Financial Independence through Cracked Apps-Chapter 92 - 91: The 500,000 Rolex

At noon, Lin Shen finally completed the entire process for his custom suit.

He really hadn’t expected that getting a custom suit would be so time-consuming!

His suit consultant, Zhao, seemed less like he was fitting a suit and more like he was measuring a work of art.

Although this left Lin Shen feeling a bit tired, the excellent service certainly put him in a good mood.

They provided tea and snacks—everything short of offering to buy him lunch.

However, Lin Shen felt that if he had asked, they definitely would have agreed.

But that would have been embarrassing.

"Mr. Lin, if you could please make a down payment of 30,000 yuan, and then leave your address and phone number."

After the measurements were finished, his suit consultant, Zhao, explained the after-sales service to Lin Shen.

"Once the suit is tailored, I’ll personally deliver it to you. That includes three years of complimentary maintenance and one year of shaping services."

"If there’s any fabric wear or the fit isn’t right within the first year, we can come to you for free alterations, or even remake it entirely!"

"Alright."

After adding Zhao on WeChat, Lin Shen was so impressed with his service that he paid the entire 100,000 yuan upfront, including the final balance.

This took Zhao by surprise, and he thanked him profusely.

"Thank you for your trust in Kiton, Mr. Lin! Thank you so much!"

"Well, it’s not like your shop is going anywhere," Lin Shen joked. He then left the Kiton store, with Zhao politely seeing him to the door.

For lunch, he had originally planned to find a place nearby, but he discovered that the surrounding restaurants were all high-end establishments that were generally only open in the evening.

Even the ones that were open at noon were the type that required reservations for lunch.

With no other choice, Lin Shen had to drive to a nearby mall to grab a quick bite, then returned to continue his shopping.

Second stop: watches.

Lin Shen’s budget was around 400,000, so among all the watch brands, he chose Rolex.

It was an obvious choice; the brand was just too famous.

Ever since he was a child, Lin Shen had often heard adults talk about it, and it even frequently appeared in gangster movies as the standard accessory worn on the wrists of mob bosses.

This indicated that its value retention and performance on the second-hand market were both excellent.

Of course, brands like Hublot, Vacheron Constantin, Breguet, and Audemars Piguet were also quite luxurious watch brands.

But after thinking it over, Lin Shen still decided to buy from a more "mainstream" luxury brand.

The Rolex boutique.

Lin Shen walked up to the counter and asked the sales associate with a slight smile.

"I’d like to see some models for daily wear, something popular. Do you have any recommendations?"

"For popular models, that would be the Daytona and the Submariner."

The saleswoman smiled politely.

"We just got a ’Green Gold Daytona’ in today. The price point is a bit high, but would you be open to it?"

"Price is no object."

"Of course! One moment, please!"

Seeing how casual Lin Shen was, the saleswoman was overjoyed and immediately ran to the back of the store, returning shortly with a watch.

After she opened the box, just as its name suggested, the bracelet and bezel were shining 18K yellow gold, while the dial was Rolex’s signature emerald green.

However, perhaps because Lin Shen was used to wearing watches with black dials, seeing the "Green Gold Daytona" for the first time felt a little strange.

But fortunately, it grew on him after a little while. After all, who can argue with gold?

Seeing that Lin Shen was very interested in the Green Gold Daytona, the saleswoman took the initiative to start her presentation.

"It uses the Calibre 4130 movement. Its timekeeping accuracy is COSC-certified, and the 72-hour power reserve means you won’t have to wind it frequently with daily wear."

"The case and bracelet are both forged from a single block of 18K yellow gold, making them durable and wear-resistant. Plus, this is Rolex’s exclusive sunray dial, which shows a gradient luster as it refracts light."

The saleswoman angled the watch under the light, and just as she said, the dial’s color showed a gradient effect.

"It’s quite nice."

Lin Shen was quite satisfied with the look of the Green Gold Daytona, so he got straight to the point.

"How much is it?"

"The official boutique price is 285,000, but due to exchange rates and taxes, its current market price is 430,000."

"However, because this watch is so popular, you’ll need to purchase it as part of a bundle, or become a Rolex VIP to buy it."

The saleswoman said with a smile.

"This must be your first time at our Rolex boutique, isn’t it?"

"How did you know?"

"Because I don’t recall seeing you before."

The saleswoman maintained her professional smile.

"Would you like me to recommend some products for the bundle?"

"Alright."

Lin Shen knew about Rolex’s bundling practices. It was nothing more than a marketing tactic to inflate their brand value and manipulate customers.

But he didn’t really care. After all, with the Indulgence Consumption Card as a safety net, he wasn’t afraid of wasting a little money.

And so, on the saleswoman’s recommendation, Lin Shen also bought a women’s watch with a pink dial.

The total cost came out to exactly 500,000.

"Mr. Lin, Rolex offers a 5-year international warranty. If you have any issues, please don’t hesitate to come find me."

「3:00 PM.」

When the saleswoman saw Lin Shen put the Green Gold Daytona on his wrist, she couldn’t help but praise him.

"You’re so handsome, the watch complements you perfectly. You’ll be the center of attention wherever you go."

"Thanks."

Lin Shen felt it too. After putting on the watch, his entire aura had indeed changed somewhat.

Already confident, his mindset became even more high-spirited and sharp, and he even felt a thrill of secret joy and smugness.

Now Lin Shen finally understood why so many people liked to flaunt their wealth.

’It really does feel amazing!’

"Take care, Mr. Lin."

"Alright."

After leaving the Rolex boutique, Lin Shen lifted his left hand, constantly turning it to admire his Green Gold Daytona from different angles, the corners of his mouth turning up slightly without him realizing it.

’Spending money really is the best way to satisfy your desires.’

Of course, beyond the joy, there was now a difficult decision facing Lin Shen.

’And that is... who do I give the bundled women’s watch to?’

Lin Shen lifted the Rolex shopping bag, his heart instantly tangled in indecision.

’Even though there are only two candidates, Jiang Wan and Qin Yuenan, it’s still a hard choice!’

After some deliberation, Lin Shen decided he would just buy another gift while he was out clothes shopping.

So, he headed to Gucci first.

Among the more mainstream luxury brands, the variety of men’s clothing was much smaller than women’s.

Because these brands generally believed that apparel wasn’t a major spending category for men.

But there were still a few luxury stores that sold decent menswear.

Like the LV store Lin Shen had been to before, and the Gucci store he was heading to now.

A simple, pure white T-shirt and shorts with the GUCCI logo, paired with a pair of Gucci’s "dirty" sneakers.

The whole outfit came to just over 10,000.

This was a full 20,000 to 30,000 less than what he spent at LV last time!

Lin Shen was living proof that if you let a guy go clothes shopping by himself, the amount he spends will be unbelievably low.

Even when browsing in a luxury store, he still didn’t spend much.

Thinking about the 200,000 left on his Indulgence Consumption Card gave Lin Shen a headache, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and buy more clothes and shoes to wear in rotation.

He even bought some small accessories he didn’t usually wear, like necklaces.

After Lin Shen loaded all the large and small paper bags into his car’s trunk and tallied it up, he had barely managed to spend over 50,000.

In other words, he still had a 150,000 quota left.

’I need to change my spending strategy.’

Lin Shen thought for a moment, then headed straight for the kind of store guys like best: an electronics store.

An official Apple Store.

Lin Shen decided to buy the whole Apple ecosystem.

He had never used their products before, and now that he had money, he planned to buy them to try something new.

A top-spec phone, watch, headphones, tablet, and laptop computer added up to just over 50,000.

Not exorbitant, but definitely not cheap either.

PHEW—!

Henglong Square, B1 underground parking garage.

Lin Shen looked at the neatly stacked shopping bags in his trunk, a faint sense of happiness and satisfaction welling up in his heart.

’Another hundred thousand left. I’ll just buy a gift for Nan with the rest.’

Lin Shen closed the trunk, took the elevator to the 5th floor, and made a beeline for the Chanel boutique.

He wasn’t sure about Qin Yuenan’s tastes, so he could only buy a gift that was a safe bet.

And a handbag was one such gift.

It was like flowers; no woman could refuse a beautiful bag.

That was why Lin Shen chose it.

But among the many luxury brands, Hermès definitely had the best quality and designs for handbags.

Unfortunately, Lin Shen only had 150,000 left on his bank card. With the average price of a Hermès bag being over 200,000, it was a bit of a stretch for him.

So he could only settle for the next best thing: Chanel.

After walking into the store, Lin Shen noticed that most of the customers were glamorous young women, whose figures and looks would definitely be considered beautiful by the average person.

Of course, Don’t eat cilantro and Building Materials King AAA were there too.

Men shopping alone like Lin Shen were rare, so he didn’t attract much attention.

However, he quite liked this feeling of shopping without a sales associate following him around, free to browse and choose as he pleased.

’The prices are all on the shelves anyway.’

So Lin Shen weaved through the bustling crowd, and after reaching the handbag section, focused his attention on items in the 100,000 price range.

Not far away, a fashionable woman with exquisite makeup was sitting on a small, square stool, talking on the phone.

"My boyfriend brought me shopping at Chanel. I’ll call you back in a bit."

After hanging up, Zheng Yanfei examined the bag in her hands over and over, placed it on her beautiful, black-stockinged legs, and tried to take a few pictures from different angles, but wasn’t satisfied with the results.

Because the price tag was still attached to the bag, it was obviously just a display item that hadn’t been purchased.

’What should I do?’

Just as Zheng Yanfei was getting frustrated, a flash of gold in the crowd suddenly caught her eye.

She looked up and spotted the Rolex on Lin Shen’s left wrist, which left her slightly stunned.

’A Green Gold Daytona?’

’The one whose price was hyped up to over 500,000 on the second-hand market?’

Curious, Zheng Yanfei took a closer look at Lin Shen’s side profile, her expression turning to one of slight astonishment.

It wasn’t that she thought Lin Shen was handsome, but that he looked incredibly familiar.

’This person... haven’t I seen him at the Bund that one rainy day?’