Fang Zhiyuan's Greeting and a Diamond Card

The comfortable air-conditioning in the hallway carried a post-meal languor over the four residents of Room 504.

Han Dong walked at the front, rubbing his bulging belly with one hand while humming to himself as he savored the memory of the plates of charcoal-grilled wagyu that had melted in his mouth.

Lu Chuan lagged half a step behind.

His gaze passed through the half-closed wooden lattice on the outer side of the hallway and fell on an open-air garden tea room not far away.

The figure who had waved to him sat upright at the tea table.

The moment Lu Chuan recognized him, his pace naturally slowed.

"You guys go back to the private room first."

Lu Chuan stopped and looked at the three ahead of him, his tone perfectly casual.

"I ran into someone I know. I'm going over to say hello."

Han Dong's mind was full of thoughts of getting back and plunging into the steaming private bath. Hearing this, he didn't even turn around, merely waving a hand vaguely.

"Go on, go on."

He let out a long, drawn-out burp.

"Come back soon. I had a look at the private bath earlier, and it's huge. The four of us could play mahjong in there with room to spare."

As the host footing the bill today, Chen Ziang had the young master's sense of propriety and attention to appearances well in hand.

He stopped and glanced back at Lu Chuan.

"All right, go ahead."

Chen Ziang slipped one hand into his bathrobe pocket and lifted his chin slightly, putting on the air of someone leading the outing.

"This place is big. If you get lost, call me anytime."

Lu Chuan nodded.

Zhao Yifan, who hadn't said a word, stood to one side and quietly glanced at Lu Chuan.

He didn't ask a single question, merely tucking his suspicions away before following Chen Ziang and the others back.

After watching his roommates walk away, Lu Chuan turned and stepped out of the main hallway.

He passed through a moon gate into the garden tea area, where it was noticeably quieter and the light softer.

There was no access control here to keep people at arm's length, nor were there any guards on duty.

But the location was secluded and surrounded by ornamental rockeries and streams. Ordinary diners usually went straight to the baths after eating, and few made a detour to such a quiet corner.

The man who had waved to him beside the greenery was Fang Zhiyuan.

Fang Zhiyuan wasn't wearing one of the club's standard bathrobes today.

He wore a custom-made bathrobe of dark gray Sea Island cotton, without any flashy embroidery or logos. The fabric was excellent and draped beautifully. At this club, the more understated an outfit appeared, the more it conveyed a weight that made people afraid to look directly at it.

Lu Chuan walked up to him.

When the two met, there was no handshake calculated to curry favor, as in the business world, nor any deliberately raised voices in a show of warmth.

It was as if they had naturally run into an old neighbor they knew well while walking down the street.

Fang Zhiyuan held a small purple-clay teacup and watched Lu Chuan approach.

"I didn't expect you to like coming here to relax too."

Fang Zhiyuan spoke first, his tone carrying an elder's warmth mixed with just the right touch of surprise.

"This place isn't close to Jiang University. Even driving here takes a while."

Lu Chuan sat down in the empty seat across the tea table.

He looked at Fang Zhiyuan calmly, without the slightest fluster at unexpectedly meeting the president of the Jiangcheng Chamber of Commerce here.

"Uncle Fang."

Lu Chuan greeted him and gave a straightforward answer.

"Military training just ended, so I came over with my roommates to take a break."

His answer made things clear, explaining why he was there without any unnecessary words.

Fang Zhiyuan smiled and nodded.

He set down his teacup and poured freshly brewed hot tea into the empty cup in front of Lu Chuan.

"Military training is hard work. You certainly deserve to unwind."

Fang Zhiyuan followed the topic, his tone relaxed.

"Are you settling in at Quiet Garden? The school year just started, and there must be all sorts of odds and ends to deal with. Has everything gone smoothly?"

Lu Chuan picked up his teacup.

"I've settled in well. The house is very quiet."

He took a sip of tea and put down the cup.

"Everything at school has just been routine procedures too. Nothing troublesome."

Fang Zhiyuan leaned back against his wicker chair.

He observed Lu Chuan without showing it.

A money-burning den like the Hot Spring Spa Club was luxurious and expensive, with a rigid class hierarchy evident everywhere.

Ordinary young people couldn't get into the Hot Spring Spa Club, even if their families had some money.

The first time young people entered a place like this, they would inevitably give themselves away in one way or another.

Some looked around with awkward, uneasy eyes.

Some held their bodies stiff while pretending to be calm.

Others put on a slick, practiced air, as though they knew everything there was to know.

But Lu Chuan did none of those things.

The way he sat there drinking tea, the way he looked at the surrounding screens and water features.

It was as if he belonged there.

In his eyes, the grandeur and rules here seemed no different from those of an ordinary roadside teahouse.

Fang Zhiyuan couldn't help recalling the scene when he handed over Quiet Garden a little over a month ago.

That tea he had treasured.

The kind of tea that money couldn't buy, available only within a tiny handful of core circles in the Capital.

Lu Chuan had taken a sip and casually remarked that it tasted much like what he had drunk back in the alley where his family lived in the Capital.

That casual way of treating top-tier resources as part of everyday life simply couldn't be faked.

Fang Zhiyuan swiftly pieced together all the fragments of his interactions with Lu Chuan over this period.

His background in the Capital.

The spending habits and orderly way of life he had displayed when buying the large flat at Quiet Garden, utterly unlike those of an eighteen-year-old student.

A cash flow of tens of millions, casually used to pay the full price upfront.

And the steady way he handled affairs, neither hurried nor impatient, with an excellent sense of boundaries and when to leave room.

Together, these things formed a vivid and unfathomable image.

The more Fang Zhiyuan thought about it, the more certain he became.

He looked at Lu Chuan, the smile in his eyes deepening.

The two chatted a little longer.

As if suddenly remembering something, Fang Zhiyuan raised a hand and beckoned to a supervisor standing at a bend in the corridor not far away.

The supervisor, dressed in a dark tailcoat with a club senior management badge pinned to his chest, immediately trotted over.

His steps were extremely light. When he stopped beside Fang Zhiyuan, his expression was restrained but conveyed absolute respect.

"Mr. Fang, what can I do for you?"

Fang Zhiyuan dispensed with lengthy pleasantries.

He simply reached out and casually gestured toward Lu Chuan, who was sitting across from him.

"This is Lu Chuan."

Fang Zhiyuan spoke softly, but his words carried an unquestionable weight.

"He's studying in Jiangcheng and will come by now and then."

He picked up his teacup and got straight to the point.

"Go to the back office and enter it into the system. Set Lu Chuan up with a diamond membership. Skip the troublesome asset verification and referrer screening procedures."

A single sentence.

Delivered casually.

Yet it crushed the strict barriers to entry here and, in the most direct way possible, opened the widest green channel for an acquaintance.

The supervisor didn't so much as blink, much less offer any nonsense about it being against the rules.

He agreed promptly and professionally.

"Certainly, Mr. Fang."

The supervisor immediately bowed slightly and turned to Lu Chuan, his manner even more respectful.

"Mr. Lu, I'll personally deliver your exclusive diamond card to your private room once it's ready. You only need to provide some basic identification details."

This sudden gift of the highest level.

Had it been Chen Ziang, who had been showing off his family's gold membership in the lobby just now, he would probably have been too excited to speak properly.

But Lu Chuan only paused briefly.

He didn't pretend to be overwhelmed by the favor.

Nor did he put on a false show of refusing it back and forth, playing at hollow courtesy.

"Uncle Fang."

Lu Chuan looked at Fang Zhiyuan, his tone calm and frank.

"You don't need to go to all that trouble."

Fang Zhiyuan waved a hand, with the easy consideration of an elder looking after someone younger.

"It's no trouble."

He smiled.

"Since you'll be staying in Jiangcheng for a few years, even though this place is a little far from your school, it's still somewhere you can spend some time in peace."

"I can't have you going through the ordinary guests' queuing process every time you bring classmates here in the future. With a card, coming and going will be more convenient."

His words took it for granted that Lu Chuan would use this place as a retreat from the bustle now and then.

Lu Chuan understood.

So he stopped standing on ceremony, nodded readily, and accepted the favor that had been so conveniently offered.

"All right. Thank you, Uncle Fang."

Seeing that everything had been arranged, the supervisor tactfully withdrew at once and went to the back office to process the membership information.

Lu Chuan remained in his seat.

He didn't chase after the supervisor to ask exactly what extravagant free benefits a diamond membership card included.

Nor did he show even the slightest curiosity about a card that countless people fought tooth and nail to obtain.

In his previous life, he had been all too familiar with every hidden privilege here.

But in Fang Zhiyuan's eyes, that utterly unruffled reaction became his most dazzling quality.

Fang Zhiyuan raised his teacup, hiding the satisfied curve of his lips.

As he saw it, the composure to face top-tier privileges without even the slightest change in breathing was the natural reaction of someone who had truly seen the wider world.

If Lu Chuan had shown even the slightest surprise just now,

Fang Zhiyuan would instead have lowered his assessment of him a notch or two.

Now, Fang Zhiyuan felt more strongly than ever that befriending this young man had been an excellent move.

The tea was topped up again.

Lu Chuan was about to say goodbye and return to the three roommates still waiting for him.

Just then.

Fang Zhiyuan suddenly raised his eyes and looked past Lu Chuan's shoulder toward the far end of the tea corridor.

A smile appeared on his ever-composed face, measured just right.

"Speak of Cao Cao, and Cao Cao arrives."

Fang Zhiyuan set down his teacup and tipped his chin slightly in that direction.

Lu Chuan followed his gaze and turned his head.

At the end of the wooden corridor.

A middle-aged man was walking toward their table at an unhurried pace.

He wore a custom-made dark gray Sea Island cotton bathrobe identical in style to Fang Zhiyuan's. It had no unnecessary decoration, yet on him it took on an air of profound scholarship and the authority of someone long accustomed to giving orders from above.

His steps were steady, and even in a relaxed setting like this, his back remained perfectly straight. His eyes held the wisdom of someone accustomed to surveying the bigger picture.

Fang Zhiyuan turned his gaze back to Lu Chuan.

"Perfect timing."

The smile remained on his face as he gestured forward, his tone carrying a familiarity found only within a very small circle.

"Let me introduce you."

"An old friend of mine."