Chapter 496 - 299: A Fish Enters the Sea, To Grow Big and Strong

Chapter 496: Chapter 299: A Fish Enters the Sea, To Grow Big and Strong

Inside the castle, the party hadn’t started yet.

Out on the lawn, Lin Chu lit a cigarette and exhaled a long plume of smoke.

He felt a pit in his stomach.

It felt like his privacy had been violated.

Having his privacy violated was one thing.

The real issue was that a breach of his information security directly compromised his personal safety in every way!

’Those old bastards!’

"Have you guys taken off yet?"

Exhaling another long cloud of smoke, Lin Chu sent a message to the group chat with his buddies.

He’d sent the flight itinerary to the group earlier. He remembered they were flying out at ten p.m. and would land in Dubai around five a.m. They should be having dinner right about now.

"[Image]"

"Not yet. We’re having hotpot at Sanbuguan. Look, we even saved you a seat."

Lin Chu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when he saw the photo.

They were all gathered around the table, and they had indeed saved him a seat, complete with a bowl, chopsticks, and a poured glass of liquor. They’d even fucking set up a photo of him there.

"Wow, thanks a bunch, you guys!"

"I’m putting out an S.O.S. Someone’s messing with me."

"There’s this... well, let’s call him an international big shot. He just sent me a high-priority text, and I suspect my personal information has been leaked."

"I’m not even going to get into changing phones and all that. Old Gao, I need you to start by looking into this person for me."

Gao Haitao had his special channels.

He’d had him do a search before, on that Wing Chun girl named Mo Xiaorou.

Although, for various reasons, that whole situation had gone south.

But the method for investigating people had proven to be viable.

It was a happy accident, really.

A search could certainly be done, but there was no telling what it might turn up.

Even if Liszt was an international big shot who likely took his information security very seriously, it was still worth a look.

’Know thy enemy, know thyself!’

"Oh, and ask that team for me—I’m going to buy them out. They can name their price!"

"I’m going to build my own tech and intelligence departments!"

"If they refuse to sell, then I’ll find my own hackers!"

Lin Chu continued to rant in the group chat; it was better to solve the problem at its root.

The answer: buy.

At that moment, the friends eating hotpot in Xiangjiang saw his messages and glanced at each other. Some looked worried, others didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

But one thing was beyond doubt.

Brother Chu... had actually... actually gotten triggered!

In all the time they’d known him, this was the first time they’d ever seen him so furious.

Lin Chu was usually so good-natured.

Even as he got richer and richer, he never put on airs. If he ran into some annoying prick, he’d usually just ignore them at most.

But now...

"Okay, I’ll get on it right now. I’ll ask around first. Send me the name."

Gao Haitao quickly replied in the group, then gestured for the others to calm Lin Chu down.

He himself grabbed his phone, walked out of the restaurant, got into his car, and immediately started contacting the hacker team.

Wang Zhefei: "Calm down, calm down. Just wait, we’ll be there soon. (smug emoji)"

After sending that barrage of messages, Lin Chu had vented some of his frustration and felt a bit calmer.

His temper earlier, of course, hadn’t been directed at his friends.

"Miss you. Mwah."

Lin Chu replied offhandedly, an involuntary smile touching his lips.

Wang Zhefei: "[Image]"

It was a very lewd and crude sticker.

The group chat quickly descended into joking and banter.

"If you ask me, Brother Chu, you’re just too low-key. Getting rich quietly is a solid strategy, but we’re in a delicate position right now. We’re not at the bottom, but we’re still a long way from the absolute top. This is the time for you to really step up."

Amidst the flood of stickers, Zhang Peng chimed in with a rare, serious comment.

Among all of them, he was probably the most ambitious and competitive one.

With the media division booming, his own ambition was growing by the day.

’At the very least,’ he thought, ’we should get the company listed on the stock market, right?’

’We don’t even need to do a consolidated IPO; a spin-off listing would be fine!’

But Brother Chu seemed to have a natural aversion to all of this. He didn’t even want to play the stock market before and paid it no attention at all.

It made Zhang Peng feel frustrated, like watching a gifted person not live up to their potential.

’What’s the most powerful thing in the world?’

’Capital, of course!’

’If you don’t even pay attention to the capital markets, you can’t even be considered a proper capitalist.’

But Zhang Peng had never said these things to Lin Chu before. To each their own. If Brother Chu wanted to just have fun, he could have his fun. Zhang Peng was just waiting for the right opportunity.

Now, Zhang Peng felt that opportunity had arrived.

’What was that old saying again?’

—"If a state has no law-abiding families and worthy counselors within, and no hostile states or external threats without, it will perish. From this, we know that life springs from sorrow and calamity, and death from ease and pleasure."

’Now there’s sorrow and calamity! This is a good thing!’

Reading Zhang Peng’s words, Lin Chu licked his lips, feeling a little irked.

’Is he really criticizing me right now?’

But after thinking about it, he had to admit Zhang Peng wasn’t wrong.

Indeed, after his assets reached the ten-billion mark, he had gotten a bit too comfortable. He’d even felt like just coasting.

Not that there was anything wrong with that; it wasn’t a real problem.

In fact, it was during this period of "coasting" that he’d actually figured a lot of things out.

This was just the natural course of things—progress through twists and turns.

But in his friends’ eyes, they were probably feeling a lot of pressure.

"Alright, I accept your suggestion."

With that thought, Lin Chu replied calmly.

’Brother Peng really is a true friend, the kind who isn’t afraid to speak his mind,’ he thought.

After a pause, Lin Chu sent another message: "I’m already planning my next big move. I’m preparing to expand overseas, starting with the acquisition of a foreign bank."

"Hell yeah, that’s what I’m talking about!"

"Go global! Let’s do it!"

"Cheers! (smug emoji)"

"Time to get bigger and stronger!"

His friends all hyped him up, howling with excitement. Their passion was ignited.

Lin Chu shook his head with a smile and extinguished his cigarette.

He felt much better now.

’Let’s do this.’

...

"I’ve decided to take your advice. I’m buying a house in Dubai. Just use this as the standard—make sure mine is twice as big as his."