At the door, the manager of the security company and two men who were clearly veterans stood guard, ramrod straight, like three javelins.

Lin Chu smiled, greeted them, and offered a cigarette. "Sorry to keep you waiting, guys. Ready for lunch?"

The manager smiled and waved a hand in refusal. "President Lin, we don’t smoke. None of us do—it’s company policy. Are you finished with your business?"

Lin Chu said, "Mhm, now we can discuss our business. Let’s go in."

The man smiled, nodded, and gestured for him to enter.

Lin Chu went inside.

Inside the private room.

Li Kai had already set his bag aside. When he saw them enter, he made the introduction. "Brother Chu, I forgot to introduce you. This is Old Gao, Gao Haitao."

He appeared to have calmed down.

He was probably still in turmoil inside, but his face showed nothing.

But Lin Chu had a system prompt, so he knew for a fact that the matter was settled.

Gao Haitao took two résumés from his bag and handed them to Lin Chu with both hands. "President Lin, these are the personnel files for two of our employees. Please take a look."

Lin Chu casually took them and set them aside without looking. "We’ll discuss this in a bit. Let’s have the waiter bring the food. I’m starving."

As he said this, he took out his phone and called Lu Ming. "Come on up. Food’s on."

He hadn’t let them come up earlier because he first had to resolve Li Kai’s emotional issues. They were still waiting in the underground parking garage. Now that the problem was solved, it was time to eat.

Wang Zhefei rarely got a day off, so since he was here, there was no need to plan a separate meal for him.

Just as they finished ordering, the other three walked in.

Wang Zhefei.

Lu Ming.

And Lin Xiwan.

Seeing her come in, Li Kai’s gaze faltered for a second, but he quickly recovered, acting nonchalant and taking a deep breath.

’He suddenly understood what Lin Chu was getting at. They were going to keep running into each other, so the best way to let go was to just ignore it.’

"They’re here. Let me introduce you. You already know Lu Ming, and you know Teacher Meng better than I do. This is Brother Fei, Wang Zhefei. We’re close enough to have shared the same pair of pants."

Lin Chu said with a casual laugh as the three sat down. Then he turned to the waiter. "Two bottles of wine, please. Red will be fine. Make it Conti."

The waiter hastily smiled and jotted it down.

Just then, Lin Xiwan’s and Li Kai’s eyes met. Her expression was complicated, and she looked like she was about to say something. But just as her lips parted, Li Kai abruptly stood up and headed for the restroom.

She...

Lin Chu saw this happen and simply gave a faint smile, saying nothing.

"Ha, this is the life. So decadent! Drinking at lunch, and Conti at that... Is this really wine that someone of my station can drink?" Wang Zhefei, seated to Lin Chu’s left, said with a teasing, exasperated laugh.

Lin Chu shot him a look. "Cut the crap. Aside from women, what’s mine is yours. If you like something, just take it."

He...

He suddenly threw an arm around Lin Chu’s neck, letting out a strange, mischievous cry. "Brother, all I want is you! Your body... and your heart!"

Lin Chu: ?

"Fuck off! Get lost!"

It was hilarious.

But that was just Brother Fei. He always had a peculiar way of thinking and was shameless enough to joke in any situation. The sharpest thing in the world had to be his beard, for it to be able to pierce through his thick skin.

The dishes started arriving one by one, and the wine was left to breathe.

Gao Haitao and the two veterans didn’t drink or smoke. Other than necessary replies, they didn’t speak, sitting perfectly straight and displaying excellent discipline.

’They must have received special training from the company.’

Lin Chu smiled and raised his glass. "Alright, let’s toast to our upcoming diving trip. I won’t say anything more."

Wang Zhefei asked, "Hm? Where are you going diving?"

Lin Chu replied, "None of your business. You just stick to writing your code. Children shouldn’t ask about grown-up matters."

Wang Zhefei: "Fuck!"

Everyone laughed and clinked their glasses.

"But I have one more condition, for you..."

Lin Chu then turned to Lin Xiwan. "You can skinny-dip, but no one can see you except for me. I can’t stand the thought of it. Don’t talk to me about some ’ritual’ in the diving world; all I’ve got is a man’s possessiveness."

She was stunned for a second. She hadn’t expected Lin Chu to suddenly bring this up in front of so many people—especially with Li Kai there. Her lips twitched, then broke into a smile. "Of course. No problem."

’Now she was completely certain about Lin Chu’s style. He said whatever was on his mind, direct and to the point. Utterly assertive and domineering.’

Only then did Lin Chu nod. "Let’s eat."

He started digging in.

Sitting right next to Lin Chu, Wang Zhefei felt a strange aura coming from him. ’This bastard really has an air about him now. Money really does make the man. The way he talks... it’s like he’s the head of the family.’

’He’s really something.’

’No, he’s really, *really* something.’

’Even if it makes you an annoying asshole in other people’s eyes, it’s a thousand times better than being a bootlicker.’

He felt genuinely happy from the bottom of his heart. He smiled, raised his glass, and clinked it against Lin Chu’s.

After they had eaten and drunk for a while, Lin Chu finally looked over at Gao Haitao. "President Gao, you should know the requirements by now. Give me a quote. Thirty people for half a month. I’ll cover food, lodging, and airfare. What’s the labor cost?"

Gao Haitao immediately put down his chopsticks and said with a smile, "President Lin, one of our bodyguards normally has a monthly salary of sixty thousand. For this, we can offer you a group mission rate. For half a month, it would be twenty thousand per person, for a total of six hundred thousand. Do you have any other requirements?"

’That... cheap?’

’He had originally expected it to be at least a million, considering the scale of this "operation." Of course, he wasn’t about to argue for a higher price.’ He nodded. "Okay. Come to my company this afternoon to sign the contract. Bring all the necessary documents. We can discuss the driver-bodyguard position after we return to the country."

Gao Haitao smiled and nodded. "Okay, President Lin. No problem. What time are you free this afternoon? Do you need me to bring the men over for you to meet them, or do you want to select them? Our company has plenty of available personnel at the moment."

Lin Chu said, "No need for me to pick. You choose them. Just send me their résumés. I want them to be married, have ties to the country, and preferably have children. These are all prerequisites when you select your people, right?"

’Even though I don’t know this industry, I can pretty much guess.’

Gao Haitao chuckled. "Absolutely. Our company’s industry procedures are extremely standardized. The client’s safety is our number one priority. Our hiring standards are even stricter than the military’s, which is to be expected given the salaries we offer."

Lin Chu nodded.

He then turned to Lu Ming with a smile. "Have some fun for a couple of months before school starts, what do you think?"

Lu Ming, of course, had no objections. In fact, the full picture had just clicked for him. ’Holy crap, Lin Chu is hiring thirty bodyguards to go abroad just for security?’

He clicked his tongue inwardly.

’This is the life!’

’So reassuring. Incredibly reassuring.’

Once Lin Chu finished discussing business, Lin Xiwan smiled and raised her glass. "Thanks to my Brother Chu for setting this all up. Li Kai, how about the three of us have a drink together? There’s a lot I could say, but I won’t. What’s past is past, don’t you think?"

Li Kai turned, smiled, and raised his glass.

Then he downed the contents of his glass in one gulp.

A thousand sails pass by the sunken ship; a forest of trees blossoms before the withered one.

He even deliberately smiled and teased Lin Chu, "Brother Chu, Teacher Meng... does this mean I should be calling her ’sister-in-law’ from now on?"

Lin Chu replied, "Call her what you want... Hey, holy crap, you bastard! It just hit me—you’re in our Thief Cao’s Group, aren’t you?"

Li Kai: Huh?

Lin Xiwan asked curiously, "What’s Thief Cao’s Group?"

Lin Chu just laughed. "Oh, it’s just a research group for fans of the Three Kingdoms. We used to play Legends of the Three Kingdoms together a lot."

...

...