"As expected..."
While Brother Fuli and Ah Bai were discussing whether there was corruption within the Spirit Beast Gang, Ah Qing got off the car and gazed at the surrounding land overgrown with weeds and wild grass.
Ah Qing wasn't surprised by the surroundings or the rundown look of the house, as if no one had cared for the area.
This matched the rumors Ah Qing had previously heard from the staff at the Stray Home.
The big boss of Stray Home had spent all his savings and ended up in debt trying to help stray pets.
And the debt was so huge that Stray Home's big boss might as well use his backside to pay it off.
The only profitable project currently, a pet hospital under renovation, didn't even have its business license yet.
The poor condition of the Stray Home was actually within Ah Qing's expectations.
This is also why she hurried over as soon as she learned about the situation. Even though Ah Qing didn't see herself as a big streamer, she believed that good people should have good deeds rewarded; at least, one's backside should be safe!
"Don't you feel like Ah Qing just suddenly ignited like a blaze?"
Qiu Lingling got off the car after Ah Qing, looked at Ah Qing who was livestreaming with her phone, and complained to Chen Zhiyu.
"Probably?"
Facing Qiu Lingling's inquiry, Chen Zhiyu cast a glance at Brother Fuli and Ah Bai, a subtle and quirky look in her eyes, not knowing how to respond.
This seemingly abandoned, unfinished villa.
The original owner was a billionaire from Treasure Island, and the rundown exterior was deliberate, intending not to attract unnecessary attention, serving as a sound room and a personal kitchen and chess room for entertaining important partners.
Underneath the shabby exterior, this villa was hiding the fact that it had a monthly electricity bill of forty to fifty thousand.
Faced with such an extraordinary circumstance, Chen Zhiyu found herself really hard-pressed to explain.
Especially knowing that Ah Qing's purpose for visiting the Stray Home was to publicize its poverty made her swallow all her words.
Poor and in debt is a fact.
But having money isn't entirely false either.
"Welcome, big streamer Ah Qing~"
As Ah Qing was observing her surroundings, a staff member from the Stray Home came out with a smile to greet her.
And that alloy door, painted with a layer of rust-colored paint, was opened by an electric motor, as staff rushed up to welcome everyone.
"Woof!"
Falling behind, Ah Bai barked at the staff, lifting his paw to pat Brother Fuli's shoulder, as if introducing Brother Fuli to the welcoming staff.
Lin Feiyu, who was leading, smiled and glanced at Brother Fuli, saying to Ah Qing: "Hello!"
"I am the on-site manager of Stray Home, currently serving as the Financial Director of Stray Home, and my daily work mainly involves saving and making money, um... and investments!"
Lin Feiyu introduced himself to everyone with confidence.
The departments at Stray Home are quite simple, consisting of a housekeeping team responsible for internal affairs, an official operation and maintenance team of the Stray Home, and a highly efficient finance team that can directly connect with Lin Bingyun.
Externally, there is also a driver team and a sales team led by twelve ace sales champions, totaling more than thirty people.
Though Stray Home's organization is newly formed, it is by no means the idealistic and unorganized operation that Ah Qing or the audience might think; originally, they were all outstanding figures in their respective fields, and besides daily management, they were also building a new foundation here.
"Woof..."
Seeing Lin Feiyu still engaging in some polite small talk, Ah Bai felt a bit bored, and quietly nudged Brother Fuli with his muzzle.
He motioned towards the villa with his muzzle.
"Let's go, let's not bother with their pleasantries," he said.
"I'm curious to see where the millions have been spent." Ansheng immediately agreed to Ah Bai's request to scout, and he turned his head to Ah Qing, letting out a small, playful moan:
"Ah Qing, it's too hot outside, Ah Bai and I are heading into the villa to enjoy the air conditioning. You take care of yourself and avoid a heatstroke... though you seem unlikely to get one."
"Oh... you guys go have fun! I still need to interview Mr. Lin over here." Ah Qing nodded in response.
"Awoo——" Ah Bai looked pleased, leading Brother Fuli to the first-floor service hall of the rectangular villa.
However.
Ah Bai showed no intention of stopping and trotted straightforwardly to the curved staircase leading to the second floor. Each level of the rectangular villa was no less than 360 square meters, and it had five floors above ground.
And the three underground layers held the true essence of the place.
Reaching the door of a newly built utility room on the second floor, Ah Bai skillfully opened it and found the independent elevator button that led to the underground structures among the shelves.
With the press of the button, the lattice panels at the depths of the utility room symmetrically opened to both sides, revealing a lavish elevator with feelings of sculpted dragons and phoenixes.
The entire villa was ready-made, and after Lin Bingyun took over, he hadn't done much aside from lightly modifying the layout of the five above-ground floors and the backyard, allowing the villa to accommodate all the doggies and kitties.
However, the villa was still a bit crowded, but due to the two-shift system, and some cats and dogs living in the community, there was still spare capacity.
"Ow..."
Arriving at the first underground level, Ah Bai walked out and started strolling with Brother Fuli in what used to be the wine cellar.
The stored wine had already been removed, but the rows of wine racks and cigar cabinets remained.
The underground space was well-lit, and the indoor temperature and humidity were consistent with the above five floors.
Maintaining a room temperature of 24 degrees and around 60% humidity, without the typical damp and cold feeling of a basement.
"Ow!"
Ah Bai patted the mountain of crates, speaking towards the wall-adjacent area of the first underground level.
On the first underground level, there was a hydraulic lift connected to the villa's backyard warehouse.
"Are these all Grandma Hedgehog's goods?" Ansheng looked at the duty-free goods piled there, speaking to Ah Bai.
"Woof....." Ah Bai nodded, standing on his hind legs, tearing open the outer layer of the cardboard box to reveal the waterproof bags inside.
With a reach, Ah Bai pulled out an iFruit 16, the highest-end model wrapped in a waterproof bag sealed with tape, which had a label on it.
"US version locked purchase price 430 dollars....." Ansheng read out the price tag, then paused, eyes widening in surprise, exclaiming:
"Wow! 1TB storage purchase price of 430 dollars, and then flipping it for 900 dollars, faster than robbing a bank!"
"If this was supplied by Chen Nian's black trading group, wouldn't it directly push the price down to 300 dollars or something?" Ansheng looked at Ah Bai, who was still rummaging through the box, pulling out a long strip of modestly packaged graphics card.
And on the edge of the graphics card, the numbers 5090 stunned Ansheng.
My friend, it's 2024 now! Are you saying pulling out a 5090 graphics card makes sense?
"Woof!"
Ah Bai pushed the graphics card towards Brother Fuli, sticking out his tongue joyfully as he looked at Brother Fuli.
Currently, among Grandma Hedgehog's duty-free goods, the best items are these two, along with some AR-15s.
However.
The AR-15 automatic rifles weren't very practical; Ah Bai found them prone to jamming, so he couldn't be bothered to take them out, planning instead to have Brother Fuli bring back a couple of combination grenades later.
Combination grenades.
Ah Bai wasn't sure of the full name, but those grenades could be combined like building blocks, piecing together a dozen or dozens into one big grenade, needing only to pull one pin to activate them all at once.
All domestically produced.
Earlier, after exhausting the torpedoes on the unmanned vessels, Ah Bai threw over a hundred combination grenades onto a spy ship, causing quite a bang.
But those spies were tough.
Even with the ship sinking, they didn't make a sound.
Ah Bai felt that Brother Fuli would enjoy these loud, explosive fireworks.