Life countdown begins, ice queen bursts into security room

At eight o'clock in the morning, sunlight streamed through the gaps in the bedroom curtains and shone onto the bed.

Xu Qingya's pale thighs pressed against Jiang Fan's body, one hand resting on his chest, her breathing even.

Jiang Fan opened his eyes and glanced at the clock on the wall.

"Um...do you have anything else planned for today?"

Xu Qingya closed her eyes, her voice hoarse from just waking up.

"have."

Xu Qingya tightened her arms and rubbed her calf against Jiang Fan's waist, about two inches below his waist.

"Sleep with me a little longer."

She waited a few seconds, noticed Jiang Fan's reaction in a certain place, and then flipped over and straddled him.

The thin silk quilt slipped down to her waist.

"Give me fifteen minutes." She leaned down, her long hair falling beside Jiang Fan's face.

Jiang Fan held her waist with both hands.

Fifteen minutes? That's ridiculous!

An hour later.

Xu Qingya tensed up, her whole body stiffened for two seconds, and then she completely collapsed, lying on his chest and panting heavily.

Jiang Fan threw off the covers, got out of bed, picked up his clothes from the floor, and put them on one by one.

Xu Qingya didn't even have the strength to lift a finger, so she could only turn her head to watch him get dressed.

"Are you coming back tonight?"

"Not necessarily." Jiang Fan buttoned up the last button of his shirt.

Xu Qingya snorted, buried her face in the pillow, and ignored him.

The system panel flickered to the edge of my field of vision.

[Deep Compatibility x1, Lifespan +3000]

Current lifespan: 118300 points

With a thought, Jiang Fan turned off the control panel, opened the bedroom door, and went out.

-

10:00 AM, Qitian Culture Office.

Li Cheng and Song Siyi sat opposite Jiang Fan, with several printed documents on the table.

"I've figured out the land situation." Li Cheng pushed a planning map in front of Jiang Fan and pointed to the area circled in red.

"The wasteland next to the welfare home is 57 mu (approximately 3.8 hectares). The property rights belong to the district, and it failed to sell at auction last year. It was relisted this August, but someone intervened and it hasn't gone through a public bidding process yet."

Jiang Fan glanced at the map.

"Who made the call?"

"A company called 'Runtai Environmental Protection' was only registered this June. The legal representative is Zhao Gang." Li Cheng tapped the table. "I had someone check—guess who this person is?"

"How would I know? Stop keeping me in suspense."

"This man is Qin Wanhao's brother-in-law!"

Jiang Fan's finger stopped on the planning map.

"Qin Wanhao? What does he want with this land?"

"It was advertised as an industrial waste sorting plant. Songjiang District recently had an environmental subsidy project, and Zhao Gang used this as a pretext to acquire the land. The price he offered was 20 million."

"Fifty-seven acres of land, twenty million?"

"Yes. The approval process was done for low-quality wasteland. It's estimated that they'll first occupy the land, and then resell it after three to five years when the land value increases, making hundreds of millions in profit."

Song Siyi slammed the documents in her hand onto the table.

"The waste sorting plant is built next to the welfare home. How can Fang Ma's children live there with all the pollution and noise?"

Jiang Fan didn't reply, but tapped his fingers twice on the armrest.

With Zhao Gang taking the land, the plan for the new welfare home was completely ruined.

There is no more suitable plot of land within a few kilometers.

The children continued to cram into that old three-story building, next to which stood a stinking junkyard.

"Can we proceed with the normal bidding process?"

Li Cheng shook his head.

"The people at the property rights exchange center said that there are already 'interested companies' in contact, and they will not accept new bidding applications. Their attitude was very firm, saying that they had been instructed by higher authorities."

"Who's up there?"

"I made some inquiries indirectly, and the person in charge of this matter is a deputy director of the Songjiang District Natural Resources Bureau, surnamed Wang."

Jiang Fan looked at the planning diagram on the table.

"Regarding the last 'Voice of Heaven' incident, Qin Wanhao spent millions to buy tickets for Zhang Yihan, but Shen Nian managed to defeat her by two votes. He can't possibly forget that grudge."

Li Cheng nodded.

"That's what I think too. If Qin Wanhao knew we wanted this land, he wouldn't just refuse; he'd actually speed up the purchase process."

The room was silent for a few seconds.

Jiang Fan stood up and walked to the window.

I mentally reviewed the cards I had in my hand.

He has money, but in this circle, money alone can't get things done.

Qin Wanhao has been entrenched for so many years, with a complex and intricate network of relationships. A direct confrontation would only alert him.

A hole must be torn open from the inside.

Jiang Fan turned around.

"Brother Cheng, let's put this matter aside for now. We can't let them find out we want to buy the land."

"About the orphanage..."

"Book me a plane ticket to Kyoto first. This afternoon."

"Go to Kyoto? Who are you looking for?" Li Cheng was taken aback.

"Tang Yingxue".

Li Cheng opened his mouth and swallowed.

Tang Yingxue rose from a talent show contestant to a superstar at Universal Music. She knows better than anyone the connections, relationships, and interest chains within the company.

"Brother Jiang, is Tang Yingxue reliable? After all, she and Qin Wanhao have been friends for so many years."

"So I have to talk to her in person."

Song Siyi put the file back into the folder.

"Are you sure she'll help you? That's like putting her on the opposite side of her former employer. If Qin Wanhao finds out she's betraying him, she won't have a good time in the future."

"We have to give it a try." Jiang Fan walked back to the table. "Brother Cheng, send me the plane tickets once they're booked. Also, don't reveal a single word about what's happening in Songjiang."

"Understood." Li Cheng stood up, took the documents, and left.

Jiang Fan took out his phone, opened WeChat, and sent a message to Tang Yingxue.

Jiang Fan: Are you free tonight? There's something I'd like to discuss in person.

Tang Yingxue replied very quickly.

Tang Yingxue: What is it?

Jiang Fan: We'll talk when we meet.

Ten seconds or so passed.

Tang Yingxue: I have a brand event tonight, it ends at 8 pm. You can come to my house first. The password hasn't changed.

Jiang Fan put away his phone and locked the documents on the table into a drawer.

-

At 5 p.m., the plane landed in Kyoto.

Jiang Fan exited the terminal and hailed a taxi, heading straight for Kyoto No. 1 Courtyard.

The elevator goes directly to the top floor.

He entered the password, and the door opened with a beep.

The living room was quiet; Tang Yingxue had not yet returned.

The sky outside the floor-to-ceiling windows was still dark, and the outline of Beijing appeared somewhat blurred in the smog.

Jiang Fan sat down on the sofa and went through the information Li Cheng had sent him on his phone again.

Qin Wanhao, Zhao Gang, and Deputy Director Wang.

There must be an unseen thread behind these three names strung together.

At 8:30 p.m., the door creaked open in the entryway.

Tang Yingxue pushed the door open and came in.

She had just come from a brand event, still wearing her makeup and a burgundy halter dress.

The room was pitch black. Tang Yingxue reached out and turned on the wall lamp, then turned to see Jiang Fan sitting on the sofa.

"Oh, you scared me! Why didn't you turn on the light?"

She walked to the refrigerator, took two bottles of Evian mineral water, and tossed one to Jiang Fan.

"Speak. What brings you here in such a hurry?" Tang Yingxue sat down on the single sofa opposite Jiang Fan, crossing her legs.

Jiang Fan unscrewed the bottle cap and took a sip, without beating around the bush.

"Qin Wanhao's brother-in-law, Zhao Gang, has acquired a plot of land in Songjiang District. I want to acquire it."

Tang Yingxue stopped drinking water.

"That good-for-nothing Zhao Gang?" she sneered. "Besides using Qin Wanhao's name to scam people out of food and drink, what else can he do?"

"What he did this time was no small matter." Jiang Fan looked at her. "He used the guise of building an environmental protection factory to acquire dozens of acres of land for 20 million yuan. He had connections to give the land approvals the green light. If I went to buy it directly, they wouldn't even process my application."

Tang Yingxue screwed the bottle cap back on and placed it on the coffee table.

"Why are you buying this land?"

"The conditions at the welfare home I lived in before were too poor, and I want to rebuild one."

Tang Yingxue knew about Jiang Fan's background.

She leaned back on the sofa, her fingers tapping on the armrest.

"How do you want me to help you?"

"I need to know what Qin Wanhao's network of connections is like in Songjiang District? And what kind of exchange of interests is between that Deputy Director Wang and Qin Wanhao?"

Tang Yingxue leaned forward, the neckline of her dress drooping down, revealing a section of her collarbone and deeper layers of her fair skin.

"Why should I?" She looked into Jiang Fan's eyes. "Just because you gave me the role of Guanyin Bodhisattva? Or because you—"

She looked Jiang Fan up and down. "Good stamina?"