"Of course, someone like Xiaolu—pretty, cute, gentle, and well-behaved..."
Lin Chu said with a smile.
From the front seat, Lu Ming chimed in with a laugh, "Then you'll be single for life. My Xiaolu is a limited edition, one of a kind."
Xiaolu couldn't help but laugh. "Oh, stop it!"
Then she looked at Lin Chu and said, "Okay, I can help you look… Send me a photo, a handsome one, and I'll blast it out on my Moments for you."
"No problem."
Lin Chu took out his phone, added her on WeChat, and sent her a few pictures.
...
「At the bus stop.」
An Qingning was waiting for the bus. She'd checked on her phone; the next bus back to the city wouldn't arrive for another half an hour.
She tried to call a ride-share, but when she saw the price was over two hundred yuan, she hesitated for a moment before canceling it.
A strange, nameless anger simmered within her.
Looking at the Moments post from last night—the photo of Lin Chu spending so much money at the bar, of him kissing her on the cheek, and that caption—she suddenly felt like a clown.
No, she was worse than a clown.
'I was just being played!'
'How dare he!'
Back when he was dating Li Yaoyao, he had always been so respectful around her. She had enjoyed the treatment of being on the "bride's side of the family," his "little mother-in-law."
'And now, it's come to this!'
'Does having money make you this arrogant?'
Taking a deep breath, she resentfully deleted last night's Moments post.
She wanted to send a message to Li Yaoyao to complain about the scumbag, only to find that Li Yaoyao had deleted her as a contact too.
In that moment...
An Qingning felt like she was about to fall apart.
'What am I even doing?'
The more she thought about it, the more agitated she became. She opened up Xiaohongshu and vented her feelings. She wrote a long post about everything that had happened from last night until today, embellishing it slightly. She omitted the part about her wanting to make a sale, instead focusing her firepower on complaining about the scumbag and how money corrupts men. She also casually flexed a bit by mentioning the Divine Dragon Set at the club and the 300,000-yuan dinner at Ensue.
Click.
Post.
"Phew…"
She let out a long breath, feeling much better.
Soon, the post started getting likes.
This kind of post was prime clickbait.
Soon, An Qingning started receiving private messages.
"Hey girl, give me the rich guy's WeChat. I'll go get revenge for you... emmmm"
"Wait, he spends 300,000 on a single meal and you're not going for it?! Girl, you're a little dense."
"Girl, you there? Can you give me the contact info for the scumbag in your post? I'll send you a red packet."
"Hey beautiful, wanna meet up..."
Looking at these private messages, An Qingning was stunned.
She felt as if her soul had been hit by a powerful mudslide.
She truly never expected that the vast majority of private messages from her "sisters" would be asking for the scumbag's contact information.
'Wait.'
'I...'
A powerful wave of self-doubt washed over her.
'Could it be? Am I really a... fucking... idiot?'
Until a professional relationship blogger left a comment on her post:
—Previously, as the best friend of Brother Fu's ex-girlfriend, you clearly enjoyed very high status in his eyes. So you instinctively felt that he was in a lower position relative to you. But after Brother Fu was hurt by his ex, you maintained that same psychological inertia, still thinking he was beneath you, and that was a huge mistake. He might have approached you to regain his confidence, to get revenge on his ex, or maybe just to flirt with you. But because your behavior didn't change, it only made him feel that you're no different from his ex. He might even transfer his dissatisfaction and negative emotions about his ex onto you. Girl, you need to change... Welcome to my relationship counseling course, where I'll teach you how to properly land a man. Contact info is on my homepage, limited-time special price of just 998.
Although it was a marketing post, reading the analysis at the beginning made An Qingning suddenly see the light.
Uh.
'It seems... I really am... an idiot.'
...
Lin Chu, Lu Ming, and Xiaolu quickly arrived at the hotel.
Liu Junfeng and the others had driven faster and were already having a barbecue on the terrace.
Freshly caught fish, shrimp, and crab from their sea fishing trip had been made into soup and sashimi. The grill was set up, and all sorts of beef and lamb skewers were cooking.
There was also a variety of alcohol to the side.
"Hey, Brother Chu, where's your girl?"
Liu Junfeng asked with a grin.
Lin Chu pursed his lips and shook his head with a small smile. "I yelled at her and she ran off. Don't ask."
Liu Junfeng just laughed.
"Hah, so she ran off. Big deal. A three-legged toad is hard to find, but aren't two-legged women everywhere? Just wait, I'll call a couple of girls over for you. I just posted on my Moments and some people were asking. They're nearby. I was thinking we had enough people today so I didn't invite them."
He slung an arm around Lin Chu's shoulder, pulled him aside, and said with a sly smile.
Lin Chu was speechless.
"Sure, have them come."
Liu Junfeng sent a WeChat message, then returned to the grill, surrounded by smoke and fire, and continued cooking the skewers.
The girl he'd brought, named Jiajia, was beside him helping out—brushing on chili powder, passing him cigarettes, wiping his sweat, and giving him water.
Watching the scene, even Lin Chu found it a little heartwarming.
'I've learned something.'
He'd had barbecues before, but Yaoyao and her friends only knew how to wait around to be fed.
'Seriously... fuck.'
'I thought I was being gentle and considerate, but what the hell was I back then?'
...
「A short while later.」
Liu Junfeng's two friends arrived. They were both very pretty, with exquisite makeup and dressed in revealing clothes.
Seeing them, Liu Junfeng called out with a laugh, "You're here! Uh... I'm busy. Brother Chu, help me entertain them."
"Ladies, Brother Chu is one of my own, a true rich guy. If you're interested, you don't need to ask me, just make your move!"
The two girls laughed, acting both coy and pretend-annoyed.
"Fengzi, you're dead!"
"You're asking for it!"
Then they politely and gracefully extended their hands to Lin Chu. "Hello..."
Lin Chu shook each of their hands, unable to resist glancing at Liu Junfeng. He once again thought, 'Tsk, this guy really has skills.'
'No wonder he was able to open a club.'
The guy was about five years older than him, and he had a perfect grasp of the things that come with a man's age and experience—the boundaries of conversation, the right way to joke around.
Of course, the most important thing was his hard power, which was plain to see.
He was always operating from a position of high status.
As Lin Chu chatted and laughed with the two of them, Liu Junfeng came over with a few freshly grilled skewers. He asked the two girls, "Have you two eaten? If not, have some. If you have..."
He held the skewers out with a smile, but trailed off, leaving the second half of his sentence hanging.
"Hmm? If we've eaten, then what?"
Liu Junfeng laughed. "If you've eaten, then you can come grill for me! Take over! Get to work! I'm fucking starving!"
The two of them were speechless.
They exchanged a look, then said jokingly, "In that case, we haven't eaten. We really haven't."
"Then take them! Always trying to play games with me, you lazy bums!"
Muttering a mock complaint, he handed them the skewers. Liu Junfeng then clinked glasses with the three of them before returning to the grill once more.
Watching his back, Lin Chu took a sip of beer and smiled.
'Brother Feng... it really is all about the game.'
'How many girls do you have to hit on to get this smooth?'
'But this is exactly the kind of stuff they fall for.'
If you just obediently hand her a skewer, she'll say she's on a diet and won't eat it; or she's already eaten and won't eat it; or it's burnt and she won't eat it.
It makes things super awkward for you, like you're begging her to eat.
'It really seems... you have to use these kinds of tricks.'
...
...