Chapter 7: Chapter 7 Is His Second Uncle Really a Swindler?

Zhang Xinxin’s full name is Zhang Xinxin, one year younger than Lin Chuan, currently a senior in college, working on her graduation design at home.

At this moment, she stood outside Lin Chuan’s rental, wearing a cartoon sweatshirt on top and gray cotton sweatpants below, a seemingly ordinary outfit that couldn’t hide her voluptuous figure.

Her skin was also very fair, dewy as if water would ooze out when pinched.

Lin Chuan sighed, this is youth.

The only downside was her love for short videos, which Lin Chuan had caught her watching more than once.

It was somewhat embarrassing.

Zhang Xinxin’s expression was a bit off, “Lin Chuan, I was thinking…”

Lin Chuan stepped back, “Zhang, I know Old Zhang was arrested, and you’re not in a good mood right now, needing to do something enjoyable, but I’m not just anyone.”

Zhang Xinxin frowned and looked at him irritably, “What are you fantasizing about!”

“Then what do you want with me?” Lin Chuan asked.

“Your lease agreement expires next month, are you going to renew it?”

Lin Chuan nodded.

Zhang Xinxin took out the lease agreement from her sweatshirt pocket and handed it to Lin Chuan, “Have a look for any problems, if there are none, then sign it.”

Lin Chuan glanced at the Little Landlady, then turned his attention to the contract.

Geez, the rent had gone up by 200 yuan.

Zhang Xinxin pursed her lips, “In this area, our rent is the lowest, even with an increase of 200 yuan, we are still the lowest.”

Lin Chuan’s face darkened.

The original rent was 800 yuan per month, now it had increased to 1000 yuan, wiping out a month’s earnings from writing.

Life, already tight, became even tougher.

Lin Chuan thought for a moment, then asked, “Zhang, interested in having a game?”

Zhang Xinxin frowned, puzzled, “Having a game?”

dudu provides full protection, pursue love with all your heart.

Have a game!

Lin Chuan smiled, “Cough, I mean, how about playing poker?”

Zhang Xinxin’s frown deepened, “Are you using slang? Is it a serious game of poker?”

“Serious!” Lin Chuan said with an awkward smile.

“No,” Zhang Xinxin flatly refused.

“Er…”

Lin Chuan furrowed his brows, why wasn’t the plot developing as expected?

If she played poker, then I would just let her lose all the rent money.

But she flat out refused to play poker?

Invincible!

Could it be she wanted to play some dishonest game of poker?

Before Lin Chuan could think further, he heard Zhang Xinxin say, “Old Zhang went to jail over card games, I don’t want to follow in his footsteps.”

“All right, why the sudden rent increase?”

Lin Chuan asked with confusion.

Last time they met, Lin Chuan heard Old Zhang say he hadn’t thought about raising the rent, so he had felt that the landlord was quite conscientious.

Now, out of the blue, the rent had increased.

Zhang Xinxin bit her lip, “Old Zhang lost six hundred thousand last night, so he decided to raise the rent a little.”

Lin Chuan’s eyes widened, his face twitched, “How much did you say!?”

“Six hundred thousand.”

Zhang Xinxin pursed her lips.

Good grief!

Six hundred thousand!

Lin Chuan was taken aback.

He had experienced the life of a swindler last night, had seen a lot of money; six hundred thousand didn’t seem much to ‘Mr. Lin.’

But that was, after all, a fictional life.

In reality, Lin Chuan couldn’t even be considered ‘small fry’, belonging to those dragging down the GDP, having barely made any money and lacking strong purchasing power.

And what about the landlord Old Zhang?

Six hundred thousand, lost just like that.

Gambling is harmful!

Old Zhang’s loss resulted in my rent going up by 200 yuan, I’m always the one who gets hurt.

“So, are you going to renew your lease?” Zhang Xinxin blinked and asked.

“I will.”

Lin Chuan nodded his head.

In this neighborhood, Old Zhang’s rents were over three hundred lower than others, indeed there was none lower than his.

Before earning any money, I would have to continue living here.

“Give me this month’s utilities for free,” Lin Chuan said. “In exchange, I can provide you with a legit website, which has what you want to see.”

Zhang Xinxin looked up at Lin Chuan, “What’s the website?”

Lin Chuan smiled and sent the legitimate website to Zhang Xinxin, then watched as the Little Landlady left.

Back at his computer.

Lin Chuan started on the serious business and reviewed the beginning of “Swindler’s Life” again.

‘I am a swindler.’

‘I am the king who turns the tables at the gambling table.’

‘Once, I made a fortune overnight.’

‘Once, I lost my wife and children.’

‘I want to use “Swindler’s Life” to tell you the simplest truth.’

‘The moment you sit at the gambling table, you’ve already lost in life.’

‘Nine out of ten gambles are deceitful!’

‘Ten out of ten gambles are losses!’

‘Not gambling is the only way to be the ultimate winner.’

‘…’

Lin Chuan reviewed it very carefully.

Then, he opened Youyou’s chat window, sent the file, and attached a message, “Youyou, this is the first 20,000 words of my new book. Please review the manuscript for me.”

What’s left was waiting for Youyou’s review and reply.

“Wrong, I still need to eat!”

Only then did Lin Chuan remember that he hadn’t even had breakfast and was now so hungry that his stomach clung to his back.

He really couldn’t face instant noodles anymore.

It was better to go out for a bite.

…

At noon, the sunshine was brilliant.

Youyou made a cup of instant coffee and stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows of the company office building.

Outside the window, the skyscrapers of Modu were staggered, twinkling with specks of silver in the bright sunlight, like stars fallen to earth.

She took a sip of coffee, slightly bitter.

It picked her up a bit, and she returned to her workstation.

It should have been her lunch break, but she had “voluntarily” stayed to work overtime.

Every industry was highly competitive.

At Sailing Novel Website, the editing department implemented a system where the bottom performers got eliminated.

Her performance over the past two years had also always been mediocre.

If her performance remained the same this year, by the end of the year, she would be eliminated.

Ding-ding-ding!

A message notification popped up on her computer.

Youyou glanced at it.

Message from: Lin Chuan.

Youyou had a pretty deep impression of Lin Chuan.

Lin Chuan had always followed her, and although his performance was always disappointing, he persisted and never stopped updating.

“Swindler?”

Youyou muttered as she looked at the file sent by Lin Chuan, “Did he really write it?”

Youyou initially thought that Lin Chuan was just impulsive and that once he really started writing, he would know the obstacles everywhere, be at a loss for how to proceed, and then give up.

To her surprise, Lin Chuan churned out a hefty 20,000-word beginning.

“Let’s see if you’re a real swindler or just a toothpick.”

Youyou murmured to herself, tauntingly, and opened Lin Chuan’s “Swindler’s Life” with interest.

‘I am a swindler… Not gambling is the way to be the ultimate winner.’

At the beginning, Youyou couldn’t help but put aside her condescension a bit, “These opening sections do have a bit of gambler’s confessional tone, not bad for someone who has flopped for years.”

She read on.

‘My surname is Lin, no name, just call me Mr. Lin.’

‘My father was a gambler.’

‘In the year I turned seven, he was hacked to death on the street, leaving not a single last word.’

‘I hid in the alley and witnessed it all.’

‘…’

Youyou’s eyebrows furrowed more and more firmly.

Only after reading the entire 20,000 words did she take a deep breath.

Pure swindler flavor!

Without decades of a swindler’s experience, one couldn’t write such a beginning.

Editor Youyou couldn’t help muttering, “Could it be that his uncle really is a swindler?”