Chapter 13: Clinging to the Golden Opportunity

Lin Xiao never expected Chen Xin to refuse.

It turned out that she had been placed last because she had never intended to experience the food memory at all.

“If you aren’t interested, why did you come? What exactly are you after?” Lin Xiao wondered, but kept the thought to himself.

He had long since learned to restrain his curiosity. If others did not volunteer information, he did not ask.

“Madam, since you have no desire to experience the memory, I’ll take my leave.”

Lin Xiao rose from his chair with a smile.

Xu Tao and the others would need thirty minutes to complete their memory experiences.

Spending such a long time sitting face-to-face with Chen Xin would be rather awkward, and Lin Xiao’s somewhat antisocial nature inclined him to avoid the situation.

“Wait, Mr. Lin. There are a few things I’d like to say to you.”

Lin Xiao was surprised that Chen Xin had called him back, but he could only sit down again.

“Of course, madam. Is there something I can help you with?”

“My surname is Chen. I grew up with Xu Tao, and we’ve been close friends ever since. I heard he had made a new friend whom he valued very highly, so I became curious and came to take a look.”

From that simple statement, Lin Xiao extracted two important pieces of information.

First, she had come because of him—or rather, because of Xu Tao.

Second, she had no intention of forming any deep connection with him. When introducing herself, she had given only her surname, not even her given name.

Perhaps it was disdain. Perhaps it was simply an instinctive desire to keep her distance. Either way, Lin Xiao did not care. He nodded and said, “Madam Chen, I’m also surprised that Mr. Xu values me so highly. But as far as I’m concerned, our relationship is mainly that between a merchant and a customer.”

Chen Xin was slightly taken aback by his answer.

She had not expected Lin Xiao to put it that way.

In her experience, most people would do anything to forge a connection with their circle.

Yet this man before her was taking the initiative to maintain his distance?

Still, Chen Xin did not dwell on it. In her eyes, how Lin Xiao viewed their relationship was unimportant. She abruptly changed the subject.

“I heard you received a watch from a woman. Being handsome really does have its advantages!”

Her gaze drifted toward the Time watch on Lin Xiao’s wrist.

To be honest, Chen Xin’s behavior made Lin Xiao somewhat displeased.

Refusing to experience his food memory could be explained as a personal choice. It did not necessarily mean she looked down on him; perhaps some people simply disliked food.

But the implication in her last remark was far too obvious.

What did she mean by “being handsome really does have its advantages”?

She was clearly not complimenting him. She was mocking him for living off a woman.

Lin Xiao had no idea where Chen Xin’s hostility came from.

When she had helped him draw everyone’s ire earlier, he had assumed she bore him some goodwill.

Lin Xiao sighed. “To be honest, I didn’t want to grow up looking like this either. Being good-looking always leads to misunderstandings. I’m sure Madam Chen has experienced the same thing?”

Chen Xin fell silent.

Lin Xiao’s answer had surprised her yet again.

He had refuted her malicious insinuation while slipping in a compliment of his own, remaining neither servile nor arrogant.

Chen Xin laughed. “Xu Tao said you weren’t very good with words. I don’t think that’s true at all.”

Lin Xiao shook his head. “I really am not good with words. I only know how to tell the truth.”

The sincerity in his tone made even Chen Xin believe him.

She had heard countless compliments in her life and possessed considerable experience distinguishing flattery from genuine praise.

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“You think I’m pretty?” Chen Xin changed direction once again.

“Yes. Not merely pretty—you’re exceptionally beautiful. Don’t you know that yourself?” Lin Xiao answered sincerely.

Women who were beautiful without realizing it were usually only pretending.

Chen Xin naturally knew that her appearance was extraordinary, but she rarely received praise in that regard.

In recent years, the only people who complimented her looks were her elders, and the way elders judged people was…

Everyone else who praised her wanted something from her. Afraid that she might misunderstand their intentions, they did not dare comment on her appearance at all.

Although Chen Xin already had someone she liked, she still enjoyed hearing such direct praise from Lin Xiao.

If an ordinary man had said something like that, she might have considered it harassment. But when a handsome man said it, it became a compliment.

“Then tell me. What exactly is beautiful about me?” Chen Xin asked with a smile.

Lin Xiao studied her seriously, his gaze clear and candid.

“Your beauty doesn’t lie in the delicacy of your features, but in the aura you were born with. It’s….”

He paused briefly, as though thinking.

“Intellectual and poised. Someone with your bearing must have a personality to match. I’m certain that you’re beautiful from the inside out.”

When complimenting a woman’s appearance, one should never vaguely call her cute or pretty, much less praise her breasts or legs. The best approach was to begin with her overall bearing.

That brief pause in the middle was especially effective. Thinking for a moment before answering made the words seem as though they had come straight from the heart.

Taken as a whole, it was practically a textbook routine from some heartless seducer’s handbook.

But Lin Xiao, a straightforward man, knew nothing of such techniques. Guided only by sincerity, he had achieved the same result.

His words had gone straight to Chen Xin’s heart.

He knows how to talk! Say a few more things!

But after finishing that one sentence, Lin Xiao closed his mouth and said nothing more.

Chen Xin waited for quite some time, but when no follow-up came, she could only ask helplessly, “You praised me so highly. What about Miss Yang? Is she more beautiful than I am?”

“Yes.”

Lin Xiao answered without the slightest hesitation.

Chen Xin fell silent again.

I just praised you for knowing how to talk. Don’t you realize that answering like this is practically suicide?

Suppressing her anger, Chen Xin asked, “Shouldn’t you say that every woman has her own kind of beauty, and that it’s difficult to compare them directly?”

Lin Xiao could already feel the sharpness in her gaze, but he could only answer honestly.

“That’s only true when the difference isn’t too great,” he said, forcing himself to keep going.

Chen Xin’s eyes widened.

The difference really was enormous. If Chen Xin was already among the highest tier of beauties, then Miss Yang was practically celestial. No matter how beautiful a mortal might be, she could never be compared with a heavenly immortal.

“Do you even know how to talk?”

“Didn’t you just say I was good with words? So which is it? Am I good with words or not?”

“You….” Chen Xin faltered. “You’re completely hopeless!”

“No wonder I can’t find a girlfriend.”

Chen Xin fell silent once more.

With a single sentence, Lin Xiao had completely cut off her response.

“Can’t find a girlfriend? What about Miss Yang? Is she unsuitable?”

“No. She and I are simply business partners.”

“In your eyes, she’s that beautiful. You’ve never felt even a little tempted?”

“At most, that would be physical desire. If we were truly going to become a couple, there would also have to be emotional affection.”

Lin Xiao thought of the probing look in Miss Yang’s eyes whenever they met, as though she were examining a specimen.

Under such circumstances, how could affection possibly arise?

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Lin Xiao spoke with complete sincerity. Chen Xin smiled.

“You’re very honest. People like you are rare these days.”

The moment she finished speaking, the atmosphere around her changed abruptly. Her smiling eyes became as sharp as blades.

“Have you guessed Xu Tao’s Pain Oath?”

The air seemed to freeze.

Lin Xiao felt a chill run down his back, as though he had become prey in the sights of a beast.

Lin Xiao fell silent.

This was an extremely difficult question to answer. A Pain Oath was the most important secret a person possessed.

Even if someone became a supreme transcendent, an enemy who learned their Pain Oath could still easily kill them by luring them into breaking it.

Lin Xiao now understood why Chen Xin had come today. Xu Tao was extremely important to her, and she wanted to determine whether Lin Xiao could become a hidden threat.

If he admitted it, would Chen Xin attack him immediately?

The problem was that he could not lie. He did not even dare to brush the matter off with a joke.

Lin Xiao could only say helplessly, “I haven’t confirmed it, but I do have a vague suspicion.”

“You actually dare to admit it? Xu Tao is a very important person to me.”

Lin Xiao felt an invisible pressure bearing down on him.

Chen Xin narrowed her eyes slightly. She did not raise her voice, yet every word fell with the weight of a thousand measures.

“Do you know that, based on that one sentence alone, I could make sure you never open your eyes again?”

The temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees, but Lin Xiao merely replied, “If Xu Tao’s oath really is what I suspect, then what good would killing me do? There must always be someone in this position. If you kill me, will everyone else somehow become safer?”

The tense atmosphere suddenly relaxed, and Chen Xin smiled.

With a light flick of her slender finger, a gold-edged business card landed in front of Lin Xiao.

“I enjoyed speaking with you today, and I think highly of you. As long as you behave yourself, come to me if you ever need anything.”

Lin Xiao knew that he had passed Chen Xin’s test. She had officially placed him among the people worth winning over.

Still, wasn’t she being a little too confident in that promise?

He picked up the business card.

Chen Xin?

So that was her name. Her position was…

Lin Xiao immediately shouted inwardly:

Damn! That really is an incredible position!

She was the second-highest official in Donghai City’s tax authority!

In this world, there was no separate administration responsible for industry and commerce.

Given the relatively low level of administrative efficiency, approval of commercial organizations was usually combined with tax collection.

That meant Chen Xin could control not only Lin Xiao’s business license, but also his taxes. She held both the carrot and the stick, and manipulating him would be effortless.

Conversely, protecting him would be just as easy.

Lin Xiao felt as though he had found a powerful patron.

And she was only twenty-five. Her future held limitless possibilities.

This was no ordinary patron. This was a golden one.

Chen Xin then pulled a pen and paper from her shoulder bag, swiftly wrote a line, and handed it to Lin Xiao.

“Take this approval slip. Go to the tax bureau tomorrow and complete the tax-exemption procedures.”

“This….” Lin Xiao did not take it.

“Two hundred thousand in tax exemptions for one year.”

Lin Xiao immediately snatched it from her hand.

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