Chapter 546 - 323: Lin Chu: I Admit, I’m a Scumbag

Chapter 546: Chapter 323: Lin Chu: I Admit, I’m a Scumbag

"Who is it? Come in!"

Lin Chu shouted.

"I’ll give you three minutes. Hurry up and finish. I have something important to tell you!"

Wang Zhefei said, annoyed.

"Are you fucking kidding me? How is three minutes enough? I’ll be out in thirty!"

Hearing Lin Chu’s breathless voice, Wang Zhefei silently cursed him for being an idiot. He stood at the door and waited. Not even ten minutes later, Lin Chu walked out wrapped in a bath towel, his upper body bare and a cigarette dangling from his mouth. "Fuck, what’s so urgent it has to be right now?"

"Go public. Get the authorities involved. A rescue."

Wang Zhefei said irritably, giving him a light punch on the chest.

"I’ve thought about it, but there isn’t enough time. Besides... it’s complicated. I don’t want to cause any trouble, you get me?"

Through the swirling smoke, Lin Chu looked at him with an enigmatic smile.

Wang Zhefei stared back at him.

For a long moment.

"The money, your backer... where did they come from? Give me a straight answer."

He had always suspected this was the case. Although Lin Chu never admitted it, in Wang Zhefei’s mind, it was practically a fact.

’It’s not like the money just fell from the sky, is it?’

This question had been sensitive before, and it was still sensitive now.

But at a time like this, Wang Zhefei felt he had to get to the bottom of it.

’I’ve already put my life in your hands!’

Lin Chu saw the serious look in his eyes and understood the gravity of the question. He just smiled faintly. "I’ll tell you when I’m on my deathbed."

"Come on, is dinner ready yet?"

"Let’s go eat."

Wang Zhefei: "Goddammit! You really are tight-lipped!"

"Hmm? Wanna kiss them?"

Lin Chu teased with a grin and patted his shoulder. "I’m gonna go change. Don’t worry... I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse. Tonight."

...

He changed his clothes and went downstairs.

Dinner was almost ready.

Lin Chu’s gaze swept across the room. With a grand wave of his hand, he said, "Come, come, everyone take a seat. Let’s eat. I’m not sure if this is our last supper, but the chance to sit down for a meal with all of you is a rare one. If it weren’t for this ’opportunity,’ it probably would have never happened in this lifetime."

"For the first toast, I suggest we all raise our glasses to Liszt."

"Let’s thank him for bringing our happy little family together today."

There was wine on the table. Lin Chu smiled, poured himself a glass, and raised it. Without waiting for the others, he downed it in one gulp.

Everyone: ...

"Actually, Liszt had a point. You are all pieces of my past life. It was after Yaoyao and I broke up that I started getting rich, making money, all the way until now... Yaoyao, how about you make a toast? Starting today, let’s call it even between us. You even got a pile of cash out of this, right? That should be enough for you to live a good life."

Yaoyao: ...

She took a deep breath, pursed her lips, but still raised her glass. She finished it in a series of small gulps, a faint blush suddenly appearing on her cheeks as she let out a long sigh.

But Lin Chu had already moved on to the next person.

"An Qingning, are you still working at that golf club? Seriously, why did he even kidnap you? It’s not like we ever slept together. Fuck. Although, you’re a bit of a green-tea yourself, you’re just too low-level. You need more practice... For a woman, being pretty with a great body isn’t enough. You’ll just get played. You have to be smart."

"You should make a toast, too."

Hearing his words, An Qingning licked her lips and took a deep breath.

’Even at a time like this, he’s still insulting me, isn’t he?’

She raised her glass and silently took a large gulp. "All the best."

At that moment, she didn’t know what else to say. The difference in their statuses was now as vast as heaven and earth, and their predicament was what it was. With so many people around, her memories of the past already felt like they belonged to a different lifetime.

Lin Chu then turned to Chen Jinyu. "Sister Chen, I owe you a toast. Back in the day, Old Liu even said he wanted me to latch onto you, to live off you. But I’m not one for being a kept man. I only coveted your body, not your fortune... Of course, now there’s nothing left to covet anyway."

"I’ll admit, I used to be a scumbag. I never messed around when I was poor, but once I got rich, I went crazy, fooling around all over the place. See? Everyone here is proof."

"I won’t say much more. I wish you all the best. This situation tonight... it’s a matter of life and death. But don’t worry, I, Lin Chu, will negotiate terms with the other side. I’ll at least get you all sent home safely. I guess you could call that... saving your lives, right?"

"And with that, all our past scores will be settled. There was love, sure. As for hate... I’ve never hated any of you. I don’t know if you’ve hated me, but either way, this is it. Life is long. We just happened to be on the same bus for a short stretch of the journey. From now on, we go our separate ways."

"If I have kids someday and we happen to cross paths, I’ll have them smile, say hi, and call you all ’pretty auntie.’ And that’s all it will be."

"Meili, any objections? My pale, rich, beautiful girl?"

Lin Chu delivered this long monologue as if he were pouring his heart out. It was, in a way, his final account.

It wasn’t a perfect explanation, but he had said all he intended to say.

This was just how life was. You never know how many times you have left to see someone. If a number really did float above everyone’s head counting down those meetings, the very nature of human emotion would probably be turned upside down.

Finally, Lin Chu called on Liao Meili.

This woman was the culmination of his ’scumbag’ techniques. From his initial confession at the OCT InterContinental Hotel, to the "one-billion-yuan test," and then the sudden ghosting, the brutal breakup... honestly, even he felt in his heart that his actions had been scummy. Utterly inhuman. But in his state of mind back then, it was all something he was capable of doing. Now, calling her name, Lin Chu wanted to hear what she had left to say.

Liao Meili watched him, a thoughtful expression on her face as she gently swirled the scarlet wine in her glass.

"Scumbag!"

"I can’t forgive you. I knew you might be a scumbag—I knew it from the very beginning. But I never imagined you could sink to this level. You’re not just a scumbag; you’re human trash. All the worst men in the world combined aren’t as vile as you."

"You treat women like playthings, like dogs to be trained. Once the novelty wears off and you get bored, you kick them to the curb. Just what I’d expect from a motherless mutt. There is no love in your heart, not a single part of you that could be called clean. I’ve never met a more shameless, darker man. You make me sick!"

"As for tonight... I really hope I get to see you take a bullet to the head!"

She seemed to have prepared this "declaration of judgment" long in advance. She stared at Lin Chu, her expression blank, her tone vehement but her emotions ice-cold.

This fierce outburst stunned the other women at the table.

’So vicious.’

She hadn’t spared his feelings in the slightest.

They just had no idea what had actually happened between her and Lin Chu.

Lin Chu, however, still wore a faint smile. He even raised his hands and began to applaud softly. "Yes, everything you said is right. I admit it. That’s exactly who I am... As for this drink, I won’t be toasting with you. After tonight, we’re enemies."

"I will do everything in my power to destroy your parents’ corporation. And I welcome any and all of your attempts at revenge."

"Now that we’ve said all that needs to be said, let’s leave it at that."

Lin Chu’s tone was casual, as if he were discussing something that had nothing to do with him, but his eyes were exceptionally bright.

No explanations.

No rebuttals.

Actions would settle it.

After a pause, Lin Chu turned to Wang Zhefei and Liu Chenhui. "You two, remember this. Even if I die, this is one of my last wishes. If you can fulfill it, the reward... let’s say five hundred million USD. That’s my word."

The two men: ...

They were speechless.

Wang Zhefei frowned slightly. ’This is... going too far,’ he thought.

But this was Lin Chu’s "family business," so he couldn’t say anything.

Liao Meili, however, was stunned.

She had never expected Lin Chu to be this ruthless. At that moment, she wanted nothing more than to smash the glass in her hand across his face and flip the entire table.

But her eyes fell on the gun Liu Chenhui had placed on the table next to Lin Chu. She forced herself to hold back, stood up, and stormed out the door.

The other women at the table were all terrified.

"Okay, conversation’s over. Let’s eat!"

"After dinner, we get down to business!"

"Some people, when you offer them a shred of dignity, they just throw it away. So be it."

Lin Chu picked up his chopsticks, casually grabbed a piece of meat, and ate with gusto.

The others exchanged glances, a new sense of caution hanging in the air.

Watching Lin Chu, Wang Zhefei suddenly had a thought. ’This son of a bitch... right now, he’s starting to look like a true tyrant.’

He could remain perfectly calm while Mount Tai crumbled before him. Even after being cursed out like that, he was completely unfazed.

Instead, he now possessed a bone-deep indifference and ruthlessness.

...

...