Who's going to be the female lead's simp? Aren't the supporting female characters mor

The night was as dark as ink, and the neon lights of the capital city dyed the sky an ambiguous purplish-red.

The Maybach drove smoothly on the ring road, with Li He sitting in the passenger seat, the Bugatti key in his hand polished to a shine.

He would occasionally steal a glance at Bai Jingyou in the back seat through the rearview mirror, seemingly wanting to say something but holding back.

"Spit it out if you have something to say." Bai Jingyou closed his eyes, as if he had eyes in the back of his head.

"Brother Bai, I've been thinking about something." Li He chuckled and turned around. "Now that we control that data center, doesn't that mean we hold the lifeline of those old guys in Beijing? Does that mean we can do whatever we want in Beijing from now on?"

"The ones that walk sideways are crabs." Bai Jingyou opened his eyes, his gaze colder than the night outside the window. "Besides, crabs are usually steamed before being served."

Li He shrank back: "Surely it can't be that bad? That old bastard Shen Tianyang has had this thing for decades without any problems, how come it's become a hot potato in our hands?"

"Shen Tianyang is a guard dog. Everyone thinks he's old and toothless, and that feeding him a bone will appease him." Bai Jingyou turned his head, looking at the fleeting light outside the window. "But I'm not. In their eyes, I'm a wolf that has broken into a china shop, and a hungry wolf at that."

A madman who holds nuclear weapons is far more sleep-depriving than a miser who holds them.

The car turned into the underground parking garage of the DeepBlue Technology Building.

The area has been completely placed under martial law. All the original security guards from the Shen Group have been dismissed, and they have been replaced by a group of stiff-looking men in black, personally selected by Chen Mo.

They rarely smiled or even made eye contact; they simply stood silently guarding every blind spot of the surveillance cameras.

A dedicated elevator goes directly to the third basement level.

This place was originally the Shen family's secret vault, but it has now been converted into a temporary server transfer station.

Inside the huge server room, the only sounds were the low-frequency hum of the servers running and the clatter of keyboards being typed.

The cold air from the constant temperature system made my skin feel tight.

Jiang Mengyao was wearing a loose white shirt with the cuffs rolled up, revealing her fair wrists. She sat cross-legged on the floor in front of a server rack, surrounded by several empty cans of coffee and a pile of draft paper covered in code.

Hearing footsteps, she didn't even look up, her fingers flying across the keyboard like afterimages: "Don't make a sound, I'm doing the final data cleaning."

Bai Jingyou gestured for Li He to shut up, then walked behind Jiang Mengyao.

On the screen, countless green codes cascaded down like a waterfall, eventually converging into red encrypted folders.

"All done?" Bai Jingyou asked softly.

"The Shen family's tech team is a bunch of incompetents." Jiang Mengyao stopped what she was doing, grabbed her coffee, took a swig, and let out a long sigh. "Although the encryption algorithm they use is complex, it has a fatal backdoor in its logic. It seems that Shen Tianyang doesn't completely trust that tech director and deliberately left himself a loophole."

"Sometimes, distrust is the biggest security vulnerability." Bai Jingyou looked at the alarming filenames on the screen.

[Donglin Real Estate - Tax Receipt - 2018]

[Wang's Foundation - Overseas Money Laundering Chain Diagram]

[Chen Family Outlying Branch - Illegitimate Child Trust Fund]

……

Opening any of these folders could trigger an earthquake of magnitude 8 in Beijing.

"This doesn't look like a data center." Li He leaned closer for a look, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets. "This is a powder keg!"

……

The capital city, the Western Hills Villa.

This is a private gathering place for the top elites in Beijing. It is not open to the public and there is no membership system. Only a few specific faces can enter by facial recognition.

Tonight, the main hall of the villa is brightly lit.

Seven or eight people were sitting around a huge round table made of huanghuali wood.

Seated in the main seat was a middle-aged man dressed in a Tang suit, holding two lion's head walnuts in his hands. He had a refined appearance, but his eyes exuded an imposing aura.

He is Chen He, the head of the Chen family in the capital.

To his left were Zhang Yi and Ye Lingqing, who had already arrived.

Zhang Yi was anxiously smoking, while Ye Lingqing looked down at her phone, her expression inscrutable.

The others were also prominent figures in Beijing's business community.

In the past, when these people gathered together, it was like gods fighting. But today, the atmosphere was as oppressive as a funeral.

"That kid surnamed Bai has quite the airs." A bald, fat man tapped the table with dissatisfaction. He was Boss Wang, who made his fortune in the energy industry. "Making so many of us wait for him? Mr. Chen, you're giving him too much face."

Chen He didn't say anything, but the speed at which he was spinning the walnut in his hand slowed down slightly.

"Fatty Wang, if you don't want to wait, you can leave now," Ye Lingqing said sarcastically without looking up. "But don't blame me for not warning you, if you walk out that door tonight, your stock price might plummet tomorrow, so don't cry."

"You!" Just as Mr. Wang was about to explode, a series of unhurried footsteps came from outside the door.

The door was pushed open.

Bai Jingyou wore a well-tailored black suit without a tie, and his collar was slightly open, giving him a formal yet relaxed and casual look.

Chen Mo followed behind him like an iron tower, carrying a silver briefcase.

"Sorry, there was a bit of traffic." Bai Jingyou glanced around, his gaze lingering on Chen He for a second before he smiled and sat down in the only empty seat. "It seems all of you seniors are quite concerned about my traffic."

"Young man, punctuality is a virtue." Chen He finally spoke, his voice gentle yet barbed. "Shen Tianyang may have been domineering before, but at least he knew the rules."

"Rules?" Bai Jingyou chuckled and took the teacup Chen Mo offered. "Uncle Chen, Shen Tianyang knows the rules, so he went to South Africa to see lions. I don't know the rules, so I'm sitting here drinking tea."

One sentence, and the entire room fell silent.

mad.

That's outrageous.

This is not only a slap in the face to the Shen family, but also a slap in the face to all the older generation present.

"Bai Jingyou!" Fatty Wang slammed his fist on the table, his face trembling with menacing fat. "Don't be so arrogant! The Shen family fell because Shen Tianyang brought it upon himself! You think you can boss people around in Beijing just because you picked up a bargain? That data center isn't something you can take on all by yourself!"

"Oh?" Bai Jingyou put down his teacup, looking at Fatty Wang with a playful expression. "Then, according to Mr. Wang's brilliant idea, what should I do?"

"Hand it over!" Fatty Wang revealed his true intentions. "This is a hidden danger to the entire business community in Beijing. The safest way is to entrust it to the Chamber of Commerce for joint supervision. As compensation, we can offer you a seat on the Chamber's board of directors."

Although the people around didn't say anything, their eyes clearly conveyed the same meaning.

Joint regulation?

To put it nicely, he just wanted to destroy his own dirt and, incidentally, disable Bai Jingyou's trump card.

Zhang Yi stubbed out her cigarette and looked at Bai Jingyou nervously.

Although she had received benefits from Bai Jingyou, she dared not easily take sides in this situation.

Bai Jingyou wasn't angry; in fact, his smile widened even more.

He took the black USB drive out of his pocket and gently placed it on the glass turntable of the rotating dining table.

"The thing is right here." Bai Jingyou flicked his finger, and the turntable emitted a slight buzzing sound, slowly rotating the USB drive until it finally stopped in front of Fatty Wang.

Everyone's eyes were fixed on the small USB drive, a mixture of greed, fear, and longing.

"Mr. Wang, you want it? Here you go." Bai Jingyou leaned back in his chair and gestured for him to take it.

Fatty Wang was stunned. He hadn't expected Bai Jingyou to be so easy to talk to.

He reached out his thick, fleshy hand and tremblingly grasped the USB drive.

Just as his fingertips were about to touch the USB drive, Bai Jingyou spoke calmly:

"However, Mr. Wang, you'd better think about one thing before you take it."

Bai Jingyou's voice wasn't loud, but it clearly penetrated everyone's ears.

"In 2019, those three bodies buried under the foundation of that unfinished building project in the western suburbs..."

Fatty Wang's hand suddenly froze in mid-air, as if it had been frozen by liquid nitrogen in an instant.

His face turned deathly pale at a visible speed, and large beads of cold sweat dripped down his forehead.

"Also, that 200 million gambling debt you had in Macau, wasn't it covered up with company funds? That transfer record went through seven shell companies, and the final account it was deposited into was..."

"Stop talking!" Fatty Wang let out a pig-like scream, abruptly pulling his hand back and slumping into his chair, panting heavily. His eyes were filled with terror, as if he were looking at a demon. "Young Master Bai... I... I drank too much, I was talking nonsense! I don't want that stuff anymore! I don't want it anymore!"

The audience was silent.

It only took two sentences.

It scared the big shot out of his wits.

That USB drive doesn't just contain data; it clearly contains the power of life and death over everyone.

Bai Jingyou's gaze shifted, looking at the others present.

This is a blatant threat.

But this is also the most effective promise.

He was telling everyone: As long as I live, your secrets are safe.

But if anyone tries to kill me, we'll all be doomed.

Chen He, who had been silent all along, finally spoke again.

He put down the walnuts in his hand and looked intently at the young man who was two cycles younger than him.

"The younger generation is truly formidable." Chen He sighed, his tone carrying a hint of equal dialogue for the first time. "President Bai, since you've put it this way, I also have something to say to you."

"Uncle Chen, please speak."

"In this industry, the one who holds the knife is often the first to get hurt." Chen He raised his glass in a toast, "I hope Mr. Bai's hand is steady enough."

"Thanks for the reminder." Bai Jingyou raised his glass in return, downed it in one gulp, and said, "My hands are not only steady, but also very fast."

A war without gunfire has temporarily come to an end with this glass of wine.

No one mentioned the trusteeship again, and no one dared to question Bai Jingyou's qualifications.

The USB drive that was placed in the center of the table was eventually put back into Bai Jingyou's pocket.

At that moment, everyone understood one thing.

The sky over the capital has changed.

……

Stepping out of the West Mountain Villa, a cool night breeze was blowing.

Chen Mo opened the car door, and Bai Jingyou got in, his tense nerves finally relaxing a little.

"Brother Bai, that was so damn satisfying!" Li He, who had been sitting in the car, shouted excitedly as soon as Bai Jingyou came out. "I saw that fatso's legs were shaking when he came out! It's all thanks to you!"

"Drive." Bai Jingyou rubbed his temples wearily.

This kind of intense psychological game is more mentally taxing than a physical fight.

The car drove out of the mountains and sped towards the city center.