Every gift bestowed by fate has its price secretly marked.
Gifts from friends, too.
Liu Junfeng clearly understood this principle.
You have to keep clear accounts, even with your own brother. Let a guest spend three hundred thousand yuan on virtual gifts and not pay him back? 'How shameless would that be?'
The case of liquor Lin Chu had brought with him was already an extra favor.
The roasted whole lamb only cost three thousand yuan.
How much does a case of twenty-year-old Maotai cost?
Accounts had to be settled clearly for a friendship to last and for the bond to grow stronger.
It was all about playing the long game, building a relationship that would stand the test of time.
Otherwise, if you used up all the goodwill on trivial daily matters, when a real project came along, 'do you think your brothers would still help you?'
...
After transferring three hundred thousand yuan to Lin Chu, Liu Junfeng walked over to Chen Jinyu with a smile.
He saw the refined, gentle beauty looking at him with a hint of resentment in her eyes, a look that was half-annoyed and half-amused.
"Well, well. Your flirting didn't land, huh?"
Liu Junfeng teased with a grin.
Chen Jinyu shot him a glare, her emotions suddenly stirred up. She held out her phone to show him the last few lines of her chat history.
Liu Junfeng looked at it and couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"This brother of mine, he's brutally honest. But the good thing is, he's simple. No ulterior motives. If he says he wants to sleep with you, he means he wants to sleep with you."
"Wouldn't it be worse if he chatted you up for two or three months, only for you to find out in the end that he still just wants to sleep with you?"
Chen Jinyu: ...
'You really have a way with words.'
She was utterly speechless.
"Hey, young people are all like this. We've all been there. Lust at first sight can turn into love over time. The ancestors weren't wrong."
Liu Junfeng sat down with a grin, settling in for what looked like a heart-to-heart talk.
Chen Jinyu glared at him again.
It was a good thing she was so good-natured.
"Are you guys always like this?"
she asked, exasperated.
"Whoa, whoa, don't lump us all together. My Brother Chu is a true post-95s kid, a young stud in his prime, full of vigor. I can't keep up anymore. After I take a shower, I have to wait forty minutes. The girl asks, 'What are you doing? Aren't you going to get down to business?' I say, 'I have to wait for the little blue pill to kick in.'"
He was completely shameless.
But he understood the golden rule of telling dirty jokes: make fun of yourself, not the woman.
A faint blush appeared on Chen Jinyu's face, but the corners of her mouth curled into a smile. She didn't find his crude joke offensive.
"So, are you really into him?"
Having broken the ice, his tone turned earnest.
Chen Jinyu pursed her lips. "What are you talking about? We're just getting to know each other as friends."
Liu Junfeng said, "Hey, when it comes to men and women, is there such a thing as a purely platonic friendship? What does that even mean? You just chat and chat, and suddenly you're 'just friends', right?"
Chen Jinyu retorted, "So what? Can't we get to know each other first? Why is everyone so impatient?"
"The world's been updated! The times have changed, my dear lady... I'll teach you a top-secret trick. You know, after you do the deed, see if he goes to take a shower first or comes to kiss you first. If it's the former, you can't keep that kind of man. He's too selfish. If it's the latter, well, there are definitely feelings involved."
Chen Jinyu: ...
"Get out of here! As if I need you to teach me!"
She revealed a flash of girlish coyness.
"Alright, no worries. I'll arrange a few more hangouts later. You can observe him first. But let me tell you, Brother Chu is a really great guy. He's incredibly loyal to his friends. Think about it, this is only the second time I've met him, and BAM, he transferred three hundred thousand to me just like that. And he shows up to a party with a case of liquor. What do you call that? That's true loyalty!"
"If he's like that with his brothers, how could he treat his woman any worse?"
"You think about it... I won't say more. I'm afraid you'll hit me if I do."
Liu Junfeng said with a laugh and quickly stood up. Halfway up, he seemed to remember something. "Hey, lean in. I've got a secret to tell you."
Hm?
Chen Jinyu cupped her hand over her ear, not wanting him to touch her face.
Liu Junfeng whispered, "You know... we've pissed together. Brother Chu is... in a word... hung."
With that, he quickly ran off.
Chen Jinyu was dazed for a moment before she realized what he had said. For a second, her mind went completely blank.
Her face flushed crimson, all the way to her ears, and she could feel them burning.
'Why would you tell me that!'
'Can't you guys act a little more decent?'
...
"Bro, I'm heading out. See you later!"
"Bye-bye, bye-bye! Drive safe. Let us know in the group chat when you get there."
It was already past eleven at night. The party was winding down, and people were starting to leave.
...
Lin Chu was hiding in one of the inner rooms, having just taken a video call.
It was from Jiang Ya, who said she was in her dorm, about to go to sleep. She was proactively checking in with him.
Lin Chu teased her flirtatiously for a bit, asking to see under her covers, which made her blush beet red.
The beds in her dorm all had curtains. She wore headphones, her heart pounding with a mix of fear and shyness. But she couldn't resist Lin Chu's insistent demands and passively ended up baring all for him on camera.
After the call ended, Lin Chu walked out of the room, completely satisfied.
'Younger girls are more fun.'
'You can completely mold them into the shape you want.'
'Thirty-year-old 'aunties,' on the other hand, are hard to handle.'
...
When he came out, Lin Chu was surprised to find that Lu Ming had already left.
A fresh wave of annoyance washed over him.
'How am I going to get back?'
'I was planning on having him give me a ride.'
'Damn him. He didn't even say goodbye before he left. Probably got caught up in the heat of the moment with Xiaolu and was in a hurry to get back.'
He wasn't very close with Liao Zhibin, and besides, the guy was passed out drunk, snoozing in his girlfriend's arms.
'Forget it.'
'I need to buy a car!'
'I'll go buy one tomorrow!'
'And hire a driver!'
The thought crossed Lin Chu's mind once again.
...
He looked around. Most people had left, and Liu Junfeng was nowhere to be seen. On a swing set on the other side of the house, Lin Chu spotted Chen Jinyu. Dressed in black clothes, a white hat, and white shoes, she was sitting there, swinging back and forth.
'She looks like a ghost.'
The sight gave Lin Chu a huge fright.
"What are you doing out here?"
he asked irritably.
Chen Jinyu pointed overhead. "Watching the Moon, watching the stars."
"That's the one good thing about this place, you can still see the stars. In the city, there's so much light pollution you can't see anything."
"Such a beautiful starry sky. A single star travels for millions of years just to reach our eyes, only to be drowned out by the sea of city lights. Only in a place like this can you truly encounter it, doing justice to those millions of years."
Lin Chu: ...
'How profound.'
"The stars in the sky follow the Dipper's light! Heave-ho, heave-ho..."
Lin Chu suddenly bellowed.
Chen Jinyu: ?
She was startled for a moment, then found herself laughing uncontrollably. It was just so absurd. To have such a gentle, hazy atmosphere shattered by such a boisterous shout...
"You scared me to death..."
"What was that for?"
she asked, half-protesting.
"You scared me a minute ago, so I'm scaring you back."
"I'm leaving."
Lin Chu said nonsensically, then turned and walked away.
Chen Jinyu was left speechless, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
'What is with this guy?'
But she also found it amusing. A sharp, imposing man suddenly revealing such childish mischief.
Watching his retreating back, she couldn't help but call out, "Wait! Do you still need a ride?"
"Nope!"
Lin Chu didn't even turn his head, just waved his hand dismissively.
'Is a ride back to the city what I'm lacking?'
...
Chen Jinyu hesitated for a moment, then ran to catch up. "Are you angry? Don't be so grumpy... Where do you live?"
"Don't have a home. I'm staying in a hotel."
Lin Chu said, trudging forward without looking up.
She: ...
She was suddenly touched by this and sighed softly. "That's true. It's the people who make a home. Without them, it's just an empty house."
Lin Chu shot back, "Then sell your house and go sleep on the street. It's full of people there. You won't be lonely at all."
Chen Jinyu: ... She laughed out loud again.
That feeling of lonely self-pity she was indulging in was being forcefully dragged out of her again and again by Lin Chu. The sensation was becoming almost addictive.
'This man is just too interesting, isn't he?'
"Come on, let me give you a ride back to the city."
she offered again.
Lin Chu thought for a moment, then glanced at her. "Hello, driver. How much to take me to the Royal Water Club? Are you on the meter?"
...
...