In this cyberpunk era, why are you still playing the traditional villain?

Xia Wuyou pursed her lips and kissed his cheek with a smile.

"You guys should at least tone it down a bit..."

Their deep affection for each other has made some people unhappy.

Xia Ke'an just wants to be discharged from the hospital right now. She can't take it anymore. The two big bad guys have no intention of hiding from her, and they spend less time playing with her.

At least let the room ventilate, right? Hmm? A ward filled with the smell of photinia flowers isn't helpful for a patient's recovery!

"Good good."

Xu Shi laughed so hard he rolled on the floor. What did you think? He was just deliberately teaching you a lesson, you old auntie who ruined things... But he still knew his limits. He let go of Xia Wuyou and said, "Why don't you take her out for a walk? I also need to find someone to talk to about some important matters."

"Mmm." Xia Wuyou nodded obediently, then carried Xia Ke'an outside. "Auntie, don't be angry, okay? Sister will take you out to play..."

"Xia Wuyou, if you keep calling me that, I'll teach you a lesson!"

……

Xu Shi tidied up and went to the dean's office, where Xie Qingyan was naturally waiting.

Upon seeing him arrive, the slut put on a resentful face and said, "Mr. Xu, you finally have time to come see me? Just a friendly reminder, indulging in wine and women will ruin your health."

"Then drink less alcohol in the future."

Xu Shijin followed the doctor's orders and sat down opposite her. "Speaking of which, you're the hospital director? I don't remember you being like that."

"I gave the dean his job."

Xie Qingyan rolled her eyes at him. "Have you had enough fun? Can you tell me what the big benefits you mentioned earlier were?"

"It's just a very simple inside story."

Xu Shi stretched and yawned. "The 'Feather Pen' is going to join forces with 'Dragon City' to develop the lives of people in Sin City. Wouldn't you call that a huge benefit?"

"...Are you serious?"

Upon hearing this, Xie Qingyan suddenly stood up.

That one sentence was enough to enlighten her—a little thought revealed the terrifyingly large profits involved. Cleaning up eleven chaotic regions would turn them into a huge cake, or rather, eleven small cakes, from which one could easily fill one's belly with just a few bites.

Not only can this help to select more talent, but more importantly, if this continues, the rivalry between Night City and Sin City will gradually be broken down, and the barriers between them will gradually disappear. Then they will be able to openly and legitimately establish themselves there... Not to mention the big picture, the profits from just the infrastructure alone are unimaginably substantial.

If this isn't a good thing, then it's definitely not a good thing. Although it's a slow and meticulous process and the benefits aren't immediately apparent, there aren't that many vested interests in the world, so this isn't a problem.

Thinking about it this way, she realized how important it was to take over the tenth district. Before the development officially started, the more Sin City areas a conglomerate secretly controlled, the more beneficial it would be in the future.

Most importantly, she knew nothing about this beforehand. It's obvious that "Feather Pen" and "Dragon City" were doing this behind everyone's back... Unbelievable! Given the relationship between the two companies, it would be good enough if they didn't fight each other. Who could believe they would cooperate?

But once Xu Shi said it, she couldn't help but believe him—Old Master Wen was his maternal grandfather, so he obviously knew the inside story all along. As for whether he would tell him, who he would tell him, and how he would tell him, that all depended on his mood.

So he had it all planned out all along...

"Looks like I don't need to say much more?"

Xu Shi knew she understood immediately, so he simply advised, "However, my advice is not to overdo it; taking over too much territory is not a good thing for anyone."

This is true, because this matter is different from the past. To continue with the cake example, they are currently only at the stage of kneading the dough and beating the eggs. They haven't even bought the flour yet. If they open their mouths to eat it now, it won't be sweet and delicious, and it will make a mess.

This is why, after learning about it, he didn't use it as leverage to manipulate others. His grandfather's long-cherished wish was one reason, the situation was still uncertain, Long Tianding's attitude was unclear, and if everyone got involved, things would completely change.

A little setup is fine; making too much noise will only backfire.

"I know without you telling me."

Xie Qingyan wasn't stupid; he naturally understood the implications and nodded seriously.

"Isn't this enough for Chairman Xie to personally perform surgeries?"

Xu Shi joked.

"...barely passable."

Xie Qingyan put on a slightly aloof air, "And please, Chairman Xu, don't be so reckless in the future. This is a hospital; there are some things you should do at home."

She was certainly aware of the relationship between Xu Shi and Xia Wuyou, and thinking about it made her quite angry. When she went to check on them last time, weren't they...?

What kind of nonsense is this? Watching that scoundrel flirt with someone else is bad enough, but you also have to do this and that for them? Are you trying to kill yourself?

"Yes, yes, yes, it should be about time to be discharged from the hospital in the next couple of days."

Xu Shi, on the other hand, seemed unconcerned. "I've been here for over two weeks, and I'm afraid some people are starting to urge me to go back..."

Before he could finish speaking, the communicator on his wrist rang.

The caller was naturally Miss Su Lin, who had been punished to do hard labor.

"Young Master, aren't you... coming back yet?"

Director Su's tone was indeed full of complaint, "There's been some trouble in the engineering department, you'd better come back and take a look."

"Whose situation?"

Xu Shiming asked the question knowing the answer already.

"Of course it's... Lin Wenhua's condition."

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 151 Shrimp and Pig's Heart? How terrifying!

Su Lin's report was exactly what Xu Shi had expected.

After all, this is the only major event in the company recently—of course, developing specialized weapons also counts, but if it were this, it probably wouldn't be Director Su's turn to report it; Jiang Chengcheng would have come on her own.

"What are the details?"

He even felt a sense of relief. Goodness, there's finally a result. He wondered if he had gotten used to being so busy recently, but he was finding it a little hard to adjust to a long vacation...

"It's not quite what you expected..."

Su Lin's tone was somewhat hesitant, "Because Lin Wenhua didn't fail, on the contrary, he... succeeded."

"is it?"

Xu Shi raised an eyebrow, then laughed, "Alright, I understand. I'll explain in detail when I get back."

"Your smile is so cunning."

Xie Qingyan couldn't hear what was being said on the communicator, but she could clearly see Xu Shi's expression and immediately realized that this guy had probably done something bad again.

"Is there any?"

Xu Shi hung up the call and gently patted his cheek.

"you do not say."

His fiancée rolled her eyes at him. "So I'm a little curious. Would you mind telling me?"

"It's not impossible."

Xu Shi thought about it and didn't hide anything from her. He roughly told her about his previous arrangements.

"...Are you willing to spend such a huge amount of money?"

Xie Qingyan looked as if she'd seen a ghost. "Using the second phase of the 'Snake Ring' 'Overlimit Plan' as a price, just to eliminate dissidents?"

To be honest, even she thought this move was incredibly risky; it was definitely going to result in a significant loss, and just thinking about it made her ache...

"You're cutting off flesh to heal a wound."

Coming to her senses, the slut gave a rare, kind reminder: "Be careful, don't ruin yourself."

"But this is a piece of rotten meat."

Xu Shi didn't feel sorry for him when he heard this. "I only know that a boil will never come out unless you squeeze it. Besides, you've experienced leadership changes, so you don't need to be so surprised, do you?"

"……you're right."

Xie Qingyan was taken aback, then remained noncommittal, "Then you should leave quickly if you want to. If there's anything I can help you with... just say so."

"Grateful."

Xu Shi waved his hand and strode out of the office.

Xie Qingyan, back in her seat, seemed lost in thought.

Xu Shi is right. She has also experienced power shifts, but the situation between her and that scoundrel cannot be generalized.

The truth is that the power transition at "Prism" was quite smooth. After all, Xie Qingyan had always appeared in the company as a highly skilled talent. While her fiancé was indulging in a life of pleasure, she was doing an internship at the bottom. This meant that her father didn't even need to give any instructions before he passed away; the heads of various departments had already sided with her.

Those few who disobeyed were attacked by the group without her even having to say anything.

So, she really had never experienced the drama of eliminating traitors... otherwise, why would she be surprised by Xu Shi's actions?

It can only be said that this scoundrel is truly capable of taking things in stride. What he said wasn't without reason. A troublemaker like Lin Wenhua would be a problem for life if left unattended, so it's understandable that he would have to pay a higher price.

However, on a different note, so "Serpent Ring" also conducted a second phase of development on the "Extreme Project," right? Let's not speculate on any ulterior motives; they did it, they did it... Or perhaps Xu Shi had already prepared for this, secretly having others conduct actual research...

"Tsk, Xu Shi, you liar!"

Xie Qingyan's daily swearing is adorable, but that scoundrel is truly despicable. He speaks so righteously, yet he's still doing dirty tricks behind my back.

But then she thought about it again and felt a little strange. If he really was "keeping it to himself," why would he need to tell her so much detail?

After all, Xu Shi kept this matter very well hidden. If he had kept his mouth shut, he might not have known until it was too late.

So he's giving himself a heads-up, isn't he? Now that you know how things are going, don't do anything that's detrimental to cooperation, or you'll bear the consequences.

Thinking about it, it's true. If that scoundrel really breaks ties with Lin Wenhua, it's not impossible that the latter will come looking for "Prism." It's necessary to block the way in advance and nip some people's unrealistic ideas in the bud.

Especially for someone like her with a criminal record, we need to be extra careful.

Having figured out the cause and effect, Xie Qingyan slumped into her chair and sighed helplessly.

A few months ago, she might have wavered, but how could she now? She's not so confused about what's more important than what's less important.

It's this feeling of still being wary of him... that's not pleasant.

To be honest, Xie Qingyan wouldn't dare say she didn't have any feelings for Xu Shi, but I just helped you save someone! Turning your back on me like that is really quite something!

For some reason, this emotion made her increasingly irritable, and she even had the urge to become a desktop cleaning master and smash or break something to vent her anger.

However, she managed to restrain herself in the end. She simply picked up a pen and paper, drew a simple sketch of Xu Shi, added a pig's nose, crumpled it up, and threw it into the trash can.