Super Zoo

Suming wasn't stingy at all. He promised everyone, planning to invite all the employees of the zoo on some weekend, for a big feast.

"Good people get rewarded!" Li, the keeper in Xiongshan, muttered while feeding the bears.

"You should be careful with money. Put it in the bank to earn some interest. Save it for setting up a family and establishing yourself in the future. Don't spend this money."

Mr. Peng earnestly put away the two bottles of Wuliangye that Suming had given him and then spoke to Suming, both pleased and a bit reproachful.

"It's only right for an apprentice to honor his master. These two bottles of liquor didn't cost much," Suming replied nonchalantly.

Mr. Peng was a good man. Many old masters had the habit of demanding bribes and would even keep secrets. If you ran into one with an odd character, they might deliberately make things difficult for the apprentice. But Mr. Peng always took good care of Suming and often invited him out for a drink. The master-apprentice relationship was quite strong.

Moreover, Huaxia people place great importance on the inheritance of the master-apprentice lineage and respecting the teacher and valuing the doctrine. Now that Suming had some money, if he didn't honor Mr. Peng, he would feel uneasy, and besides, people might gossip about him behind his back.

"Being of little use when needed but causing trouble otherwise" is a typical characteristic of a petty person. Suming didn't want to be doing well in his business while having someone trying to sabotage him behind his back.

Everyone knew Suming had made money, but he didn't dare to tell his family.

Since he wasn't living with his mother and they were hundreds of miles apart, suddenly telling her that he had struck it rich might clear things up, but she was elderly and might worry needlessly.

After thinking it over, Suming decided to spend five hundred thousand at the insurance company to buy a financial-style commercial insurance policy, with his mother as the beneficiary.

From then on, his mother would receive over a thousand yuan each month until her death. In their small mountain hole, a thousand yuan was already more than enough to live comfortably, not to mention his mother had other sources of income. No matter what happened in the future, his mother's last years would at least be free of financial worries.

Over the phone, Suming merely mentioned that each month he would send back a little over a thousand yuan, without telling his mother that if something happened to him, the insurance company would pay out the entire five hundred thousand to the beneficiary—which was his mother.

With that done, after accounting for the contracted services and the insurance money, Suming had about two million left for himself.

Cash, house, car, wife, son... He had the cash, and Whisperwind Pavilion was more comfortable than a big villa; he wasn't in a rush for a wife and children, so that left the car.

"It's time to buy a car."

Suming didn't know much about cars, so he simply called Wang Hao, an expert in this field—at least among his college friends; Wang Hao knew the most about cars.

Actually, besides Zhao Yun, Wang Hao was the first person to know about the windfall Suming had come into.

Over three million was a sum that Wang Hao's family could barely afford, but all of the money was managed by Wang Hao's parents, and he himself couldn't even come up with three hundred thousand.

"You lucky bastard, your luck is off the charts!"

Driving the little Wing Tiger, Wang Hao joked, "Just a trip to the mountains and you stumble upon a few million. Then there's the boat business, right? Same boats, others can't even attract a crow, but look at you—earning easy money, appearing on the little TV, sipping on wine, hardly ever checking the site, and cash just pours into your wallet. Next time, take me to see your family's graveyard; I bet it's billowing out blue smoke."

"It's not like that; training cats and alligator turtles is really hard work," Su Ming said.

Wang Hao rolled his eyes, "Hard work? Brother, I feel like you're just playing around. Old Su, you must have done some great deeds in your past life. It's like divine help. From now on, I'm following you. Don't forget to include me in any good fortune that comes your way!"

Wang Hao was actually in a very good mood; getting involved with Su Ming in the boat business, he initially invested eight thousand yuan. Later on, without doing much of anything, he earned just over forty thousand yuan in nearly a month.

With this rate of making money, plus his old man's subsidy, the dream of getting a new car wasn't far off.

"Speaking of buying cars, do you have any recommendations?" Su Ming asked.

"Depends on the price range you're considering, and what type you're looking for," Wang Hao said.

Patting the steering wheel of the Wing Tiger, Wang Hao commented, "Generally speaking, there are sedans, SUVs, and commercial MPVs, which you definitely wouldn't consider—the kind that seats a lot of people. Sedans have less space, lower ground clearance, but in the same price range, their configuration and comfort are better than off-road vehicles."

"Cross out sedans, definitely an off-road vehicle. As for the budget, anything between two hundred thousand to six hundred thousand works," Su Ming mused. Due to the needs of 'Friends of the Animals', he'd undoubtedly need to drive into the wild, so off-road capabilities were a top priority in his vehicle.

As for comfort, that was less important—he grew up riding on tractors, after all. Even if the off-road comfort is less than optimal in a vehicle worth several hundred thousand, it would still be compared to similar class sedans, not likely worse than a tractor.

"Then there are a lot to consider—over twenty thousand, there's a bunch like the Wing Tigers, Touareg, Subaru, and also many nice cars for thirty or forty thousand, like the Hanlanda and Pajero. If you want practicality at around fifty or sixty thousand, you can buy a Toyota Land Cruiser. Middle Eastern tycoons drive those; add a machine gun and it can become an armored vehicle. If you want something prestigious, you could also get a BMW or Mercedes; I think the cheapest Range Rover nowadays is also around fifty or sixty thousand.

However, since you're asking for real off-road capability, I have two pieces of advice. First, don't buy domestic cars—at least get a joint venture one. Not that I'm unpatriotic, brother, but domestic cars have developed rapidly in recent years yet still lag significantly behind world-class levels in core technologies like engines. Second, don't buy city SUVs."

"Isn't that a city SUV?" asked Su Ming, puzzled.

Wang Hao nodded and said, "This car is mainly for my old man; he mostly drives around the city. City SUVs just have the look of an off-road vehicle. Their off-roading ability is slightly better than sedans, but it's impossible to take them to truly harsh terrains. Their main appeal is the larger space. There's a joking term for them, called 'grocery getter'."

After listening to Wang Hao's introduction, Su Ming had a rough idea, but when it comes to buying a car, he still needed to see them in person. Vehicle performance was one thing, but the appearance was also important—no one wants to spend money on a car they'd hate to look at.

Luxury Car Plaza, the largest new car marketplace in Yangchuan City, hosts many brand-name 4S shops.

Wang Hao found a parking spot and parked the car. The two got out, and Wang Hao pointed to two storefronts with silver bull logos, "Let's start with Toyota. Hate to admit it, but the little Japanese cars are definitely world-class."

One GAC Toyota, one FAW Toyota.