“How the hell am I supposed to pick a location…”
“You’re the boss—why are you asking me?”
“You’ve been standing there nitpicking the whole time—this one’s no good, that one’s worse. How am I even supposed to revise my plan like this?”
“Fine, I won’t say anything then.”
“Hey, don’t be like that…”
Qingsen Internet cafe had basically turned into Lin Shen’s personal hangout spot—a cozy little two-person room that he’d fully claimed as his own. A classic sci-fi movie was playing on his computer, while Lin Wangye sat in front of a Word doc, pulling at his hair.
The draft for the e-sports hotel project was mostly done.
It kinda felt like this whole thing was a deliberate test for Lin Wangye—Lu Chengxuan barely helped him at all along the way. The guy only checked the plan after it was submitted.
Even though he was technically the boss, this whole process made Lin Wangye really feel what it was like to be on the short end of the stick.
Sections on things like business strategy, competitive advantages, risk assessments, financial planning, and overall management philosophy had already passed Lu Chengxuan’s review.
The only thing still hanging in the air was the location.
Lately, Shi Yuan had been swamped with work, and Lin Wangye wasn’t exactly sitting around either.
Lu Chengxuan, to his credit, hadn’t completely thrown him to the wolves. He gave him a few vague hints and marked off several areas on a city map of Ningchang.
But the spots he marked were all huge commercial zones.
Lin Wangye knew this was all part of ‘Brother Lu’s trial,’ so without a single complaint, he hit the streets, running around town doing market research, scouting hotel locations, and putting together a rough list of possible spots.
But every single one of them got shot down by Lin Shen the moment he brought them up.
And the worst part? Lin Shen wasn’t even being difficult on purpose—he actually had solid reasons for rejecting every single one.
One didn’t have parking nearby.
Another had traffic issues because of a one-way street.
One place had a crappy surrounding area—too noisy, too messy.
And another spot was way too close to a major road. Sure, it looked lively, full of traffic, but no one actually stopped there. It was all just passersby—zero real foot traffic.
Even though Lin Shen looked like a total slacker most of the time, no one really knew where he was secretly putting in the work—but whenever he gave feedback on the plan, his comments always hit the mark.
Lin Wangye had zero doubts about his dad’s abilities.
He scrolled all the way to the last page of the document, completely defeated, and asked nervously, “What about this one?”
Curled up on the sofa, Lin Shen turned his head and took a glance.
“The university district?”
“Yeah.” Lin Wangye nodded eagerly and started explaining his logic. “The theme is e-sports, right? So obviously our target audience is young people. And where are there more young people than a university area? Plus, it’s on the outskirts of town, kind of out of the way—so rent’s cheaper, it cuts down on costs, and it’s quiet too.”
He laid it all out perfectly. His reasoning was solid—there wasn’t really anything to pick apart.
This was the one location he actually felt confident about.
But Lin Shen didn’t even think for long. He shook his head almost instantly. “Nope. Not good.”
Lin Wangye tilted his head, confused. “Why not?”
Lin Shen didn’t explain right away. Instead, he gave him a hint. “University district. Outskirts. There’s nothing there but universities.”
“Exactly!” Lin Wangye was even more confused. “So that just means our target audience is super focused, right? In Ningchang’s west side, there are tons of colleges—vocational and regular universities—and just one business district. The place is packed!”
Seeing he still wasn’t getting it, Lin Shen let out a sigh and laid it out straight.
“Do you know how long summer and winter breaks are for college students?”
Lin Wangye froze. Suddenly, it was like someone knocked some sense into him—his brain finally lit up.
“Summer break is from early July to early September, winter break’s about a month, sometimes even two. That’s a whole quarter of the year.”
Lin Shen calmly laid out the facts, talking to him patiently.
“Most college students are from out of town. When they’re on break, they go home. During those times, the university area turns into a ghost town. Who’s gonna travel all the way out to the suburbs? You’d basically lose an entire quarter of revenue. If you’d actually gone there even once, you’d never have picked that place.”
Lin Wangye pouted a bit. He didn’t want to admit that, yeah, he hadn’t gone. It was just a last-minute brainwave—university town sounded good in theory.
They were building a metro line out there in the next few years, sure, but right now? Nothing. He couldn’t even be bothered to go do proper research himself—so how could he expect customers to?
Looking at it now, the university district—his big hopeful choice—was probably the dumbest location in the whole plan. Absolutely ridiculous.
Thank god he hadn’t shown it to Brother Lu yet. That would’ve been so embarrassing.
After being talked down by Lin Shen, Lin Wangye slumped against the sofa, staring blankly at the ceiling, completely defeated and zoning out.
Lin Shen was very pleased with the dazed look on his face. He gave a light cough and wore a smug little smile.
“Say something nice, and I’ll point you in the right direction.”
“You’re the best, Dad! The BEST!” Lin Wangye instantly shot up, rubbing his face all over Lin Shen’s shoulder like a puppy, then lit up with excitement and said, “I’ll show you the name I picked for the hotel!”
As he spoke, he got up and scrolled to the first page of the plan with the mouse.
Lin Shen glanced over, and right near the top, a bold, capitalized name jumped out at him.
SHENLIN E-SPORTS HOTEL
He turned his head to look at Lin Wangye and gave a soft chuckle. “Who came up with that?”
“Me!” Lin Wangye raised his right hand high in the air, his dark eyes gleaming playfully. But then he thought for a second and didn’t hog all the credit. “Brother Lu didn’t say a single word before signing off on it—didn’t even criticize it.”
Hearing that, Lin Shen couldn’t help but smile. Realizing it, he quickly covered his mouth with a fist and gave a little cough, trying to clear his throat. But his tone shifted ever so slightly.
“Really?”
“Swear on my life!” Lin Wangye nodded like crazy. “When have I ever lied to you? I never lie!”
Lin Shen looked away, pretending like he didn’t care.
“What did he say?”
“He said this!”
Right then, Lin Wangye changed posture, sitting upright on the sofa with legs crossed, all serious, his face blank. He straightened his voice and slowly said, “Not bad.”
Lin Shen burst into laughter at how exaggerated—but actually kinda accurate—his impression was. Just when he was getting into it and ready to hear more, he noticed Lin Wangye had gone quiet.
“That’s it?” he asked.
“That’s it.” Lin Wangye dropped the act, shrugged, and said, “That’s pretty much the highest praise I’ve ever gotten from Brother Lu on this whole plan.”
“Tch, lame.”
Lin Shen scoffed, then hit the spacebar to resume the movie.
Ever since they came back from that trip to Yingtian Mountain, Lin Wangye had totally re-evaluated what he thought he knew about his dad and Lu Chengxuan’s relationship.
He still didn’t get what was going on between those two.
But judging by how Lin Shen had acted when he was flirting with Yang Qingsen, Lin Wangye had been secretly piecing things together—and lately, he’d started to get a very strong feeling.
Brother Lu was one of his dad’s flings.
The disaster that happened in their past life? It probably blew up one day when all the fish Lin Shen was secretly raising found out about each other. Everything fell apart, the two had a complete fallout, went their separate ways, and that was the end of it—no more music, no more romance, just pure mutual resentment.
But now? He still had a shot at changing that fate!
As long as he could keep his dad from messing around, avoid ticking Lu Chengxuan off, and maybe even play mediator to ease the tension between them…
If the situation allowed, he’d even try to matchmake a little.
Sure, knowing his dad’s personality, the chances were next to nothing. But hey—dreams are free. What if it actually worked out?
He could already kinda feel something in the air between them.
If those two ever teamed up for real, wouldn’t they just steamroll everyone in their way?
Worst case scenario, even if they couldn’t be lovers, he absolutely couldn’t let them turn into enemies.
From the moment he locked in this main mission, Lin Wangye’s thoughts had never been clearer.
Seeing that Lin Shen looked a little displeased, he quickly reached out and paused the movie, building on his earlier point, eyes wide with excitement. “I was watching real close, okay? Brother Lu’s face totally lit up—he looked so satisfied! I swear I even caught a tiny little smile on his face! Can you believe it? He smiled!”
Watching Lin Wangye lose his mind like that, Lin Shen gave a dismissive snort. “You act like you’ve never seen the world.”
But right after saying that, something seemed to flicker in his eyes, like an old memory had been stirred up. For a second, his gaze drifted off, like his thoughts had floated somewhere far away. Then he slowly lowered his eyes and, in a rare moment of calm, spoke in an even, quiet voice.
“He wasn’t like this when I first met him.”
That one line felt like a key unlocking a door that had been shut for years, letting just the faintest bit of light slip through the crack.
Lin Wangye, who’d been dying to know about this for ‘two whole lifetimes’, perked up instantly. He leaned forward, full of curiosity. “What was Brother Lu like in elementary school?!”
The way Lin Shen recalled things—so focused and serious—was totally different from his usual laid-back self. For a second, Lin Wangye could almost see the version of Lin Shen who had once been chairman in their past life. It made him wonder if the goofy attitude had all been an act.
“I first met him in third grade.”
Lin Shen slowed his speech, his tone soft and thoughtful.
“He transferred in from one of those fancy private schools for rich kids. We were all still young back then, and with his rare blonde hair and mixed-race looks, he stood out the second he walked into the room. Everyone wanted to be friends with him. The girls especially—he was super popular. Just like how Suihe likes you now. They all thought he looked like some little prince straight out of a fairy tale.”
And just like that, a vivid scene bloomed in Lin Wangye’s head.
“Totally makes sense! I’ve seen photos of him as a kid at Brother Lu’s place—he was such a pretty little thing! Looked like he stepped right out of a fairy tale picture book!”
Lin Shen chuckled and went on.
“He used to be really withdrawn too. Honestly, on the surface, he wasn’t all that different from how he is now. Always off by himself, didn’t like talking to people. I was kind of your typical little troublemaker back then—the more someone ignored me, the more it fired me up to mess with them. So I’d bug him all the time. If he didn’t answer me, I’d just take his pencil case or his books and put them on my desk, so he’d have no choice but to come talk to me.”
“If we were in the same elementary school, I’d probably beat you up three times a day,” Lin Wangye said.
“Hahaha…” Lin Shen laughed, then kept going. “But Lu Chengxuan has always been that kind of person—super calm, never lost his temper. After it happened a few times, he just started coming to me when he couldn’t find his stuff. He wouldn’t get mad or snatch it back—he’d just stand in front of me, look at me, and hold out his hand.”
Lin Wangye went quiet. “So Brother Lu was born with that emotionless poker face…”
Lin Shen shook his head. “Not exactly.”
Lin Wangye tilted his head. “Why not?”
“Because I was always watching him, I noticed something. Even though he looked like nothing ever got to him and always stayed off to the side by himself… he was actually really curious about a lot of things.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“Back then, it was all about marbles, trading cards, and spinning tops. During recess, all the boys would gather around to play those games. He never joined in, but he’d always be nearby, not too close, not too far—just watching.”
Lin Shen paused for a moment, looking down with a soft smile.
“One time I was bored and went over to chat, asked him why he never played—and to my surprise, he actually answered me.”
*
Author’s Note:
Xiao Lin really isn’t Auntie’s kid, okay? He’s not!
If he were, a DNA test would’ve shown a blood connection!
Dr. Bai’s going to be a pretty important character later on—everything that needs explaining will be explained, so wives, don’t panic!
Next chapter’s gonna be a flashback from both Lu Chengxuan and Lin Shen’s points of view—elementary school days!
Don’t ask why Uncle Shi hasn’t shown up.
It’s because Uncle Shi got assigned to Class B.
Just like me.
Hello, everyone ヾ(＾∇＾). I hope you enjoyed the story! If you’re feeling generous, please buy me a coffee, share/comment on my translated works! Check out the link below for early chapters. (๑>ᴗ<๑)
