"Wants to see me?"
Upstairs, Lin Feng raised an eyebrow.
’Looks like Chen Guoqiao is relentlessly persistent. When calling me this morning didn’t work, he sent his assistant straight to my door.’
Lin Feng gave a dismissive wave and had someone pass a message to Bao An: he was busy, so the man should come back another time. Or, he could wait, if he really wanted to.
Since it wasn’t an outright refusal, Bao An knew he still had a chance.
So, without another word, he followed the messenger to a reception room upstairs and waited. He ended up waiting for the entire day, without even being offered a meal.
Just before closing time, the employee who had shown Bao An to the room burst in, seeming to have just remembered him, and apologized profusely.
Seeing the employee’s frantic apologies, Bao An couldn’t very well lash out, no matter how furious he was. He gritted his teeth, forced a smile, and said it was no problem.
Thankfully, however, he did finally get to see Lin Feng.
Having followed Chen Guoqiao for so many years, Bao An had long since developed a condescending personality. The moment he saw that Lin Feng was just some twenty-something kid, any trace of his feigned humility vanished.
"You certainly kept me waiting, Mr. Lin. It’s been since this morning. Don’t tell me you only just remembered I was here?"
Starving as he was, Bao An’s attitude was naturally far from pleasant.
Lin Feng glanced at him, then went back to sipping his tea as if the man wasn’t there.
After a moment, he set down his teacup.
"If you were sent here to invite me, then where is the invitation?"
That’s right. He was deliberately giving Bao An a hard time.
Who knew how much "credit" this assistant deserved for the campaign to slander Lin Xiaoman? There was no way he, Lin Feng, was going to let him off the hook.
Since Bao An wanted to have a bad attitude, Lin Feng would show him what a *truly* bad attitude looked like—and what it felt like to be utterly humiliated.
Bao An had come prepared. He took the invitation from his bag and placed it before Lin Feng with a stony face.
Lin Feng didn’t even look at it. He simply met Bao An’s gaze, his eyes signaling that the delivery was complete and he could leave.
"I waited here all day, and you’re just going to send me away, Mr. Lin?"
Bao An was incredulous.
"What else?"
Lin Feng blinked, the very picture of innocence.
"Are you suggesting I should thank you profusely? Sing praises to eighteen generations of your ancestors just because you delivered an invitation?"
’What a joke.’
’It’s just an invitation. Does he really think he’s so high and mighty?’
’Besides, if Chen Guoqiao really valued Bao An, he wouldn’t make his personal assistant do something like deliver an invitation. Is that what a personal assistant is for?’
"You!"
Lin Feng’s words were nasty, and Bao An was about to explode. But then he remembered he was on their turf. If he angered them now, he would fail to complete even a simple task like delivering an invitation.
Bao An nearly ground his teeth to dust. Taking a deep breath, he swallowed his immense humiliation and stormed out.
After Bao An left,
Lin Feng fiddled with the invitation in his hand, but with no interest in its contents, he casually tossed it aside.
Lin Xiaoman, however, was a bit curious about what it said, so she picked it up and took a look.
It was indeed quite dull, but that Chen Guoqiao certainly knew what he was doing. The invitation specifically requested that Lin Feng also bring her along, so he could apologize to her in person.
[DING...]
[Detecting Host’s current environment. Issuing mission.]
[Host, please make a choice within one minute.]
[Option 1: Ignore the invitation and do not take Lin Xiaoman.]
[Option 2: Take Lin Xiaoman, but remain vigilant at all times in case Chen Guoqiao has ill intentions.]
[Reward: Until dawn tomorrow, Money Blessing bonus: 200 yuan/minute.]
Lin Feng was hesitating on whether to bring Lin Xiaoman, because according to his investigation, this Chen Guoqiao was a sleazy, middle-aged man.
The man didn’t just love money; he loved beautiful women, too.
Regardless of their status or age, if he took a fancy to a woman, he would find a way to get his hands on her.
At first, Lin Feng had been puzzled. If Chen Guoqiao wanted to invite Lin Xiaoman, why not approach her directly? Why include the request in an invitation addressed to him?
Now, after receiving the mission from the system, it all clicked for Lin Feng.
Chen Guoqiao was a crafty bastard. He knew that with Lin Xiaoman’s personality, she would never agree to his invitation, so he changed tactics and decided to approach her through Lin Feng.
For one, Lin Feng was Lin Xiaoman’s brother. She wouldn’t want to embarrass her own brother by making him lose face.
For another, Chen Guoqiao had blind confidence in his own standing.
He assumed his status, position, and experience would surely intimidate Lin Feng.
’How ridiculous. He single-handedly ruined the reputation of my Little Broken Station, yet he feels no remorse. Instead of thinking about how to make amends, he’s now making a move on Lin Xiaoman.’
Lin Feng looked at Lin Xiaoman. He really wanted to forbid her from going, but since he’d already decided to deal with this Chen Guoqiao, he had to give Lin Xiaoman the chance to choose.
Whether to stand back and let him handle it, or to do it herself.
"What are you looking at me for?"
Lin Xiaoman blinked.
"Since he invited me so enthusiastically, wouldn’t it be rude not to show up?"
Just as Lin Feng was about to say something, that familiar, synthesized electronic voice sounded again.
[Host, you have ten seconds remaining.]
[Ten.]
[Nine.]
"Fine! We’ll go together!"
Lin Feng gritted his teeth and chose the second option.
’If that Chen Guoqiao pushes his luck and tries anything inappropriate, then he’ll have no one to blame but himself.’
「The next day, at six in the evening.」
At a time when most people had finished their busy day and were rushing home to enjoy their lives, inside a luxurious restaurant on the top floor of a downtown skyscraper that overlooked almost the entire city...
Usually at this hour, the place would be filled with wealthy patrons, but today, it had been booked out by a single person.
Chen Guoqiao stood inside, the fat on his face bunching up into a greasy smile as he watched the brother and sister with off-the-charts Appearance walk in.
His gaze lingered on Lin Xiaoman for a moment.
"Mr. Lin, Miss Lin, I’ve heard so much about you. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you in person."
Having frequented all sorts of social occasions for years, Chen Guoqiao was a master of schmoozing, able to tell people whatever they wanted to hear and spout endless streams of flattery.
As he spoke, he extended a hand, wanting to shake Lin Xiaoman’s.
Lin Xiaoman sized up the short, fat, greasy-looking middle-aged man before her and almost gagged.
She took a half-step back, hiding the disgust in her eyes.
’If he actually touched her, she’d rather peel off a layer of her own skin. It was too disgusting.’
Chen Guoqiao’s outstretched hand froze in mid-air. The air grew thick with awkwardness; he was trapped, not knowing whether to retract his hand or leave it hanging there.
Lin Feng moved to shield Lin Xiaoman behind him. Suppressing his own disgust, he reached out, shook Chen Guoqiao’s hand, and then quickly released it.
"Please forgive her, President Chen. Ever since she was maliciously slandered for no reason, Xiaoman has become withdrawn around strangers."
He sighed, his voice dripping with passive-aggressive sarcasm as he added:
"I mean, really. Don’t those people have anything better to do?"
"They must not be right in the head to do something so idiotic."
His veiled insult was so obvious that Chen Guoqiao could only grit his teeth and endure it.
After all, if he got angry now, it would be a dead giveaway—an indirect confession that he was the mastermind behind the whole affair.
But he couldn’t just swallow the insult. Was he supposed to just stay quiet and let Lin Feng verbally abuse him like that?
Chen Guoqiao wanted to slap himself.
’At this moment, what could he do but grit his teeth and pretend he knew nothing?’
His gaze was outwardly friendly, but it carried a barely perceptible trace of venom as it "casually" swept over Lin Xiaoman.
’He had to get this woman.’
’He’d make this pair of siblings learn the consequences of offending him.’
’He would torture them mercilessly, making them beg for a death that would never come.’

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