinked, then smiled. A bathroom trip and a shower had taken off another jin. His sweat at the gym hadn’t been wasted; his body was shedding water. Another hundred million was his.

He came out refreshed. The others took turns showering. Fortunately, the dorm had air-conditioning, so they wouldn’t immediately start sweating again afterward. For a man over 300 jin who broke into a sweat at the slightest heat, air-conditioning was a lifeline.

Everyone returned to their spaces and browsed their phones. After a while, Li Hang looked at his roommates’ computers. Shi Xiao had a silver-gray gaming laptop with an external keyboard; Qiao Chuan had a desktop and two monitors. Xu Haodong’s tower was larger than the others, its liquid-cooling tubes curling around inside like a miniature reactor.

“Guys, I’m thinking of buying a computer. Any recommendations?”

Shi Xiao scratched the back of his head. “I don’t know much. My dad had someone set mine up. Qiao probably knows; he’s talked about it before.”

Qiao set down his pen and turned. His expression was cool, but he sounded serious. “I can help. What’s your budget?”

“Whatever works.”

“You still need a range. Haodong’s cost a little over a hundred thousand yuan. Mine was over fifty thousand. Shi Xiao’s was only thirty-something thousand.”

Shi Xiao sprang up. “What do you mean, ‘only’? That’s a lot! It hurt me to spend that for ages!”

“Thirty-something thousand hurt?” Qiao replied expressionlessly.

“You…” Shi Xiao choked, then appealed to Li Hang. “Tell him, Hang. Isn’t a computer at that price good?”

Li Hang laughed, marveling inwardly that he was surrounded by rich people. “I could get one for over a hundred thousand too.”

The room went quiet for a second. Qiao frowned. “You don’t need to push yourself. For our major, a computer costing several thousand or ten thousand is enough. There’s no need…”

“Right,” Shi Xiao added. “Don’t compare yourself with Dong. His family practically owns a mine.”

Xu leaned back silently, watching Li Hang.

Li Hang decided to be direct. “Guys, I’m not as poor as you think. I made some money trading stocks and haven’t spent much of it.”

“Stocks?” Shi Xiao was interested. “How much?”

“Want to see?”

All three nodded. Li Hang opened a stock-trading app on his phone and handed it over. Shi Xiao leaned in first, followed by Qiao and Xu.

The screen clearly displayed total assets of over 1.2 million yuan.

The room fell silent.

[Shock Points +288]
[Shock Points +258]
[Shock Points +188]

Shi Xiao’s eyes widened, his mouth hanging open. “Hang… over a million? You made that trading?”

Qiao stared at the screen for several seconds, then looked at Li Hang with obvious reassessment. He pushed up his glasses and finally said, “Impressive.”

Xu’s reaction was the most expressive. He raised an eyebrow, his mouth twitching, and slowly leaned back with his arms folded. After several seconds, he said, “My allowance is only two hundred thousand a month. You’re a college student with over a million in your account… Li Hang, you’re the hidden big shot here.”

“Lucky, that’s all.” Li Hang smiled and took his phone back.

“Lucky?” Shi Xiao grabbed his arm. “You’re amazing! Over a million! I’ve never seen that much money in my life. Are you some kind of stock-market genius? Do you keep a low profile but already have financial freedom?”

“It’s not that dramatic. I was just playing around.”

“You made over a million playing around?” Shi’s voice rose. “Then I’ve wasted my twenty-odd years.”

Qiao reopened his computer and brought up a parts page. “With a budget over a hundred thousand, I’ll build it for you. Do you want maximum performance or balance? More gaming or more coding?”

“Either. You decide.”

Qiao spoke more than usual as he selected parts. “Top-end CPU, a 4090 graphics card, 64 gigs of memory, four terabytes of solid-state storage, this motherboard… You’ll need a larger case for cooling. A high-refresh-rate monitor would be comfortable for programming too.”

Xu looked over the list and nodded. “Good setup. Similar to mine. What can you get it for?”

“128,888 yuan.” Qiao paused. “An auspicious number.”

“Fine. Shall I transfer it to you?”

Qiao nodded and took out his phone. Li Hang transferred the full 128,888 yuan, including the sourcing fee, without blinking.

Shi Xiao watched in a daze. He looked down at his own ‘only thirty-something-thousand’ computer and suddenly felt it wasn’t so expensive after all.

“So Hang’s rich too…” He turned sharply. “From now on, you’re my real brother! If you have any stock-market secrets, bring me along!”

“Don’t.” Li Hang waved his hands. “It’s too risky. I stumbled into that luck myself. Don’t copy me; you could easily get wiped out.”

Xu gave him a thoughtful look and asked nothing more. But lying in bed that night, he kept thinking: there was definitely more to Li Hang than met the eye.