Chapter 8: Sorry, I Got the Wrong Idea

Lin Mo soon realized he had misunderstood.

“Be my driver and bodyguard. I’ll pay you a hundred thousand yuan a month.”

“Oh… you meant a driver.” He took a breath.

“What else did you think I meant?” Shen Zhihan frowned.

“N-nothing.” He shook his head. If she knew what he had been thinking, she’d probably tell him to get lost. She sensed he was hiding something but didn’t press him.

She handed him a black-and-gold business card. “Take the car home. Pick me up at eight tomorrow morning.”

He accepted the card with both hands. “Yes, Ms. Shen. I’ll be on time!”

A hundred thousand a month was more than a year of food deliveries. Why would he refuse? Driving and bodyguard work seemed easy enough, though he wondered just how closely he would be expected to protect her.

“Drive me inside, and then you can go.”

“Yes, Ms. Shen!”

He got out, took the driver’s seat, and drove her through the residential complex to her building. As soon as he parked, he hurried around to open her door, shielding the top of the frame with his hand.

“Careful of your head.” For that salary, he intended to give his employer proper service.

Zhihan stepped out without a word, her expression still cold.

“Good night, Ms. Shen.” He bowed slightly and smiled. The job had not come easily; he wanted to make a good impression.

“Eight tomorrow morning,” she reminded him as she walked away.

“Understood!”

“And wipe the lipstick off your face.”

“What?” He checked the mirror. His face was covered in lipstick marks. How had he missed them?

He rubbed at them with his clothes, but some remained. He would have to wash them off at home. Watching Zhihan disappear, he marveled that someone so cool could have such another side. The memories stayed with him; he didn’t feel he’d come out of it badly.

“Time to go home.”

He drove away in her Rolls-Royce, with more than 40,000 yuan in cash and his WeChat balance combined. He would find a new place tomorrow. He couldn’t bear to stay in the apartment, imagining where Qin Xiaoman and Zhao Zihao might have been together.

First he retrieved his scooter from the roadside and loaded it into the car. He had money now, but he should still save where he could; who knew whether Zhihan might fire him one day?

He returned to the Shaxian snack shop and paid his earlier bill. The proprietress was stunned to see him come back, especially in a Rolls-Royce.

“I said I’d pay when I returned. Didn’t lie, did I?”

“N-no.” She smiled awkwardly and wiped her hands on her apron. She admitted to herself that she’d judged him unfairly; she hadn’t expected him to return.

“I didn’t get to eat before. Another order of steamed dumplings, wontons, and mixed noodles, please.”

He had been busy all day and was starving, though since awakening his Divine Emperor bloodline he hadn’t felt particularly weak.

“Right away!” She called the order to her husband in the kitchen.

Ten minutes later, he finally took his first bite of the day—or rather, his first in three days. He finished all three dishes in five minutes, paid by phone, and left. Even the air seemed sweeter when he had money.

He drove back to his rented apartment. Ten minutes later he parked, went upstairs, and took out his key, only to find the door unlocked.

Had Qin Xiaoman returned? After what had happened earlier, she might have brought Zhao Zihao to retaliate. Good. He still owed Zihao for that kick.

He pushed the door open slowly. Instead of Xiaoman or Zihao, he found red paint all over the floor and walls. Furious, he realized the strong smell he’d noticed outside came from his own apartment.

“Qin Xiaoman…”

He was usually friendly and rarely made enemies. Who else but Xiaoman and Zihao would do this? But in the bedroom he found the heirloom jade he’d given her still in the nightstand. If she and Zihao had done it, why leave it behind? She had come back for it that very day.

“Maybe it wasn’t her.”

Then he thought of the man in the white suit at Shen Zhihan’s private room. Anyone dining with her likely had influence. It could have been him.

“Once I find out who did this, if it was him, I’ll cripple him.” Lin Mo didn’t go looking for trouble, but he wouldn’t sit back and take it.

The apartment was uninhabitable with paint everywhere. He put the jade away and drove to the same inn where he had helped Su Yanyan. The same young receptionist was on duty. Seeing him alone this time, she looked surprised.

“An hourly room again, sir?”

“How much for a room with a double bed?”

“One hundred and eighty-six yuan.”

“How much?” The number sounded familiar.

“All our rooms cost the same.”

He felt as though he’d been taken for a ride, but didn’t argue. “I’ll take one.”

He took the key card upstairs, planning to shower and sleep. He had to pick Zhihan up early and didn’t want to be late on his first day.

As he undressed for his shower, the phone beside the sink received a video call. He stared at a name he hadn’t seen appear on his screen in years: Su Yanyan.

Why was she calling? Before he could decide whether to answer, his hand slipped and accepted the call.

Yanyan’s face appeared. “Lin—”

She covered her eyes and screamed. “Lin Mo, why did you answer without any clothes on?”

“Oh no!” He hurriedly flipped the camera around.

…