59: Chapter 59 Patek Philippe worth hundreds of millions

Su Ye, rarely in the mood for a stroll, wandered alone to the Luckin Coffee in the Taikoo Li pedestrian street. From afar, he saw Jiang Bai and Liu Xueer sitting by the window chatting.

It wasn't that Su Ye had particularly sharp eyesight, but rather that both women were dressed so brightly, like the morning sun, that anyone's attention would be immediately drawn to such lovely sights.

Today, Jiang Bai was wearing a black Tencel shirt dress. The pointed collar accentuated her aura, and silver geometric earrings hung naturally. The slit of the dress reached mid-thigh, which not only made her legs look long and slender but also ensured she wouldn't have any wardrobe malfunctions. A light purple silk ribbon tied around her waist highlighted her perfect waist-to-hip ratio.

On her feet, she wore a pair of white platform loafers, which were perfect for walking around, though they made the already tall Jiang Bai look even taller—the loafers seemed to add about 4cm to her height. A black Quake bag was placed casually on the side of the seat to prevent anyone from coming over to strike up a conversation or share the table.

Opposite Jiang Bai, Liu Xueer was acting silly. Although she wasn't as striking as Jiang Bai, she wasn't far behind. In fact, for certain groups of people, she might even be more popular than Jiang Bai.

She wore a goose-yellow, short-sleeved doll-collar shirt. The doll collar was adorned with three pearl buttons, and the slightly turned-out collar added a playful touch. The short sleeves were slightly puffed, and the shirt length ended 3cm above the waistline, just enough to reveal a sliver of her waist and abdomen, looking fresh and uncluttered. She wore light blue high-waisted denim hot pants that reached mid-thigh, with frayed hems. The waistband had a 2cm-wide elastic band, and the side pockets featured topstitching to add a vintage feel. The light blue, washed-out look clashed with the goose-yellow to create a fresh summer vibe. She wore white platform canvas shoes with playful pink accents, and a lemon-yellow canvas tote bag was placed on the seat beside her. Her hair, which was in a ponytail yesterday, was now tied back with a light yellow knitted hairband.

The two of them clearly saw Su Ye smiling by the window. Jiang Bai waved her little hand excitedly, while Liu Xueer looked at Jiang Bai, then at Su Ye outside the window, smiling. She sighed slightly in her heart, knowing that what she had said last night had fallen on deaf ears, and then she politely waved and greeted Su Ye.

Su Ye waved back, nodded with a smile, and then walked into the Luckin Coffee, heading straight to Jiang Bai's side. By this time, Jiang Bai had already moved the bag that was occupying the seat to her side, and Su Ye, ignoring the jealous gazes of the men inside Luckin, sat down next to Jiang Bai.

Jiang Bai hurriedly took an unopened coffee, placed it next to Su Ye, and said gently:

"I didn't know what you liked to drink, so I ordered you a coconut latte. See if you like it; if not, I'll go buy you another one."

Liu Xueer saw her best friend's eyes glowing and helplessly covered her forehead, thinking to herself:

"My goodness, Xiao Bai, are you still the same Xiao Bai? Look at yourself—how are you any different from those simps before? You're even simping harder than them."

Su Ye naturally took the coffee and smiled:

"Thanks, this one is fine. Coconut lattes are pretty good."

Afraid that her best friend would do something even more simp-like, Liu Xueer took the initiative to ask:

"Su Ye, why did you ask us to wait here for you?"

Su Ye inserted the straw into the coconut latte, took a sip, and said:

"I want to buy something, and since you two happen to be on the pedestrian street, I thought I'd ask you two to help me look."

Liu Xueer asked curiously:

"What are you buying? Clothes? I think your taste in clothes is excellent, even better than mine."

Su Ye shook his fair wrist as he walked:

"I'm missing a watch. I lost the previous one, and it's sometimes inconvenient without one, so I decided to come out and buy one since I had nothing to do today."

Hearing that Su Ye wanted to buy a watch, Liu Xueer's eyes lit up. A watch isn't something you just buy blindly, especially for someone with status; it's more than an accessory—it represents a person's identity.

"What kind of watch do you plan to buy? I saw a few Rolexes that my friends were wearing, and they were nice. Why don't we go take a look at Rolex?"

Su Ye shook his head:

"I don't like Rolex. I always feel like Rolex is associated with nouveau riche. I plan to go take a look at Patek Philippe."

Hearing Su Ye mention Patek Philippe, Jiang Bai and Liu Xueer were surprised for a moment, but they immediately relaxed, remembering the car Su Ye drove. For ordinary people, or even small wealthy families, Patek Philippe was an unattainable luxury, and the price range of this brand's watches was jaw-dropping.

From entry-level watches around 200,000 to collector's items worth millions, even a 200,000-level watch wasn't something an average person could wear. Moreover, Patek Philippe was extremely popular in the secondary watch market, with some models even auctioning for tens of millions or even over a hundred million.

As far as Liu Xueer knew, at a certain 10th charity auction, a Patek Philippe Ref. 6301A-010 Grand Sonnerie, Minute Repeater, and Rare Handcrafts watch sold for 15.7 million Swiss francs. At the current exchange rate of over 8, that was nearly 140 million yuan.

Liu Xueer was stunned when she saw that news. What kind of family spends over a hundred million on a watch? Even if a family had a net worth of ten billion, they wouldn't dare spend like that. Her own family was doing well, with a small company earning two or three million a year, but to buy this watch, she would have to go seventy years without eating or drinking.

At that time, Liu Xueer had thought to herself that if she ever had the chance, she must go to a Patek Philippe specialty store to take a look. She never expected to have the opportunity today.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go."

Seeing Liu Xueer suddenly become so enthusiastic, Jiang Bai first looked at Su Ye and asked:

"You've been walking for so long, do you want to take a break and enjoy the air conditioning for a while?"

Su Ye shook his head and said:

"It's fine, let's go buy the watch first. I have to buy other things later, so we need to save some time."

To be honest, Su Ye felt that Jiang Bai was abnormal today—very abnormal. Although she had been good to him before, she was exceptionally gentle today. Anyway, Su Ye didn't care; right now, he was all about following his heart. If it was meant to be, it wouldn't escape; if it wasn't, there was no need to force it. After all, there were so many other beautiful flowers outside, weren't there?

There were two Patek Philippe specialty stores in Chengdu: one in Jinjiang District and the other in Area C of Sino-Ocean Taikoo Li, which still followed the open-fusion style of the Taikoo Li streets.

The exterior of the store combined the gray tile pitched roofs typical of Western Sichuan dwellings with large glass curtain walls, and the slightly upturned eaves echoed the rhythm of the Daci Temple ancient building complex. The bronze grille screen at the entrance was inspired by the Shu brocade [Lingyang Gong Pattern], presenting abstract mythical beast patterns through laser engraving, casting dynamic light and shadows on the ground as the sunlight shone through.