Chapter 4

Seeing me suddenly stare at her, Miranda assumed her words had struck a nerve. She sneered:

"What? Finally getting it? Realizing that studying theory alone won't work? You need money in hand!"

She closed her book, turned around, and suddenly became generous:

"Tell you what—Simon bought you that apartment, right? You living there is just a waste. Sell it to me. I'll give you five million."

"With that five million, you can actually practice investing!"

She smiled sweetly, but her eyes were full of condescending charity.

I understood. She just didn't want me living in the apartment Simon had prepared. She didn't want me to have any connection with Simon whatsoever.

But it suited me just fine.

"Sure," I said with a smile.

Miranda froze, clearly not expecting me to agree so readily.

But soon, she smiled again:

"Great. Send me your account information."

My phone buzzed. Five million deposited.

I looked at that number, about to thank her, when I suddenly heard—

"Idiot!"

Miranda burst out laughing: "I told you—you're poor with limited vision and don't understand investing, and you still don't believe it."

"Did you research the location? Do you know how much this apartment will be worth in a year?"

"Six million!"

"A 120% return rate in one year—that's real investing!"

"You don't even know to hold onto the most profitable real estate. Give you all the money in the world, and it'll just go down the drain!"

The people around her joined in mocking me.

But I simply looked at her calmly.

Of course I knew the apartment would appreciate in a year.

But six million would be its peak price.

In the future, the real estate market would crash. The longer people held onto these properties, the more they'd lose.

Sergio Reyes's project, on the other hand, had the most promising future.

It would yield returns of a hundred, even a thousand times.

And my most important task right now was: finding Sergio Reyes.

"Class is starting."

Just then, the class bell rang at the perfect moment.

Everyone stopped talking and returned to their seats.

The teacher walked in—a middle-aged man wearing black-framed glasses. He spoke quickly and flipped through his PowerPoint slides just as fast.

I put away my thoughts, opened my notebook, and started listening attentively.

Honestly, much of it was still too advanced for me.

IRR, valuation models—they sounded like gibberish.

But I wrote down every word, circling anything I didn't understand to look up after class.

During the entire two-hour class, I didn't lose focus for a second.

When the bell rang, I'd already filled six pages of notes.

The moment I looked up to rest, I suddenly noticed someone standing at the door.

Sergio Reyes.