Chapter 54: Why Is There Still Someone Here? The Eerie Coincidence Theory!

After Chu Lin drove away from the farm, Zhong Lei and Ah Pao waited a while.
Seeing no sign of movement, Ah Pao said, “Boss Zhong, there’s definitely no one left inside. Should I go in now?”
Unable to resist the opportunity before him, Zhong Lei nodded in agreement.
Seeing this, Ah Pao didn’t hesitate. From the back seat, he pulled out two pairs of stockings, grabbed one, and pulled it over his head.
“Where did you get those? They smell so strong,” Zhong Lei asked, puzzled.
“Last night, I went to the 9:30 foot massage at room 46 and pulled these off there!” Ah Pao replied offhandedly. “Felt like I might need them.”
Zhong Lei thought of the age of the woman in room 46 and felt his cheek twitching.
Ah Pao really must be starving to have such a heavy taste.
Without hesitation, Ah Pao grabbed a small bag, got out of the car, and ran straight toward the farm.
He didn’t want to waste any time.
But he had no idea that, inside the farm, Liu Xiao—on her first day of work—was staring dumbfounded at the surveillance feed, watching him running toward the farm with stockings over his head.
Ah Pao rushed into the farm at top speed, searching for the breeding pools, when suddenly he stared in shock to the side. There, a man as burly as an ox was glaring at him intently.
Beside him was a pack of dogs.
Ah Pao was stunned.
He’d been watching for three days—weren’t there only supposed to be two people?
Why was there suddenly another person?
Where did this guy come from?
Looking at the man’s ox-like build and the dogs, then at his own slight frame, Ah Pao instinctively swallowed hard.
Woof, woof!
Da Huang and Er Huang barked and immediately lunged at him.
“Damn…” Ah Pao panicked and started running aimlessly.
The big man was blocking the main gate, so he could only run around the yard, knocking over tables, basins, and buckets, spilling water everywhere.
...
At the street corner, Zhong Lei was still waiting in the car, trusting Ah Pao—after all, this wasn’t his first time doing this sort of thing.
But just as he was thinking, he suddenly heard Ah Pao’s wail: “Ouch, my butt!”
He looked up, bewildered, and saw Ah Pao being chased out of the farm by two dogs, only to be tackled and pinned to the ground by a burly man, his arms twisted behind his back.
Zhong Lei was dumbfounded.
Weren’t there only supposed to be two people? Where did this ox-like guy come from?
How did Ah Pao mess this up?
He instantly forgot how confident he’d just been in Ah Pao.
“Useless,” Zhong Lei cursed angrily.
He was just considering whether to drive over and rescue Ah Pao when a police patrol car happened to pass by.
Startled, Zhong Lei immediately turned the car around and fled.
Now was not the time to get himself involved.
Besides, he’d agreed with Ah Pao when handing over the deposit: if caught, don’t implicate him, and the deposit didn’t need to be returned.
This wasn’t the first time, either. Attempted theft only got you a few days in jail, after all.
So, he still felt at ease.
Given the situation, he’d just have to find another opportunity later.
...
Meanwhile, Chu Lin followed the location Li Qian sent him and parked his car in a lot on Qing Shang Street.

Qing Shang Street was near the suburbs, but it was bustling.
Several commercial buildings gathered nearby, so many white-collar workers came here for coffee or milk tea team-building after work.
But instead of rushing to the café Li Qian had messaged him, he searched for a nearby flower shop.
In a place popular with young professionals, there was bound to be a flower shop.
Since he guessed Li Qian would have company, he had to put on a good show to elevate her status.
If she was happy, he could better study various reformative postures later—those oysters he’d eaten wouldn’t be wasted.
Soon, he emerged from the shop with a bouquet of ninety-nine roses and two exquisite gift boxes containing Atlantis pearls.
As he made his way toward the café Li Qian mentioned, his phone buzzed with a string of WeChat messages:
“I already told you we’re divorced.”
“Can’t you just respond to me?”
“Chu Lin, didn’t you like when I used my mouth…?”
“I can take you on the road less traveled…”
...
Chu Lin was speechless at the seductive messages from his first love.
What was this situation?
Because of the divorce, did she really want another taste of him?
He replied curtly, “I have a girlfriend now.”
He didn’t even give her a chance to respond—he simply deleted and blocked her.
He collected himself and headed to the café Li Qian had sent.
The moment he walked in, he spotted her at once.
Li Qian, in a simple gray short-sleeved top and shorts, had draped a gray-and-white light jacket over her shoulders—since it was near the suburbs and breezy at night. Yet, even in such a simple outfit, she stood out, exuding an intense and alluring innocence that drew every eye the moment he entered.
Truly, she was not just a clothes hanger—no matter what she wore, she radiated pure charm; she was a true treasure of a girl.
Chu Lin had to admit, of all the exes he’d been deeply involved with or the girls he’d briefly shared passion with, none could compare to Li Qian in this regard.
He thought of the naughty pictures she’d sent him at the farm, then glanced at her simple outfit now. She could switch styles effortlessly—innocence was her permanent allure.
“Chu Lin, over here,” Li Qian called out as soon as she saw him.
After all, carrying such a large bouquet on entry was eye-catching, and he was handsome to boot. He could even hear three girls at a nearby table whispering about the good-looking guy who’d just arrived.
Chu Lin’s entrance was certainly attention-grabbing—ninety-nine roses weren’t small.
No girl could resist flowers, and even the men looked at him with a bit of envy.
Dude, was it really necessary to bring such a huge bouquet to a café date?
Clearly, most men here didn’t know how to be romantic—most came empty-handed or didn’t want to spend the money.
But when Chu Lin handed the flowers to Li Qian, the men’s envy vanished instantly.
So it was for this beautiful girl.
They’d already noticed her.
If their girlfriends looked like her, they’d bring a hundred roses, no question.
“Are you here alone?” Chu Lin handed the flowers to Li Qian, surprised he’d guessed wrong.
Li Qian accepted the bouquet, her face brimming with happiness.
She thought Chu Lin was truly thoughtful.
Look at the girls in the café—who wouldn’t envy her?
So, she couldn’t help but tease, “I’m with my cousin. She just got her heart broken by a jerk and went to the restroom to cry. Tonight, she wanted to meet my boyfriend, so I invited you. You’re not mad, are you?”
After all, she wasn’t really Chu Lin’s girlfriend, but a man’s affection gives a girl courage, so she told the truth.
Chu Lin smiled.
If he’d been angry, he wouldn’t have come.
He’d already guessed as much.

“Qian, your boyfriend is—hmm?” A familiar, exceptionally gentle voice sounded beside Chu Lin’s ear.
He froze.
Could it really be such a coincidence?
That voice was so familiar, and it always made him melt when he heard it.
He turned, and sure enough, a stunning married woman in a strapless, body-hugging minidress stood before him.
That familiar face.
His eyes widened in shock.
In front of him was none other than his first love, Li Siyu, whom he’d just deleted and blocked.
Wait a minute!
Hadn’t Li Qian just said her cousin got hurt by a jerk?
Was she talking about him?
Damn, she must’ve blamed him for their breakup all over her friend circle.
“Chu—” Li Siyu nearly blurted out his name the moment she saw him.
She was just as stunned.
Her cousin’s supposedly handsome and caring boyfriend was her ex, whom she’d just been blocked by?
So when he said he had a girlfriend, he meant her cousin?
She was instantly overwhelmed.
Only Li Qian, oblivious to the tense atmosphere, pulled Li Siyu to sit and happily introduced, “Sis, this is my boyfriend, Chu Lin.”
Chu Lin glanced at Li Qian instinctively.
How had things suddenly become so awkward?
No, this wasn’t just awkward—this was downright bizarre.
How did Li Qian end up being his first love’s cousin?
He’d been with Li Siyu for a long time and had never met her.
Then he remembered: the first time Li Siyu tricked him into drinking and took full advantage of him, he was only seventeen.
Li Qian must have still been in school then.
Now he finally believed in those “ghostly coincidence” theories you read about online.
The kind where you desperately want to avoid someone, but the moment you spontaneously attend a friend’s gathering, you run into them.
At least this wasn’t as bad as that online story about a guy who went to a club to see the infamous technician “Number 99,” only to find out she was his girlfriend.
Chu Lin, having weathered many storms with women, quickly composed himself and greeted Li Siyu as though nothing had happened. “Hello, I’m Chu Lin. Nice to meet you for the first time.”
Li Siyu stared at him, speechless.
First time meeting?
How could he say that with such a straight face?
Thinking of how he’d just blocked her, she glared at him and said, “Chu Lin, since you’re my cousin’s boyfriend, would you mind adding me on WeChat?”
With that, she handed him her QR code.
She even said to Li Qian by way of notification, “Qian, you don’t mind if I add Chu Lin on WeChat, do you?”
“Of course not, it’s just WeChat,” Li Qian replied without a second thought.
Chu Lin opened his mouth but felt as if fate was on repeat.
But, with Li Qian right there, he could only pretend to be calm and scanned Li Siyu’s QR code to add her.
Li Siyu immediately accepted and even sent him a smiling emoji.
Damn it…