"Happy now? Go on home and get some sleep, okay? There are still people waiting for me inside..."

Lin Chu guided her toward the parking lot as they talked, then said with a grin.

A resentful look appeared in Chen Jinyu’s eyes again as she said petulantly, "No, I want to go to the bar too."

The moment the words left her mouth, she was secretly startled.

’Why do I sound so coquettish?’

"Sure, let’s go then. I don’t mind."

Lin Chu agreed without a second thought.

’She’s just pouting. I’d be a fool to believe her.’

Seeing Lin Chu agree so readily, Chen Jinyu hesitated. She had assumed there were other girls waiting for him, but judging by his reaction, perhaps not?

She genuinely disliked such hazy, stifling places.

"So are you guys actually talking business tonight? Or... um, just having fun?"

Lin Chu, who had his arm slung around her shoulders, turned to look her straight in the eye. "Oh, so you called Brother Feng to check up on me? A little controlling, are we?"

Her heart tightened at his flippant teasing.

She instinctively defended herself, "Who talks business at a bar? And with so many girls around..."

Lin Chu sighed and said with a perfectly straight face, "That President Zhang sitting next to Brother Feng? He’s my best friend, the owner of an influencer agency. All those girls were with him. I’m the type who can walk through a field of flowers and not let a single petal stick. Taking you home last night was a complete accident, and now look at me, falling back into the world of mortal attachments. My sword of wisdom must not be sharp enough..."

"Alright, that’s enough. Let’s stop this back and forth."

"You head home for now. When I have some time in a couple of days, I’ll come over to your place for dinner. I’m looking forward to tasting your cooking."

Now that he had perfectly framed the situation and dangled a promise for the future, Chen Jinyu gave him a playful tap and reluctantly got into her car.

She started the engine and rolled down the window, then handed him a small box of pills.

"What’s this?"

"Milk thistle capsules. They protect your liver when you drink."

Lin Chu took them with a smile. "Leave it to you to worry about me. Mwah. See ya."

Shaking the small bottle, Lin Chu lit a cigarette, let out a long stream of smoke, and then turned to leave.

He couldn’t help but sigh to himself.

He was, to some extent, a little moved.

His heart may have been encased in concrete, but even concrete can crack. By the time he finished his cigarette, however, Lin Chu had already poured fresh cement over them.

’Where was all this before?’

’If I didn’t have money, I couldn’t have gone to a restaurant like that, couldn’t have gotten into Liu Junfeng’s circle, and naturally, would never have even met her.’

’If I were still taking the subway to work every day, how would I ever meet a beautiful woman from Xiangmi Lake who drives a Porsche?’

’The story wouldn’t even have a beginning.’

...

He was staying at the Dongfang Wenhua again tonight, but Zhang Peng absolutely refused to join him. He insisted on going to a nearby spa for a massage instead. This was, of course, just an excuse to save Lin Chu some money. A hotel room that cost over four thousand a night, and he’d be staying in it alone—the thought itself was painful.

Lin Chu tried to persuade him, but when he saw he couldn’t be swayed, he dropped it.

’Tsk. Trying to spend more money on you guys is surprisingly difficult.’

Suddenly, a brilliant idea popped into Lin Chu’s head: he could live with his buddies in the presidential suite of a five-star hotel. He could book it by the month, or even by the year. It would be a perfectly justifiable expense, it would solve his housing problem, and he’d get to spend tons of money.

’I’ll make a note of it. First thing tomorrow.’

Pleased with himself, he put his arm around Du Xiaoman as they got into the car, called for a designated driver, and headed straight for the Dongfang Wenhua.

"So... am I your girlfriend now?"

In the back seat, Du Xiaoman snuggled into Lin Chu’s embrace, letting his large hands explore as she asked in a syrupy sweet voice.

’This is all so fast.’

’It’s been less than twelve hours since we met, and we’re already going to a hotel.’

’She still had some sense of decorum; she didn’t want to seem cheap.’

’Uh...’

’Good question.’

"Didn’t Xiaolu tell you?"

Lin Chu asked breezily.

Du Xiaoman was taken aback for a second. "Tell me what?"

"I just got out of a relationship. I need to take things slow, I’m not over it yet. My heart is still in pieces, it hasn’t healed. Maybe you can put in some effort to fix it...?"

Du Xiaoman was dumbfounded.

A statement like that truly broke through her defenses.

"Don’t tell me you’re one of those women who just sees that I have money and wants to have some fun, get me to drop some cash on you, and then just walk away without a second thought?"

Lin Chu added.

She froze again, a wave of guilt washing over her. She quickly denied it, "I... How could I?"

"How many relationships have you been in?"

It was a three-question combo from Lin Chu.

His questions were making her head spin. ’Is this really the right time to be asking these things?’

’Why does it feel like our roles are reversed?’

’Aren’t these the kinds of questions the girl is supposed to ask?’

Lin Chu sighed. "Ah, forget it. Let’s not ask about all that. It’s a mood killer. The important thing is to have fun."

He’d given her an out, and she immediately took it, hugging him tight. "Mmm-hmm. As long as we’re happy."

...

When Du Xiaoman woke up early the next morning, she found that Lin Chu was already gone. Reaching for her phone, she saw that he had sent her a money transfer.

Amount: 521.

Note: Voluntary gift.

Huh?

’What is this supposed to mean?’

She was already groggy from a long night and not fully awake, and now she was even more confused. She even felt a little bit slighted.

’This amount... it’s too small, isn’t it?’

’Only 521!’

’The hotel room itself costs five thousand!’

But, of course, the number itself carried a special meaning.

After thinking it over, she couldn’t help but take a screenshot and send it to Xiaolu.

When Xiaolu saw it, she was dumbfounded too. This didn’t seem like Brother Chu’s style. He’d spend tens of thousands on a bottle of wine for Liu Junfeng at a bar, so why was he being so stingy with a gift for a girl?

’Shouldn’t there be at least two more zeros on that?’

She immediately asked Lu Ming about it.

Lu Ming glanced at it, and his mind started racing. He mulled it over for a good while before he began to understand Lin Chu’s intention. ’Fucking brilliant,’ he thought.

He quickly formulated an explanation. "First, the ’Voluntary gift’ part. The guy works in finance, so he’s meticulous."

’Brother Chu really is meticulous. In the off chance the girl wakes up and cries rape, this covers all his bases, whether they were ’dating’ or it was a paid arrangement.’

’It takes a man to understand another man.’

But of course, he couldn’t explain that part to Xiaolu directly.

"Second, about the amount... what, does she think it’s too little? It’s such a meaningful number; isn’t it a bit materialistic to complain about the amount? Brother Chu is loaded, is he really going to stiff her? If the man wants to buy her a Hermes bag, that takes time, doesn’t it?"

Hearing her boyfriend put it that way, Xiaolu felt it made sense.

So she relayed this exact logic to Du Xiaoman.

...

「Meanwhile.」

Lin Chu had already found Zhang Peng at the spa.

He had to admit, if you didn’t want to stay in a hotel, a spa was a pretty good place to rest. You could take a shower, get a massage, and sleep in the main lounge—all for just a couple hundred yuan a night.

’Brother Peng sure is resourceful,’ he thought.

"Come on, let’s get some breakfast, then it’s time to get to work."

"I’ll fill you in on the details on our way."

...

...