Reaching the age of thirty, my income randomly doubled

Er Piya, who always cared about other people's failures, decided to just be herself.

The May Day holiday was approaching, and she'd already planned to host a fan meeting during the break.

Her live streams in the past were all to announce this big news—the Er Congming Fan Meeting. It had always been an opportunity for ordinary people to glimpse a taste of the high life.

The number of slots was never many, just a hundred each time, and participants were randomly selected through the live streaming platform.

Because the fan meeting was approaching, her livestream often attracted over a million concurrent viewers.

Due to the success of previous events, it had become a major publicity opportunity for her.

Most ordinary people work their entire lives and still have a hard time truly understanding what the Ten Li Foreign Market lifestyle is.

But Er Ya's fan meeting is sure to give you a taste.

...

Time flew by, and soon May arrived.

For the statutory holiday, most employees at the Group also took the time off.

Only a few essential positions continued working as usual.

Golden Mountain was nothing like The Bund, which was always packed to the brim during holidays.

Here, there weren't many out-of-town tourists, so Chen Pingsheng and his wife Song Yanxi planned to stroll around nearby.

Golden Mountain had several well-known spots, including the Jiangnan-style Fengjing Ancient Town, City Beach, and Donglin Temple, all categorized as 4A-grade scenic areas.

Taking advantage of the time off, Chen Pingsheng brought his family out for a little trip. The only person missing was Er Ya.

Everyone knew she had gone to organize her fan meeting again, though the exact location was unclear.

At Fengjing Ancient Town, Chen Pingsheng rented a small boat for some casual sightseeing.

Chen An'an remarked, "Dad, there seem to be far fewer tourists in the Magic City this year."

"Of course! It's all due to the pandemic," he replied.

Chen Pingsheng added, "Even during non-holiday periods, this place used to have more people than today."

"True that."

Chen An'an decided not to go anywhere else and just relaxed with the family.

Although Fengjing Ancient Town was a 4-star scenic spot, the family had been to many ancient towns like this before, so it didn't leave much of an impression.

After sitting on the boat for two hours, the family drove to the City Bund.

This area featured a man-made beach, popular for swimming during summer.

The outing felt rather ordinary and not particularly remarkable.

But they didn't expect to run into Er Ya at this place.

Er Piya was hosting her fan meeting here. She'd booked out the finest hotel and even invited several major celebrities.

It was an exceedingly extravagant affair.

Chen Pingsheng was worried she'd cause another spectacle like last time at The Bund, drawing too much nationwide attention.

He felt too embarrassed to stick around, so he hurriedly left with his family.

His younger sister, Chen Qi, came to visit him later, bringing a bunch of gifts she claimed she had made herself.

God knows where she haphazardly picked up some things to pass off as handmade.

Chen Pingsheng sat on his rocking chair at the back, holding a small hand fan.

Whenever his younger sister showed up bearing gifts, it was a sure sign of trouble.

"What do you want now?" he asked.

"Hey, come on, big brother. Can't I just drop by for no reason?"

"Haha, so you still remember I'm your brother. Spare me the beating around the bush."

"Alright, alright!"

Chen Qi, never shy around her elder brother, said, "Big brother, you know how poor the Hu Family's background was. Now that they've improved their lives, his two siblings still have it rough. Don't you think…"

"Hold it right there."

Chen Pingsheng scoffed, "You've been digging at my pocket all year round. Even if you didn't make half a billion, it should still be over 20 million, right? And that's not enough to help their family out?"

"It's not about money—I don't have the influence to arrange certain resources," she said.

"What kind of resources are we talking about?"

"His nephew wants to come to the Magic City and become a civil servant."

"A regular entry-level civil servant is too low? How about I arrange for him to be a secretary at the provincial office?"

"That'd be amazing!"

But before Chen Qi could get too excited, Chen Pingsheng kicked her in the behind, showing no mercy even though his little sister was already a mother.

"What's wrong with your brain? Isn't the financial support you give them every year enough? Now they want political clout too? Why not just shoot for the moon?"

"Brother… it wasn't Hu Lin's idea; I just wanted to help them myself."

"Haven't you already helped them enough?"

Chen Pingsheng fumed, "Call Hu Lin right now and tell him to come see me. I want to know who had the audacity to make you ask me for political resources."

Chen Qi, seeing her brother this furious for the first time, quickly said a few comforting words and scurried off to find her sister-in-law to intervene.

She asked her to try calming him down, worried he might harm his health by getting so angry.

When Song Yanxi arrived, she saw Chen Pingsheng had already smashed a cup on the floor.

"Don't you think you're overreacting? If you don't want to help, just say no. Why get so worked up?"

"What I hate is their insatiable greed. Money isn't enough—they want political resources? Why don't they just ascend to heaven?"

Chen Pingsheng snorted, "Do you even know the level of competition in the Magic City? To secure someone a good starting point here, even if our entire family worked together, we could only sustain two or three successors at most. So why does their Hu Family think they can ask for this?"

Only someone completely clueless would make such a ridiculous demand. Song Yanxi understood how difficult it was to establish oneself in the Magic City.

Even after entering the system, advancing further required far more than mere effort.

Forget dreaming—her husband had calculated that even with the Qingteng Film Group's full influence, they could only cultivate two or three promising successors in the Magic City.

The audacity of her sister-in-law to make such a request!

"That Hu family is way out of line. They probably overheard some of your family planning discussions from your sister-in-law and decided to try snatching a spot."

Chen Pingsheng couldn't be bothered to argue in depth with Hu Lin. He planned to call him over for a stern scolding anyway.

His priority for the training and resources had already been reserved for two nieces from the Song family—Xiao Ya and Xiao Le.

The two sisters, receiving the family's support, would have no freedom in future marriage arrangements.

Their unions would be for political alliances, not wealth.

At their level, everyone planned for at least three generations ahead.

In this land, money alone was far from enough to succeed.

With his protection, his younger sister wouldn't have to worry about these kinds of things.

But he couldn't ignore the bigger picture. Plus, this matter was a family secret. Discussing it internally was fine, but revealing it externally was unthinkable.

For the Hu family to even think of asking—they were utterly delusional.

Chen Qi eventually dragged Hu Lin over to apologize.

Chen Pingsheng asked bluntly, "Hu Lin, I used to think you were honest and decent. But does your family not realize how much financial support my sister has given you annually? Tell me, who told her to make this request?"

"Big brother, it wasn't me—I didn't ask her to bring this up…"

"Hmph... Are you seriously trying to blame this on her? Would she have dared say anything without your family's persistent coaxing from the sidelines?"

Chen Pingsheng sneered, "I could let it slide if your family was clueless. But you, Hu Lin—you should know better! The Magic City is no ordinary place, and your family thinks they can send someone to start at such a high-ranking position? Unless your ancestors fought wars or carried banners, what's the basis for this?"

Hu Lin was dumbfounded by the scolding, though he knew exactly who had stirred this up.

It was none other than his mother and that meddling sister-in-law of his.

Day and night, they nagged him relentlessly, worried his son with an average college degree wouldn't land a good job.

They insisted on a big civil servant post in the Magic City, refusing to settle for a county-level position.

Hu Lin, tired of their badgering, had given in and hoped Chen Qi's brother could sort it out.

Little did he expect such vehement opposition.

From Chen Pingsheng's perspective, the Hu family's sheer lack of self-awareness was unforgivable.

Ordinary people who enter that world without exceptional innate abilities...

They can't even toast a glass of wine properly, let alone navigate the intricacies of social dynamics.

He'd once transferred Hu Lin to the Capital City's Education Bureau, even securing him a decent position. And yet?

Within a year, the fool requested a transfer back to a grassroots teaching role at a school.

Do you understand what this means?

It's like giving up a position near leadership to start over as an ordinary teacher.

You might argue he had his reasons, but the move was unequivocally foolish.

Once you leave a leadership pipeline, dreaming of promotion is just wishful thinking.

Did he think that opportunity had fallen into his lap effortlessly?

Chen Pingsheng didn't want to dwell further. But with Hu Lin setting a precedent, for his family to now demand political resources too?

He could only counter with unyielding ridicule.

...

In the end, both Hu Lin and Chen Qi got a thorough scolding at home.

When they returned home, Hu Lin's mother immediately rushed over for an update.

This whole debacle had been cooked up by none other than Hu Lin's sister-in-law. What she assumed was a small request had spiraled into something much bigger.

Chen Qi, upset by her brother's wrath, refused to even acknowledge her afterward.