After returning to school, Lu Linshen didn’t head straight to the dormitory but instead went to the library. Qin Yu, exhausted from nights of staying up, was completely drained. After enduring Meng Suihuan’s torment at Xuyu, his body and mind had both taken a toll, so he went straight to the dorm. Xie Zhixin and Xu Xuanyi also had their own matters to handle. So, only Lu Linshen went to the library. He toured the entire library and borrowed more than a dozen books. If he weren’t so tall, he probably wouldn’t have been able to see clearly.

Lu Linshen was already a well-known figure in Ning City, especially with his good looks. Today, with a pile of books in hand, his “turning heads” rate was 100%. He didn’t pay any attention to the looks around him, as his mind was still focused on calculating relevant data. Suddenly, someone blocked his path and mocked him.

“Yo, isn’t this the famous Lu Linshen? I heard you went to the East City recruitment fair and even gave up on Feiyun Group, choosing a little-known company instead.”

“Well, it’s fine. Otherwise, if we worked in the same company, wouldn’t you just be crushed to pieces by Shen Ge?”

Lu Linshen’s expression remained calm at first, but when he heard the mention of “Shen Ge,” his dark, deep eyes flickered with a cold glint. His voice turned icy cold. “I never wanted to compete with him.”

Hearing this, the contempt in the other person’s eyes grew even more intense. “Seems like you’re self-aware—”

However, before he could finish, Lu Linshen ruthlessly interrupted him. “Does he even deserve it?”

The person was so enraged by Lu Linshen’s words that his chest tightened with fury, his voice full of malice. “Lu Linshen, let’s see how long you can keep up that attitude!”

“Shen Ge’s new research project is almost complete. You’ll see what it means to be completely crushed!”

Lu Linshen curled the corners of his lips, his voice cold as ice. “Just don’t crush yourself in the process.”

“You—” The man was so furious he could hardly speak. But Lu Linshen couldn’t be bothered to say anything more. He simply bypassed the man and left.

Lu Linshen didn’t think much of this small incident. Once he returned to the dormitory, he immersed himself in his books.

When Qin Yu heard the news, he almost laughed to death. He couldn’t help but ask Lu Linshen, “Old Lu, you don’t talk much, but when you do, it hits hard.”

“I heard that Sun Yang kid was so pissed he almost died from anger!”

Without lifting his head, Lu Linshen handed him a piece of paper. “If you’re really that bored, you can go ahead and finish this area, instead of talking nonsense here.”

Qin Yu: “…” Can we still be good friends?

Half a month passed.

Lu Linshen finally completed an upgraded version of the website. This time, Qin Yu refused to go to Xuyu, no matter what. He wasn’t ready to endure another round of physical and emotional torment. As for Xu Xuanyi and Xie Zhixin, they were also exhausted from the high-intensity work environment and just wanted to take a break. The daunting task fell entirely on Lu Linshen. However, he didn’t react much; he grabbed the manuscript and his computer and headed out.

When he arrived at Xuyu, Meng Suihuan was in a meeting, so he had to wait in the reception room. He waited for about twenty minutes before people began to trickle out of the meeting room. Many of them were slouching with their shoulders down.

“The boss is still the same boss, and our project isn’t even finished, but they’re already starting the next one.”
“Get used to it. This is nothing. Back when we were at Shuangyang, things were even worse. Working late and overtime was the norm!”
“But the achievements we made back then are incomparable to what we have now. Can you imagine, we went from being an unknown small company to one that’s well-known in the whole city overnight? Heh, we even won the ‘Outstanding Person of the Year’ award, and had interviews with TV stations!”
“…”
“All of that is thanks to the boss!”

Lu Linshen listened quietly, his gaze flickering before it finally settled into calmness. Just then, Meng Suihuan finished her meeting and walked out of the conference room, with Lu Xiuhe following beside her, discussing the next design style.

“These, these, and these versions are pretty good. We can dig deeper into these. As for the others, we can save them and see if they can be used for other projects.”

Lu Xiuhe noted down the options Meng Suihuan mentioned, marking them with little symbols. At the same time, Meng Suihuan noticed Lu Linshen and walked toward him.

“Is the website fixed?”
“Yes.”
Meng Suihuan glanced at the empty chairs behind him. “Why didn’t Qin Yu and the others come?” After all, these few had always been inseparable, like conjoined twins.

Thinking about Qin Yu, Lu Linshen’s face became slightly awkward, and he stiffly explained, “They’ve been working on a project and are a bit worn out.”
“Oh.” Meng Suihuan scanned him up and down with her eyes. “Looks like your physical fitness is pretty good.”

That meant, in the future, she wouldn’t feel guilty while making him work hard. The mobile and computer apps she had been anticipating could also come into existence ahead of schedule. The more she thought about it, the wider her smile became.

It was just a casual remark, but paired with her evaluating gaze and the strange smile on her face, it left Lu Linshen feeling tense and uncomfortable. He forced himself to ignore her gaze, responding stiffly, “I’ve been exercising.”

To his surprise, her smile only grew wider, and she spoke in a tone that seemed to praise him. “You’re doing well with the exercise. Keep it up in the future.”

Lu Linshen, already feeling uneasy, now felt as if his blood was almost freezing. He nearly forgot how to breathe. However, the next second, she returned to her work mode, her voice turning slightly serious.

“Let’s go.”
“Let’s go check out the new website.”

Lu Linshen took a deep breath, adjusted his state, and followed her. Meng Suihuan tried out the website he had made and was about to give her feedback when she noticed that Lu Linshen was standing just two meters away from her.

Meng Suihuan: “…”

Am I a beast or a monster?
He’s standing so far away?! Upon realizing this, Meng Suihuan gave him a displeased look. “Come closer.”
“I won’t bite you.”
Only then did Lu Linshen move closer. Suddenly, Meng Suihuan made a playful grimace at him. But, since she didn’t steady herself, she nearly fell into him. Thankfully, her quick reflexes allowed her to grab his shoulder and avoid the mishap. As her hand pressed against Lu Linshen’s shoulder, she could feel the palm of her hand slightly aching. His shoulder was too stiff! It hurt! Annoyed, she pulled her hand away, sat back down in her seat, and said gruffly, “This part still needs some adjustments. The rest is fine.”

No one responded to her. Meng Suihuan turned her head in silence, then called out with a harsh tone, “Lu! Lin! Shen!”
Lu Linshen’s gaze immediately shifted to Meng Suihuan, his voice a bit awkward. “I got it.”
Meng Suihuan: “…”
She seriously doubted whether he had actually heard what she said. But in the next second, he accurately repeated the issues she had just pointed out.
Meng Suihuan: “…”
Is the male lead’s halo too strong? Is this normal human memory?

She sarcastically thought to herself, but secretly, she was relieved. It’s a good thing she was quick; otherwise, this free tool would’ve been sent to another company!

“By the way, this is the filing for our website,” Meng Suihuan said, pulling a document from her drawer and handing it to him.
Lu Linshen took it, glanced at the contents, and paused at the website’s name, confused. “Tianxia?”
“Mm,” Meng Suihuan nodded, even a little smug, “Tianxia Net.”
“It symbolizes that our website will be everywhere, doesn’t it sound powerful?”
Lu Linshen: “…”
Seeing the beaming smile on her face, he could only nod in agreement.
“Mm.”
“Very powerful.”

Evening.
As usual, Meng Suihuan checked her life value changes. To her surprise, the data had increased by 2%! She knew that her current earnings were relatively stable, and her life value had been growing steadily—around 1% every month. But if she remembered correctly, it had only been about a month since her last check? Why had the data changed so drastically? It had doubled compared to before!

She immediately pulled up the relevant data, and everything else seemed normal. The only exception was the emotional fluctuation section. The value there was very high, accounting for 60% of her total earnings.

Meng Suihuan immediately thought of Lu Linshen. No one else could be worth this much!

“System, pull up Lu Linshen’s data.”

To her surprise, his originally negative number had turned positive. Even more surprising was that it had become +5!

Meng Suihuan: “!”

This meant that Lu Linshen’s emotional fluctuations had been very high recently! She tried hard to recall what had happened over the past few days, finally narrowing it down to today. Only today had Lu Linshen repeatedly seemed distracted!

She continued to think about the details and came to a conclusion. Could it be that when she accidentally bumped into him today, it caused such a big emotional fluctuation?! Oh no! The more she thought about it, the more likely it seemed!

If that’s the case, couldn’t she “stimulate” him more in the future? Make his life value increase even faster?

“Meng Jie!”

“When we checked the project, Zhao Shenglun’s team finished theirs before ours.”

Upon hearing this news, Song Zhi immediately came to report to Meng Suihuan. She didn’t react much, simply responding with a faint “Oh.”
Song Zhi: “…”

Was it because I expressed it too subtly that I didn’t stir his emotions?
As he was lost in thought, Meng Suihuan slowly asked, “How much longer until we finish the project?”
“About three days.”
“After your side is finished, go directly to the relevant department and report. As for other matters, don’t worry for now; I will take care of them.”
“When you leave, please help me call Feng Jiu in.”

Song Zhi was taken aback, then nodded and replied, “Alright.”

At that moment, Song Zhi had no idea what Meng Suihuan was planning. But two days later, news that the East Lake Huayuan high-end community was nearing completion spread like wildfire. The momentum was even stronger than Zhao Shenglun’s side. In an instant, everyone in Ning City knew about it.

It was at that point that Song Zhi understood what Meng Suihuan had in mind. It was like a product—if it’s unique, there’s no need for comparison. But if there are two similar ones, customers inevitably compare them. The same applied to houses. Now, with two similar communities, those who were initially attracted by the gimmick of this project stopped for a moment to compare before deciding which one to buy.

“Heh. Interesting.”

He had already used the high-end community concept first, yet Zhao Shenglun hadn’t given up. Was he planning to compete with him? If so, she would let him. She’d gladly step on him once again.

“You guys also send people to the city to promote, and make sure it’s grander than Zhao Shenglun’s side.”

Thus, under the preheating efforts of both sides, everyone in Ning City, whether or not they were interested in buying a house, took a watchful stance. In this way, the East Lake Huayuan project was completed.

Song Zhi went to the relevant departments for filing, while Meng Suihuan didn’t slack off, following the prearranged plan. She set up several sample rooms and hired professional artists to illustrate the rooms, printing the designs in brochures.

In the days leading up to the sales launch, she used her previous experience and printed tens of thousands of flyers. The flyers included not only discount offers but also featured concepts like elevator apartments and panoramic windows. Three days before the sale, she released the brochures and flyers. It caused quite a stir.

Zhao Shenglun had been closely watching the developments at East Lake Huayuan. As soon as the flyers were released, he got the news. Unfortunately, it was too late. They didn’t install elevators. They didn’t have sample rooms. And panoramic windows? That was out of the question!

“Bang!”

Zhao Shenglun slammed his fist on the table, cursing in frustration. But the momentum from the other side was too strong, and he didn’t know how to salvage the situation! He had no choice but to imitate them, doing his own discount activities, but with even bigger offers!

His staff tried to advise him. “Boss, at this rate, we’re not going to make much profit on this project!”

But Zhao Shenglun, blinded by anger, refused to listen!

On the day of the sale, Meng Suihuan hired over a hundred people to maintain order and trained a professional team to guide the customers and explain the details. The attitude had to be top-notch, and the customers’ needs were given the utmost attention.

As a result, despite East Lake Huayuan’s prices being twice as high as Zhao Shenglun’s, it sold like hotcakes. Business was booming.

Lu Linshen had originally planned to meet with Meng Suihuan to discuss the website, but instead, he was temporarily drafted into helping out. At first, he felt awkward, but gradually, he became quite at ease, guiding people through the sample rooms.

Initially, only Lu Linshen was pulled into helping, but when Qin Yu found out, he volunteered and joined the effort.

At first, Song Zhi was worried that they might lose money, given that they were offering discounts and installing elevators. But when he saw the sales figures, he was speechless. He could only look at Meng Suihuan with admiration.

In just half a month, East Lake Huayuan’s sales reached over seventy million! That was five to six times the projected amount! And the best part was, they still had one-third of the units left unsold. If those sold too, they’d easily hit a billion!

Song Zhi: “!!!”