The next morning, Lin Chu was woken up by a strange shout.
Then, he felt someone pinching his face.
"Babe, stop fooling around..."
He thought it was one of his girlfriend's morning games.
But then, Lin Chu jolted. 'I'm single now!'
He opened his eyes to see Wang Zhefei staring straight at him.
"What the hell! You scared your old man half to death!"
Wang Zhefei made a fist like a microphone. "Did you drink yourself stupid? You borrowed ten thousand yuan from me? Transferred one yuan to me? Then topped up your phone with one hundred and one thousand yuan respectively? And then you paid the ten thousand back?"
"May I ask the party involved, what exactly was your thought process at the time?"
Lin Chu: ...
'Huh?'
'Being drunk... that's the perfect excuse for all my weird tests last night.'
"Give it back. One thousand, one hundred and one yuan."
Lin Chu made a gun with his hand and pointed it at his forehead.
Wang Zhefei couldn't help but sneer. "You think that's gonna happen? I'm off to work. Bye."
Lin Chu quickly threw off the covers, leaped out of bed, and grabbed his arm.
"Give it back."
"I don't have money for food."
Wang Zhefei turned back and glared at him. "We'll see what kind of mood I'm in."
"Then wait for me, I'll get dressed and treat you to breakfast. Maybe that'll put you in a better mood?"
An idea suddenly popped into Lin Chu's head, and he instantly put on a polite smile.
Wang Zhefei: ?
'Has he lost his mind?'
'No, this is a conspiracy!'
'Definitely a conspiracy!'
"Don't tell me you want to borrow money again? You didn't pay off your credit card last night?"
He had just been guessing that Lin Chu paid it off, then used a POS machine to cash it out again, just juggling the debt.
But Lin Chu's "gentle" attitude at this moment was truly bizarre.
"Hey, what are you talking about? What's wrong with treating you to breakfast? Brother Fei, we're brothers, bro, brothers from another mother!"
Wang Zhefei: ...
"Oh, go to hell!"
...
At the breakfast shop downstairs.
They ordered rice noodle rolls, pork offal and goji berry soup, and two braised eggs.
"Brother Fei, let me ask you something. If you woke up one morning and found you'd turned into a woman, would you let me have some fun with you first?"
Lin Chu recited a popular joke from the internet.
"Would you spend money on me?"
Wang Zhefei shot back.
Lin Chu: "I would."
Wang Zhefei: "Damn! You really are a complete idiot!"
Lin Chu: ...
A little frustrated, he scratched his hair and sighed heavily.
'I'll endure it, for now.'
'That bastard.'
"Brother Fei, the iPhone 15 is out. If I called you 'dad' once, would you buy one for me?"
Wang Zhefei rolled his eyes at him. "Call me 'dad' a hundred times, and I'll buy you an iPhone 15... tempered glass screen protector."
Lin Chu didn't mind his mocking tone this time. Instead, he smiled. "How about you call me 'dad' once, and I'll buy you one."
'Hm?'
Wang Zhefei was taken aback for a moment. "Do you take me for a fool!"
"I swear, if you say it, I'll buy it. If I don't, may I never get it up again for the rest of my life."
Wang Zhefei sucked in a sharp breath.
Such a vicious oath stunned even Wang Zhefei.
Although brothers often shot the shit and made bets and oaths, once the stakes involved their lower body, it had to be for real.
"Dad?"
He hesitated for a moment before calling out.
"Yes, my good son."
Lin Chu responded, then casually took out his phone, opened JD.com, placed an order, selected Wang Zhefei's shipping address, and paid.
He'd bought something for him before, so his company address was saved.
"There. It'll arrive today."
Lin Chu showed him the screenshot of the payment and order confirmation.
Wang Zhefei: ...
He was dumbfounded.
In utter disbelief.
He couldn't help but give himself a light slap across the face.
'My dear god!'
'Did the sun just rise in the west?'
"No, but... I... you..."
He stammered.
After a few moments, he asked cautiously, very carefully, "Buddy, speaking of which, I know a pretty good neurologist. How about...?"
"Get lost!"
Just then, a virtual panel appeared before Lin Chu's eyes.
[Rebate Received: 144,240]
140,000!
The phone was the top-spec model, an iPhone 15 Pro Max with 1TB of storage, priced at 14,424 yuan.
The original two-times rebate became a ten-times rebate because he called him 'dad', turning into 140,000 yuan.
'This feeling is just awesome!'
But Wang Zhefei was still in a daze.
If it wasn't a mental problem, then there was another possibility—
"Lin Chu? You... snap out of it. Don't tell me the breakup hit you so hard that you've... decided to switch teams?"
"Hey... uh... first of all, I don't discriminate, but second, you... don't come after me."
Wang Zhefei said nervously, even stuttering a little.
Lin Chu: !!!
"Get lost!"
"No, it's nothing like that. I just had an epiphany. It's better to have fun with my bros than spend money on a girlfriend."
"When I spend money on my bros, I'm the big daddy. But when I spend money on a girlfriend, I have to be her little bitch, like a dog."
Hearing this, Wang Zhefei relaxed.
"You're only just figuring that out now!"
"With that realization, I think there's still hope for you, kid. Here, I'm in a great mood now. One thousand one hundred yuan, I'm returning it."
He transferred the phone bill money back to Lin Chu.
After thinking for a moment, he added, "I can't take the phone either. What am I, shameless? It's something worth over ten thousand. You take it back."
But Lin Chu waved his hand dismissively.
"Don't be an ass. I already bought it. Just consider it your birthday gift for this year."
'The rebate has already arrived, but I'm not sure if it'll be revoked if he refuses the delivery.'
Hearing this, Wang Zhefei was silent for a few seconds.
"Thanks, bro."
He took the initiative to scan the QR code and pay for breakfast.
Lin Chu wasn't fast enough and failed to snatch it.
He shot him a resentful glare. "From now on, I'm paying for everything! Don't fight me for it! That's a dad's prerogative!"
Wang Zhefei: ...
...
After chatting with him for a bit more, Lin Chu left for work.
He took the subway, transferring from Line 5 to Line 1, to Che Kung Temple. His office was in an industrial park next to Shimu Fields, at a financial company called "Jiuding Wealth."
This company played fast and loose.
Its business was all over the place.
Personal loans, insurance sales, wealth management product sales, bridge loans, foreign exchange, Amazon account reconciliation...
As long as it made money, they'd do it.
It was a bit of a chaotic mix, but it definitely earned a lot. Making ten thousand yuan a month was a piece of cake.
He walked into the company's elevator.
During the morning rush, the elevator was already quite full.
Lin Chu sucked in his stomach, his back to the elevator doors. At one meter eighty-five, he towered over the crowd like a crane among chickens, looking out at the people inside.
And then...
Lin Chu's gaze suddenly froze.
His ex-girlfriend.
His ex-girlfriend whom he had just broken up with three days ago, Yaoyao.
She had her arm around a guy's shoulder, intimately. They were definitely a couple.
When she saw Lin Chu, her expression became a little unnatural, but she acted as if nothing was wrong, pretending not to see him.
Lin Chu worked at the financial company on the 9th floor.
His ex-girlfriend, Yaoyao, was an instructor at a dance training studio on the 7th floor.
They had originally met in this very elevator.
Now...
The elevator reached the 7th floor.
"Excuse me, coming through..."
She and the guy got off the elevator.
Lin Chu made way for them.
Standing by the door, Lin Chu watched with a blank expression, saying nothing.
'Don't act like a loser, no matter what.'
He stepped back into the elevator.
It went up to the ninth floor.
Sitting at his desk, Lin Chu still hadn't quite recovered from that feeling.
Seeing her with a new boyfriend just three days later... that feeling was truly... defeating. It was as if he really was a loser who had been utterly crushed in the war of mating selection.
He took a deep breath.
Lin Chu posted on his Moments.
—Happy breakup! It's official, Yaoyao and I have broken up. I'm single again. To mark the occasion, breakup party tonight at 404 Bar. Sign up fast, my treat. (Guys only)
'To hell with my ex-girlfriend!'
'Time to party!'
'Right now, all I want to do is spend money!'
...
...