Lin Luan pushed open the heavy fire door behind the auction hall. A cool, early autumn night breeze rushed in instantly, scattering the stagnant air that had been thick with the scent of money inside.
Before him was a wide, open-air terrace.
The city’s light pollution made it impossible to see many stars in the night sky, but the man-made prosperity was equally breathtaking. The glittering night view of Chang city stretched out beneath his feet like a spilled galaxy.
Standing by the railing at the edge of the platform was a slender figure in a black suit skirt. She stood silently, her back to him as she overlooked the city.
The night wind tugged at the ends of her hair and the hem of her clothes.
It was Song Li.
The auction continued inside. Lin Luan closed the door, cutting off the faint, muffled sounds from behind him.
He stopped a few paces behind Song Li.
“Assistant Song has quite the refined taste,” he spoke, his voice sounding somewhat ethereal in the night wind.
“Have you seen enough of the 600 million drama and come out here for some fresh air to cool down?”
Song Li did not turn around immediately.
She continued to look at the city below, her voice calm and steady. “Mr. Lin indeed passed the test. Congratulations.”
“Passed the test?” Lin Luan chuckled softly. There wasn’t much joy in that laugh, but rather a sense of realization. “The card that required a 1 million donation before use was also part of the test, wasn’t it?”
“That card was a gift from Mr. Su to his future son-in-law. The threshold was set as a reminder that wealth should be used for meaningful purposes.” Song Li slowly turned around.
“Rest assured, Mr. Su will reimburse you for the 1.1 million you spent.”
“So,” Lin Luan didn’t respond to the mention of reimbursement, instead taking a step forward, “was this test designed to see if I would sacrifice everything, even wagering my entire net worth, for Su Jin’s sake?”
***
The night wind whistled past.
Song Li fell silent for a moment before finally nodding. “Yes. Mr. Su needed to know which side you would take and how far you would go when the things most important to the young lady were threatened.”
“That’s just what any normal person would do,” Lin Luan said. “Rather than getting 1 million for myself, I simply can’t stand to see others in a wretched state. I suppose I’m just a natural-born saint.”
What followed was a long, five-minute silence.
Song Li had expected Lin Luan to throw a fit or shout in anger, but he didn’t. He only asked a single question in a neutral tone.
“Does Su Jin know?”
Song Li shook her head. “The young lady is completely unaware. Mr. Su didn’t want this to affect her judgment of you, nor did he want her to worry about it.”
Lin Luan let out a long, heavy breath. The anger that had been pent up in his chest slowly dissipated with that breath, replaced by a complex sense of emptiness.
“Fine.”
Song Li looked back at Lin Luan with some surprise.
‘After going through all this… is his only response a “fine”?’
Lin Luan clearly noticed Song Li’s gaze and spoke up.
“I’m just a rental boyfriend. Passing a test is part of my job. It’s just that, after putting in some genuine heart, being told it was all a ruse still makes me a little sad.”
But it was only a little sad.
Song Li seemed to want to say something more, but Lin Luan’s phone vibrated at that moment.
*I’m making money, making money, I don’t even know how to spend it~*
The ringtone was a prank Xiaowan had set for him previously.
Lin Luan pulled out his phone. The caller ID showed—
Su Jin.
Song Li saw it too. She pursed her lips and took half a step back, giving the space entirely to Lin Luan.
Lin Luan took a deep breath of the cool air, pressed the answer button, and held the phone to his ear.
“Hello?” His voice had already returned to its usual gentleness.
“Lin Luan?”
Su Jin’s voice came from the other end. There was some noisy background chatter; it seemed her meeting had just ended.
“Did you call me earlier? I just saw it after my meeting finished.”
“Yeah, I did.” Lin Luan leaned against the cold railing, his gaze drifting toward the distant, flickering neon lights.
His eyes jumped across the cityscape as if searching for something. “It’s nothing major. I just wanted to ask if you were tired from the meeting.”
He lied, and he did so very naturally.
Su Jin was clearly stunned on the other end, seemingly not expecting that answer.
She paused for two seconds before speaking with a hint of suspicion. “Really? Just to ask that? You called specifically to ask if I was tired?”
Su Jin was a bit confused. When did this guy become so proactive?
“What else?” Lin Luan chuckled, making a joke to follow her lead.
“General Manager Su, didn’t you say yesterday that you wanted me to go on a date with you tonight? If you’re tired, then we’ll skip the date, and I can have a day off.”
“I’m not tired!” Su Jin mumbled over the phone.
“Who said I was tired! I’m Su Jin! Where are you? I’ll come pick you up for our date right now. Today is your last day as my boyfriend… I, Su Jin, won’t be the one to miss out.”
“Me?” Lin Luan paused. The night wind blew the stray hairs on his forehead as he found the target he was looking for. “I’m at the Chang City Art Center.”
As he spoke, he looked toward the Jinse Technology office building. Su Jin’s company was one of the taller buildings in Chang city, so it didn’t take him long to find it.
“The art center?”
There was a hint of confusion in Su Jin’s voice. She stopped in her tracks and stood before the floor-to-ceiling window of her office building, looking up at the grand structure in the heart of Chang city.
Even though she couldn’t see Lin Luan, her intuition told her that he was looking at her from the rooftop of that building.
It was a gaze shared across half the city.
“Since when do you have an artistic soul? What are you doing there?”
“Just looking around.”
Lin Luan’s voice dropped a bit lower, carrying a softness even he hadn’t noticed.
The other end of the line went silent.
After several seconds, Su Jin spoke again, her voice slightly softer than before. “Alright, alright. I’m coming to pick you up now.”
“Okay,” Lin Luan replied. “Don’t drive too fast.”
“I know. Hanging up now.”
“Mm.”
*Beep—*
The call ended.
Lin Luan lowered his phone. The screen went dark, reflecting his own blurred face.
He maintained the posture of holding the phone for a few more seconds before slowly turning around to face Song Li.
Song Li met his gaze and asked softly, “Why didn’t you tell the young lady?”
Lin Luan stuffed the phone back into his pocket and shoved his hands into his suit trousers, his posture becoming somewhat lazy again.
“Tell her what?” he asked back. “Tell her that her father set up a scheme using hundreds of millions in equity just to test her rented boyfriend?”
“Or tell her that her most trusted assistant collaborated with her father to perform a play while keeping her in the dark?”
He shook his head, his tone calm but firm. “There’s no need. It’s in the past. What’s the point of letting her know?”
“It would only cause her unnecessary worry and create a rift between her, you, and her father. That multinational meeting of hers sounded exhausting enough. That’s plenty.”
Song Li watched him quietly.
“Mr. Lin, I take back my previous opinion of you. You are a good person.”
Lin Luan scratched his head.
“What’s this…? Are you giving me the ‘good person card’?”