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

Director Tang was also a little nervous, after all, it was his first time cooking... and judging from Xu Shi's expression, he didn't seem very satisfied...

"Actually, it's... alright, just a little bit... haha, salty..."

Xu Shi swallowed hard, his voice becoming hoarse, and he only recovered after drinking several mouthfuls of water.

"However, my suggestion is that we're not short of money, so if all else fails, we can just eat out."

"So you don't like it? I'm really sorry."

Tang Shuang rolled her eyes. No matter how tactfully the other person put it, she knew her cooking skills were definitely not great, and she was inexplicably a little unhappy.

"Don't rush me, I didn't say I didn't like it."

Seeing this, Xu Shi laughed and said, "What I mean is that you can do even better... Come closer and I'll teach you a trick."

"Really?"

Tang Shuang, naively, went over to him, thinking he really had some clever trick up his sleeve.

After hearing it, she belatedly realized what he meant, blushed, and gave him a light tap on the head. "What kind of crazy idea is this? Can't you use your brain properly?"

"What do you mean by 'ghost method'? How will you know if it works if you don't try it?"

"……Oh."

Director Tang gave a dry reply, then mustered his courage and did as he was told, placing the lunchbox aside and whispering, "Well, now I'm going to cast a spell to make the food taste better..."

Draw circles with your left hand, draw circles with your right hand, then make a heart shape and sprinkle it on the lunchbox...

"No, no, it won't work at all!"

She simply didn't have the courage to finish the whole routine Xu Shi had taught her; she was so ashamed she just wanted to roll around on the ground, yelling, "Eat if you want, don't eat if you don't want to!"

Xu Shi couldn't help but burst into laughter, "Yes, yes, never mind, you're really not suited for this, and I don't seem to be used to it either..."

He mainly overlooked Director Tang's figure and personality—originally, he was just aiming for the contrast and wanted her to provide maid café-style service, but now it seems that's not quite right; the style difference is too great, leaving only the laughable and awkward moments...

This would probably require someone like Gu Yi; Miss Black Rabbit is at the perfect age to wear white stockings... Or maybe we could try bringing in an older woman? A loli maid would also be a good option, not to mention she's a seasoned actress, so there's no need to worry about stage fright.

However, the most interesting thing is that Tang Shuang is willing to lower herself and try such an operation that is completely out of character. That's why you can feel the feeling of campus romance from her.

Anyway, Xu Shi was enjoying himself and wasn't in a hurry to take things further. He could find plenty of people to do *that*, but the important thing was the feeling, the feeling.

In the end, the two of them still went to buy fast food to eat. After lunch, Director Tang's sense of shame gradually disappeared.

"By the way, don't you think something's off today?"

She crumpled the hamburger paper in her hand into a ball and got down to business. "I've been to a lot of places this morning, but I always feel like someone is watching us. The inspections weren't as effective as yesterday. Many places were just going through the motions."

"That's normal, sister. Is this your first day on patrol as a leader?"

Xu Shi didn't care about this at all. "Knowing that we might show up at any time, who would dare not work hard? Even if it's just for show, we have to leave a good impression on you."

More importantly, he was there too—if it were just Tang Shuang, the director of the inspection bureau or even the governor, the major conglomerates might not have listened to her, but it wouldn't have mattered to him. He could make the entire Night City tremble with fear with just a few words from him, and if he didn't put on a show and dawdled, he would be courting death.

Moreover, there was yesterday's surprise attack; it would be a miracle if today's situation were the same.

and.

He seemed to have sensed something and glanced, intentionally or unintentionally, at a corner not far away.

Su Lin, who was hiding there, suddenly darted away.

No way... Young Master has found out?

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 188 You really think I can't find you?

Noticing Xu Shi's gaze directed in her direction, Su Lin was startled.

Could we have really been discovered?

She was quite confident in her stealth skills. Back in the day, she had trained in the field team for several years. Coupled with her ability to appear and disappear without a trace, it seemed impossible for the young master to be so capable.

But if he didn't notice, why would he look in his direction for no reason?

After a moment's thought, Director Su decided to observe the situation further.

"Xu Shi, what are you looking at?"

Tang Shuang also noticed his unusual behavior and asked curiously.

"……nothing."

Xu Shi snapped out of his daze, smiled, and waved his hand. "Just a sneaky little coward... Come on, let's go to District Seven this afternoon? I've made plans with Ding Jun and Lin Yue, you have something to discuss with them too, right?"

"Oh."

Tang Shuang didn't think much of it, took his arm and got into the car. "Wait a minute, who's taking whom on patrol? Why is it you who's arranging the destination again..."

Seeing this, Su Lin finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Great, it seems there isn't one.

I knew it! My stealth skills are pretty good!

What she didn't know was that Xu Shi's mental power was even stronger. He not only sensed her presence, but he also knew her escape route perfectly.

That's what you call playing hard to get.

……

Regardless of the effectiveness of Director Su's clumsy surveillance operation, Xu Shi and Tang Shuang have made quite a few gains over the past four or five days.

Although they finalized the general outline of the City of Night Sin, the actual implementation may not be consistent with their expectations. After a round of inspections, they discovered many potential drawbacks and hidden dangers, which can be considered as taking precautions to avoid a lot of trouble.

That's the point. There's a saying that reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles. Although this analogy may not be entirely accurate, if you just sit in your office and work in isolation, no matter how brilliant your ideas are, you'll only end up with a castle in the air.

Even for Tang Shuang, this was the first time she had calmly exchanged opinions with these gang leaders from Sin City in the form of a discussion. In the past, she would directly lead her team to arrest people, and the moment they met, they would be at each other's throats, neither willing to give in, and everything they said would be full of hostility.

Now that the situation has changed, the old methods are no longer effective, and we must resolve it peacefully.

Although the two sides had many disagreements in the past, the talks went surprisingly smoothly thanks to the mediation and reconciliation efforts of many parties.

"The city hall's opinion is still that Sin City should remain under your management, and we will only send specialists and offices to supervise it."

On the last day of the meeting, Director Tang summarized earnestly, "We would even prefer not to use the word 'supervision,' but considering the overall situation in Sin City in the past, it is probably impossible to do so in the short term."

"Therefore, I urge both of us to work together and make progress together?"

“…I understand.”

Sitting opposite her, Lin Yue smiled, her demeanor poised and elegant. "This is exactly what I wanted to see."

"I heard that Governor Tang and Chairman Xu have been visiting Sin City these past few days. I'm sure you've seen many things firsthand. 'Spark' has already integrated some of the remnants of 'Dragon City' and other scattered gangs. I estimate that within a month, the previous gang model will be basically transformed."

This speed is by no means slow. Even though "Dragon City" is a fallen camel, it is still bigger than a horse. Controlling various resources and incorporating its personnel are not easy tasks. The scattered small gangs are all stubborn holdouts. The fact that she can make such a promise shows that she cares a lot about this matter.

"This is the filing document. Please take a look, Governor Tang."

Lin Xing, who was standing nearby, handed over a few data bricks at the opportune moment, clearly having been prepared in advance.

"This couldn't be better."

Tang Shuang was very satisfied with this. "That also includes Chief Song and Chief Ding...you two?"

"Ah, yes, yes, I have no objection either."

Ding Jun seemed a bit distracted, clearly not paying much attention to this matter, and only gave a perfunctory reply when asked.

"Chief Ding probably doesn't have the time or inclination to deal with these things, right?"

Xu Shi joked, "Governor Tang probably doesn't know that this guy has recently sold off a lot of assets in Sin City and then used that money to invest in a lot of businesses in Night City... He's trying to steal my food."

"Not at all, Mr. Xu, you're joking."

Ding Jun hurriedly waved his hand, indicating that he had absolutely no such intention, and then made an excuse to slip away.

Xu Shi didn't mind at all. He was watching the other party's every move closely, so the other party couldn't cause any trouble. In fact, he had given the other party his approval for those investments...

Thinking back, he still found it somewhat amusing, because Ding Jun's actions were by no means wise—the Sin City of today is different from what it used to be; once rebuilt, it will be a vast blue ocean, whereas Night City is already a saturated red ocean. Doing things this way before would have been understandable, but now he just couldn't see the direction...

However, he also asked Ding Jun, who did not regret it and seemed eager to make a name for himself in Night City. Perhaps this was his long-cherished wish? Or perhaps in his eyes, only Night City was the ladder to the top.

Xu Shi didn't object to this. Ding Jun had chosen his own path, so he was too lazy to interfere. He would just help him keep in touch, and he would keep his promise.

He would even prefer to see Ding Jun withdraw voluntarily, because that would mean Lin Yue could take control of the entire Sin City more quickly and efficiently, becoming the undisputed voice here.

As for Song Ziyou? There's absolutely no need to worry... He gained almost nothing from the redistribution of "Dragon City's" assets this time, and Xie Qingyan seems to have no intention of helping him anymore. Not to mention that he will gradually become a vassal or even disappear in the future, strictly speaking, he is not even qualified to be at this negotiating table now; he's just there to make up the numbers.

So all he could do was force a laugh, "Just listen to the two leaders of 'Spark,' and 'Ironclad' will provide maximum support no matter what."

He didn't want to stay here anymore. What was he doing here, just to be someone else's entertainment?

"Ha, that's fine too, you can discuss it yourselves."

Tang Shuang didn't care that the two of them ran away one after the other; in fact, she was equally happy to see it happen—she also hoped that Sin City could be as unified as possible, so that negotiations and everything else would be much easier...

Thinking back to why this place was such a mess before, wasn't it because all sorts of gangs, big and small, ruled the area and refused to be controlled...?

"Then let's wish Sin City a smooth and successful transformation."

Having said everything she needed to say, she stood up and extended her hand to Lin Yue in preparation for saying goodbye.

"Okay, it's a pleasure to cooperate... oh..."

Lin Yue was about to get up when she suddenly trembled as if she had been electrocuted, and sat back down weakly, her pretty face instantly turning bright red.

"Huh? What's wrong with you?"

"...No, it's nothing..."

Lin Yue waved her hand, struggled to her feet while holding onto the table, and hastily shook hands with Tang Shuang, "It's just... I suddenly feel a little unwell..."

"My sister has been too busy these past few days, she might have caught a cold?"

Lin Xing smoothed things over for her, saying, "I think I have a bit of a cold... I'm really sorry."

"...Leader Yue, you should take better care of your health."

Tang Shuang felt that something was wrong, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it, so she just went along with Lin Xing's words and said something polite.

Come to think of it, she remembered that the younger sister was more talkative than the older sister, so why was the older sister in charge today?