Chapter 34
The two Lin brothers sat facing each other, both with their vision going dark.
One had been driven half crazy by a sudden accident, while the other looked as if he had seen some indescribable horror. If there had been a visible status bar over his head, his SAN value would probably have already been dropping like mad by now.
Neither of the brothers managed to eat breakfast in peace.
Lin Juezhou was at a complete loss when he looked up and saw the tightly furrowed brows on his elder brother’s face.
Half his heart instantly went cold. “Big Brother, do even you think I’m beyond saving this time?”
Lin Chen came back to himself. “…”
He rubbed his brow, then pushed his phone across the table toward Lin Juezhou. “Look.”
Lin Juezhou lowered his head and glanced at it.
The clip was too brief and too shaky, so the paused frame was extremely blurry. He could not make out the facial features of the person in the picture at all, much less identify who it was.
But since Lin Chen was asking him like that, this had to be someone he knew.
Lin Juezhou stared at it for a long time but still had no clue, so he asked in confusion, “Who is this?”
Lin Chen: “…”
He took a deep breath and said, “Lin Zhiqiao.”
Lin Juezhou looked surprised. “Why is he there?”
Naturally, Lin Chen could not give him an answer. His thoughts were a bit tangled right now, and he was also irritated.
Before he could sort anything out, Lin Juezhou had already quickly dialed Lin Zhiqiao’s number.
“Beep… beep… The number you have dialed is currently on another call, please…”
Lin Juezhou hung up and looked utterly incredulous. “He actually dares to hang up on me directly?!”
Refusing to believe it, he called two more times in a row, but the other party did not answer either time.
Lin Chen pulled himself free from his thoughts and glanced at him. “When has he ever answered your calls?”
Forget Lin Juezhou—even for Lin Chen, his elder brother, or even for their parents, if Lin Zhiqiao did not want to answer, he always had the exact same response—hang up and do not answer.
Just like they disliked Lin Zhiqiao, Lin Zhiqiao had also never made any effort to hide his disgust and rejection toward them.
Lin Juezhou was still furious.
But Lin Chen was paying attention to more things, and more comprehensively.
“Xu Mu’an’s girlfriend is called Ji Yuan, right?” he asked.
“Right. I met her a few times. Back when Xu Mu’an was still filming with our crew, his girlfriend came to visit the set,” Lin Juezhou replied instinctively. “I checked later—Ji Yuan is from the Ji family.”
That had also been one of the reasons he had felt safe using Xu Mu’an.
Since he was the boyfriend of a young lady from the Ji family, and their relationship looked so stable, he was most likely headed toward marriage with her in the future. No matter how you looked at it, he should have had a bright future ahead of him.
Who could have expected Xu Mu’an to end up being the problem—and such a huge problem at that.
Even now, Lin Juezhou could not figure out what confidence Xu Mu’an had been relying on to think the Ji family would never discover what he had been doing in private.
Hearing Lin Juezhou’s words, Lin Chen’s gaze deepened.
So it really was.
Another member of the Ji family.
Two major collapses in a row with eerily similar circumstances. Last time it was Ji Ran; this time it was Ji Yuan.
And more coincidentally, Lin Zhiqiao had been present both times.
If Lin Chen’s reasoning was correct, then the trending topics about Xu Mu’an this time were also the sort that simply could not be taken down.
To verify his guess, Lin Chen had his assistant try it out, and the result was exactly what he had expected.
Someone was pushing the hot search. If they wanted to take it down, they would have to face off head-on.
It was almost exactly the same as Yuan Yu’s collapse last time.
Lin Chen did not believe that was a coincidence.
But at the same time, he also did not believe Lin Zhiqiao had the ability to single-handedly orchestrate two major collapses like this.
All he could say was that Lin Zhiqiao really did bring them bad luck.
As long as he was around, their Lin family always seemed to run into all kinds of strange and infuriating troubles.
Lin Chen sank into thought.
Could this one also be the same as last time… with that person from the Song family acting behind the scenes?
The more Lin Chen thought about it, the more likely it seemed.
Both times it had been members of the Ji family, and both times they had apparently received that person from the Song family’s secret support. Since when had the Ji family and Song family gotten that close?
A jolt ran through Lin Chen’s heart. He had always thought Song Fengshi had been targeting him in secret. Could it actually have been because of the Ji family?
Because he had once considered protecting Yuan Yu, he had offended Song Fengshi, who was backing Ji Ran?
Could it be that that person from the Song family had feelings toward the Ji family…
Lin Chen suddenly felt that he might have accidentally stumbled onto some enormous secret.
At the side, Lin Juezhou paced back and forth irritably. “But, Big Brother, hasn’t Mubai always been good at reading people? So how did this time—”
It had been Lin Mubai who recommended Xu Mu’an to Lin Juezhou.
When it came to judging people, Lin Mubai had never missed before.
This was the first time.
Lin Chen shook his head. “What are you thinking? Mubai isn’t some immortal. How could he possibly have predicted all the disgusting things Xu Mu’an was doing behind the scenes?”
After thinking it over, Lin Juezhou felt that made sense.
Xu Mu’an’s collapse was of course Xu Mu’an’s own problem. If there was fault, it was because he himself had courted disaster. It had nothing to do with Mubai.
Their little brother could not possibly be wrong.
Lin Juezhou firmly believed that.
*
Xu Mu’an’s scandal stayed on the hot search for several days, and the buzz never dropped.
Even though Lin Zhiqiao had already eaten the live-action version of this melon, that did not stop him from eating the online version all over again.
What he had never expected was that Xu Mu’an’s collapse would directly affect Lin Juezhou.
That was truly an unexpected delight.
Anything that could give the Lin family a headache counted as good news in Lin Zhiqiao’s eyes.
As a result, he had been in a very good mood lately.
And when he received a phone call from Song Fengshi, that good mood climbed up yet another level.
“Do you have time right now?” Song Fengshi asked him.
Ever since the last time, when the two of them had eaten gossip together at Nanjiang Restaurant and exchanged contact information, this was the first time they had contacted each other.
Even their WeChat chat window was still completely empty, with nothing but the one verification message Song Fengshi had sent when adding him.
“I have time,” Lin Zhiqiao said. “What is it, President Song?”
Was Song Fengshi bringing him some new melon again?
Lin Zhiqiao would never forget that the first time he met Song Fengshi, he had eaten Song Chuan’s huge melon, and the second time he had eaten the live-action melon of Director Xu beating up a scumbag.
It seemed that every place Song Fengshi appeared came with the alluring fragrance of fresh gossip.
Lin Zhiqiao was feeling a little excited.
Obviously, Song Fengshi on the other end of the call had no idea that he had already been branded with the label of “melon delivery guy.”
Song Fengshi said, “Didn’t you say before that you wanted to change rentals? I found one that matches your requirements, and the owner happens to be home right now, so you can go view it.”
Oh. Not delivering gossip after all.
Lin Zhiqiao froze for a second. He had almost forgotten about this matter, because no matter how he thought about it… the person in charge of the Song family and the phrase “house viewing” simply did not go together.
He had only mentioned it casually last time. Although Song Fengshi had agreed, Lin Zhiqiao had just assumed he was only saying it politely so as not to embarrass him.
Who would have thought that Song Fengshi had actually taken it to heart?
Saying he was not moved would have been impossible.
But after glancing at the blazing sun outside, Lin Zhiqiao really did not feel like leaving his cool air-conditioned room.
“I’ll come pick you up,” Song Fengshi said. “I’ll be downstairs at your place in half an hour.”
Lin Zhiqiao jerked like lightning and practically launched himself off the bed.
“Ah, oh, okay,” he answered hurriedly. Even after the call ended, he still had not fully processed it.
Had he heard correctly?
Song Fengshi, the person in charge of the Song family, that man whose money-making speed could practically be measured by the second—had just said he was coming to pick him up for a house viewing???
Half an hour later, a black Bentley stopped at the entrance to the alley. The window rolled down, revealing Song Fengshi’s face, which looked entirely out of place against the backdrop of the old, shabby lane.
The one driving was Song Fengshi himself.
No Fang Xinnan, no chauffeur.
For one instant, Lin Zhiqiao fell into anguish over whether he should open the back door or the front passenger door.
If he sat in the back, it would make Song Fengshi look too much like a rideshare driver, which did not seem very good.
But if he sat directly in the front passenger seat… that also did not seem very appropriate.
Before Lin Zhiqiao could struggle his way to a conclusion, Song Fengshi had already leaned over and opened the front passenger door for him.
“Get in.”
Lin Zhiqiao gave an “oh” and obediently got in, fastening his seatbelt.
To avoid wasting President Song’s precious time, he had come downstairs a few minutes early. By now, he was already feeling extremely hot.
Song Fengshi glanced at him.
A thin layer of sweat had formed on the young man’s forehead, the little strands of hair there slightly damp, and his face was flushed badly—he had clearly been overheated.
Silently, Song Fengshi lowered the temperature in the car and handed him a bottle of water.
Lin Zhiqiao immediately waved his hands. “No, no, it’s okay, I’m not thirsty.”
“It’ll take an hour to get there,” Song Fengshi said. “Take it.”
Lin Zhiqiao immediately gave in.
[Half an hour to come pick me up, one hour to take me to view the house, and then however long the viewing itself takes, plus the trip home after that—]
Lin Zhiqiao shut his eyes fiercely.
[Good lord! In a few hours, President Song could probably close three deals worth over a hundred million—no, five!!!]
Song Fengshi: “…”
He tilted his head slightly and looked toward the passenger seat with the corner of his eye.
The chestnut-haired young man was holding the water and taking small sips, his expression a little blank and slow, giving absolutely no hint of how rich his inner activity was at that moment.
Song Fengshi drove very steadily.
On the way, he briefly described the house to Lin Zhiqiao.
“It’s a two-story small villa in Jiujian Villa Complex,” Song Fengshi said. “The owner has several properties under his name. This one has never been rented out before. He has always used it as a personal residence, though he doesn’t stay there often.”
Lin Zhiqiao asked, “Is he not living there anymore? Why did he suddenly decide to rent it out?”
“Mm. He said he wanted a change of mood and wanted to live somewhere else for a while,” Song Fengshi replied. “When I went to find him and asked whether this place was up for rent, he said that since it was sitting idle anyway, it might as well be rented out.”
Lin Zhiqiao tried imagining that scene.
He seriously suspected that the other party might not have intended to rent it out at all, but had only done so because it was Song Fengshi asking, and therefore given him face.
[As expected of President Song.] Lin Zhiqiao thought to himself. [He really is just that intimidating!]
Song Fengshi chose to ignore him.
Jiujian Villa Complex was a villa neighborhood. Its occupancy rate was not particularly high, and many properties there had owners but no actual residents.
As they neared their destination, Song Fengshi called the owner.
The call connected, but the ringtone went on for a long time without anyone answering.
So Song Fengshi simply drove the car directly up to the villa.
The moment he saw the house, Lin Zhiqiao’s eyes lit up.
The villa came with its own small garden, and there was even a gazebo in the garden—perfect for gathering people together to eat gossip.
After getting out of the car, Song Fengshi rang the bell outside the garden gate, but there was no response.
Lin Zhiqiao said quietly, “Not home?”
Song Fengshi frowned slightly and said nothing. Instead, he reached out and pushed the gate.
It was unlocked, and it opened with a push.
The two of them looked inside and discovered that not only had the garden gate been left open, but even the villa’s front door had not been fully shut—it was only loosely pulled to.
Lin Zhiqiao: !!!
[Did a thief break in? Or a burglary? Wait, are we about to run into a murder scene or something huge like that…]
Song Fengshi stepped straight into the garden, and Lin Zhiqiao instinctively followed after him.
[Help, what if the thief hasn’t left yet? What if we walk straight into the path of a knife—]
While he was still thinking, the two of them had already come near the half-open front door.
Faint arguing voices drifted from inside.
Lin Zhiqiao held his breath and did not even dare let out a sound.
Song Fengshi raised his hand, intending to knock, but at that exact moment the voice inside suddenly rose sharply:
“That’s right, exactly! I said it very clearly! We’re over already!”
“Starting today, Qin Ye—you’re free.”
