Chapter 11
The cool night air of Shanghai was a welcome relief from the suffocating, smoke-filled atmosphere of the Nirvana Club. The heavy glass doors swung shut behind them, cutting off the thumping bass and leaving only the hum of distant traffic.
Lu Chen’s arm remained securely wrapped around Lin Mian’s shoulders until they reached the curb, where the sleek black Maybach was waiting, its engine idling silently. A bodyguard immediately opened the door, and Lu Chen guided Lin Mian inside before sliding in right next to him.
The door closed with a solid, expensive thud, plunging them into a heavy, private silence.
For a few minutes, neither of them spoke. The car moved smoothly into the glittering flow of the elevated highway, neon lights cascading across Lu Chen’s sharp, silent profile. He was staring straight ahead, his jaw tight, his hands resting on his knees, clenched into loose fists.
Lin Mian glanced sideways at him, suddenly feeling a tiny prickle of nervousness. He reached out, his fingers tentatively brushing against the sleeve of Lu Chen’s coat.
“Lu Chen? Are you mad at me?” Lin Mian asked softly, his voice small in the quiet cabin.
Lu Chen closed his eyes, taking a deep, shuddering breath. When he opened them, the coldness that usually terrified the business world was completely gone, replaced by a raw, turbulent wave of anxiety. He turned his body completely toward Lin Mian, his hands moving to grip the younger boy’s shoulders.
“Mad at you?” Lu Chen’s voice cracked slightly. “Xiao Mian, when my assistant told me you had walked into that club to meet Tang Feng, my heart nearly stopped. I thought… I thought you had lied to me. I thought you were going back to that reckless lifestyle, back to the people who only want to drag you down.”
Lu Chen leaned in closer, his forehead almost touching Lin Mian’s. His grip on Lin Mian’s shoulders tightened, not enough to hurt, but enough to show how desperately he wanted to hold him in place.
“You don’t know what it does to me, seeing you walk into dangerous places alone,” Lu Chen whispered, his dark eyes intense and pleading. “If anything ever happens to you… if you ever disappear from my sight again like that… I don’t think I would survive it.”
Lin Mian’s chest throbbed with a beautiful, painful ache. *He really means it,* Lin Mian realized. Lu Chen wasn’t just being overprotective; his soul was genuinely traumatized by the mere thought of losing him. In the past life, Lu Chen had actually experienced that loss. He had held Lin Mian’s cold, lifeless body on the asphalt. The echo of that grief was still driving Lu Chen’s actions today.
“I’m sorry, Lu Chen,” Lin Mian said, his own eyes growing misty. He raised his hands, placing them over Lu Chen’s large hands on his shoulders, his touch grounding and warm. “I didn’t go there to party. I went there to cut them off. I needed them to know, face-to-face, that the old Lin Mian is dead. I will never let people like Tang Feng use me or touch my family again.”
Lin Mian offered a soft, reassuring smile, leaning his weight forward into Lu Chen’s space. “And I didn’t lie to you. I’m not going back to that life. I promise.”
Hearing the fierce sincerity in Lin Mian’s voice, the tension in Lu Chen’s broad shoulders finally snapped. With a low groan, he pulled Lin Mian forward, burying his face into the crook of the younger boy’s neck, wrapping his arms tightly around his waist.
Lin Mian gasped slightly at the sudden, fierce embrace, but he immediately relaxed, wrapping his arms around Lu Chen’s neck. He held him tightly, breathing in the comforting scent of sandalwood and rain.
“Don’t do that again,” Lu Chen murmured against his skin, his breath hot and sending a shiver down Lin Mian’s spine. “If you want to handle trash, let me do it. Don’t dirty your hands.”
“Okay,” Lin Mian whispered softly, running his fingers through the short, neat hairs at the back of Lu Chen’s neck. “Next time, I’ll bring my giant wolf with me.”
Lu Chen let out a soft, breathy laugh, the possessive hold around Lin Mian’s waist tightening just a fraction more, as if he never wanted to let go.
The next Monday morning at the Lin Group headquarters started with an unexpected announcement.
Lin Mian was sitting at his desk, reviewing a new digital marketing budget, when Lin Heng walked into the department with a look of severe annoyance on his face.
“Xiao Mian, come to my office,” Lin Heng said, gesturing with his hand.
Lin Mian stood up, adjusting his tie, and followed his brother up to the executive floor. When they entered the spacious office, Lin Mian noticed a thick legal folder sitting on the mahogany desk.
“What’s wrong, Ge?” Lin Mian asked, taking a seat.
Lin Heng sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
“Do you remember the southern district commercial plaza project we’ve been bidding on for the past two months? It’s a multi-million-yuan development that would secure our real estate division for the next five years.”
Lin Mian nodded. He remembered it faintly from his past life. In the original timeline, the Lin Group had mysteriously lost the bid to a rival company, which initiated a massive financial domino effect that eventually led to their bankruptcy.
“We just received word from the government planning committee,” Lin Heng said, his eyes darkening. “Our main competitor, *Guangshi Real Estate*, somehow managed to submit a proposal that perfectly undercuts our bidding price by exactly 0.5%. Not only that, but their marketing strategy is almost a mirror image of the confidential blueprint our department drafted last week.
Lin Mian’s eyes narrowed, his mind clicking into high gear. *0.5% under? A mirrored marketing strategy?*
“There’s a mole in our company,” Lin Mian stated coldly, his voice devoid of his usual gentleness.
Lin Heng looked at his little brother, surprised by how quickly he caught on. “Yes. The planning committee hasn’t officially closed the bidding yet-we have exactly forty-eight hours to submit a revised proposal if we want to counter them. But if we don’t find the person who leaked the data, whatever we write next will just end up in Guangshi’s hands again.”
Lin Mian stared at the folder on the desk. In his past life, he was too busy drinking himself into a stupor to notice his father and brother working themselves to the bone, fighting a losing battle against hidden traitors. This bid was the first major fracture in the Lin family’s empire.
A cold, calculating smile spread across Lin Mian’s lips. He leaned back in his chair, his eyes flashing with a dangerous, brilliant light.
“Forty-eight hours is more than enough time, Ge,” Lin Mian said smoothly. “Let them think they’ve won. I’ll design a new marketing strategy that will blow them out of the water-and while they’re busy celebrating their stolen victory, we’re going to catch the rat in our house.”
To be continue
