Three Systems: My Rise To Ultimate Wealth

Chapter 3

Chapter 3 My First Ferrari

Chen Feng reached the parking area out of breath, and then he stopped running.

He didn't need to look for the car. He only had to find the crowd.

Under the yellow parking lot lights, nearly 30 students had formed a half circle around a red hypercar. Phones were raised, flashes were going off, and one boy had his face pressed against the window like a child at an aquarium.

Chen Feng's car gleamed beneath the lights, low and sharp, like something that had escaped from a movie.

"Hiss, is this real?"

"Don't touch it! Don't even breathe on it!"

At the front of the crowd, a guy in a designer jacket was circling the Ferrari with the air of a museum curator. Chen Feng recognized him: Zhao Kai, the self-appointed rich second generation of Modu University, a man who mentioned his father's "connections" the way other people mentioned the weather.

"Do you people even know what this is?" Zhao Kai said, raising his voice for the benefit of everyone. "The Ferrari La Stella Rossa. One-of-a-kind, bespoke, and not for sale at any dealership. Fifty million yuan!"

The crowd gasped.

"Fifty million?!"

"For one car?!"

"I doubt there's another one in all of Modu," Zhao Kai said, looking satisfied. Then he pulled out his phone, took a few photos and fired them into a group chat full of Modu's wealthy young masters and ladies.

[Zhao Kai: Anyone know whose Ferrari this is? La Stella Rossa. It's parked at Modu University right now.]

[Zhao Kai: I will find the owner and I'll introduce you to him.]

He tucked his phone away, chin raised, as if he'd already found the owner and they were old friends.

Chen Feng sighed. He'd only wanted to see his car, and somehow he'd walked into a show.

He stepped forward. Zhao Kai's eyes slid over, and a smile curled across his face.

"Well, well. Chen Feng?"

Several students turned around.

"What are you doing here? Don't tell me you came to admire the car." Zhao Kai spread his arms, making sure the whole lot could hear him. "I understand. A car like this is something a person like you will never get to touch in this life. Look all you want, but be careful. Don't scratch it."

He pointed at the paint.

"Even if you worked until you were 80, you couldn't pay for one scratch."

A few students winced, and someone in the back muttered, "That's harsh."

Chen Feng looked at Zhao Kai for a moment. This man was standing next to his car, warning him not to damage it. It was almost funny enough to make him feel sorry for him.

He slid a hand into his pocket and took out the key.

Zhao Kai frowned. "What are you doing?"

Chen Feng pressed the button.

BEEP! BEEP!

The headlights flashed. With a smooth mechanical hum, both doors lifted upward, rising like the wings of a great bird.

The parking area went silent.

Zhao Kai's smile froze in place, and it stayed there, stiff as a mask, while the color drained out of his face.

"...Isn't that Chen Feng's key?" someone whispered.

"The car opened for him."

"The car opened for HIM."

"WHAT?!"

The silence shattered.

"Chen Feng owns this?!"

"Wasn't he supposed to be some poor orphan? I heard he skipped meals!"

"Then why is a fifty million yuan Ferrari saluting him?!"

Someone dropped a phone. Nobody bent to pick it up.

Zhao Kai stood rooted to the spot. Not even a minute ago, he'd lectured the owner on how to behave around his own car. His face burned as though someone had slapped it twice, left and right, in front of the entire university.

Meanwhile, Chen Feng strolled over to the driver's door with his hands in his pockets. He didn't say a word to anyone. He didn't need to.

And as he stepped under the light, the girls in the crowd began noticing something else.

"Wait. Why didn't I notice before?" A girl covered her mouth. "Chen Feng is actually handsome!"

"Right?! Look at that jawline!"

"His skin is better than mine. That's illegal!"

"Hold on, has he always looked like this?"

"His girlfriend hit the jackpot," someone sighed.

"Maybe he was pretending to be poor this whole time to find someone who truly loved him!"

"That's so romantic! Imagine dating a guy and not knowing he owns a fifty million yuan Ferrari!"

A girl at the edge of the group folded her arms and rolled her eyes. "You people are unbelievable. 10 minutes ago, none of you knew his name. Now that he's standing next to an expensive car, he's suddenly the most handsome man on campus. Gold diggers."

"Who are you calling a gold digger?!"

"Then why are you praising him so loudly?"

"Because he's handsome!"

"And the Ferrari has nothing to do with it?"

"Of course the Ferrari makes him more handsome! Are you stupid?!"

Laughter rippled across the crowd.

In the middle of all that noise, Zhao Kai clenched his fists. He could already see it: tomorrow morning, 100 versions of the story would be racing across campus. *The rich second generation who told the owner not to scratch his own Ferrari.*

He couldn't pretend it was a joke. He couldn't apologize. There was no sentence in the world that fit in his mouth right now.

So he did the only thing left. He lowered his head, slid backwards through the crowd, and walked quickly toward the dormitories without looking back.

It took about 20 seconds for someone to notice.

"Eh? Where did Zhao Kai go?"

"He was right here!"

"HAHAHA! He ran!"

"He was so loud a minute ago!"

"Did anyone see him leave? I swear his face was green!"

The crowd burst out laughing. Zhao Kai had wanted to step on Chen Feng in front of everyone. Instead, he'd become the evening's entertainment, and Chen Feng hadn't spoken a single insulting word.

Chen Feng lowered himself into the driver's seat. The leather hugged him like it had been waiting. A soft chime sounded in his mind.

[God-Tier Driving Skills are active.]

His hands found the wheel as if he'd been driving this machine for 10 years. He pressed the start button.

The engine woke with a deep, polished growl, and the students nearest the car stepped back at once.

Someone waved at him. Someone shouted, "Brother Feng!" It was a name that had never once been used on him before.

Chen Feng pulled out of the spot with barely a nudge of the throttle and rolled away, and the red taillights shrank across the lot while the crowd stared after them.

Once he was clear of the campus lights, he picked up his phone.

Chen Feng: Are you free tomorrow?

Su Ruoxi: I should be. Why?

Chen Feng: I want to take you somewhere nice.

Su Ruoxi: Somewhere nice? What's gotten into you? You're always the one telling me we have to save money.

He laughed softly. She wasn't wrong. He had been the king of "maybe next time" for as long as they'd been together.

Chen Feng: Can't I surprise my girlfriend for once?

Su Ruoxi: You can, but now I'm curious. Where are you taking me?

Chen Feng: You'll find out tomorrow.

Su Ruoxi: Chen Feng!! Don't keep me guessing!

He could picture her pouting. He pocketed the phone and promised himself he'd explain everything when he saw her.

---

Zhao Kai didn't stop walking until he reached the stairwell of the male dormitory. Then he leaned against the cold wall, breathing hard, and pressed his burning face against the tiles.

Chen Feng. Chen Feng!

The orphan who skipped meals. The nobody he hadn't bothered to look at twice in 3 years. And he had stood in front of the whole school and told that nobody he couldn't afford a scratch.

His hands were still shaking when his phone buzzed.

Then again. And again.

He pulled it out. The group chat he'd sent his photos to, the one he had been so proud to post in, had exploded.

[Young Master Lin: WHERE did you take this?! This is the Stella Rossa?!]

[Young Master Qiu: Send the location. Now.]

[Young Master Fang: Whoever owns this car, my father wants to meet him tonight.]

[Young Master Lin: Zhao Kai, you said you'd introduce us to the owner. Where is he?!]

Zhao Kai stared at the screen. His own message sat near the top, glowing like an accusation.

I will find the owner and I'll introduce you to him.

His throat went dry.

The messages kept pouring in, faster and faster, until the entire screen blurred. Then, one by one, they narrowed down to a single question.

[WHO IS THE OWNER?!]

Zhao Kai's fingers tightened around the phone until his knuckles turned white.

He knew exactly who the owner was. And whatever he typed next, he had a feeling it would be the most dangerous message he'd ever sent.