Chapter 41: It Feels Like My CPU Is About to Overheat!

“I’ll cover all the costs for building the villa, Uncle. You don’t need to worry about a thing,” Chu Lin had already thought this through. He smiled and continued, “Don’t refuse, either. We’re family, after all. We’ll be staying together during festivals and holidays, so if we only build on my plot, the house on the edge will look out of place.”

Hearing this, Chu Song hesitated for a moment but then came to terms with it. If his nephew wanted to build, let him. After all, he only had two daughters, and both would eventually marry. In the end, this side of the property would return to his nephew anyway.

This scene made the surrounding villagers look on with envy. From the moment Chu Lin had arrived in that luxury car, everything seemed different from what they had known.

Chu Lin also turned to Liu Yan and said, “Miss Liu, this is our ancestral home. The plot is probably a bit larger than it looks. Sorry to trouble you, but please take a closer look.”

Liu Yan had already begun surveying the house. After a moment, she replied, “Mr. Chu, please show me the property certificate for this plot. Also, let me know the budget and style you prefer, and I’ll design accordingly, tailored to what I see here.”

Chu Lin nodded. “In a moment, I’ll have Uncle give you the property certificate. As for the budget, about two million should be enough. Just make it in the traditional Chinese style—my uncle prefers that.”

Liu Yan’s eyes lit up at the amount. “Mr. Chu, I thought this was just a small rural project, thirty or forty thousand at most. If Huang Bin hadn’t convinced me, I wouldn’t have come. But now, this is a delightful surprise.”

Spending two million on a villa in the countryside meant a massive space and, with the follow-up interior work, a very large contract.

Chu Lin glanced at Huang Bin. He hadn’t told him what kind of house he was building, which meant Liu Yan really was talented. Judging by the situation, the original plan must have relied on Huang Bin’s behind-the-scenes efforts to get her here.

Chu Song soon brought out the property certificate for Liu Yan. After looking it over for a while, she decided to take a tour of the ancestral house.

“Chu Lin, I’ll accompany Ms. Yan for a walk,” Huang Bin offered enthusiastically, leading Liu Yan inside.

Chu Lin sensed Huang Bin’s eagerness, but it seemed it wasn’t directed at him. Watching Liu Yan’s graceful, alluring figure, he began to understand.

But soon, he realized he didn’t understand enough. When he went inside to fetch chairs, he saw Liu Yan inspecting the house while Huang Bin, instead of paying attention to the architecture, was focused entirely on her—his hand resting boldly on her hip.

Damn!

Just now, Liu Yan had said she’d only come because Huang Bin convinced her, thinking it was a small project. But this was no mere persuasion—he’d clearly seduced her.

Huang Bin truly was a good brother, going to such lengths to bring this beautiful woman. Who knew how he’d managed it?

Chu Lin just smiled at Huang Bin’s somewhat lecherous hand and went about his business. At times like this, how could you interrupt your good brother?

Before long, Liu Yan sat down at a table with her laptop, working intently. Her upright posture accentuated her curvaceous figure.

Only then did Huang Bin return to Chu Lin’s side, grinning smugly. “Well? What do you think of her figure?”

Chu Lin looked at him in surprise. “You’re something else. I thought you were seeing Lin Nian?”

Huang Bin shot him a look, as if he were an idiot. “Chu Lin, you said it yourself—it’s just a fling with Lin Nian. Did you expect me to stay faithful to her? Besides, I knew Ms. Yan before her. She’s my cousin’s best friend—we’ve known each other for ages.”

“Before Lin Nian? When did this start?” Chu Lin was genuinely surprised; he hadn’t known any of this.

Huang Bin explained, “Twice, I invited you to a bar and you couldn’t make it. One time, Ms. Yan was there. Her husband had cheated, she was upset, drank too much, and my cousin asked me to comfort her. You know how it goes. Now she’s getting revenge on her husband and gathering evidence for a divorce.”

Chu Lin was speechless. His cousin had asked him to comfort her best friend, and he’d ended up having an affair. Wasn’t this keeping everything in the family?

Huang Bin sighed. “Chu Lin, you have no idea. Once you’ve been with a mature woman, you’ll never look at girls the same way. The experience is incomparable. Just one time and I understood why people say when you’re young, you don’t know the value of a mature woman, and mistake the fresh-faced ones for treasures. See if your cousin or sister has any friends.”

Chu Lin forced a smile. He didn’t have a cousin, but he did have an older sister, five years his senior. Whether she had any attractive friends, he didn’t know. Wait, he was almost letting Huang Bin lead him astray.

Speaking of mature women, he’d experienced that long before Huang Bin—his first love had been one. But that relationship was complicated, filled with mixed emotions, hardly pure joy, longing, or anticipation. It had tasted like chewing wax—no sweetness at all.

Now that he thought about it, did his sister have any beautiful friends?

“Chu Lin, there you are,” Li Qian came out of the kitchen and walked over to him.

“Look who it is—the beautiful Porsche saleswoman!” Huang Bin immediately recognized her.

He remembered what he’d said before. The way this saleswoman looked at Chu Lin—if Chu Lin wanted to pursue her, it would only take a couple of dinners. And here she was, just as he’d predicted. No wonder the Panamera was called a ‘heartbreaker.’

“Hello, just call me Qian,” Li Qian recognized Huang Bin as the one who accompanied Chu Lin to buy the car and greeted him politely.

“I’m Huang Bin, your man’s good brother,” he replied with a grin.

That phrase, ‘your man,’ made Li Qian’s heart flutter in an oddly satisfying way.

Despite knowing Chu Lin had a girlfriend, in a setting like this, she couldn’t help but hope others would see her as his official partner. Yet, the thought made her feel a bit embarrassed. Huang Bin was clearly aware of Chu Lin’s relationship status, and their illicit relationship must be obvious to him. The bond between brothers—covering for each other when it came to women.

Huang Bin winked at Chu Lin. “That clear water at your fish farm looked perfect for swimming. When Ms. Yan finishes the design in a few days, I’ll take her for a swim at your place. Why not invite Qian as well?”

“Do you want to go?” Chu Lin asked Li Qian with a sly smile, his gaze lingering over her in a way that made his intentions clear. Swimming, of course, meant bikinis.

Honestly, with the blessing of that Atlantis stone, there was no place more suitable for swimming than his own.

“Me? Should I go?” Li Qian was startled, then blurted out, “Chu Lin, but… isn’t your girlfriend always at the fish farm?”

“What girlfriend?” Huang Bin was puzzled. “Didn’t you break up ages ago?”

Chu Lin was caught off guard. He’d forgotten to clarify that part. Damn.

But to his surprise, Li Qian looked at Huang Bin with a hint of resentment. “You don’t need to cover for him. I know he has a girlfriend. This is just what brothers do, right? Cover for each other when chasing women?”

She sighed, thinking it was just as the internet said—men always cover for each other. You can only believe half of what your man’s friends tell you.

“What…?” Huang Bin was completely confused. Did Chu Lin have a girlfriend or not? And this girl claimed she knew all about it. What was going on? Was this some new game he didn’t understand? He felt as if his brain was about to fry.