Chapter 42: People Are Not the Same!

Huang Bin couldn’t figure out what kind of game Chu Lin and Li Qian were playing, so he simply decided not to think about it anymore. He asked, “Chu Lin, what do you think of my suggestion? That unbelievably clear water—if we don’t take a swim, it would be such a waste.”

“Let’s go together then!” Chu Lin smiled and nodded.

“Alright, I’ll tell Yan later. Once she’s finished with the design, we’ll all go together.” As Huang Bin spoke, he walked over to Liu Yan, sat down beside her, and his hand effortlessly slid around her waist.

They looked as close as a couple.

Li Qian instinctively tugged on Chu Lin’s sleeve. “Chu Lin, do I really have to go? What if I run into your girlfriend?”

Chu Lin couldn’t help but chuckle at that. Girlfriend, what girlfriend?

He didn’t have one at all.

Still, he made something up immediately, “I’ll make sure she’s not there. Instead of worrying about that, shouldn’t we be discussing which bikini you’ll wear?”

“You’re terrible!” Li Qian said, but inside she was secretly delighted.

She was actually a bit excited about visiting Chu Lin’s farm. After all, he said he’d send his girlfriend away, so it felt a bit like sneaking into someone’s home—a thrill she couldn’t help but enjoy.

It wasn’t long before Liu Yan closed her laptop and walked over. “Mr. Chu, I’ve got a general understanding of your ancestral house now. So, we can sign a contract first, and I’ll start designing. At the same time, I’ll have the company send people to begin work and demolish the old house.”

“Miss Liu, please prepare the contract.” Chu Lin nodded with a smile.

Thanks to Huang Bin, this job was always going to go to her. After all, she’d thought it was only a small project worth thirty or forty thousand—but she’d been persuaded by Huang Bin to take it. Naturally, Chu Lin would make sure to give Huang Bin enough face.

At the very least, this job would guarantee Huang Bin a very pleasant night.

“Alright, Mr. Chu.” Seeing how straightforward Chu Lin was, Liu Yan turned and cast a meaningful, seductive glance at Huang Bin, as if hinting at something.

Huang Bin grinned.

His cousin’s best friend had told her husband today that she couldn’t go home because of work and had to stay late at the office—but in reality, she could just as well finish her work at a hotel.

Her husband had no idea he was being thoroughly avenged, and soon a divorce agreement would be handed to him. He still thought his wife was in the dark.

Soon, the auspicious day for the ancestral house’s demolition arrived.

Chu Song brought Chu Lin along to move their old belongings and join the procession to the ancestral hall.

Other villagers quickly formed a line, carrying their own old things.

At the head of the line, an elderly man with high standing in the village led the way, beating a gong.

The procession left the ancestral house, circled the ancestral hall, and smashed the old belongings before returning.

Afterwards, they went back to the ancestral house and struck a shovel against the ground, marking the start of demolition on this auspicious day.

With the ceremony over, the villagers began to chat boisterously.

News that Chu Lin had bought a Panamera and was planning to build a villa quickly spread throughout the village via the group chat.

Now, the group was buzzing with lively discussion.

Chu Heng and his son Chu Fei wore grim faces.

Especially Chu Fei, whose mood was at rock bottom.

He hadn’t managed to persuade Xiao Wen to stay; she’d hailed a car at the village entrance, called out “handsome” a few times, and the driver really did take her away.

He’d brought his girlfriend home, only to lose her—and to be dumped in front of the whole village. How could he ever show his face again?

Father and son also noticed the fervent discussion in the group chat.

Chu Heng’s expression darkened further. “The group says Chu Lin is building a villa worth over two million. What right does he have?”

Anyone in the village could get rich—why did it have to be Chu Lin?

It was unbearable!

“That looks like Chu Gu!” Chu Fei suddenly spotted a young man. “He seems to be heading toward Chu Lin’s ancestral house.”

Chu Heng’s eyes lit up. “Isn’t the group talking about Chu Lin’s two-million-yuan villa? Chu Gu’s father is the richest man in the village and only built a two-million-yuan villa himself. Now Chu Lin’s outshining him—maybe he’s coming to stir up trouble. Let’s go watch the show.”

Chu Fei agreed.

It seemed likely—rich people cared a lot about face.

Father and son followed, eager to see some drama.

…

In front of Chu Lin’s ancestral house, two tables had already been set up. After the ceremony, the host was expected to entertain the villagers who had helped.

The villagers were especially drawn to the two bottles of Maotai that Chu Heng produced.

At over three thousand yuan a bottle, Maotai made quite a statement at a time like this.

“Come, everyone, have a taste. These prawns were raised by our very own Xiao Lin,” Liu Fang said, bringing out a large bowl of fresh prawns.

This only drew more attention from the villagers.

They’d seen the prawns before—enormous, nearly twice the size of regular ones.

Eagerly, the villagers each took a prawn to taste.

The moment they tried them, they discovered they were exceptionally delicious.

“Chu Lin, your prawns are fantastic!”

“Absolutely! I’ve never tasted such good prawns. With a glass of Maotai, I feel like a king.”

“Chu Lin, how do you raise them? Is it easy?”

“Chu Dong, stop fishing for information. If it were easy, everyone’s prawns would taste this good.”

Chu Lin didn’t respond to the villagers’ questions. When Da Huang and Er Huang, the two dogs, nudged up to him, he peeled a few prawns and fed them.

“They’re so well-behaved!” Li Qian couldn’t help but praise.

She’d noticed the two dogs sticking close to Chu Lin since she’d come back.

Chu Song, standing nearby, said, “Xiao Lin, once the house is demolished, your aunt and I were just thinking about how to look after Da Huang and Er Huang. Since we’ll have to stay at someone else’s house during construction, and you have a farm, could you take them in?”

“Of course, let them stay with me.” Chu Lin didn’t refuse. It wasn’t convenient for his uncle to keep the dogs, but it made sense to have them at the farm—he might even get more in the future.

For security, he hadn’t even hired guards.

Besides, many people kept dogs to watch over their properties.

Just then—

A villager called out, “That looks like Chu Gu. What’s he doing here?”

The other villagers turned to look.

“It is him.”

“He usually doesn’t join village events. Why is he here today?”

“Could it be because of Chu Lin building his villa?”

“Maybe. After all, the Chu Gu family only built a two-million-yuan villa. He might feel upstaged.”

The villagers all thought it possible, and Chu Fei and Chu Heng were even more convinced. They followed along, expecting fireworks.

Chu Lin frowned slightly.

He didn’t know much about Chu Gu, except that the man was about three years older. Their families were in different social classes; Chu Gu had studied in big cities and rarely came back, so there’d been little chance to interact.

People their age in the village said Chu Gu was arrogant, hard to get along with, and looked down on his fellow villagers.

Could it really be, as the villagers suggested, that he was upset about Chu Lin’s more expensive villa?

Surely things couldn’t be that melodramatic.

As Chu Lin pondered, Chu Gu was already walking over, smiling broadly. “It’s a happy day for your family—hope you don’t mind if I join for a drink?”

Chu Lin was a little taken aback. That wasn’t what the villagers had predicted.

He hurried to reply, “Of course, you’re welcome. Have a seat.”

The villagers stared at Chu Gu in surprise—he wasn’t here to cause trouble?

After sitting down, Chu Gu smiled and said, “Chu Lin, we’re from the same village. Let’s exchange contact info and keep in touch.”

With that, he pulled out his phone to scan Chu Lin’s QR code.

Chu Lin was genuinely surprised. He knew little about this second-generation rich kid, and had never dealt with him, but the rumors didn’t seem accurate at all.

Seeing Chu Lin’s reaction, Chu Gu smiled again. “People say I’m arrogant and hard to reach, that I look down on others. In truth, I just don’t like socializing. The truth is, we’re from different worlds—the things we talk about don’t match, and even casual conversation is exhausting. The obvious envy and flattery—honestly, it’s hard to take. You’ll understand more as time goes on.”

Chu Lin thought deeply about this.

Forget about people from wealthy families—even on this trip, now that he drove a luxury car and was building a villa, the elders in the village were suddenly warmer and more polite.

As for his peers, most of them were useless, full of nonsense, and fancied themselves important—he didn’t care to associate with them, let alone someone like Chu Gu.

Now he understood why Chu Gu had come—he must have considered Chu Lin as someone on his level, and came to make a connection.

It really was true: only with real ability would others respect you.

Seeing that Chu Gu was already scanning, Chu Lin took out his own code and added him.

“If you’re ever in Shenzhen, let’s hang out,” Chu Gu said with a smile after connecting, and started chatting with Chu Lin.

This scene left Chu Fei and Chu Heng utterly dumbfounded.

Chu Gu wasn’t here to cause trouble—he’d come to befriend Chu Lin?

They felt even more uncomfortable.

Chu Gu, it seemed, had simply come to make friends. He didn’t stay long—after a polite drink with Chu Song, he took his leave.

Seeing this, Chu Fei hurried over. “Chu Gu, I didn’t expect to see you back! We’re from the same village—let’s add each other and keep in touch.”

Suddenly realizing Chu Gu wasn’t so hard to approach, he was eager to try his luck.

If he could latch onto someone like that, the benefits would be enormous.

Chu Gu glanced at Chu Fei and replied politely, “Sorry, my phone’s out of battery.”

“????” Chu Fei was stunned.

What the hell? He’d just added Chu Lin, and now his phone was dead?

By that time, Chu Gu was already gone.

Chu Fei’s face fell. “Damn it, looking down on me like that.”