Chapter 10
The next few weeks passed in a whirlwind of productivity. Lin Mian quickly became the star of the marketing department. He didn’t just organize data; he proposed a brilliant digital restructuring strategy that streamlined the company’s regional ad campaigns, saving the Lin Group millions in overhead costs. The employees who once feared his tantrums now greeted him with bright smiles and genuine respect.
But Lin Mian knew that a peaceful life wasn’t achieved just by working hard. He had a past life to rewrite, and that meant cutting off the poisonous weeds from his previous existence.
On a Friday evening, Lin Mian’s phone buzzed aggressively on his desk. The caller ID showed a name he hadn’t seen in weeks: *Tang Feng*.
Tang Feng was one of his former “friends”-a smooth-talking son of a secondary real estate mogul. In his past life, Tang Feng was the one who constantly fueled Lin Mian’s worst impulses, dragging him to clubs, handing him bottles of expensive liquor, and subtly whispering poison about how his family was “controlling” him. After Lin Mian’s death, his ghost had watched Tang Feng laugh with his buddies, bragging about how easy it was to leech off the Lin family’s idiot youngest son.
Lin Mian’s eyes darkened. He picked up the phone. “What do you want?”
“Whoa, Xiao Mian! Why so cold?” Tang Feng’s sleazy voice echoed through the speaker. “You’ve vanished from the face of the earth, man! The whole crew is at *Nirvana Club* right now. We got the VIP lounge, premium champagne, and everyone is waiting for the life of the party. Come on down, my treat.”
Lin Mian let out a cold, humorless chuckle. *My treat? With what money? You always end up swipe-charging my card by the end of the night.*
“Sure,” Lin Mian said, his voice smooth and deceptively sweet. “I’ll be there. Wait for me.”
The *Nirvana Club* was roaring with heavy bass, flashing neon purple lights, and the suffocating scent of expensive perfume and alcohol. In the center of the exclusive VVIP lounge sat Tang Feng, surrounded by a group of wealthy, vapid socialites.
When the velvet curtain pulled back and Lin Mian walked in, the group cheered.
“The Young Master Lin has graced us with his presence!” Tang Feng shouted, immediately pouring a glass of amber-colored whiskey and shoving it toward Lin Mian. “Drink up, buddy! We heard a nasty rumor that you actually started working. A suit? Seriously? Let’s wash that corporate stress away.”
Lin Mian looked down at the glass. In his past life, he would have downed it in one go to prove how reckless and “free” he was.
Instead, Lin Mian calmly took the glass, swirled the ice around, and then casually dumped the entire contents onto the expensive leather sofa right next to Tang Feng’s designer shoes.
The music in the lounge seemed to drop. The cheering died instantly. Tang Feng froze, his smile faltering. “Xiao Mian… what the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“It means I’m sober, Tang Feng. And I’ve never seen things more clearly,” Lin Mian said, his voice cutting through the bass of the club like a sharp blade. He tossed the empty glass onto the glass table with a loud *clink*.
“Xiao Mian, did your brother brainwash you?” another girl in the group chimed in, laughing nervously. “You used to love this.”
“I used to be an idiot,” Lin Mian corrected, stepping closer until he was towering over Tang Feng. The fragile, pampered boy they thought they could control was gone. In his place stood a young man with freezing, unyielding eyes. “Let’s lay the cards on the table. You don’t care about my friendship. You care about the Lin family’s black card. You care about the contracts my brother signs. From tonight onwards, I am blocking all your numbers. If I see any of you trying to leech off my family or using my name for your shady businesses, I will personally ensure my father pulls every single investment your families have in Shanghai.”
Tang Feng’s face flushed an ugly, angry red. He stood up, trying to look intimidating. “Lin Mian! Don’t get arrogant just because your daddy has money! Without the Lin name, you’re nothing but a spoiled brat who snaps at the slightest-“
Before Tang Feng could finish his sentence, the velvet curtain of the VIP lounge was violently ripped open.
A suffocating, dangerous aura instantly flooded the room. Two towering, black-suited bodyguards stepped in, followed by a man whose very presence made the temperature in the club drop to absolute zero.
Lu Chen walked in, his dark navy coat draped over his shoulders, his expression carved out of stone. His eyes swept over the room, dismissing the entire group as if they were nothing but insects, before locking onto Lin Mian.
The moment Lu Chen saw Tang Feng standing uncomfortably close to Lin Mian, his jaw clenched, a terrifying, murderous glint flashing in his dark eyes.
“Is there a problem here?” Lu Chen asked, his deep, resonant voice laced with a lethal quietness.
Tang Feng gasped, his knees practically shaking. Everyone in Shanghai business circles knew Lu Chen. He wasn’t like the benevolent Lin family; Lu Chen was a ruthless, cold-blooded wolf who destroyed entire corporations overnight if they crossed him.
“C-CEO Lu…” Tang Feng stammered, raising his hands defensively. “We… we were just joking around with Xiao Mian…”
Lu Chen didn’t even look at Tang Feng. He walked straight past him, completely ignoring his existence, and stopped right in front of Lin Mian. The terrifying, icy demeanor vanished in an instant, replaced by a gaze full of intense, possessive worry.
“I told you I would pick you up after your meeting,” Lu Chen murmured softly, reaching out to gently touch Lin Mian’s elbow, pulling him closer to his side. “Why did you come to a filthy place like this alone? If you wanted to trash a club, you should have told me. I would have bought it for you just to tear down.”
The socialites in the room gasped, their jaws dropping. The legendary, untouchable Lu Chen was… pampering Lin Mian to this extreme extent?
Lin Mian looked up at Lu Chen, his heart doing a joyful, frantic dance. He smiled brightly, the coldness completely melting from his face. He reached out and boldly wrapped his arm around Lu Chen’s solid waist.
“I’m done here anyway, Lu Chen,” Lin Mian said sweetly, casting one final, pitying look at the terrified Tang Feng. “Let’s go home. The smell of cheap ambition in here is giving me a headache.”
Lu Chen’s eyes darkened with profound affection at Lin Mian’s clinginess. He wrapped his large arm securely around the younger boy’s shoulders, shielding him from the world.
“Let’s go home,” Lu Chen agreed softly.
As they walked out of the club hand-in-hand, leaving a room full of shattered expectations behind them, Lin Mian knew that the ghosts of his past could no longer touch him. He had a wolf guarding his side now.
To be continue
