Chapter 613: At Last, a Male God

While waiting at a red light, Yang Guangming handed the contract to Old Jiu. After looking it over, he chuckled.

“It’s a generous amount. He’s showing his respect, so just accept it.”

“He’s dancing on a knife’s edge right now, so it’s understandable he’s thinking about his legacy. The money is secondary.”

“To put it bluntly, we’re the ones who are benefiting from this connection… He can still handle the pressure now, and he wants to do it on his own. But if he really couldn’t take it anymore, with his age, net worth, and skills, it wouldn’t be hard for him to marry into a top-tier family, would it? All his problems would vanish.”

“If he really manages to endure until he’s thirty-five, just you wait and see… Looking at the scene both at home and abroad, there’s no telling how far he’ll go.”

“Ah Xian has thought this through very clearly as well.”

Yang Guangyao had nothing to say. He was even a little expectant. He knew all too well how much a man has to give up while climbing his way to the top.

If a man doesn’t abandon everything and still tries to clean up his own messes, he can already be considered a man of honor.

The Yang Family was by no means poor in Peng City—they had a nine-figure fortune at least—but compared to Lin Chu, they were in a completely different league.

And the higher you climb, the more you realize just how difficult it is.

For an ordinary person, seizing an opportunity to make a few million is already pushing their limits. For wealthy locals in a first-tier city who got rich from demolition payouts, a hundred million is pretty much the ceiling.

As for Lin Chu’s current net worth and everything he had been through, Yang Guangyao’s heart would pound in his chest whenever he mulled it over.

And he was only twenty-five years old.

“Old Jiu, how far do you think he’ll go?”

Yang Guangming grinned, suddenly asking with keen interest.

“Hard to say.”

“I, for one, think he still has a ton of untapped potential. Every move that kid makes is unexpected. Just watch, if he doesn’t emigrate next year, the city will have to grant him some kind of official status…”

“Right now, the compensation at LC Group is famous throughout the city. An average annual salary of a million, and that’s just for ordinary employees.”

“This year, he voluntarily paid his back taxes—something like three billion—and that doesn’t even include his employees’ income taxes.”

“I’ve seen the official statistics. Among companies established for less than a year, his is currently ranked number one in the entire city.”

“The sports club, the media company, luxury goods, security, plus the low-altitude aircraft in Dubai… I’ve looked at his strategic moves, and they’re all brilliant. Every step is within the bounds of the rules, never crossing the line. And from the very beginning, he chose to go it alone, to be completely self-reliant, and he actually managed to build something real out of it.”

“Let me put it this way: in all this time, he’s never once asked me for a favor. Of course, he doesn’t need my help anymore. What could I possibly do for him now?”

Yang Guangyao was genuinely full of admiration for what Lin Chu had accomplished.

It’s not as easy as it looks.

You had to hand it to him.

Under the cover of night, Yang Guangming lit a cigarette and exhaled a plume of smoke, feeling quite pleased with himself.

“Drop me off at the next intersection. I want to walk a bit and sober up. You can take the contract back with you.”

When they reached an intersection, Yang Guangming said casually.

Yang Guangyao glanced at his brother and shook his head but said nothing. ‘A supreme VIP at the spa, in a good mood. He’s off to enjoy himself.’

‘The man’s almost sixty…’

‘Unbelievable.’

…

After returning to Peng City, Lin Chu’s daily routine remained the same as it had been since his birthday earlier that year.

This new lifestyle had been painful at first. Quitting smoking, after all, came with withdrawal symptoms. He would sometimes dream he was smoking, satisfying a massive craving, only to jolt awake in a panic…

But as he endured one day after another, it became more and more comfortable.

A comfort that permeated him from the inside out.

Paired with his early-to-bed, early-to-rise schedule and various workouts, his body and mind were at ease, his emotions were stable, and he had even cultivated an air of nobility.

This “nobility” was a sense of inner strength and effortlessness that radiated from within.

Over the past two days, whether walking his dog on the community green in the morning or evening, Lin Chu had been approached several times. There were young ladies from unknown families who lived in the complex, as well as some very luscious-looking young married women… ‘I have to admit,’ he thought, ‘they have a good eye for people, able to spot a shining star like me in the vast crowd.’

One of their opening lines made Lin Chu chuckle: “Excuse me, you have such a clean-cut look. Are you still in school?”

Tsk.

‘Talk about an ego boost.’

Of course, he couldn’t help but silently retort, ‘That’s only because you don’t know my past. This playboy hasn’t reformed; he’s just set higher standards for himself and gotten much, much pickier.’

Spending money like water, pursuing self-improvement, cultivating both body and mind—he had finally become a true dreamboat.

It was just that his youth was long gone.

A person simply cannot possess youth and the wisdom that comes from it at the same time.

…

“Haozi, come on over. With the New Year upon us, I brought you a little something…”

The day before New Year’s Day, Lin Chu went to Lu Ming’s house for dinner. Seeing Wu Hao waiting downstairs to greet him, he casually handed over a gift bag.

Wu Hao took the bag and glanced inside, freezing for a moment. It was a simple paper bag, and inside was a bright red property deed.

“Go get the ownership transferred when you have a chance. That way, you’ll have a place to stay whenever you’re back in the country.”

Hearing Lin Chu’s nonchalant tone, Wu Hao’s prominent Adam’s apple bobbed. For a moment, he was truly at a loss for words.

‘Two months…’

‘From an unemployed Martial Arts School graduate to owning an apartment in Peng City with nearly a million in the bank… all of it from his boss.’

He wasn’t one to care about such things. He had few material desires and barely touched his monthly salary. But as the saying goes, “A scholar can be poor, but a warrior must be rich.” In modern society, practicing martial arts cost money—and by no means a small amount.