Chapter 416 - 265: Commotion

Chapter 416: Chapter 265: Commotion

It was a paradox, of sorts.

He liked Teacher Meng. She was his "white moonlight"—an idealized, unattainable love that made him feel inadequate.

And so, he could never have her.

Yet now, his carefree, unconcerned attitude was what attracted his "white moonlight."

The problem was, once you became too reckless, too used to not caring about anything, even the moonlight would be veiled in dust, losing its pristine clarity.

—May you journey for half a lifetime and return, still a youth at heart.

It sounded poetic and romantic, simple enough in theory.

But anyone who had truly "journeyed" knew the truth: the youth would only die on a road filled with thorns and enemies. Only a battle-scarred warrior could complete the journey.

"WOOF!"

"WOOF WOOF!"

The Five-Red Dog, Ergou, was lying at Lin Chu’s feet. When he saw an old man walking toward them, he immediately stood up and barked, wary.

The sound broke Lin Chu out of his thoughts.

Lin Chu glanced at him, smiled, and scooped him up, petting his head.

’What a good bloodline.’

’He’d only just bought him, and the little guy already knew how to protect his owner.’

’So dumb, but so cute.’

After finding a family in the village to stay with for the night, Lin Chu continued his journey the next day.

With a puppy for company, the road didn’t feel lonely at all. In fact, it was quite pleasant.

It had the romantic feel of a wandering hero from a martial arts epic, exploring the world with only his loyal dog by his side.

The music he played on the road began to shift to classic martial arts themes, like "A Laugh Over the Vast Sea."

Lin Chu felt as if he were in a 2D world, separate from reality, independent and enjoying a moment of pure spiritual bliss.

Back in his corporate drone days, all he wanted to do after work was lie on the sofa, light a cigarette, open a Coke, and scroll through short videos of various influencers living their exciting lives, indulging in that fleeting "pacifier entertainment."

But now, he was the one on the road, living inside one of those videos.

He had finally become the person he once envied.

Meanwhile, company matters from far-off Peng City reached his ears online, like a remote news broadcast.

The approval process for the LC Foundation was complete, and it could officially begin operations.

Construction on the nursing home had also broken ground.

The club’s old-timers’ tournament concluded successfully yesterday. He didn’t know the champion, but the runner-up was Hu Ping’an, and third place went to Huang Yuan.

The professional Gold Open was in its final preparatory stages. It would officially open on the 6th, in 17 days.

The first three brick-and-mortar stores for LC Retail were preparing to open simultaneously in top-tier cities: Peng City Wanshengtian World, Shanghai Henglong Square, and the Imperial Capital SKP Mall.

The main product categories would be Gold jewelry, Jadeite accessories, Xiangyun Sha silk, and classic Chinese woody fragrances, with other items to be added as deemed appropriate.

The rent wasn’t cheap, but it was worth it for a high-end brand.

Ma Lin, Hu Ping’an, and Yang Huixian planned to launch a large-scale advertising campaign next, focusing on various media channels. This was the classic route for building a luxury brand—time-consuming, labor-intensive, and expensive, but necessary.

As for the film studio, the screenplay about Xiangyun Sha was finished and ready for production. They had discussed it for a while in the group chat but couldn’t agree on a suitable director. The old ones were too old, the new ones too green. A story that balanced cultural heritage with fantasy and commercial elements would be incredibly difficult to helm, requiring an investment of at least a billion yuan.

On the media company front, an office building in Hang City had been leased, with plans to officially open after the October 1st holiday. The head of the branch would be Liang Mo, employee number 003 from the early days of LC Media. He was a veteran of the media division and a Hang City local, which made him a perfect fit.

Lin Chu saw all of this information.

In the dead of night, he replied to each one.

This was all the "responsibility" he had left.

Then, he would wake up the next morning and continue his wonderful, unknown journey into tomorrow.

After entering Yunnan, the altitude gradually increased and the weather grew colder. Probably due to an imbalance in his gut flora, he had diarrhea for a few days straight. However, it also expelled a lot of "dampness" from his body, and he lost five or six jin.

Tsk.

’I’m even more handsome now.’

’The diarrhea gave me abs.’

Lin Chu was speechless, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

Not wanting to get stuck in the traffic and crowds of the upcoming October 1st holiday, Lin Chu arrived in Dali before the entire country went on vacation.

He planned to rest for a while, then fly back to Peng City on the 6th.

After attending the opening ceremony, he would fly back and continue his journey.

So, he also called Liu Junfeng to reschedule, telling him not to rush over and to wait until after the opening ceremony.

Naturally, Liu Junfeng couldn’t refuse such a request. It was only a few more days anyway, so he could wait.

The place he wanted to visit most was the Tibetan Area.

Since Lin Chu hadn’t arrived there yet, there was no rush.

Cang Mountain and Erhai Lake unfolded like a breathtaking ink wash scroll, a rare and stunning vista. At that moment, as he drove along Cang Mountain Avenue, the song "Go to Dali" drifted through the car.

"Are you not quite satisfied with your life?"

’What the hell do I have to be unsatisfied about!’

’I’m perfectly satisfied!’

Lin Chu laughed and retorted internally.

When the line "Perhaps love is waiting on the shores of Erhai" played, Lin Chu fell silent for a moment. This time he didn’t retort, but instead skipped the song and burst out laughing.

’Maybe.’

’Maybe I’ll get to experience what it’s like to be someone’s ’white moonlight’ for once.’

’But what’s the difference between a quick, short-lived one-night stand on the road and one in the city?’

’And what’s the difference between love at first sight and a one-night stand?’

Lin Chu figured there probably wasn’t much of a difference.

His hotel was already booked.

Since he was here, he naturally had to stay at a B&B by the lakeside.

Perhaps because the peak season was approaching, the prices were comparable to a five-star hotel in a top-tier city.

While there was no presidential suite, they had a top-floor luxury room with a view of the mountain and lake, and it was dog-friendly.

Of course, the price was no object.

"Hello, sir. Are you here to check in?"

The girl at the front desk asked with a practiced smile. She looked up, then suddenly froze, her expression a mix of disbelief. "Wow! Lin Chu! Is that you? The famous streamer?"

Lin Chu smiled, pressing his lips together, and nodded.

"Shh, keep it down."

’Am I really that famous?’

The feeling was pretty satisfying.

He hadn’t expected his fame to have spread all the way here.

After his last stream, perhaps because the "one million yuan giveaway to a fan" was so sensational, his follower count had surged again, rising to twelve million.

That number was pretty staggering.

Proportionally speaking, out of the 1.4 billion people in the country, roughly one in every hundred would recognize him.

And that was a rough estimate, without refining the denominator.

The population that watched livestreams was probably around seven or eight hundred million. If you used that as the denominator, it meant roughly one in every sixty people followed him.

And that was just his followers. The resulting discussions, gossip, and sphere of influence were likely even larger.

The receptionist chuckled. "You don’t know? Quick, tell me, am I the first lucky fan to meet you today? When are you wiring me the million?"

She was obviously joking.

Still, for a front desk employee in the service industry to joke like that gave Lin Chu a sense of relaxed ease.

He didn’t feel offended in the slightest.

"Hahaha, my bad, I got carried away. I’ll stop teasing you. Your ID card, please, or you can scan this verification code. Let me get you checked in."

Seemingly realizing she might have been too forward, she smiled and got back to business.

Lin Chu waved his hand with a smile, scanned the code to verify his identity, and received his room key.

"There’s an event in the first-floor common area tonight," she said with a casual smile. "You should come down and hang out if you’re interested. Our bartender is a foreigner, and he’s really skilled. It’s 199 for all-you-can-drink."

"Alright!"

Lin Chu smiled and waved, then headed upstairs, holding the dog in his arms and pulling his suitcase.