Chapter 132: Chapter 131: Different Strokes for Different Folks

It was just past ten o’clock and the party was in full swing, but Da Xiong’s two kids were about to crash. They were crying and fussing, wanting to go to sleep.

An idea struck Lin Chu. He sent Gu Jiayan a message: "Go to my room. Inside the black bag, grab two gold bracelets and bring them here. Quick."

"Yes, President Lin."

Gu Jiayan replied and hurried off. When she got to Lin Chu’s room, she saw the black bag on the sofa. She opened it for a look and was nearly blinded by the sight.

Gold!

It was all gold!

At the bottom were neatly stacked gold bars, probably about twenty of them. On top was a messy pile of various gold jewelry, including five or six bracelets.

She guessed Lin Chu wanted them for the two children, so she quickly picked out two with the smallest diameter and zipped the bag shut, her hands trembling slightly.

’Wait, he just leaves it lying around like this?!’ a thought popped into her head.

’Not even in a safe or anything?’

’So reckless.’

Not daring to waste any time, she took the two bracelets, hurried back, and handed them to Lin Chu.

Lin Chu took them, glanced at Da Xiong, and stood up.

By now, Da Xiong’s wife was already getting ready to take the kids home.

"Here, one Qiankun Ring for each of you little Nezhas. Your wife doesn’t get a gift, though. That’s on you."

Lin Chu said with a teasing smile.

Da Xiong didn’t refuse. He picked up a kid in each arm and laughed. "Go on, thank your uncle. This is your Uncle Lin. When we’re back in the country, you can go to his place for free meals."

He seemed to have some kind of innate authority over his children. The two boys, who had been throwing tantrums just moments ago, were now as good as gold. They snuggled into their father’s broad embrace and, a bit shyly, thanked him in unison.

Lin Chu gave each of them a gold bracelet and patted their heads. "Alright, go on home and get some sleep. Next time, Uncle will send you a truckload of exam prep books."

Da Xiong: ...

"No, don’t! That’s really not necessary."

The two little ones had no idea what "exam prep books" were and even looked a bit expectant—who doesn’t love a gift? But seeing their dad’s refusal, they didn’t dare say anything more, content to happily fiddle with their new gold bracelets.

Then their mother carried them away.

After the gold bracelets were given away, Lin Chu saw the rebate pop up in his vision: 46,000.

’Even an eight-year-old is a brother, as long as he’s a boy.’

Earlier in the day, Lin Chu had considered giving Da Xiong something else, just to get some points and not come away empty-handed. But after a moment’s hesitation, he had given up the idea.

This was a foreign country, after all. It wasn’t that you couldn’t flaunt your wealth, but it was best not to flaunt *great* wealth. You didn’t want people to think you were generous, rich, and weak.

Giving away a Richard Mille watch like he did for Hou Chengjin last time was definitely not something to be done here.

...

Meanwhile, Gu Jiayan found Gao Haitao and asked him to post someone to guard President Lin’s door, explaining that there were valuables in the room.

Gao Haitao glanced at her and nodded with a smile. ’This young assistant is really thorough,’ he thought.

He quickly arranged for a reliable man to stand guard.

...

"WOOOOOH!"

"TAKE IT OFF! TAKE IT OFF! TAKE IT OFF!"

A sudden cheer erupted from the courtyard, like a pot boiling over, with men and women all shouting.

Lin Chu looked over and saw they were teasing a bold girl. It was probably one of those "take off an item of clothing if you don’t want to drink" party games. He couldn’t help but shake his head and smile.

To be honest, the games he and his buddies played were relatively "clean"—not this depraved.

No Russian roulette drinking games, no depth charges. At most, they’d pass notes with their mouths, drink from mouth-to-mouth, and maybe do some stripping.

The level was closer to a TikTok video than a porn stream.

And that was enough.

If things got too out of hand, Lin Chu would find it a bit distasteful too. Being sensual without being obscene was the ideal state.

"P-President Lin, could I request to go to bed early? I’m exhausted."

Gu Jiayan came over and asked tentatively. She knew she was being a buzzkill, but she really couldn’t stand to watch this anymore.

She even felt like her eyes had been contaminated by what she’d seen.

’So this is a legendary "party"?’

’How terrifying.’

The girl who was being cheered on earlier was down to her underwear, but she didn’t seem to mind at all. In fact, she looked proud as she showed off her figure.

"Sure, go ahead. You’ve worked hard today. Get some rest."

Lin Chu said in a gentle tone.

She murmured in agreement, lowered her head, and turned to leave. A part of her wanted to ask—’Do you still want me to tell you a story? A Filipino folk tale?’

’But... but, he most likely wouldn’t.’

’In an atmosphere like this, with the threshold for stimulation set so high, what was the point of a story?’

The thought made her a little sullen, and a quote came to mind: ’Debauchery is the pass of the debauched, and chastity is the epitaph of the chaste.’

’Is this kind of thing really that interesting?’

’Isn’t a connection of souls, a love from the bottom of one’s heart, more joyful?’

’At least President Lin isn’t over there. He’s just drinking with the hotel owner. He’s... just playing along, right?’

’That’s a relief.’

Gu Jiayan could sense the mix of simplicity and complexity in Lin Chu.

When he was giving the bracelets to the children, that smile on his face—wasn’t it so happy?

...

As it approached eleven o’clock, when they’d had about enough to drink, Da Xiong laughingly said his goodbyes. "Let’s call it a night. If I don’t head back now, my wife is gonna explode. Same as always, if you need anything, just say the word. Good buddies. When I’m back in the country, I might have to count on you, brother."

He gave Lin Chu a tight hug, speaking frankly.

"No problem. Same goes for me, you just have to say the word. Go on home."

Lin Chu patted his shoulder and walked him to the hotel entrance.

When he returned, he saw that Liu Junfeng had already taken off to go flirt with the girls, while Liang Jieyu was waiting for him at the entrance to the courtyard, lying in wait.

She was being quite attentive.

But she was being attentive for a reason; her motive was clear.

She was after money, or a better future.

The girl was still a bit green, her intentions a little too obvious. Not that he minded.

’Equivalent exchange, the unchangeable principle of alchemy.’

However...

A smile crept onto Lin Chu’s lips as an idea occurred to him.

"Oh, right, I forgot something. I need you to handle some work for me. Here, take this phone. Today, you need to gift 100 Carnivals to ten different streamers. I’ll send you the list. You control the pacing—don’t make it look too fake, like you’re just juicing the numbers. I’m gonna go have some fun over there."

Lin Chu pulled out his burner phone and handed it to her.

The Dou-coins had already been topped up—three million of them. It was for ten of the company’s new streamers, spreading the wealth evenly for their first traffic boost.

The work required no technical skill. It was just tapping a screen. Anyone with hands could do it. It was tedious and boring.

He was already tired of it himself.

The thrill of spending money like water had almost become routine for him. Unless it was something on the level of a "small goal" or something new he’d never tried before, he probably wouldn’t feel much.

He showed her how to do it, explained the details, and then headed towards the main party, which was now at its peak.

Liang Jieyu watched Lin Chu’s back, holding the phone, a strange light glinting in her beautiful eyes.

Looking at the account balance...

Then at the MCN agency name, LC Media—obviously the initials of Lin Chu’s name...

Then thinking about what Lin Chu had instructed her to do...

It was obvious: Brother Chu was padding the numbers for his own agency’s streamers.

She knew the live-streaming industry well.

She was utterly shocked—’This is how they do it?!’

Spending three million would cost one and a half million in platform fees. This method of promoting streamers reeked of an extravagant and unrefined power. It was just so crassly rich.

’Brother Chu, I know how to livestream, you know!’

’I can dance, too!’

’I can even do the splits!’

...

...