Rebirth: My Home Has Become a Gathering Place for Young Women with a "Crazy" Spirit

Chapter Eight: The Opportunity Is Yours

When the three of them came out of the Saint-Lee restaurant, it was already past nine o'clock at night. The night breeze was warm on their faces.

Zhou Ruoyun went to the parking lot. Wu Yong also drove there, but he didn't leave immediately. Instead, he waited for a taxi with Qin Lang.

"Xiao Qin, what you just said to Zhou Ruoyun, was it true or false?" His expression was serious, and his tone was earnest. He had also read the report; the data and logical connections within it were extremely rigorous, unlike what a college student could produce.

"Brother Yong, what do you think?" Qin Lang didn't answer directly, but instead smiled and threw the question back at him.

Wu Yong stared at him for a few seconds, then shook his head. "I think it's true. But the source of the data in your report is too sensitive. If the Zhao family finds out you provided it, you'll be in big trouble."

"The Zhao family will deal with me anyway, so it doesn't matter," Qin Lang said calmly.

"Sigh..." Wu Yong sighed, took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, pulled one out and was about to put it in his mouth when he suddenly paused, then offered it to Qin Lang, "Want one?"

"I won't." Qin Lang waved his hand. He really had quit smoking. Since the first day after his rebirth, when he took a puff of the Soft Cloud cigarettes from Xu Han's bag, he had never touched them again.

Wu Yong put a cigarette in his mouth, lit it, took a deep drag, and slowly exhaled. The smoke dispersed under the streetlights, blurring his expression. "I wonder if Zhou Ruoyun will believe it."

Qin Lang: "Whether she believes it or not is her business. If she believes it, it will benefit the Zhou family. If she doesn't believe it, it will be the Zhou family that suffers."

Wu Yong looked at Qin Lang without saying anything more. He felt that he was increasingly unable to understand this person in front of him. How could a college student have so many tricks up his sleeve? The Zhao family's accounts and transactions were something that even the Municipal Economic Investigation Brigade couldn't figure out. How did he manage to do it?

After a while, the cigarette burned down to the filter, so Wu Yong stubbed it out and threw it into the trash can next to him.

"I know Zhou Ruoyun." He paused, then continued, "She's always very cautious and doesn't jump to conclusions. She'll definitely verify the report you gave her. If she finds that what you said is true..."

He paused again, his gaze towards Qin Lang becoming complicated. "Have you considered what Zhou Mingyu would think if Zhou Ruoyun showed this report to her father? How would a deputy mayor feel if a college student pointed out that he was being set up by a businessman?"

Qin Lang: "So what I gave Zhou Ruoyun was a 'data summary,' not a 'report.' Zhou Ruoyun can verify it herself first, and then she can tell her father. The words of one's own daughter carry a completely different weight than a report submitted by an outsider."

Wu Yong was taken aback for a moment, then shook his head and said with a smile, "You kid, you even thought of this. I'm truly impressed. It's a shame you're not taking the civil service exam with a brain like that."

"Take the civil service exam?" Qin Lang raised an eyebrow and said in a lazy tone, "Brother Yong, I still prefer a freer life. Writing novels, making animations and short videos, earning some money, that's pretty good."

"Make some money?" Wu Yong repeated the question, his tone implying, "Are you kidding me? I heard you made a million a month, and you call that 'making some money'?"

Qin Lang didn't respond to that, his expression darkening as he said, "Brother Yong, you need to be careful these next few days. The Zhao family and Shen Jie definitely won't let this go easily. You rejected that contract, so in their eyes you're just a disobedient pawn. For a disobedient pawn, there are only two outcomes: either it gets removed or it gets replaced."

Wu Yong's eyes turned cold. "I know. I'll be careful."

The taxi arrived, and Qin Lang opened the car door. Before getting in, he glanced back at Wu Yong, paused, and said, "Brother Yong, at next week's municipal government executive meeting, someone will propose adjusting the heads of several key departments in the Chengdong Development Zone. Your name is on the list."

Upon hearing this, Wu Yong's expression changed instantly, and he stepped forward, asking, "What did you say?"

"Just keep what I said in mind." After saying this, Qin Lang got into the taxi and closed the door. He remembered that Wu Yong had told him when they were drinking in his previous life that shortly after this municipal government executive meeting, he was implicated and dismissed because of the failure of the project in that contract.

Looking out the car window at the dim lights, Qin Lang thought to himself: The opportunity has been given to you; whether you can seize it or not is up to you.

The taxi started moving and merged into the traffic in the night. Its taillights turned a corner at the intersection ahead and disappeared from sight.

Wu Yong stood motionless at the intersection, his mind still replaying the information Qin Lang had just given him: a reshuffling of key department heads in the Chengdong Development Zone. Even someone like him, who had been in the system for over a decade, hadn't heard a whisper of this news. How did Qin Lang know?

Is what he said true?

If it's true, and someone really does propose changing the heads of five key departments next week, and his name is really on that list, then it means that Qin Lang's information channels far exceed his imagination, and his identity is definitely not as simple as "orphaned, ordinary college student." He might even have connections with high-ranking officials in the city...

Wu Yong stood at the intersection, finished the last two cigarettes in the pack, crushed the pack, threw it in the trash can, got back to his car, but didn't start the engine. Instead, he took out his phone and sent a message to his old classmate who worked in the municipal government office: "Old Nie, any news from the Standing Committee lately?"

The message was sent, and two minutes passed before a reply came: "How did you know? The agenda for next Tuesday's meeting hasn't been officially announced yet. Who told you that?"

Wu Yong stared at the reply for a full ten seconds, a cold sweat breaking out on his back.

He didn't reply. He put down his phone, started the car, and drove home. But all the way, Qin Lang's words kept replaying in his mind.

A 19-year-old college student not only knew about the Zhao family's accounts and transactions, but also knew about the list of adjustments to the Standing Committee next week.

Who exactly is this person?

Wu Yong returned home to find his wife already asleep. He tiptoed into the study, closed the door, turned on the desk lamp, and sat down at the table, lost in thought…

When Qin Lang returned home, he went into the bedroom and saw Xu Han sitting at his desk looking at the computer screen, which displayed the draft of "The Undying Yuan Zun".

It turns out that she had been following the novel on the platform up to the latest chapter and was really engrossed in it when it suddenly stopped.

She was really itching to read it, so she went to look at Qin Lang's drafts.

"You're getting this for free!" Qin Lang said with a smile as he entered from behind.

"Tsk... Do whatever you want, but don't disturb me while I'm reading my novel." Xu Han was engrossed in his reading and said without turning his head.

Qin Lang: "..."