"What should I call you two?"
Lin Chu raised his beer bottle, smiling at the two women across from him.
The one on the left was more his type: pale, skinny, and youthful, wearing an off-the-shoulder dress that showed off her delicate collarbones.
As for the one on the right, her makeup was a bit heavy, and she looked a few years older.
Women used all sorts of cosmetics to adorn themselves, but little did they know that most men's eyes came with a built-in feature that saw right past the makeup.
It was a genetic instinct.
"Tangtang."
The pale and skinny one smiled, clinked bottles with Lin Chu, and gave her name.
The one on the right, however, was feeling mischievous. She giggled and said, "I'm not telling you."
Lin Chu was speechless. 'The ugly ones are always the most dramatic.'
He couldn't be bothered to press her for it.
Tangtang glanced at her best friend, then looked back at Lin Chu, smiling. "You can call her Xiaoxiao. As in, the 'xiao' for 'small'."
Xiaoxiao immediately shot her friend a glare. "NO!"
Lin Chu was speechless. His eyes nonchalantly flickered over her chest, and he couldn't help but think, 'That name really doesn't fit the reality. How can such a busty girl be called Xiaoxiao?'
"Hey!"
Xiaoxiao noticed Lin Chu's gaze and called out.
This only made Lin Chu laugh out loud, and he didn't even try to hold it back.
'A man who laughs when he wants to, who's relaxed and natural, is more charming.'
Lin Chu understood all these principles.
It was just that in the past, it had been hard to put them into practice.
'After all, money was the biggest problem. How could you be relaxed and natural without money?'
"That's too much! Stop laughing, you're awful!"
Xiaoxiao said with a pout.
Women have a natural instinct to test men. The more of a meek yes-man you are, the less attractive and high-status you seem. Conversely, they might find a man who acts freely and without restraint annoying, but at least they won't look down on him.
"So, you're a friend of Fengzi's? From the club? How come I've never seen you before?"
Xiaoxiao fired off a triple-barreled inquiry, acting as if she was very close to Liu Junfeng as she tried to size Lin Chu up.
"I wouldn't say we're friends yet."
"We just met today."
Lin Chu said, his tone slightly languid. He lit a cigarette and blew out a long plume of smoke.
To the two women, his posture instinctively suggested, 'This guy must be a big shot; he hasn't even acknowledged Brother Feng as a friend yet.'
'He's posturing a bit.'
'But not too much.'
"You will be from now on. Come on, have a drink."
Tangtang said with a smile, raising her bottle.
CLINK.
The three of them clinked their bottles.
They made idle small talk, drinking their beer and waiting for the food.
This wasn't even the warm-up yet; they were just killing time.
THUMP, THUMP, THUMP!
Suddenly, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed on the wooden floor. Lin Chu looked toward the source of the noise and saw Xiaolu running toward them, phone in hand.
She and Lu Ming had disappeared somewhere just before, probably back to one of the rooms.
"What's wrong?"
"Why are you running so fast?"
Lin Chu asked with a smile, seeing that she was running toward him.
Xiaolu gasped for breath. "Brother Chu, you're getting canceled online! Your assistant, An'an, posted the whole story online! I just saw it!"
Lin Chu: ?
He took her phone and glanced at the post. After reading the whole thing, he chuckled in disbelief and handed the phone back. "She's just tilted. Humiliated and lashing out. Whatever. It's not like I slept with her... So what, just because I didn't simp for her, I deserve to be canceled online?"
'That's just how things are.'
Xiaolu paused, her eyes showing a flash of surprise. 'He didn't sleep with her?'
Hmm.
Alright then.
"What post? Let me see."
Xiaoxiao asked curiously from across the table.
"You can look it up online. Here, this is the post..."
Even though she didn't know the two of them, Xiaolu held out her phone for them to see. She then took a deep breath and looked back at Lin Chu, suddenly feeling like he was the real victim here.
That "An'an" was really too much.
Xiaoxiao and Tangtang quickly devoured the gossip. As they read the post, they kept glancing over at Lin Chu, the man at the center of it all. By the time they finished, they were both quite stunned.
"Holy shit!"
"What a cringe-ass woman!"
"Seriously, bro, are you a total chump? You spend 300,000 in one night at a bar, drop another 300,000 on a single meal at Ensue, and you waste your time chasing a cringe girl like her?"
Xiaoxiao stared at Lin Chu in disbelief.
Tangtang tugged her arm. "Hey, you can't blame Brother Chu. He said she was just lashing out in shame..."
"Hold on, hold on!"
"The post is the post, but the facts are the facts."
"Fact is, last night I was drinking at the bar with seven or eight of my buddies. It was a big group, so we ordered four Divine Dragon Sets. She saw my post online and decided to crash the party."
"And another thing. For lunch today, I was with Lu Ming. Just us buddies having a good time, so we ordered a 180,000-yuan bottle of Romanée-Conti. The food itself was only another 120,000. She was just there to fill a seat."
Lin Chu said with a smile, holding up his hands.
The two women: ...Uh.
"Okay, now I get it. But, Brother Chu, I'm kind of stuck on... 'only'? What do you mean the food was 'only' 120,000? What kind of family are you from?"
Tangtang joked, changing the subject.
"A rural family."
Lin Chu glanced at her and stated frankly.
She was speechless.
Xiaoxiao laughed. "Is that the kind of 'rural family' that owns hundreds of acres of land, several mountains, and got dozens of apartments in a redevelopment deal? The kind of 'down-to-earth' family that just happens to be worth a billion?"
Lin Chu couldn't help but laugh.
Just then, Liu Junfeng came over with another plate of skewers.
"What are you all talking about? So happy."
Lin Chu gestured with his chin. "Your buddy here is getting canceled. That girl I brought to the yacht party today is calling me a total creep online."
Liu Junfeng: ...
He froze for a second. "Fuck, is she a moron?"
Lin Chu spread his hands. "Tell me about it. What am I supposed to do?"
"Ah, forget it. Just forget it. There are too many idiots in the world; no point getting angry with them. The matter's closed. So what's the problem? Is our Tangtang not sweet enough for you, or is our Xiaoxiao not big enough? I have a mission for you two tonight: get my Brother Chu completely wasted!"
Liu Junfeng said with a laugh, quickly changing the subject and teasing all three of them.
"Fengzi! You asshole!"
Xiaoxiao cursed with a laugh.
Tangtang, on the other hand, just pressed her lips together, feigning an innocent and cute expression.
DING.
Just then, Lin Chu's phone, which was sitting on the table, suddenly received a text message.
He tapped it open and took a look.
It was from An Qingning—"Brother Chu, it's An Qingning. I'm so sorry. I wanted to start by apologizing. I was acting a bit strange today. I think I've just been under a lot of pressure at work lately, and my mood hasn't been great..."
It was a long message, easily over a hundred words.
Lin Chu scanned the beginning but had no desire to read the rest.
He casually tossed the phone back on the table. "Sometimes, I really don't understand the way these people's minds work..."
The three of them leaned in to look.
And then they all couldn't help but laugh.
"Heh, this isn't an apology, it's damage control. She's still holding a grudge, just trying to milk you for your money."
Xiaoxiao suddenly blurted out.
Hearing this, even Liu Junfeng was impressed. "Holy shit! That's a hell of an insight! Who the fuck ever said big boobs means no brains? Xiaoxiao, you're pretty sharp!"
He finished with a shit-eating grin and quickly ran off.
Xiaoxiao was so mad her chest seemed to swell a size. Caught between laughter and tears, she kicked her chair aside in a huff and chased after him to beat him up.
Lin Chu and Tangtang caught each other's eye and both broke into a smile.
Tangtang proactively picked up her beer bottle.
"Here, Brother Chu, I'll drink to you. Let it go, it's all in the past now..."
...
...