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

As she spoke, she showed Xu Shi the current state of Silver Pine Island.

At first glance, Xu Shi realized that everything was completely different from before he left. The power system had been fully implemented, and taking advantage of this trend, the island's residents had collectively renovated their homes. They were no longer the scattered little wooden houses they used to live in, but had been replaced by more orderly row buildings, showing signs of gradually moving towards industrialization.

The factory is located in the area behind the mountain where the signal tower was previously built. As she said, it is not very large in scale, and in Night City, it would at most be on par with a third-rate enterprise.

However, Silver Pine Island is sparsely populated, and these resources are sufficient to supply the entire island's residents. With Pan Cheng's help, those who remained on Silver Pine Island also discovered many new mineral veins, which greatly solved the problem of raw materials.

As for some rare materials, such as liquid "rust mist" ore, it's not too difficult to obtain them through Pan Cheng, the island owner, and Xiao Mei's connections in the empire, enough to support the production line's operation.

"There have been improvements in the network system as well. I had Lieutenant Yu lead a ship full of people back to Night City along our previous route. It was also a good opportunity to repair and maintain the temporary base stations we had placed at sea."

Jiang Chengcheng continued, "The signal is very stable now, including the main city area, you should be able to feel it too?"

Xu Shi nodded slightly. She had mentioned this to herself before, and their communication devices were indeed more stable, just as she had said.

No wonder there was only one of her own ships at the port this time; the others were all modified Silver Pine Wood ships. On the surface, only one of the two ships was returned, so she certainly wouldn't just pull out another one out of thin air because of that.

“I think you must also be laying signal towers in the main city, or even the entire Hualan Empire, which is why you made preparations in advance.”

The First Madam spoke in a warm and gentle tone, "As for the specific implementation... I feel it's not the right time yet. What do you think?"

"You're so kind, Madam."

Xu Shi smiled and sighed, reciting a line in a pretentious manner, but he was genuinely gratified inside.

I can only say she's very considerate, right? I haven't deliberately discussed or explained many things to her, but she always seems to understand and agree with my ideas without me even realizing it.

From this perspective, Xia Wuyou isn't the only capable wife he has. If we're being honest, Xia Xiaomao still has a lot to learn from her.

Xu Shi even felt a sense of being cared for by an elder—and indeed, the amount of supplies that were transported was far more than just "some"; it was almost double.

Are two boats enough? Thank you, Chengcheng, Chengcheng is so kind.

This feeling reached a new level when he saw the newly produced weapons—when he opened the boxes, the quality was in no way inferior to those produced in Night City, and there were even some minor improvements, such as "Far-Range Shock" and "Fire Serpent," which could be considered as a new generation of products.

Interestingly, the products promised to Cheng Gujian were not improved at all, and even seemed to have been made with inferior materials... Clearly, Jiang Chengcheng was on the same page as Xu Shi in this regard, knowing that she would make an example of this good older brother later, so she started to sow discord between them from the very beginning...

"That's not very ethical."

Seeing this, Xu Shi couldn't help but tease him.

Of course, it was just a joke. What level is Jiang Chengcheng at? At least someone who is encountering these new gadgets for the first time wouldn't be able to tell the difference at all. She wouldn't actually take out a bunch of scrap metal and cause people to doubt and criticize her.

The First Madam smiled happily, knowing that her husband was secretly pleased, since he wasn't exactly a decent person to begin with.

"That's about it. Is there anything else you want to see?"

"No, if I really had to say something, I would only praise you for your hard work, Madam."

Xu Shi shook his head with satisfaction, then hugged her tightly, somewhat emotionally.

To be honest, he was actually quite moved. Some people may not deny their own wickedness, but they still have flesh and blood, and naturally they know how much Jiang Chengcheng has sacrificed for these things during this period of time.

Building factories, arranging manpower, including teaching the natives of Silver Pine Island basic industrial knowledge and skills, as discussed with Pan Cheng before... This is not even the deeper level of education. The smooth progress of industrialization on Silver Pine Island is inseparable from her efforts.

Even if she doesn't do everything herself, she's been working non-stop these days... When Xu Shi isn't around, she's the one who stays behind to lead the group, something Xia Xiaomao isn't good at.

Saying she's thoughtful might seem like a lack of vocabulary, but this word really suits her.

She never mentions whether she's tired or not. Have you seen her utter a single word about it from the beginning until now?

She always believed that "this is what I should do." For Xu Shi, she felt it was worth it even if it took tremendous effort, and even if the help she received was only a tiny bit, it made her very happy.

Well, maybe not? If she only helped a little, she'd probably feel more sorry for herself and think she hadn't done enough.

"Thank you, Chengcheng."

Xu Shi expressed his heartfelt gratitude.

"Why thank me? It's what I should do..."

As expected, Jiang Chengcheng was just a little shy and showed no signs of arrogance.

"I was just thinking, since Arlene isn't here, shouldn't I fill that void and share the burden with you as much as she does?"

These words sounded like a strong accusation of stealing someone's home, but she didn't mean it that way at all. Instead, she genuinely wanted to do more for the man in front of her, to whom she had given her heart and soul.

Otherwise, she would have used that energy on jealousy and rivalry, but she didn't.

"...You don't need to compare yourself to others, you've already done very well."

Xu Shi said sincerely that he didn't like to categorize the girls around him into different classes; they were all his thorns.

"Hey, what about me?"

Xie Qingyan couldn't bear to see the two of them being so affectionate in public, and asked a question out of jealousy.

"You?...You did very well too, hmm."

Xu Shi's mind was entirely on the First Madam, and his answers were visibly perfunctory.

This annoyed the woman. Although she knew that asking at this time would only make things awkward, she still felt uncomfortable...

"Oh."

So she simply responded and walked out of the warehouse, looking quite dejected.

"Oh? Madam Xie, why did you come out first?"

The young girl, Xiao Mei, was standing guard at the door. She was a little surprised to see that she was alone. "Where are Master Xu and Madam Jiang?"

"Still inside looking at things."

Xie Qingyan replied indifferently.

"Oh."

Xiao Mei nodded, noticing her low spirits. "What's wrong?"

"...I'm fine, nothing's wrong."

Of course, that slut wouldn't tell her her true feelings; she just gave her a perfunctory reply.

I originally wanted to vent my anger on Little Curly Hair, but when I looked back, he wasn't there—someone had to keep an eye on the Cat Cult's affairs, and Ye Shanshan and Shen Qin had been in charge these past few days.

So annoying!

"No matter what, I'm a patient now. Shouldn't you take better care of me?"

Thinking this, Xie Qingyan inexplicably felt a bit of girlish emotion, muttering to herself.

"What did you say, Madam Xie?" Little Mei didn't hear clearly.

"……nothing."

Seeing her like this, Miss Xiaomei didn't press the matter further. She thought to herself, "This Madam Xie seems to have always been like this? I felt she was a bit out of place with the others when we were on the island... How come this feeling seems to be getting stronger over time?"

Xie Qingyan sulked outside for half a day before Xu Shi and Jiang Chengcheng finally came out, their lovey-dovey expression on their faces.

"What's wrong with you? It's like someone owes you money."

Seeing this, Xu Shi laughed and said, "Don't be upset, we still have to go to the palace to treat your illness later, don't we?"

"Who's upset? That's enough."

That bitch is stubborn and won't admit it.

"Alright alright."

Xu Shi saw through it but didn't say anything. He just continued to instruct, "I'll also trouble you, Miss Xiaomei, to organize the things. We'll send some samples over later."

"okay."

"Are you going to the palace?"

Jiang Chengcheng raised an eyebrow. "Oh, I've heard about it. It's that little empress, isn't it?"

"What little empress... Fine, fine, whatever you say, I won't argue."

Xu Shi wanted to be stubborn, but seeing that the other party obviously knew everything, he agreed.

"If it is, then it is. Why are you hiding it?"

Jiang Chengcheng chuckled, "But I'm also a little curious... should I go with you guys?"

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 276 Curious Baby Jiang Chengcheng

2023-09-26

Jiang Chengcheng's curiosity was genuine. Although she had long expected that Xu Shi would inevitably make a move against Dongfang Xiao, she was still not very clear about the details. When she asked Xie Qingyan, he wouldn't say anything, and instead gave evasive and hesitant answers, which made her want to see what was going on.

She's the Empress, after all; winning her over must be quite difficult, right?

Of course, continuing to be inseparable from Xu Shi was also a very important factor. Although the shift schedule meant it should be her turn tonight, the First Madam couldn't wait that long; she couldn't wait to be with Xu Shi all the time.

Urgent! So urgent!

Xu Shi would naturally not refuse such a beautiful woman offering herself up, not to mention that absence makes the heart grow fonder... Such a virtuous wife deserves a good reward.

The only one who objected was Xie Qingyan. To be honest, even though there was a little empress in the middle, this was one of the few times she could be alone with Xu Shi recently... To even take away this little bit of time, are you guys even being fair?!

Unfortunately, the objections were ineffective. Otherwise, what could be done? Should the illness be left untreated?

The important thing is to eliminate the Sea God's mental corruption as soon as possible and restore the previous state. Just being stubborn won't solve anything.

However, she stubbornly refused to ride in the same car as Xu Shi and the other person; this was Chairman Xie's last act of defiance.

"By the way, you're not deliberately ignoring her, are you?"

Xie Qingyan is actually quite easy to understand now, so Jiang Chengcheng, who witnessed the whole thing, couldn't help but chuckle and ask, "Weren't you two very close when you came back from defeating the Sea God? Why do you seem a little off now?"

She thought to herself that Xie Qingyan was different from them, and it was normal for her to throw a little tantrum occasionally—but you two had been through life and death together, so is this the legendary "can share hardship but not wealth"?

"I didn't do it, I didn't do it, don't talk nonsense."

Xu Shi didn't think it was his problem. "Ultimately, it's her complications, otherwise she wouldn't have become like this."

"complication?"

Xie Qingyan's first episode of madness—no, an episode—was when he had just left Silver Pine Island and arrived in the Imperial capital. Jiang Chengcheng didn't know much about it, so hearing this made her even more curious.

Xu Shi didn't hide anything from her and told her the whole story.

“…Is that so?”