Chà Chà Novel

The condition Qin Fan proposed was truly agonizing.

If he agreed, wouldn’t that prove Qin Feng’s words right? What would that make him?

But if he refused… if he failed to complete the mission on time, wouldn’t all his previous efforts have been wasted?

“Have you decided? You’ve been pampered since childhood, Young Master Lin. I doubt you can endure hardship like this.”

Lin Huaiqing knew he was being provoked, yet he still found himself considering the possibility.

“Let me think properly. I’ll answer in three days.”

Three days marked the deadline for raising fifty million. If he truly had no alternative, he could only accept.

“All right. No hurry. Call whenever you’ve decided.”

After completing the discharge paperwork, Qin Fan had his driver take Lin Huaiqing home.

The moment he stepped out, he saw Yu Wenle pacing anxiously outside his door.

“Wenle, why are you here?”

“You’re finally back! I was worried sick. How’s your head? Does it still hurt?”

Lin Huaiqing had left the hospital with several layers of bandages around his head. Whatever way one looked at him, he did not seem fine.

“It’s nothing serious now. The doctor said a couple of days’ rest would do.”

“Gu Chengyun told me you were beaten badly enough to get a concussion last night! I barely slept from worry. Who hit you? Qin Fan or Qin Feng? Those brothers have gone too far!”

Inside, Lin Huaiqing made him hot tea to warm up.

“It’s nothing. Just a misunderstanding between the three of us.”

He hated Qin Feng bitterly, but this was between them. He could not involve anyone else.

With Yu Wenle’s temper, hearing the truth would probably send him straight off to confront Qin Feng, dragging Lin Huaiqing along.

“Have you raised the rest of the money? I heard about Uncle Lin. That’s why you’ve been borrowing everywhere, right?”

News of the Lin Group’s possible collapse had spread throughout the city. Its shares had plummeted, and employees were anxious.

“Yes… I’m still a little short. I’ll sell my belongings and see whether that covers it. If not…”

He really would have to sell himself.

Yu Wenle immediately understood his predicament.

As another wealthy heir, he knew that clothes and shoes lost half their value once purchased, even if never worn.

Only watches from the top brands could fetch a good resale price if well preserved.

But Lin Huaiqing had little interest in watches and owned only a few basic models.

“Why don’t I ask my father again? Perhaps we can take something from the company account to help.”

“No. Don’t create trouble for yourself over me. You’ve already done so much. Let me figure out the rest.”

After Yu Wenle left, Lin Huaiqing contacted buyers through various channels. Desperate for cash, he accepted the lowest prices.

Even so, the sales brought in only four million—still far short of fifteen.

He also called the old friends whose names he remembered. Predictably, they either failed to answer or refused through roundabout excuses.

Not one offered help.

But that was not enough to defeat him. He had spent all these years getting through life on his own.

Three days later.

“Hello? Qin Fan?”

The man’s voice on the other end sounded excited, almost unable to contain it.

“Have you made up your mind, Young Master Lin?”

“I have. I accept your condition. Pick somewhere. Let’s meet.”

At this point, there was no reason to be coy. He could not expect the money while giving nothing in return.

He had often worked like a beast of burden for others during missions. It probably would not be so different.

Qin Fan sent him a location.

“Three this afternoon. I’ll see you there.”

Before leaving, Lin Huaiqing opened his wardrobe and discovered he had little presentable clothing left.

Everything valuable had been sold. The outfit he wore was three years old and now even felt slightly too small.

But there was no need to dress up for Qin Fan. It would be better if the man tired of him early in the coming year.

At three, Lin Huaiqing arrived punctually at the Western restaurant Qin Fan had chosen.

By a remarkable coincidence, it was the same place where he had gone on his blind date and encountered Lu Yuting.

Although it was not mealtime, customers continued arriving. Most were couples.

A few women had come with friends for afternoon tea.

Two men sitting together like them were relatively uncommon.

“Did you choose this place deliberately, or was it accidental?”

Lin Huaiqing lifted his coffee and took a sip.

Qin Fan wore an immaculate suit, apparently having taken time away from the office to meet him.

The well-cut bespoke outfit on his naturally handsome frame had already attracted excited glances from several women.

He smiled with the air of a victor whose scheme had succeeded.

Sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows onto his hair. His sharply defined jaw seemed gilded, gleaming in the restaurant’s light.

His usually keen eyes now rested on Lin Huaiqing like brilliant stars.

Even a casual shift of his gaze carried an attraction difficult to resist.

“What is it? Familiar surroundings stirring old feelings? Lu Yuting hasn’t contacted you again, has she?”

Back at university, Qin Fan had already known Lu Yuting was an ambitious woman. She had agreed to date Lin Huaiqing because he was the Lin Group’s heir.

Her father’s small company would need his support to expand.

Unfortunately, Lin Huaiqing seemed blind to that and quickly fell in love.

Perhaps jealousy played a part, but above all, Qin Fan did not want him becoming too deeply invested. He could only offer Lu Yuting a greater temptation to make her break up with him.

He had thought arranging for her to study abroad would remove her from Lin Huaiqing’s life entirely.

Yet after only a few peaceful years, she had returned, unwilling to stay away, and sought him out again.

Fortunately, her father’s company remained a supplier to one of the Qin Group’s subsidiaries, in the business area Qin Fan happened to oversee.

So he had been the one who told Lu Yuting to give Lin Huaiqing the Lovers’ Island bid documents as a gift.

Who could have predicted the earthquake in Country M, which suspended construction indefinitely and cost the Lin Group a fortune?

What had begun as kindness now looked like calculated scheming.