49: Chapter 49 The Princess Arrives! The Treasury Reluctantly Accepts Royal Expenses!

Three days later, Beijing International Airport.

The crowd surged. Lin Zhou, dressed in casual clothes and wearing a baseball cap, waited in a corner.

From the VIP passage, a figure came bouncing out.

With a high ponytail and a pink suitcase, her face was full of collagen, radiating youth.

"Brother!"

Lin Wan locked eyes with Lin Zhou immediately, her crisp voice piercing through the crowd.

The next second, she flew over like a small cannonball, her suitcase cast aside.

"Slow down!" Lin Zhou was knocked back half a step, but he smiled and caught her, his large hand ruffling her hair. "How old are you now? Still acting like a child."

"I'm only sixteen!" Lin Wan pouted and broke free from his embrace, straightening her messy hair while looking around curiously. "So this is the capital? It feels… about the same as the airport in our city."

"The best parts are yet to come." Lin Zhou chuckled, picked up the suitcase from the ground, and led her toward the parking lot.

In a VIP parking spot, a jet-black Hongqi sedan sat quietly.

The chauffeur in a suit saw the two of them and immediately stepped forward to open the back door, his arm shielding the top of the door frame in a standard gesture.

Lin Wan paused, her eyes widening.

She reached out and carefully touched the smooth, cold car body.

"Brother, did you rent this? This car must cost a lot for a day, right?"

"The state provided it." Lin Zhou's tone was nonchalant.

"The state?"

Lin Wan was stunned for a moment, then realized something. Her small mouth formed an "O" shape, and she giggled, her eyes curving into crescents.

"Oh right, I forgot, my brother is now 'Head of State'!"

She said, climbing into the car.

The soft leather seats enveloped her completely, and the space was wide enough to easily cross her legs. She was like a child with a new toy, touching this and looking at that, her little face flushed with excitement.

The vehicle started smoothly and merged into traffic.

Finally, the car pulled up in front of a resplendent five-star hotel.

The hotel manager had already been waiting at the entrance with staff. Seeing Lin Zhou get out, he immediately walked up with a beaming smile, his posture almost subservient.

"Mr. Lin, your suite is ready."

Lin Zhou nodded faintly and led his still-bewildered sister through the revolving doors.

The lobby's crystal chandelier was dazzling, and the air seemed to reek of money.

Lin Wan was stunned by the sight, her palms sweating with nervousness.

"Brother… how much does it cost to stay here for one night? It's too extravagant!" She whispered in Lin Zhou's ear.

Lin Zhou stopped and looked at his shocked sister with an exceptionally serious expression.

"You are a princess, and this is what you deserve."

"Huh?"

Lin Wan didn't react in time. "Stop joking, Brother. A princess? Have you been reading too many novels?"

She just assumed her brother was joking, though she felt inexplicably sweet inside.

Lin Zhou didn't explain further.

Entering the top-floor presidential suite and standing before the massive floor-to-ceiling windows, overlooking the dazzling city nightscape below, Lin Wan felt as if she were dreaming.

The thousands of lights and the bustling traffic all became scenery beneath her feet.

"Brother, are you… have you become incredibly rich now?" She finally asked the question that had been weighing on her mind.

"I don't have money personally, but the state does."

As he spoke, Lin Zhou opened his laptop and pulled up the newly promulgated "Royal Family Member Act".

"According to the act, as a direct member of the royal family, you can receive an annual allowance of ten thousand US dollars from the national treasury for your studies and personal living expenses."

No sooner had he finished speaking than he performed an operation in the financial system.

The next second, Lin Wan's phone "dinged".

It was a bank text message notification.

[Respected Ms. Lin Wan, your account ending in xxxx received a transfer of 10000.00 USD on x/x. Your current account balance is 10000.00 USD.]

"Wow! Ten thousand… dollars!"

Lin Wan's exclamation nearly blew the roof off.

Ten thousand US dollars! Over seventy thousand RMB!

For a high school student who only had a few hundred yuan of pocket money a month, this was simply a huge sum!

"This is just your pocket money."

Lin Zhou closed his laptop, his tone as calm as if he were saying, "I bought you a bottle of cola."

"In the next few days, I'll take you shopping to get some decent clothes. During the Lunar New Year, you might need to attend some events with me."

Lin Wan was still immersed in the shock of the huge sum. Hearing this, she asked subconsciously, "What kind of events?"

"Some… company annual meetings, and cocktail parties hosted by the embassy."

Lin Zhou spoke lightly.

But he knew clearly in his heart that this was by no means simple socializing.

This was the first shot he was firing for the newborn Cyber Freedom Republic on Chinese soil!

It was a battlefield without smoke!

He needed connections, he needed resources, and he needed to make those standing at the top of the pyramid see his existence!

And Lin Wan, as the first and currently only Her Royal Highness the Princess established by the national constitution, her image would represent the image of the entire nation from today on.

He wanted everyone to see that the Cyber Freedom Republic, even if it had nothing right now, possessed its own dignity and a pride that could not be underestimated!

The next day, the siblings dove headfirst into Beijing's most high-end luxury shopping mall.

Lin Zhou seemed to have turned on "shopping spree mode".

From the latest seasonal dresses from Chanel and Dior, to designer brand daily wear, to jewelry from Cartier and Tiffany…

He swiped his card without blinking an eye.

"Sir, this little dress really complements your sister's temperament…"

"Wrap it up."

"Sir, this necklace is a limited edition piece…"

"I'll take it."

"Everything she's wearing, except for the shoes, replace it with new items."

The sales clerks initially thought a naive rich second-generation kid had arrived, but when they saw the black card with a special emblem that Lin Zhou produced, and that every payment went through without a hitch, their attitude became unprecedentedly respectful.

These expenses were all charged to the "Royal Official Expenses" category of the Cyber Freedom Republic's national treasury.

Far away abroad, the Minister of Finance, Chen Yuan, saw the rapidly rising bills in the backend, and his face turned black.

But when he clicked on the payment item to check— "Procurement of diplomatic event dresses and accessories for Her Royal Highness the Princess".

The reason was so legitimate that he couldn't refute it; he could only watch the national treasury's money flow out like water.

Lin Wan went from excited and curious to restless very quickly.

Looking at the mountain of shopping bags, she tugged at Lin Zhou's sleeve and whispered, "Brother, you bought too much. I won't be able to wear most of these, it's too wasteful."

"It's not much."

Lin Zhou's answer was resolute. He handed a moon-white little dress to Lin Wan. "Go try it on. You are the face of our nation, and you must never be looked down upon by others."

When Lin Wan changed into the dress and stood in front of the mirror, looking at herself—who seemed to have been reborn, looking elegant and noble—her feelings were incredibly complex.

She vaguely felt that her brother was personally pushing her toward a world she had never imagined.

That world was radiant, but it could also be filled with challenges she could not foresee.

In the following days, Lin Zhou's email inbox was almost bursting with various invitations.

Tencent, Alibaba, ByteDance… almost every internet company and investment institution of note in the country had sent him invitations to their annual meetings.

Lin Zhou was well aware of this.

These people didn't think highly of him at all, nor did they recognize his "Cyber Freedom Republic".

They were just curious, wanting to see what kind of person this young man was who had "founded a country" online and even gotten it recognized.

To put it bluntly, they were treating him as a huge gimmick, a fresh topic of conversation at the annual meeting, a clown for their amusement.

But he didn't refuse a single invitation.

Even the smallest mosquito is still meat!

He needed this opportunity, he needed a stage to let these people see him with their own eyes and get to know him, even if that understanding started with ridicule and voyeuristic curiosity.

He wanted to lay the first brick for the future commercial cooperation of his nation.

Even if this brick needed to be laid with his own face.

Thus, a few days before New Year's Eve, Lin Zhou, accompanied by a carefully dressed Lin Wan who looked like a real princess, began his "annual meeting tour".