Chapter 612: At This Point, Finally a Male God

“That little brat today… your dad set that up on purpose, didn’t he?”

Yang Huixian whispered as they went upstairs. When it happened, the expressions on the three of them had been quite unnatural. Besides, the kid had already been staying here for a day, so she knew him a little. He was actually quite clever, not the type to do something so foolish.

“I’m not sure, but I was planning on having a child this year anyway. What are your thoughts?”

Lin Chu said nonchalantly, watching her reaction.

Yang Huixian’s face flushed slightly, and she hesitated. “We’re opening so many new stores next year. I’m afraid I’ll be too busy… Can we… maybe push it back a little?”

Lin Chu: …

‘More and more, I’m starting to feel like I just don’t speak the same language as women.’

‘Maybe I’m just too unconventional.’

‘Or maybe, that’s just how women are.’

‘They can’t see the big picture, always getting bogged down in trivial details.’

“You couldn’t handle that part of it anyway. Didn’t we already have a meeting about it? We’re letting Old Hu do it… I seem to recall you saying that if you made a hundred million a year, you’d be happy to be a canary in a gilded cage. What, has your price gone up?”

His teasing, half-joking words had a slight sting to them. Yang Huixian fell silent and pressed her lips together, sighing quietly to herself.

‘I really did say that, didn’t I?’

‘But who could have expected you to get this big?’

For her, making money was an instinct buried deep in her bones. No matter how much money she had, she always felt anxious if she wasn’t working.

Moreover, the luxury retail stores hadn’t done well this year; the year-end books were all in the red. She was determined to turn things around and produce some real results next year.

But now Lin Chu wanted a child.

‘This must be the tragedy of being a woman. Once you enter the cycle of marriage and childbirth, you’re forced to follow your husband’s pace completely.’

“So… will we have a wedding?”

she asked softly, her voice laced with a hint of insecurity.

She had overheard what Uncle Nine said earlier and was surprised by his attitude. Logically, she knew the decision was correct, but on an emotional level, she couldn’t help but feel wronged.

‘Official status… that’s a woman’s dignity, too.’

“No.”

Lin Chu’s refusal was firm and decisive. As he said it, he sighed inwardly. For a fleeting moment, he thought of himself as a ‘bad guy,’ but he still said the word without hesitation.

The light in Yang Huixian’s eyes instantly dimmed. She pouted coquettishly. “You scumbag!”

Lin Chu didn’t argue with the accusation. He just grinned. “I accept your criticism, but I have no intention of changing. I don’t think this is wrong, either. When two people choose to be together and have children, it has to be a mutual decision. You’re free to accept it, and you’re free not to. Whatever you decide, I’ll accept it.”

“I wouldn’t even hold any ill will. If you really found another man, I’d still let you keep your company shares. You’d continue doing what you do. We can end the business deal without ending the friendship.”

“What do you think? Don’t I sound righteous and magnanimous?”

Yang Huixian’s eyes widened as she stared at his smug and utterly shameless expression.

‘I have never met such a shameless person in my life.’

“Then will you marry someone else?”

she asked, grinding her teeth.

Lin Chu couldn’t help but laugh. “Definitely not. At least, not right now… Let me tell you a little story. When I was in Dubai, a princess from the royal family was chasing me like crazy, totally infatuated. But, you know me, I’ve always been a man of integrity. Mmm-hmm.”

Yang Huixian: … Pfft!

She let out a long sigh. “Are you really not afraid that your children will end up staging some cliché soap opera drama, fighting over the family fortune?”

“Then let them fight.”

“The children of every great family in the world scheme and plot against each other. Why should my children be any different?”

“Being born into a wealthy family is like winning the lottery. They’re already lucky, one in a million. And they want to avoid competition, too? On what grounds? Why should they get all the good things in life?”

Lin Chu’s logic had become completely self-consistent.

What he thought was what he said.

‘Worrying about pointless what-ifs wasn’t something he needed to concern himself with right now.’

It wasn’t that he had faith in the wisdom of his descendants; rather, he had seen through to the objective laws of nature. That was just how life was. Having expectations that were too high, or too low, was never a good thing.

Respect the objective laws, and focus on the present within the scope of your abilities.

Yang Huixian stared at him, feeling that the man before her was somehow a stranger, yet he still bore familiar traces. It was as if he had undergone some kind of evolution, from the “Adolescent Lin Chu” to the “Middle-Aged Lin Chu.”

But the signs of growth deep within him were all part of the same lineage.

The “Adolescent” version had pressured her into bed.

The “Middle-Aged” version was pressuring her to have a baby.

Consistent through and through: an asshole, a bastard, a scumbag.

But…

Just as they say a fair complexion can hide a hundred flaws in a woman, for a man, it was true that being powerful could hide a hundred evils.

…

「On the way home that night.」

Yang Guangming looked at the contract in his hand with a wry smile. He had been drinking, so he was in the passenger seat. Yang Guangyao, who hadn’t been drinking, was driving.

Just as they were leaving, Lin Chu had come down from the second floor and shoved the contract—a share transfer agreement—into his hands.

It was for 30% of the shares in LC Retail. Lin Chu had already signed and stamped it.

Lin Chu hadn’t said much when he gave it to him, but looking at it now, Yang Guangming understood his meaning.

‘You could call it a bride price.’

‘Or you could say it was for the future child.’

‘Of course, it could also be for his own retirement fund.’

The space for Party B was still blank. All it needed was a signature to take effect.