After posting on her Moments, An Qingning went back to pestering Lin Chu, trying to get him to buy something from her.
Lin Chu neither agreed nor refused, just kept her hanging.
'If I don't give her what she wants, she has to suck up to me.'
'Give her what she wants, and the tables will be turned.'
She was a little frustrated, but she kept at it.
'She felt like she still had a shot.'
'After all, the three Divine Dragon Sets on the table added up to nearly 200,000 yuan. If Lin Chu could blow that much money on a night of drinking, then helping her out with her sales should be nothing to him.'
...
Inside a decently cozy-looking rental apartment.
Li Yaoyao was in bed, scrolling through TikTok.
Suddenly, her WeChat notification pinged.
She glanced at the screen. It was a message from one of her best friends: "Yaoyao, An'an and Lin Chu are together! They're out drinking right now!"
Her hand jerked at the sight of the message, and she lost her grip on her phone, which fell and smacked her right in the face.
Wincing in pain, she rubbed her face and rolled from her back onto her stomach, typing back, "Where did you see that?"
A nameless rage suddenly began to burn within her.
"Her Moments! An'an's Moments!"
Li Yaoyao immediately tapped into An Qingning's Moments. When she saw the photos—the selfies, the bottles of liquor, the bustling table—her breathing quickened. She felt like she was going to explode.
'That shameless pair!'
'That shameless, cheating pair!'
She wasn't that angry about Lin Chu messing around after their breakup.
What made her furious... was An Qingning!
'Have all the men in the world died off? You just had to go pick up the man I threw away? And you're treating him like a prize?'
'And you had to post it on your Moments?'
'And that caption... "Finally, I've found you? Thank god I never gave up?"'
She felt utterly disgusted, as if she'd just eaten shit.
Unable to contain her fury any longer, she immediately started a voice call with An Qingning.
...
Back at the bar, An Qingning's phone buzzed with a voice call. She glanced at it, then showed the screen to Lin Chu with a woeful expression. "Here we go. She's calling to tear me a new one. We're not friends anymore, it's official. Lin Chu... I've sacrificed too much for you!"
Lin Chu shrugged. "What kind of sacrifice is that? You two were about to fall out anyway. Don't answer. Let her keep calling. It'll piss her off."
An Qingning was speechless.
'So ruthless,' she thought.
But she really didn't answer.
Li Yaoyao tried calling several more times via WeChat. When An Qingning didn't answer, she tried a regular phone call. An Qingning rejected that as well, then turned to look at Lin Chu with a quiet, lingering gaze.
Lin Chu was really enjoying this.
It felt even better than drinking a chilled bottle of Armand de Brignac.
'Talk about emotional satisfaction.'
'This was exactly the kind of emotional payback he'd been craving!'
"Good job. Just like that. Keep torturing her."
Lin Chu said with a grin.
An Qingning was speechless.
A chill went through her as she looked at his smile. 'When a man decides to be cruel,' she thought, 'he can be truly vicious.'
"So, Brother Chu... are you happy now? Satisfied? Think you can help me out?"
She pressed on.
Lin Chu nodded with a smile. "Sure. But how are you going to thank me?"
Huh?
She froze.
Seeing the way Lin Chu was looking her up and down, she averted her gaze, a little flustered. "Seriously? I have to thank you on top of all that?" she said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
"What do you think?"
"If you don't thank me properly, it'll just feel like we're messing around."
Lin Chu said, still grinning as he toyed with her.
An Qingning was speechless.
She was starting to understand the meaning of... sunk cost.
Just then, Zhang Peng returned with five beautiful women in tow, instantly capturing the attention of everyone at the table.
"Bros, let me make an introduction. These are my friends, all beautiful colleagues from my company. They were bored tonight, so I invited them out for a few drinks."
Then he clapped Lin Chu on the shoulder and introduced him to the five women. "This is my Brother Chu, the Peng Yuyan of Peng City. He's the one hosting tonight."
Lin Chu grinned when he saw the spectacle.
"Have a seat..."
"Come on, come on, bros! Let's all toast together!"
He got everyone to their feet to raise their glasses, and the party instantly kicked into high gear.
...
Wang Zhefei had been ready to leave.
But...
...when he saw the five newcomers—gorgeous women with amazing figures who were clearly a cut above the rest.
Suddenly, he didn't want to leave anymore.
His mindset had gone through a strange transformation over the course of the night.
At first, he'd thought Lin Chu was wasting money on the drinks.
Then, he figured it must be a business dinner, paid for by the company.
After that, he'd thought, 'Damn, this is extravagant,' but he had to admit, it was a damn good time.
And now, Lin Chu was even pulling stunts like this!
'Lin Chu... that guy really knows how to party!'
'Forget about the money.'
'Tonight's already gone this far.'
...
"Another set, in the name of my Brother Peng! I'm paying!"
Lin Chu wiped a drop of liquor from the corner of his mouth and called out to the promoter behind him.
They had been drinking for a while, and though the table was still half-full of liquor, it didn't matter. They could put whatever they didn't finish on hold for next time.
'Right now, ordering drinks wasn't spending money; it was making money.'
'He'd just figured it out. Even with women at the table, as long as he ordered drinks in the name of one of his bros, he'd get the cashback.'
Hearing this, Zhang Peng quickly tried to stop him. "Whoa, don't! There's still so much left, we can't finish it."
"It's fine. I'm in a great mood today," Lin Chu said, slinging an arm around his shoulder. "And now that I know your company has so many beautiful women, I'm more than happy to officially acknowledge you as my good bro."
He said it with a sly grin, not caring who else heard.
'It's a bar, after all.'
'Talk of wine, women, and song was perfectly normal here.'
'The more indulgent and carefree you acted, the more charismatic you seemed.'
'Coming to a place like this only to act all prim and proper? Wouldn't that make you a total idiot?'
Zhang Peng smiled, but his eyes were filled with genuine emotion. "From now on, Brother Chu, you're my real brother!"
The group of beautiful women couldn't help but smile.
They had just arrived, and even with so much alcohol already on the table, this "Brother Chu" went and ordered another Divine Dragon Set. It was clear he was doing it to give Zhang Peng face.
"Brother Chu, thank you for having us. The five of us would like to toast you. You're welcome to stop by our company and hang out anytime."
The girl closest to him, who looked like she'd had some work done—good work, though, leaving her with delicate features and skin so fair it seemed to glow—raised her glass with a smile.
The other four women also raised their glasses and leaned in.
Lin Chu clinked his glass against theirs.
Turning back, he saw the promoter had already brought over the card machine. Lin Chu paid without batting an eye.
Once again, he received the cashback notification: 170,000 yuan credited to his account.
His bank account balance broke the 500,000 yuan mark!
At the same time, an additional message appeared on his system panel.
[Zhang Peng's favorability toward you has exceeded 90.]
[Second friend slot unlocked.]
[Friend: Zhang Peng]
[Intimacy: 91]
Oh?
Lin Chu was overjoyed.
'Zhang Peng knows how to be grateful.'
'Plus, he's much more pliable than Wang Zhefei. Far easier to win over.'
'My 10x multiplier baby is now online!'
...
The drinks arrived quickly.
Seeing Lin Chu spend money so lavishly, the five women from Zhang Peng's company exchanged glances, their smiles blooming like flowers.
'This guy is a real big shot!'
To Lin Chu's left, however, An Qingning was going insane.
'Eighty-eight thousand for a Divine Dragon Set, gone just like that. So extravagant.'
'But when I ask you to help my sales numbers—which isn't even spending, it's an investment—you're so damn stingy and refuse to budge.'
When Lin Chu sat back down, she wrapped her arms tightly around his, pressing her cheek against his chest. She looked up at him with pitiful eyes and said in a soft, sweet voice, "Brother Chu..."
"Hm?"
Lin Chu looked down and was greeted by the sight of a deep, white valley he could get lost in. He chuckled. "Did you bring your ID?"
...
...