The arrangements for tonight were made, and the paperwork was all taken care of.
Lin Chu got up. "Let's go."
"So, are we going to a bar tonight?"
Xiaolu asked casually, her eyes glancing toward Du Xiaoman. She wasn't sure if her friend would go. Personally, she didn't mind either way; as long as she was with her boyfriend, anywhere was fine. But she had a strong intuition that if they went to the bar tonight, Brother Chu would definitely play Du Xiaoman.
She actually kind of wanted the two of them to get together, but from what she'd seen so far, Brother Chu didn't seem to be looking for a serious relationship.
Still, no matter how you looked at it, her best friend wouldn't be losing out.
Even if she didn't find love, she'd at least get money.
She was very confident about that.
After all, Lin Chu could casually drop several hundred thousand on a single meal. He wasn't short on cash.
"College girls aren't allowed in bars. Go on back to your evening study hall."
Lin Chu said with a wide smile, patting Lu Ming on the back.
"No way!"
"I'm going anyway!"
"Bleh..."
Her pout was adorably coy.
Lu Ming and Lin Chu exchanged a knowing smile.
'Brother Chu's games were on another level. A little reverse psychology, and Xiaolu jumped right into the trap.'
'Of course, it was also possible she was playing along on purpose.'
Lu Ming knew full well that his girlfriend was no simple, sweet, and innocent girl she appeared to be.
"Manman, do you want to come with us?"
Xiaolu grabbed Du Xiaoman's arm and asked with a beaming smile.
Du Xiaoman feigned reluctance. "Maybe I should go back for the evening study session after all?"
Xiaolu exclaimed, "What? You'd really leave me to go to a bar all by myself? Brother Chu, I've got another one here who wants to skip study hall!"
Du Xiaoman playfully tried to cover Xiaolu's mouth, but she didn't actually object.
Lin Chu glanced back at the two of them, shaking his head with a smile. Without another word, he walked straight toward his car.
...
'Back when he used to slack off at work, Lin Chu had seen a question on a forum: What does it feel like to own a luxury car worth millions?'
'Every single answer was from someone trying to humblebrag. They'd all say it was nothing special, just a normal way to get around, and would then list a bunch of downsides to owning a Porsche, Maserati, or a high-end BMW or Mercedes. After all, on a pretentious forum like that, the angle of your flex had to be clever, the execution elegant.'
'But now, sitting in this car worth millions, he realized it really was… no big deal.'
'It was just a natural purchase one makes after becoming wealthy.'
The passenger door was pulled open. A pair of beautiful, white-stockinged legs slid in first, their lines truly elegant. Du Xiaoman got into the car, smoothed down her skirt, and sat primly, fastening her seatbelt. She looked every bit the part of a sweet, well-behaved girl.
The shift in her aura, from an ice queen to a sweet young thing, was stark.
Liu Junfeng appeared at the driver's side window. "Where to now? Wanna go for a spin? Sanzhou Field?"
It was a desolate mountain road full of twists and turns. Late at night, it was a frequent haunt for street racers and people getting it on in their cars.
The dealership wasn't far from Sanzhou Field, and it was only two in the afternoon. Lin Chu nodded with a smile. "Let's do it."
"Alright! I'm gonna run back and grab my GTR! You guys head over first!"
"There's a decent influencer cafe over there. I'll send you the location."
Liu Junfeng's own clubhouse wasn't far from here either.
"Suit yourself."
Lin Chu started the engine, feeling the car's quality. Despite weighing over three tons, the body didn't feel cumbersome at all. The horsepower was immense, and it shot forward with surprising agility.
...
"Brother Chu, can I play some music?"
Du Xiaoman asked politely, putting on a very reserved, ladylike air.
Lin Chu: "Mm-hm? What do you want to listen to?"
She countered, "What do *you* want to listen to?"
Lin Chu: "'Firebreak'?"
It was an incredibly raunchy song—at least, the most explicit one Lin Chu had ever heard. But it was also a solid, catchy track.
Du Xiaoman froze. Her expression turned slightly unnatural, and she pursed her dusty-rose lips. "What song is that?"
Lin Chu: "You've never heard it?"
"Never," she replied.
"Look it up. I want to listen to it now."
"Oh."
She searched on the car's infotainment screen but couldn't find it.
She glanced at Lin Chu, who was focused on driving. After a moment's thought, she took out her phone and connected it to the car's Bluetooth.
She opened her music app, but because of its explicit nature, the audio-only version of the song had been censored.
"I can't seem to find it..." she said softly.
Lin Chu: "There's a live performance video."
"Oh."
A moment later, she finally found a version she could play.
A provocative melody and equally suggestive lyrics immediately began to pour from the speakers.
Lin Chu watched her from the corner of his eye, smiling to himself.
'And so it begins.'
'Time for the sweet girl act to transform into something else.'
The song was basically about two players, a guy and a girl, flirting and teasing each other. It was a classic tale of ambiguous push-and-pull, with both sides harboring ulterior motives. The rap style perfectly matched Lin Chu's current mood.
As Du Xiaoman listened, her face gradually reddened, but she tried her best to look nonchalant, turning her head to stare out the window.
"Good song, huh?"
Lin Chu asked with a smile, continuing to chip away at her innocent persona.
She bit her lip, a blush of embarrassed shame on her face. "It's so explicit... This is too... uh..."
"Then listen to it a few more times. Learn to appreciate it. Desensitize yourself."
She was... speechless.
For a moment, she didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
At that moment, a thought suddenly struck Lin Chu: 'I've heard somewhere that young guys in Porsches actually have a harder time picking up girls than guys in BMWs or a Mercedes.'
'It was a very counterintuitive argument.'
'How could driving a more expensive car make it *harder*?'
'But the underlying logic was this: with a guy in a BMW or a Mercedes, a girl might just be looking for some fun and would be more open. But with a guy in a Porsche, she might be playing the long game, hoping to land a big fish. She'd act more prim and proper, demanding a higher investment of both time and money from you.'
'Tsk.'
'In the past, he'd just read about things like this for entertainment. Now, however, he could test the theory himself.'
Lin Chu pulled up in front of a convenience store just ahead.
"Want anything to drink?"
Du Xiaoman thought for a moment. "Oriental Leaf tea, maybe? What are you having? I can go buy it."
But Lin Chu had already opened his door and walked into the store. He quickly returned with a few bottles of water and two roasted sausages.
He handed her one of the sausages and a bottle of iced Oriental Leaf tea.
Du Xiaoman took a sip of the cold tea and was about to bite into the sausage when she suddenly seemed to realize something. She whipped her head around, her face bright red, and stared at Lin Chu.
"Brother Chu!"
She whined.
After holding her composure for so long, she finally cracked.
A small, thick sausage had become the last straw that broke the camel's back, making it impossible for her to keep up her act.
"Hm? What is it?"
She took a deep breath, looking at Lin Chu with a coquettish, pouty smile. "You're so bad!"
Lin Chu: "Why the name-calling? I even got you a sausage, and you still call me bad?"
She was... at a loss for words.
Of course, she knew Lin Chu was just messing with her.
After he started the car again, she pouted. "Brother Chu, let me ask you something. How many girlfriends do you have?"
Lin Chu: ?
'What the hell kind of question is that?'
"None. Zero."
She gave him a look of disbelief. "I don't believe you," she said softly. "How is that possible? You're tall, handsome, rich, and you're such a flirt..."
"Are you blind? You think this is handsome?"
Lin Chu didn't deny the other points, but when it came to his looks, he'd only say he wasn't ugly. His features were well-proportioned and his skin was clear.
Du Xiaoman: "Of course you are! You're younger-looking than Brother Feng and not sleazy like him, and you're more masculine than Brother Ming... How is that not handsome?"
Lin Chu laughed. "Oh, stop. All these sweet words... you're just trying to sweet-talk me into bed, aren't you?"
Du Xiaoman was... speechless.
'He was so audacious.'
'Seriously.'
'So unbelievably audacious.'
'Audacious in every single way—his words, his actions, his mindset, even his taste in music...'
'But it was an open, straightforward kind of audacity, as if he had every right to be that way.'
...
...