Chapter 16: The World of the Rich
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Hong Dali returned to his room after showering. He would normally be going to bed by now, but not today. He had more important things to settle.
He turned on his computer and started searching on the internet.
Computers were indeed a good thing. Although he didn’t know if the search engine in this world was Google or Du Niang, it was an easy feat for him. He opened the browser and soon found what he was looking for.
The biggest search engine was Sangle. Hong Dali did a few searches and was taken aback—Sangle belonged to the Hong family. That was why the Hong Family was so affluent. They had a monopoly on the biggest search engine, so it was no surprise they were so wealthy.
The most important thing was finding out about this world that he was in. Hong Dali only knew that this place was similar to Earth, but he needed to find out what was the same and what was different. He needed some information.
After an hour, Hong Dali let out a long breath. He finally had some idea of the situation.
It seemed that this world had progressed much the same as Earth. The countries remained the same, as did the concept of time. Although history remained somewhat the same, it was different at the same time.
In China, the sequence of dynasties had been Tang, Song, Ming, and Qing. But it was different in this world. The Qing dynasty had not come after Ming dynasty—the Hua dynasty had been next. Hua dynasty had collapsed after close to 250 years of history. After the Hua dynasty had come modern times, the Hong-Wu Heavenly Vertical Alliance State, also known as Heavenly State. Tianjing City was the capital, equivalent to Beijing on Earth.
The Hong-Wu in Hong-Wu Heavenly Vertical Alliance State referred to the founding fathers: the Hong family’s Hong Jun and Wu family’s Wu Shuangwen.
The Hong family were the descendants of the founding father Hong Jun. Due to the many years of war during the establishment of the country, the population of this place had decreased drastically. Family planning had not played a part. There had been more people from the Hong family and Wu family, resulting in them becoming two of the biggest clans. His own family belonged to the Hong family.
After 150 years of progression, the world had changed. Only five families belonged to the Hong family, and Hong Dali’s family was the most powerful among the five. His father had created Sangle, which allowed Hong Dali to learn about his own family. His father was named Hong Weiguo and was third in the family. His grandmother’s name was Lan Ruoxi, and she was the beloved daughter of another affluent family, the Lan family.
Looking at the overall picture, he had indeed been born with a silver spoon. It would be a pity if he did not squander with such a status.
Despite the effort required to manage each country politically and the hard work undergone to develop them financially, Europa had always remained low-key. The minor conflict between East Sector’s Today State and Heavenly State had never ceased. North State’s Merika continued to cast covetous eyes on the other states. This was the overall background, which didn’t affect Hong Dali much. He just wanted to get a general sense of things around.
Military-wise, Heavenly State’s army’s strategy was the strongest. Europa and Merika were good with their technology. Copycat Jaban was the most thick-skinned.
Hong Dali knew most of the important matters and some of the smaller matters.
What was different from Earth was the sources of entertainment. Movies, games, and music were very much neglected. On the other hand, sports were very popular and well played. Heavenly State was known for being good at all different types of sports, even football.
This was also why most people were not fond of Hong Dali, who had been born with a weak constitution and had never done a day of work. All he did was squander.
“Everything seems okay overall.” Hong Dali mumbled to himself as he stared at the data on his monitor. “There’s not much difference from what I imagined. Having been born in a family like this, it would be a waste not to squander. This is why the songs were so awful at such a big nightclub like Night Fragrance. Squandering is to enjoy life better. If there is a chance, I’ll dabble in the movie or music sector. That way, I’ll be able to live more comfortably and at the same time earn more attribute points. Haha.”
“Ah, I’m so sleepy.” Hong Dali looked at the time. It was already 1 AM in the morning. He yawned. “Sleep, sleep, I still have to go to school tomorrow. I wonder what the school looks like. I will have to be more cautious so as to not give myself away.”
It was quiet for the whole night.
The next day, Ling Xiaoyi knocked on the door of Hong Dali’s room. She was wearing a beautiful servant dress as she gently called out: “Young Master, it’s time to wake up.”
“Oh… It’s so early…” Hong Dali looked at the white-gold digital clock embossed in diamonds, his eyes half-open. It was only 6 AM. It was indeed too early for Hong Dali, who had only gone to bed at 1 AM. He hugged the big teddy bear and flipped over to the other side. “Let me sleep a little longer. I’m so sleepy…”
Ling Xiaoyi, who was outside the door, didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She gently knocked on the door again. “Young Master, you’ll be late if you don’t wake up now.”
“So what if I’m late…” Hong Dali covered his ears. “Waking up when I feel like it is what a squanderer should do…”
“…” Ling Xiaoyi could only try her best once more. “Young Master, it will be terrible if you are late. Old Master and Old Madam said that if you don’t wake up on time, there will be no pocket money for you today.”
“So what if there’s no pocket money…” Hong Dali muttered before he realized that was wrong. No pocket money? Without pocket money, he would not be able to squander. If he didn’t squander, he would not be able to gain any attribute points. Without attribute points, he had no way to regain his vitality…
Dammit, there was a serious consequence to this.
Hong Dali jumped out of bed. “I’m coming, I’m coming. I can’t even sleep a little longer. How can I live like this?”
Ling Xiaoyi was speechless. Thankfully, Hong Dali dressed up very quickly and left the room. Swaying as he walked out, he hit the wall while staggering. “Ah, I’m too sleepy. The sun is not even up yet. Bring me to wash up, and, oh yes, I want to drink soya-bean milk for breakfast…”
After the 10 minutes of special training Ling Xiaoyi had had last night, she could remember where each room was located. She was a very smart girl—the most important places to remember were the toilets, the kitchen, and Hong Dali’s room. As for the other rooms, Ling Xiaoyi knew not to over enquire.
Hong Dali’s father, Hong Weiguo, was very satisfied with this aspect of Ling Xiaoyi.
While walking to the toilet, Ling Xiaoyi softly said, “Young Master, breakfast is ready. There are three dishes and a bowl of soup prepared by Tianjing City’s top chef, but… there is no soya-bean milk.”
“No soya milk?” Hong Dali sniffled. “Ask the driver to go buy some.”
“But… we are quite far from the city….”
“Doesn’t he drive? As a qualified squanderer, it is only right to spend 20-plus yuan on the fuel to buy soya-bean milk for a yuan.”
“…” Ling Xiaoyi stared in bewilderment. “O… Okay…”
It was really tough to understand the world of the rich.