A Rich Second-generation Villain Can’t Just Enjoy Life — Chapter 404

Chapter 404: Never Underestimate a Poor Young Man!

The thought of becoming a formidable figure in the future, with Su Hongmian regretting deeply, crying and begging for him to come back, kneeling at his feet and clinging to him…

Thinking of these things, a wide, almost manic grin stretched across Long Hao’s lips. A surge of pure, unadulterated excitement flooded his veins, sweeping away every last trace of his earlier resentment like a tidal wave. His blood hummed with a feverish heat, a stark contrast to the cool morning air. This was his destiny, his second chance.

In his previous, pathetic life, his ex-fiancée, the untouchable school beauty, the goddess who had publicly shattered his pride and their engagement, would soon be reduced to a pathetic mess. He could picture it so clearly it felt like a memory yet to happen: Su Hongmian, her perfect face stained with tears, her voice choked with sobs, crawling towards him on the cold, unforgiving marble of his future palace. She would clutch at the hem of his bespoke trousers, her pleas a desperate symphony for his ears alone. And he would stand over her, a silent, unforgiving god, savoring every last drop of her regret.

One word: awesome!

Three words: absolutely fucking awesome!

Though Long Hao’s heart seethed with a toxic brew of resentment and fury towards Su Hongmian, a deeper, more primal feeling coiled beneath it all: obsession. He was utterly smitten. How could he not be? Su Hongmian was a masterpiece of creation. Her figure was tall and willowy, her skin as flawless and white as freshly fallen snow. Her features were exquisite, breathtakingly beautiful, enough to make the ancient poets weep. Calling her a beauty that could make fish sink and geese fall was no mere hyperbole. But it was her arrogance, that cold, untouchable pride she wore like a suit of armor, that truly ignited his desire. It was a fortress he was now destined to conquer and desecrate.

Even now, Long Hao couldn’t untangle the threads of his own emotions. How much of his rage was from the public humiliation she’d dealt him, the complete evisceration of his face in front of the world? And how much was the bitter, unquenched thirst of a man who desperately wanted something he could never have?

*’I remember… that arrogant ice queen, Su Hongmian, also has a charming and ripe adoptive mother, Su Wanqing, doesn’t she?’* A new, deliciously wicked thought wormed its way into his mind. *’Perfect. I’ll conquer the mother first. I’ll make Su Wanqing mine, wrap her around my little finger. The look on Su Hongmian’s face when she has to call me ‘father’… it will be priceless! Absolutely priceless!’*

His grin twisted into a predatory sneer.

*’And if Su Hongmian genuinely repents, if she truly understands the magnitude of her mistake… perhaps, if I’m feeling merciful, I’ll forgive her. Taking both the mother and daughter… now that would be a truly delightful achievement.’*

As Long Hao’s fantasies grew more vivid and depraved, the excited expression on his face warped, becoming increasingly unsettling.

His father, Dragon Qing, watched him from the side, a strange and deeply worried look clouding his stern features. His son’s eyes held a feverish, manic gleam he’d never seen before. Could the pressure from the broken engagement have finally snapped something inside his mind? Had his boy gone mad?

“Hao’er,” Dragon Qing began, his voice laced with a concern he tried to mask. “There are plenty of fish in the sea. Even if this engagement with the Su Family is truly broken, it doesn’t matter. Father will find you an even better fiancée in the future. A more suitable one.”

The sound of his father’s voice yanked Long Hao from his triumphant reverie. He snapped his head around, his eyes blazing with an unwavering, almost frightening confidence.

“Father, don’t you worry about me,” he declared, his voice ringing with newfound power. “I, Long Hao, will bring unprecedented glory to our ancestors! I will marry countless goddesses, become a figure who stands at the pinnacle of this world, and I will elevate our Long Family into a top-tier aristocratic powerhouse!”

He took a step forward, his fists clenched so tightly his knuckles turned white. He lifted his chin, his voice booming with the conviction of a man possessed.

“Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river; never, ever bully a young man for being poor!”

[Akarin’s Note: “Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river” (三十年河东，三十年河西) is a famous Chinese idiom. It means that fortunes change over time; someone who is powerful now may fall, and someone who is weak now may rise. It’s a classic line for protagonists who have been underestimated.]

Hearing these grandiose words, Dragon Qing’s heart didn’t feel relieved; it sank even further. The worry etched on his face deepened into near certainty. His son had truly lost his mind. A martial arts cripple, a young man whose meridians were hopelessly blocked, becoming a formidable figure? It was laughable.

And making the Long Family a top-tier aristocratic family? The notion was pure insanity.

Perhaps he meant he would abandon the path of martial arts for business? Or something else? But how could that be easy? The world of commerce was a battlefield of its own, just as brutal as any dojo.

Even if, by some miracle, he became the richest man in all of Yanxia, it wouldn’t be enough. It wouldn’t even come close. In the eyes of the true elite, a man with only money was nothing more than a fat sheep, ready for the slaughter. Raw, undeniable power—violence—was the foundation of everything. How many self-made billionaires had ended their careers rotting in a prison cell because they crossed the wrong person?

True top-tier aristocratic families were forged in the crucibles of power over centuries. These included families like the Yanxia An and Bai Families, who held unshakable dominion over the military; the Yanxia Shen and Yu Families, whose influence ran so deep in the political world they could topple ministries with a word; and the Yanxia Gu Family, a titan in the Martial Arts World whose name commanded absolute reverence. These were the true behemoths, families who had reached the absolute peak in their respective fields, accumulating terrifying power and heritage over hundreds, even thousands of years. They were dynasties, unshakeable and eternal.

How could Long Hao, a martial arts cripple with delusions of grandeur, possibly achieve that on his own? Even Dragon Qing, a respected Martial Arts Grandmaster, would never entertain such an impossible fantasy.

It was pure, unadulterated daydreaming. A pipe dream of the highest order.

Long Hao offered no further explanation. He didn’t need to. A vigor he hadn’t felt in years coursed through him, suffusing him with extreme, unshakeable confidence.

He was a man with a System. His rise was not a possibility; it was an inevitability.

*’Oh, right,’* his thoughts raced, already moving on to his next strategic advantage. *’I wonder if Su Hongmian has met that so-called Divine Doctor, Xia Liu, yet? In my past life, that audacious fool actually coveted Goddess Doctor Murong Jieyu and was swiftly executed by the Sword God, Ye Linyuan. Good riddance. How dare an ant like him covet one of my future women!’*

A glint of excitement flashed in his eyes as a new name surfaced. *’Speaking of which, Sword God Ye Linyuan… I must befriend him. He’s a future titan, a living legend in the martial world, a genuine Land Immortal!’*

Even though he had spent the last two and a half years of his previous life as a shut-in—holed up in his room playing games, watching videos, and “practicing his ancestral craft”—he still knew the monumental names that shook the world. And the name ‘Sword God Ye Linyuan’ was one he’d often heard his father and his associates discuss with a mixture of awe and terror.

*’And there are others…’* His mind became a whirlwind of information, a treasure trove of future knowledge. *’Lord of Youming Hall, Ye Yan! The world’s richest man, Qi Fan! The Dragon King, Han Qi! The legendary diva, Wen Feifei! Alliance Master Yan Lingxiao! Celestial Master Chen Tianji! Immovable Bright King Xu Ping’an! The Asura Demon King, Chu Yun…’*

The names flowed one after another, each one a future legend, a giant in the making. *’These are all the protagonists of the coming era! I must invest in them, befriend them all!’*

Long Hao racked his brain, dredging up every scrap of information he could from his fragmented memories of the future. With each recalled name, the excitement and anticipation on his face grew stronger, almost ecstatic.

He had been reborn two and a half years in the past and had awakened the [Heaven-Defying Investment Return System].

The stronger the person he invested in, the more he would share in their corresponding gains, calculated by his investment ratio. The more he gambled on them, the greater his returns would be.

*’Lu Buwei invested in the father of Qin Shi Huang and became the prime minister, second only to the emperor himself, standing above tens of thousands!’* Long Hao’s heart hammered against his ribs. *’And I, Long Hao, a reborn soul, possess a detailed map of the next two and a half years! I can invest in all these rising stars before anyone else even knows their names. I will dominate the world! I will soar!’*

*’So what if I’m a martial arts cripple? In the future, Grandmasters and Great Grandmasters will be nothing to me! Even Heavenly Human experts and Land Immortals will bow their heads! I won’t just be a martial artist… I will become a Martial God!’*

His face flushed a deep crimson, his body trembling with uncontrollable excitement.

“Who are you?”

The quiet hum of an engine interrupted his thoughts. The ornate wrought iron gates of the villa swung open, and a sleek, gleaming Porsche slowly drove out.

Behind the wheel sat Su Wanqing. She was dressed in an impeccably tailored, expensive white formal suit that hugged her generous curves in all the right places. Her hair was styled elegantly, and her face, though showing surprise, held a natural air of authority. She looked at the two men standing just outside her gate, her brow furrowing slightly.

She was just about to head to her company, not expecting any visitors.

Before Dragon Qing could announce them, Long Hao surged forward a few steps, a wide, practiced grin plastered on his face.

“Auntie Su,” he said, his tone oozing a false familiarity. “I am Su Hongmian’s fiancé, Long Hao. And this is my father, Mr. Dragon Qing.”

*’Su Hongmian’s fiancé?’*

Su Wanqing’s expression flickered, and a pang of guilt pricked at her conscience. She had been planning to take her adopted daughter, Su Hongmian, and Su Hongmian’s boyfriend, Shen Anyu, to the Long Family home in Sichuan tomorrow to formally break off this very engagement.

She hadn’t expected the fiancé himself to show up at her doorstep today.

*’Mianmian and Shen Anyu are already… they’re deeply in love,’* Su Wanqing resolved internally. *’This engagement must be annulled. It’s the only way. At worst, I’ll just have to compensate this Long Hao boy with more money.’*

Her mind was made up.

At that moment, Long Hao’s eyes were slyly, hungrily, raking over Su Wanqing’s form.

Even constrained by the crisp lines of her formal suit, her figure was undeniably alluring. She was curvaceous and full, ripe like a perfect peach. Her entire being radiated an outstanding, sophisticated demeanor—the unique, intoxicating charm of a mature woman. She was a true gem among gems.

*’In my past life, Su Hongmian unilaterally broke off our engagement in public, making my Long Family a laughingstock,’* Long Hao thought, his heart pounding with a dark, possessive delight. *’Su Wanqing did come later, wanting to smooth things over with money. Heh. In this life, she won’t be compensating me with money. She’ll be compensating me with her entire being.’*

Su Wanqing noticed his insolent, lingering gaze. Her delicate brows furrowed slightly, a flicker of displeasure crossing her features. His eyes were like crude, grasping hands. Compared to the graceful, handsome, and utterly charming Shen Anyu, this boy was like a clod of dirt next to a flawless diamond.

Seeing his son’s disrespectful staring, Dragon Qing impatiently patted Long Hao on the shoulder, a silent reprimand. He then addressed Su Wanqing, his voice a deep, serious baritone.

“Ms. Su, you are Su Hongmian’s guardian. Let’s discuss the matter of the engagement between our children.”

Long Hao and Su Hongmian’s engagement had been arranged by Su Hongmian’s birth parents before their tragic deaths, so Dragon Qing naturally knew that Su Wanqing was not her biological mother.

Su Wanqing nodded slightly. She took out her phone and made a few quick calls to her company, delegating several important matters with brisk efficiency. Finished, she looked at Dragon Qing and Long Hao, her professional politeness slipping back into place like a mask.

“Mr. Dragon Qing, Long Hao, please come in.”

Su Wanqing wasn’t worried about what Dragon Qing and Long Hao might do, because Shen Anyu had sent female bodyguards to protect her…