Chapter 529 - 315: The Tenant from Half a Year Ago, the Shock of "Five Stars Rising in the East

Chapter 529: Chapter 315: The Tenant from Half a Year Ago, the Shock of "Five Stars Rising in the East

The world is a whore, and it saves its full splendor for the wealthy.

Even if he hadn’t offered anything yet, these people would grovel for a shot at what he could provide.

Of course, what they would get in return—provided they completed their tasks—would be more than satisfactory.

...

「The next morning.」

In the hotel’s meeting room, Lin Chu met the man from "Five Stars Rising in the East."

He was a man in his forties with dark, weathered skin and an artistic-style beard. Sharply dressed in a suit, he had brought a business partner with him.

And this partner...

Both men paused in stunned recognition the moment they saw each other.

"Mr. Li?"

"Mr.... Mr. Lin?"

Lin Chu spoke first. The other man instantly replied, his voice full of shock and his eyes wide with disbelief.

The man from "Five Stars Rising in the East" watched this unfold, completely dumbfounded.

’What’s going on?’

"Brother Li, you... you two know each other?"

Li Zuoguo still hadn’t snapped out of his astonishment. He stared at Lin Chu in disbelief. "I... I know him. Six months ago, Mr. Lin was one of my tenants. I rented him that gym in Peng City."

"Now..."

"Now...?"

Li Zuoguo was at a complete loss for words. He knew he was being rude, but his mind was a tangled mess. A thought even surfaced: ’Could this "President Lin" be a con artist?’

’How is that possible? Just six months ago, he was in Peng City, just a tiny little business owner. He had to rent a space just to open a gym—a business worth maybe a million or so.’

’And now, half a year later, he’s become a tycoon with a foothold on the international stage?’

The man from "Five Stars Rising in the East" was an old friend of his; Li Zuoguo was even a partial investor in his media company.

He had even seen that video about "Lin Chu."

At the time, he’d only found the person vaguely familiar. After all, most of the footage was clipped from public platforms and had been slightly blurred, so he couldn’t be sure. But now, seeing Lin Chu in person, he was absolutely certain. This was his former "tenant!"

At this moment, Lin Chu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He felt a wave of wistful emotion wash over him.

It was true. Just six months ago, he had rented that gym from Li Zuoguo and embarked on his "business" (or rather, "cash-burning") journey...

Back then, he had been genuinely awed by and envious of Li Zuoguo’s luxurious lifestyle, particularly the private bedroom in the gym.

And when Li Zuoguo had cleared out the space, he’d taken his entire team of personal trainers with him, saying he was taking them overseas.

And now...

The very man he had once admired was standing before him in this role.

"What a coincidence."

"Still, it seems old connections are never truly lost. To be honest, that gym was my first venture—mostly just a trial run, something for me to play around with... Mr. Li, it seems we were destined to cross paths."

"Come, this way, please."

Lin Chu quickly collected himself and smiled, gesturing for the two men to enter.

Xu Hu and Li Zuoguo glanced at each other. The former was still in shock, while the latter gave a wry smile. They followed Lin Chu inside.

"And what should I call you?"

Lin Chu asked with a casual smile.

"Oh, I was so engrossed in watching you two have a reunion that I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Xu Hu. I used to be an investigative journalist back in China. I ran into some trouble, so I came abroad to make a living. Now, I run a media company. President Li is one of my investors. He lives here in Paris. I arrived last night and went to see him first, then brought him along to our meeting today."

Xu Hu seemed to be a natural conversationalist, explaining the situation concisely.

Lin Chu had tipped him 100,000 USD in one go, and their subsequent conversations made it clear this was a huge opportunity. A major player had taken an interest in him.

It was only natural to give his investor a heads-up about something like this.

"An investigative journalist... Huh. That’s a real old-school profession. There can’t be many of you left these days, can there?"

Lin Chu showed a bit of surprise at his profession.

Then again, it wasn’t that surprising. There was a clear pipeline: from old-school journalism to the new media industry of today.

It was a microcosm of the changing times—a shift from being a mouthpiece for public opinion to being a new media creator. In any case, the core skills were the same: writing, public speaking, investigating, consolidating information, and producing content.

A significant portion of the first wave of new media creators in China who struck it rich were former journalists.

"Haha, you’re right. There are probably only a hundred or so left. It’s a dying breed... President Lin, let’s not dwell on that. It’s not that I’m too proud to talk about past glories; it’s just that I was no hero back then. I took money and wrote PR pieces, too. But that’s all ancient history now. Pretty shameful, really."

Xu Hu said this with a bold air. He didn’t want Lin Chu to think of him as some "noble" idealist. After all, it’s hard to talk money with a saint.

So he opted for a bit of self-deprecation.

Lin Chu couldn’t help but laugh. "I wasn’t around for that era, but if you had to come abroad to make a living, you obviously didn’t write enough of those PR articles."

It was a subtle compliment.

Those sorts of compromises were hard to avoid, and the situation wasn’t something that could be explained in a sentence or two. Lin Chu understood that completely.

Hearing this, Xu Hu’s laughter became much heartier.

’This President Lin is a fascinating guy.’

’We’re on the same wavelength.’

As a former investigative journalist who had met all sorts of people, Xu Hu had dealt with many bosses and was extremely sensitive to their particular auras.