Forcing Me to Be Reborn?!
Chapter 436 - 354: A Special Kiss

Chapter 436: Chapter 354: A Special Kiss

[Partner], the top magnate within a venture capital firm.

Under normal circumstances, the status of a partner is higher than an MD (Managing Director), making them the most powerful figures within the venture capital firm.

Only in some exceptional venture capital firms is the Managing Director the top leader.

But any remarkable venture capital firm indicates that becoming a partner means you’re already a bigwig in the industry, with very prominent strength and status in the circle.

Yue Lingjing’s uncle was a [Partner] at Shanghai’s Pulin Capital, so he had the authority to make such statements.

You could just search his name in Baidu and the results would make your jaw drop.

In fact, not just a partner at Shanghai’s Pulin Capital, even partners from Tiancheng Capital that Cheng Zhu had rejected were considered top-tier figures in Hang City.

In the top ten venture capital brand rankings published in 2014, although Shanghai’s Pulin Capital didn’t make the list, regrettably not entering the top ten, they were at the very pinnacle of the second tier.

Inside the circle, many people felt that Pulin Capital was not inferior to some in the top ten.

Yue Lingjing quickly got in touch with Cheng Zhu and relayed her overbearing uncle’s name as instructed.

"Yue Dongyi, shares the same surname as Yue?" Cheng Zhu was first surprised by the last name.

Since he was an uncle, he and Yue Lingjing’s mother should have the same last name.

From this, it could be inferred that either Yue Lingjing’s parents both had the surname Yue, or, Yue Lingjing’s father was what one might call... a live-in son-in-law!

After looking up information on Yue Dongyi, Cheng Zhu was equally astonished.

"Never would I have thought, her uncle is actually a bigwig in the investment circle!"

Moreover, at the mere age of 26, he had made an investment of 5 million US Dollars.

This investment brought him instant fame within the industry, and he went on to uncover quite a few projects beneath the surface, becoming a bigwig in the investment circle.

However, where this 5 million US Dollars came from when he was 26 warranted deep thought.

Either he was a terrifying young talent who dared to throw around 5 million US Dollars at such a young age during that era, which was quite horrifying.

Or the Yue family was no ordinary family.

Cheng Zhu personally felt the latter was more likely.

"It feels like this Yue Dongyi and our Shen Minglang are two extremes," Cheng Zhu thought to himself.

One was a legendary figure in the investment world with an incredibly keen business sense.

The other was a ruthless entrepreneur in the startup world, with a diverse range of ways to squander wealth.

Considering all aspects, Cheng Zhu was very eager to meet Yue Dongyi.

Because this person had several strokes of genius in his investment history.

Cooperating with such a person could cause a bigger sensation.

Youu Tea would then be directly associated with the projects Yue Dongyi had invested in the past!

This effect was akin to the ingenuity Cheng Zhu had shown when he firstly imitated Starbucks directly.

This was also one of the reasons why he disdained the caliber of Tiancheng Capital in Hang City.

High-end internet-famous milk tea, was the novel business model he had introduced, currently one-of-a-kind nationwide!

Its business model meant it needed to be packaged and hyped on a large scale for the long term.

It couldn’t be low-key; it had to keep flaunting itself! It had to establish its high status!

Thus, Cheng Zhu was already looking forward to the meeting tomorrow.

"Who would have thought, Hu Yan’s junior sister could actually serve the purpose of bridge-building?"

"That’s right, I unilaterally acknowledge you as the beauty queen of our school year!"

"Don’t worry, Jingjing, if the cooperation goes well, I’ll keep your browsing of racy images to myself," Cheng Zhu patted his chest in assurance.

But with that thought, a new concern suddenly struck him.

"Yue Lingjing knows I made my fortune selling QQ lingerie! She knows about my QQ tycoon identity!"

"Would she tell her uncle?"

Thinking this, Cheng Zhu suddenly laughed.

"I was being naive. People in their line of work could easily dig up a lot of information about me."

"In fact, if someone really wanted to delve deep, my QQ lingerie start-up story could still be unearthed."

"It’s the age of big data, even though we’ve just stepped into 2015, it’s just the same, not as transparent as in 2024 but still."

This man quickly adjusted his thinking.

Hence, my identity secret is not so precious!

Jingjing, your indulgence in risqué images, that’s lethal!

Alright then, I have the high ground of information!

...

...

The next day, Cheng Zhu woke up early.

Following Lin Lu’s instructions, he wore a cotton white shirt over his thermal underwear and then donned a black coat on top.

After hearing he was going to meet with an investment magnate that day, Little Lu strongly insisted he dress formally for the outing and told him to wait for her before leaving, as she had something to give to Cheng Zhu.

Cheng Zhu had arranged to meet Yue Dongyi at two in the afternoon.

Hence, he simply chose to have lunch with Lin Lu.

"Where’s my gift?" Cheng Zhu asked.

He could roughly guess what Lin Lu was going to give him.

"I’ll give it to you before you leave, what’s the rush!" The energetic girl insisted on maintaining the mystery.

During the meal, Cheng Zhu seemingly casually asked, "Has Shen Qingning not moved into Xinhang Apartment yet?"

"Yeah, didn’t Shen Minglang tell you?" Lin Lu was slightly surprised.

"Tell me what?"

"Qingning went with him to Yun Province, she said her brother dragged her there forcibly, they went to connect suppliers for your Youu Tea," Lin Lu answered.

"I really didn’t know, Shen Minglang didn’t tell me," Cheng Zhu suspected Shen Qingning had forbidden him from speaking.

Whether it was her own choice to go or Shen Minglang had forcibly taken her was debatable.

The words of a tsundere girl were always of very low credibility.

But this outcome was good; it was one of Cheng Zhu’s intentions.

"Hey! When Qingning comes back, you better reward her well!" Lin Lu surprisingly even started instructing.

"Even though Shen Minglang has now joined Youu Tea, you’re still the big boss, right? You’ve got to show some gratitude!" The vibrant girl added.

"Alright, alright, everything as you wish," Cheng Zhu immediately nodded in agreement.

That was your word, that I should—reward—her—well!

Lin Lu wanted to chat more, but Cheng Zhu didn’t want to talk with her too much on this topic to avoid any slip-ups, so he promptly changed the subject.

"Ai, now that you are living alone in the rental, I’m really worried!" he teased, creating a playful diversion.

Sure enough, the topic was diverted, and they started to banter flirtatiously.

It was the flavor of the early days of romance.

Gradual progress, bit by bit possession.

This process was just like the ambiguous phase, equally exciting.

After lunch, Cheng Zhu dropped Lin Lu back at Xinhang Apartment.

Before getting out of the car, she took out the thing she wanted to give to Cheng Zhu from her bag.

The voice actress, as usual, was full of herself, giving her own voiceover as she brought out the item, theatrically declaring, "Ta-da—!"

As Cheng Zhu expected, it was a tie.

A TB striped tie.

These two years seemed to be precisely when the brand was becoming popular.

"If you’re talking about serious business, you’ve got to dress up formally, see, ’serious business’ and ’formal attire’ rhyme," Lin Lu even started explaining why she bought the tie.

Cheng Zhu chuckled, took the tie to inspect it, and then pretended to be distressed: "That’s a problem! I don’t know how to tie a tie!"

It’s normal for many first-year college guys not to know how to tie a tie, and for many entering society for the first time.

But, if Cheng Zhu didn’t know how to tie one, that would be strange.

He was simply teasing Lin Lu.

"Humph, I do!" The self-satisfied girl immediately switched to boast mode.

She waved Cheng Zhu over, gesturing him to come closer, and offered to help him tie it.

The car’s interior was already cramped, and as both of them leaned forward, they naturally came very close.

In this nearly enclosed space, it seemed as if they could feel each other’s breaths.

At first, Lin Lu was serious about tying the tie, but as she felt Cheng Zhu’s gaze steadily on her face, she couldn’t help but blush slightly.

She was indeed proficient at tying ties, but she soon realized that there was a difference between tying one for herself and tying one for someone else, as the directions were opposite.

This caused the process to go on a bit long, with her fussing back and forth.

"Why are you blushing if you’re just tying a tie for me?"

"Because you’re staring at me!"

"You blush when I look at you?"

"Keep it up and I won’t tie it for you!"

"Seems like you can’t manage it, anyway."

"That’s impossible! I just got the direction wrong, if I loop it this way, it will work!"

After a dozen seconds, Lin Lu finally let out a relieved sigh.

Phew! Finally tied it!

"See, isn’t it tied pretty well?" Lin Lu was extremely satisfied with her work.

But to be honest, Cheng Zhu looked quite different with a tie on.

His temperament was unrelated to gentleness, so he couldn’t be called a scholarly rogue.

Yet he didn’t seem to reach the level of a so-called suit brute.

Wearing formal attire did not restrain his innate unrestrained vibe and rascality; instead, this type of person in somewhat formal clothes had a special kind of appeal.

There’s a saying, glasses are to men as black stockings are to women, and ties are a man’s jewelry.

Cheng Zhu looked down at the tie, which Lin Lu had indeed tied quite professionally.

She had previously propped up Cheng Zhu’s collar, and now she thoughtfully folded it down and straightened it out for him.

After arranging it, Lin Lu began to admire her handiwork, playing with the end of the tie around her finger and smugly said, "My aesthetic isn’t too bad, right? You look quite good with this tie on."

"That’s because the person is handsome," replied Cheng Zhu, equally smugly.

Cheng Zhu looked at her fingers playing with the tie and smiled, "Pull it?"

"What?" Lin Lu didn’t understand at first.

"Pull it," Cheng Zhu repeated, eyes on Lin Lu’s right hand.

With much bewilderment, Little Lu still did as instructed, lightly pulling her finger entwined with the tie.

With that one pulling motion, Cheng Zhu’s neck and body followed, leaning forward. The subtle force was enough to pull such a tall man towards her.

Then he kissed her lips.

...

(ps: First update, asking for monthly tickets.

Further, thank you to the generous contribution from user kk9, Lin Lu’s character level skyrocketed to one-star... She’s about to get her own card!)