Chapter 6: Ms. Shen, That's Going to Cost Extra!

“After all these years, I never expected he’d have broken up with Qin Xiaoman.”

Su Yanyan stood where Lin Mo had left her, still taking it in. Then a smile appeared.

“That means… I still have a chance.”

She took out her phone, opened WeChat, and found Lin Mo’s contact. Her smile widened.

…

“I’m done for!”

Outside the inn, Lin Mo raced back to the Shaxian snack shop, where he had left his scooter. Shen Zhihan had told him to be there at nine, and it was already 9:10. He couldn’t afford to lose such a big job.

He reached the shop, but before he could get on the scooter, the proprietress came out.

“Hey! You haven’t paid for the noodles, dumplings, and wontons you ordered.”

“I have to pay even though I didn’t eat them?” He had almost forgotten.

“Of course! I made them, didn’t I?”

“I’m in a hurry. I’ll pay when I come back.” He waved, climbed on the scooter, and rode off.

“Come back and pay? As if I’d believe that. Men never tell the truth.” She shook her head and returned to the shop, clearly unconvinced.

By 9:18, Lin Mo was urging the scooter onward. “Faster! Damn it, why break down now?”

He twisted the throttle all the way, but it crawled along. At this rate, he wouldn’t reach the Golden Phoenix Hotel until at least 9:40.

“I can run faster than this!”

He parked it by the road and took off on foot. With his Divine Emperor bloodline awakened, he ran many times faster than an Olympic champion, leaving passing drivers dumbfounded.

“Where did that speedster come from?” A middle-aged driver rubbed his eyes. “I’ve only had three liang of liquor. I can’t be that drunk.”

At 9:25, Lin Mo reached the hotel and skidded to a halt, nearly wearing through the cloth shoes he’d bought for 19.90 yuan.

“Finally!”

But the entrance was empty. Neither Shen Zhihan nor her Rolls-Royce was there. His heart sank. Had she left because he was late?

Twenty thousand yuan, gone. That was the last thing he needed when he was already broke.

As he debated whether to call her, a text arrived.

“Jade Pool.”

“What?” Why send him that? Why not the Hall of Divine Might while she was at it?

Then it occurred to him that it might be the name of a private room. Was she asking him to find her there?

He looked at the hotel’s gleaming sign and went straight inside. The receptionist confirmed his guess: “Second floor, the private room at the very end.”

“Thank you.”

He hurried upstairs and found the room marked Jade Pool. He didn’t barge in; he was only her driver, after all, and that would be rude. But he couldn’t stand outside forever, either. He texted her: “Ms. Shen, I’m here, outside the door.”

“Come in. Bathroom.”

He stared at the reply. Did she want him to find her in the bathroom? She must be in trouble, or she wouldn’t contact him like this.

“For twenty thousand, here goes.”

He pushed open the door. A young man in a white suit and two expensively dressed women in their twenties sat at the dining table. His sudden entrance startled them; then one woman, wearing a low-cut blue dress, pointed at him angrily.

“Didn’t we say no one comes in without permission? Get out!”

She had apparently mistaken him for hotel staff. Lin Mo ignored her and looked toward the bathroom in the corner.

“Can’t you understand? I told you to get out!” The woman grew angrier at being ignored.

The man in white raised an eyebrow and followed Lin Mo’s gaze. “Shen Zhihan?” His smile vanished.

Lin Mo walked toward the bathroom. The woman jumped up, grabbed a wineglass, and threw it at him. Without looking back, he dodged it with ease. She stared in shock.

“He’s here for Shen Zhihan!” the man in white realized. He got up and followed. “Kid, this doesn’t concern you. Don’t invite trouble.”

He reached for Lin Mo’s shoulder. The moment he made contact, Lin Mo caught his hand, pulled him forward, and bumped him with his shoulder, sending him several meters away.

“Young Master Chen!” both women cried.

The bathroom door opened. Shen Zhihan emerged in a red dress, her cheeks slightly flushed. Lin Mo couldn’t tell whether she had drunk too much or something else was wrong.

“Ms. Shen…”

She interrupted him, her voice weak. “Take me away from here.” She took his hand, swaying as though she might fall.

He had been right: something had happened to her. “All right.”

He was being paid to do a job, and helping his employer was part of it. With no money and little else to lose, he supported the half-conscious Shen Zhihan and headed out.

“Stop!” The man in white rushed over to block them, glaring as if he wanted to kill Lin Mo. “Did I say you could leave?”

“Ms. Shen?” Lin Mo looked down at her.

“Go.”

“Understood.”

Her answer confirmed his suspicion that the man meant her harm. Since she wanted Lin Mo to take her away, he had no reason to hesitate. He gave the man a cold look and continued toward the exit with her.

Furious at being ignored, the man in white took out his phone and sent a voice message rather than chasing them himself.

“Block the entrance. Don’t let Shen Zhihan or that man get away! If she slips through my fingers tonight, every one of you can feed the fish!”

Lin Mo brought Shen Zhihan downstairs. At the entrance, more than a dozen bodyguards in black suits and sunglasses stood in their way.

He looked at Zhihan. They were here to stop them—or, more precisely, to stop her.

“Ms. Shen, you’re making me work hard for this money.”

Her breathing had grown more rapid. “Get me out of here, and I’ll pay you double.”

“Double? That’s forty thousand!”

Lin Mo was delighted. This was a windfall!