11: Chapter 11: Old Six's Empty Promises?
Tong Jingchen took Cao Mo to a noodle shop he frequented. Tong Jingchen ordered his usual: a bowl of shredded pork with preserved vegetables noodles, a duck head, a poached egg, and some pork cracklings.
Cao Mo had a healthy appetite and felt no need to be shy, so he ordered four bowls of noodles: beef noodles, shredded pork with preserved vegetables noodles, tomato and egg noodles, and minced meat noodles.
For sides, Cao Mo ordered two duck heads, two braised chicken legs, and a poached egg.
"Four bowls of noodles! Cao Mo, you really can eat! Don't turn into a fatty later on, just like Little Lizi—it'll ruin your looks," Tong Jingchen exclaimed.
"Not a chance! I don't put on weight, don't worry," Cao Mo replied confidently.
"Besides, I know one bowl definitely won't be enough for you, Brother Tong. I'll share some with you later," Cao Mo added.
To be honest, Cao Mo felt that even four bowls would only make him half-full.
After his body was modified by the system, he gained such a massive appetite, but Cao Mo wasn't worried; instead, he was quite happy.
To be able to eat is a blessing.
In this life, among eating, drinking, pooping, and sleeping, eating comes first. With so much good food available, as long as one has the financial means, being able to eat is the greatest happiness.
"Where are you planning to go after eating? Want to go to my bar and hang out?" Tong Jingchen asked.
"Not for now, maybe in a couple of days!" Cao Mo replied.
He was still thinking about the system gift pack he hadn't opened yet! Besides, he wasn't really interested in bars at the moment.
"Alright! I wanted to rest early today anyway. I'll drive you back after we finish!" Tong Jingchen said.
Tong Jingchen's daily routine now involved starting his Livestreaming around 3 PM, running for an hour at home, applying a face mask, taking a shower, and then driving out to find food, either with a girl or with other streamers from 798.
It wasn't like before; Tong Jingchen no longer streamed relationship-themed content, focusing only on daily vlogs and group streams.
Of course, this was also because he was getting older, had lost the drive for that, and wanted to settle down a bit.
"I want to go buy an electric scooter later," Cao Mo said.
"An electric scooter?" Tong Jingchen paused.
"Yes, a two-wheeled electric scooter. I'm buying one for daily commuting," Cao Mo added.
The apartment where Cao Mo lived was still some distance from the company building, so buying an electric scooter would definitely be more convenient. Plus, he could ride it for daily errands.
Although Cao Mo would definitely buy a car in the future, he felt that a two-wheeled electric scooter was more convenient for getting around the city.
"Sure! I'll go with you to look at scooters after we eat. There should be quite a few shops around here," Tong Jingchen replied.
"Sounds good!" Cao Mo agreed.
"What kind of electric scooter do you want to buy? I've heard Ninebot is quite famous," Tong Jingchen said.
"Hmm! I'll check out Ninebot, as well as ZEEHO and Niu. Other brands are fine too, like Aima or Yadea. I'm looking for something with good value for the price." Cao Mo had done his homework.
"What value for the price? Good means expensive, and expensive means good. Just buy the most expensive one," Tong Jingchen said generously.
The viewers in the Livestream Room heard their conversation and chimed in with their own opinions:
"You have to buy ZEEHO! Ninebot is everywhere now."
"Ninebot is good, buy an E300p."
"ZEEHO AE8S+."
"Niu is not bad."
"ZEEHO is the cool one, obviously!"
"Looking down on my Yadea?"
"Buy a Chitu!"
"Niu FXpro is cool!"
"Speaking of which, expensive electric motorcycles really aren't cheap. Some people spend hundreds of thousands on modifications."
"Good lord, you've flushed out a bunch of 'Ghost Fire' teenagers."
...
Cao Mo glanced at the comments and shook his head, saying, "I'm just buying one for daily commuting. I'm not into electric motorcycle hobbyism, and I don't have that much money."
"It doesn't matter if you don't have money; I can lend it to you!" Tong Jingchen replied.
"Let's wait until we've looked at the scooters!" Cao Mo said.
"You have to be so calculating just to buy an electric scooter? That won't do. I'll lend you one hundred thousand to use for now," Tong Jingchen insisted.
For Tong Jingchen, lending Cao Mo this one hundred thousand was likely something Cao Mo could pay back within the month.
Cao Mo considered it for a moment, then nodded and agreed, "Alright! Then I'll borrow one hundred thousand from you first, Brother Tong."
The nine thousand yuan advance really wasn't enough. Although he didn't plan to buy a very expensive scooter, Cao Mo still felt he needed to keep some money on hand—it was his peace of mind, after all.
Even though he could take and wear clothes from iiill whenever he wanted, he still needed to buy shoes, a phone stand, instruments, cigarettes, and pay for meals.
All of this required money.
The two finished their noodles quickly, and Tong Jingchen handed Cao Mo a black Furongwang Jinxiu Shiji cigarette.
It was Cao Mo's first time smoking this cigarette he'd never even seen before; it was quite the experience.
There was a ZEEHO shop about a hundred meters from the noodle shop.
The two walked over to the shop while smoking. Since he had done his research, Cao Mo went straight to the owner and said he was there to look at the AE4.
Originally, Cao Mo's plan was either the ZEEHO AE4 or the Ninebot M95c.
In the end, Cao Mo successfully picked up an AE4 Max version. The owner mentioned he could upgrade the bike with a large 72V 120Ah lithium battery pack to increase the range.
Although Tong Jingchen kept pestering Cao Mo to just buy the AE8, Cao Mo stuck to his choice of the AE4.
Cao Mo had originally intended to just buy a standard AE4; if it weren't for Tong Jingchen nagging him from the side, he wouldn't even have bought the Max version, let alone swapped in the large lithium battery.
He wasn't an electric motorcycle enthusiast; why buy something so expensive?
According to Cao Mo's initial thoughts, three or four thousand would have been plenty—something like the Cangqiong or Chitu would have been fine.
Cao Mo paid for the AE4 Max in full, left a copy of his ID and a photo of his digital driver's license for the owner to handle the registration and battery preparation, and arranged for insurance. He would come back to pick up the scooter tomorrow afternoon.
This world seemed a bit rough around the edges. Much like the rules for Livestreaming on Douyin, the regulations for electric scooters weren't that strict. They advocated for wearing helmets, but it wasn't a hard requirement.
Watching Cao Mo buy the scooter, even Tong Jingchen felt a bit tempted.
The convenience of an electric scooter was unbeatable in the city—no need to worry about traffic jams or parking.
After coming out of the shop, Cao Mo got back into the SF90, and Tong Jingchen immediately said, "Damn it, I'm going to buy one next time, too. I'll just buy the most expensive one. Money is no object!"
"You definitely don't lack money, Brother Tong! Even your bicycle costs thirty thousand," Cao Mo replied.
"Keep it up! You won't be short of money in the future either. Forget about a small electric scooter; Ferraris and Bugattis won't be a problem. Your net worth will be higher than mine later on," Tong Jingchen said.
"How could it be higher than yours? You're the boss. If I'm earning a lot, you're earning even more," Cao Mo said.
"It's fine! Keep working hard. If you do well, the company will definitely give you shares," Tong Jingchen said.
"Heh! As expected of a boss, tossing out that pie so easily," Cao Mo laughed.
"No! I'm really not just drawing a pie; I'm serious. How about this: we have a verbal agreement, and the brothers in the Livestream Room can witness it. If your follower count breaks ten million within two years, you get a share of Dahai Xingchen, and it won't be a small one. You'll be one of the bosses of Dahai Xingchen," Tong Jingchen said immediately.
"Alright! I'll give it my all," Cao Mo replied.