Chapter 190 Tired of showing off? A max-level boss enjoying the breeze on the terrace.

Lin Mo, having escaped the crowd, arrived at the rooftop terrace.

Push open the heavy, soundproof double-glazed door.

A biting winter wind swept in instantly.

The murky atmosphere of the banquet hall, filled with expensive perfumes, fine wines, and the pretentiousness of social interactions, was completely shut out behind him.

Lin Mo took a deep breath of the cold air.

The cool sensation coming from his lungs finally calmed his heart, which had been agitated by countless fervent gazes.

He rediscovered a sense of familiar comfort that belonged to Changping Hutong.

Lin Mo casually put his hands in his casual pants pockets.

He leaned forward slightly, casually resting against the cold, icy white marble railing.

The night sky was overcast, and a few fine snowflakes were swirling down from the darkness.

"Finally, some peace and quiet."

Lin Mo muttered something under his breath.

Before he could fully relax, he heard light footsteps behind him.

Immediately afterwards, a soft body with a pleasant fragrance clung to her as if it had no bones.

Jiang Ruoyun clung tightly to Lin Mo's arm with both hands.

She peeked out from behind, resting her chin comfortably on Lin Mo's shoulder.

The girl's breath turned into a cloud of white mist in the cold night air, brushing past Lin Mo's ear and bringing a slight tickle.

"You run pretty fast, Chef Lin."

Jiang Ruoyun smiled, her eyes crinkling, her beautiful peach blossom eyes shining brightly in the night.

Her tone was full of pride, like a victorious swan.

"Today you've rubbed the faces of everyone in the entire Beijing social circle against that mahogany round table."

"Didn't you see that cousin of mine, who usually looks down on everyone else, turn as green as if he'd eaten a raw bitter melon?"

"And those two titans who almost rolled on the ground, I reckon they won't be able to sleep tonight."

Lin Mo turned his head and looked at the beautiful face so close to his.

He reached out and gently pinched Jiang Ruoyun's nose, which was slightly chilled by the cold wind, his tone still indifferent.

"I didn't do anything."

"We just thought the people inside were too noisy, so we cleared the place out after giving the gifts."

Jiang Ruoyun pouted in dissatisfaction and habitually started to be stubborn.

"You call that doing nothing?"

"Do you know how green those uncles and elders were looking at you just now?"

I just secretly glanced back.

"My dad probably doesn't even care about being the richest man anymore. He's probably sleeping on the floor outside the underground vault with a dozen bodyguards."

Upon hearing the girl's report, Lin Mo rubbed his temples, feeling a bit of a headache.

He sighed deeply, gazing at the bustling lights of Beijing's CBD in the distance.

"A miscalculation."

"If I had known that the old man and his relatives would react so dramatically, I should have just bought a Rolex from the mall to appease them."

"Now look at me, those old foxes were looking at me like I was a money tree."

Lin Mo's tone revealed undisguised disdain.

What others would do anything to enter the elite world of fame and fortune, became a huge problem in his eyes.

"I can already picture what tomorrow will look like."

"From now on, those two dilapidated wooden doors in Changping Hutong will probably not be able to keep out these flies trying to get close to us."

Jiang Ruoyun sensed the frustration in his tone and hugged him even tighter.

She nuzzled her little head against his coat collar, like a ragdoll cat guarding its food.

"What are you afraid of?"

"Anyone who dares to bother you at Lin's Restaurant, I'll be the first to kick them all out with a big broom."

"But Lin Mo, I really don't understand."

As Jiang Ruoyun listened to his steady and powerful heartbeat, her tone became somewhat emotional.

"You clearly have such amazing skills; your calligraphy is better than the masters, and your winemaking is better than that of grandmasters."

"Any one of your pieces is enough to put you at the very top of this industry, admired by everyone."

"Why do you always like to curl up behind that shabby cash register and doze off?"

Lin Mo raised his head slightly, looking at the snowflakes falling from the sky.

The image of the courtyard house in Changping Hutong, which he had painstakingly renovated, came to mind.

"What's so great about standing at the top? It's windy and cold."

Lin Mo's voice was soft, carrying a reassuring and relaxing quality.

"Being a cashier is great; you don't have to use your brain or fake smiles."

"When I have free time, I dig up a few pieces of wood in the yard and enjoy the fresh scent of the wood shavings."

"Every morning, I would get up and go to the kitchen to cook a pot of steaming hot mutton soup, listening to the bubbling sound of the clay pot."

"That kind of down-to-earth atmosphere is so much better than just listening to people praising the incense inside."

Jiang Ruoyun listened, somewhat lost in thought.

Those ordinary scenes, spoken by Lin Mo, were more alluring to her than any grand business plan.

The two were enjoying this rare moment of peace and solitude.

Suddenly, a soft footstep sound came from the shadows behind me.

His voice was neither hurried nor slow, and his steps were very steady.

There was no deliberate attempt to be stealthy, nor the crisp sound of leather shoes striking the ground.

Lin Mo did not turn around.

But his body, which had been leaning loosely against the railing, suddenly tightened slightly.

He could sense that the person slowly approaching was completely different from the group of powerful and wealthy people in the banquet hall who only cared about their own interests.

The footsteps stopped three steps away from the two of them.

A middle-aged man wearing a dark, old-fashioned jacket and flat black cloth shoes came out.

The man had an average appearance, with several deep wrinkles at the corners of his eyes.

Those are marks left by the repeated wear and tear of time and weather.

He wore no designer brands and didn't have that condescending, superior aura.

But as soon as he stands there, he is like an ancient blue brick that has stood for hundreds of years, exuding a profound and quiet power.

Jiang Ruoyun immediately stepped back half a step from Lin Mo's embrace.

She stood guard beside Lin Mo warily, her chin slightly raised, staring at the newcomer with a somewhat unfriendly look.

"Which company are you from?"

"There aren't enough guests inside yet, so now it's trendy to chase them onto the terrace, right?"

The girl's tone was sharp, full of hostility in her defense of her husband.

The middle-aged man was not angry because of Jiang Ruoyun's hostility.

Instead, he smiled gently, first nodding politely to Jiang Ruoyun, and then turning his gaze to Lin Mo.

His eyes were bright, without flattery or greed.

There was only undisguised amazement and admiration.

The man took out a business card from the slightly faded pocket of his jacket.

There were no gold-plated frills or densely packed titles.

It's just a simple piece of white cardboard, even a bit rough to the touch.

"Mr. Lin Mo, I apologize for disturbing your rest."

The man handed over his business card with a steady hand and a deep, resonant voice.

"I am Li Lin."

Jiang Ruoyun glanced at the business card with suspicion, her brows furrowing slightly.

Immediately afterwards, a clear look of astonishment flashed across her eyes.

The business card clearly displays a line of bold text: CCTV Documentary Channel, Chief Director.

Lin Mo stretched out two fingers and casually picked up the piece of paper.

He lightly rubbed his fingertips on it, without even glancing at it.

His gaze calmly fell on Li Lin's face.

"Director Li, is something the matter?"

Lin Mo's voice remained calm, showing no emotional fluctuation due to the other party's national team status.

This composure, remaining unmoved even in the face of a collapsing mountain, deepened Li Lin's admiration.

These are young people who, even when facing powerful officials, can maintain their integrity and have no intention of currying favor.

He's been making TV shows his whole life, and he hasn't encountered anything like this in decades.

"Mr. Lin, please don't misunderstand."

Li Lin pushed up his old-fashioned black-rimmed glasses, and his tone suddenly became very serious and sincere.

"I'm not one of those businessmen who want to build connections, nor am I here to ask for your calligraphy or paintings."

"I was tempted by the smell of that jar of Hundred Flowers Wine, but I knew it was something I couldn't afford."

He paused, then took a deep breath of the cold winter night air.

"Mr. Lin, I'm here to 'ask for help'."

Upon hearing the words "call for help," Jiang Ruoyun froze.

The chief director of CCTV, a prestigious CCTV, went to a hotel terrace and asked a young man in his twenties for help.

Lin Mo raised an eyebrow, but remained silent, simply waiting for the other person to continue.

Li Lin took half a step forward, his gaze passing over the railing and landing on the dark night sky in the distance.

"Actually, I've been secretly observing Mr. Lin for quite some time now."

"It's been so long that even I feel like a voyeur hiding in the shadows."

He turned his head, looked into Lin Mo's eyes, and spoke slowly and deliberately.

"It all started a few months ago with that dating reality show that was broadcast live across the entire internet."

"While all the male guests were racking their brains to look handsome and please the camera."

"Only you, squatting in that dilapidated courtyard on the island, used an ordinary bamboo-splitting knife to split a raw bamboo."

"The bamboo basket you casually wove is just something others see as a spectacle."

"But what I saw was an ancient weaving technique from the Song Dynasty that was on the verge of being lost."

Lin Mo stroked his chin, offering no rebuttal.

Li Lin's eyes grew even more fervent.

"Later, you left the show and returned to Changping Hutong in Beijing."

"I followed them."

"I stood on the curb across from the restaurant, smelling the aroma of sawdust wafting from your yard."

"I saw with my own eyes that you didn't use a single nail, relying entirely on traditional mortise and tenon joints."

"They restored a century-old courtyard house that was on the verge of collapse."

"Every brick and every piece of wood in your hands exudes a sense of composure that understands how to converse with the years."

Li Lin pointed to the banquet hall behind him.

"Until today."

"I saw that slender gold calligraphy style with my own eyes."

"The unparalleled arrogance in those powerful and elegant strokes completely made me make up my mind."

Lin Mo sighed helplessly.

"Director Li, what you're talking about are just some little tricks I use to pass the time."

"It's not to be taken seriously, and it's not worth all this trouble you've gone to investigate me."

"To kill time?"

Li Lin gave a wry smile and shook his head.

"Mr. Lin, what you consider passing the time is a threshold that many veteran craftsmen can't even scratch the surface of, no matter how hard they try."

"Let's be honest."

"In preparation for next year's major cultural events, the station is preparing a big-budget New Year's Eve production."

"Documentary 'Master Craftsmen of a Great Nation'".

Li Lin's hands unconsciously clenched into fists.

"Our entire team spent more than half a year searching for hundreds and thousands of so-called folk masters and inheritors."

"But every time I film, I feel like something is missing."

"Those people have too much of a craftsman's mentality and too much of a money-grubbing attitude."

"Their smiles in front of the camera are so fake; the work they're doing has become an assembly line."

"They do not possess the soul that truly belongs to the millennia-old heritage of Chinese civilization."

"He lacks the arrogance that comes with having craftsmanship ingrained in his bones, yet being disdainful of everyone else."

Li Lin stared intently at Lin Mo, his voice filled with power.

"But I see it in you."

The wind on the terrace seemed to pick up, whipping up a few snowflakes that landed on Lin Mo's shoulder.

This is the honor of being personally endorsed by the national team and being begged to appear on a TV show.

If it were any of the luminaries in this hall, they would probably be so excited that they would kneel down and thank their ancestors on the spot.

But Lin Mo's expression remained unchanged.

He simply glanced down at the business card in his hand.

Then he casually stuffed it into Jiang Ruoyun's coat pocket.

He didn't hesitate for even a second longer.

"The grand finale? A national treasure-level master?"

Lin Mo chuckled softly, his expression full of undisguised resistance.

"Just hearing those words makes my shoulders ache; it's exhausting."

"I already told Ruoyun that I just want to sit in the restaurant and work as a cashier every day."

"Being on TV is too tiring, and you have to face the camera every day. It's not suitable for someone like me who just wants to lie down and get by."

"As for the ending of that documentary, Director Li, you'd better find someone else."

"I don't even want to write those two calligraphy templates a second time, let alone record any program in the heavy snow."

The refusal was swift and decisive.

There was absolutely no room for maneuver.

Jiang Ruoyun opened her mouth, but in the end she obediently kept it closed.

She knew Lin Mo's temperament well.

If this man really finds it troublesome and doesn't want to do it, then forget about being a CCTV director; even if the King of Heaven himself came, it would be useless.

Faced with this embarrassing rejection, Li Lin surprisingly did not show any disappointment.

It was as if Lin Mo's reaction was exactly what he had expected.

"Mr. Lin, don't close the door completely yet."

Li Lin did not step forward to stop Lin Mo from leaving.

"I know you hate trouble, and I know you have no interest in fame or fortune."

"But if I said..."