“Hello, Mr. Chen.”

“Xiao Meng, I heard that you and the guy who developed the smartphone chip, Lu… Lu…”

Hearing him get stuck, Meng Suihuan slowly completed the name, “Lu Linshen.”

“Yes, that’s right, Xiao Lu, Lu Linshen. I heard you and he have parted ways. Something this big happens, and you don’t even give me a heads-up so I can prepare myself mentally.”

“Sorry, Chen Ge, it all happened too suddenly.”

“Ah, you and Xiao Lu are both outstanding individuals; it was only a matter of time before this happened. Now that it’s done, don’t overthink it.”

Meng Suihuan played along with his small talk, skillfully maneuvering the conversation. After some back and forth, Mr. Chen couldn’t hold back any longer and got to the point.

“Xiao Meng, it seems irreparable between you and Xiao Lu. Now, there’s another big matter I hope you can confirm for me.”

“You see, the smartphone chip was developed by Xiao Lu. Now that he’s left, what about our collaboration?” he probed cautiously.

“It will continue as planned,” Meng Suihuan replied firmly, smiling lightly. “All these matters were written into the contract in advance. Even if he leaves now, it won’t affect the progress of our collaboration. You can rest assured.”

Hearing this, Mr. Chen laughed heartily, his tone easing considerably. He then continued probing.

“Previously, Xiao Lu was in charge of this project. Now that he’s left, there’s a vacancy for the project lead. Looking across Ning City, there are only a few people capable of taking on this responsibility—”

“Rest assured, Chen Ge, I’m not implying anything. It’s just that Feiyun has been researching smartphones for quite some time. Whether it’s in technical research or other areas, we have plenty of experience. If you truly can’t find someone suitable, why not let Feiyun’s tech team assist you…”

“Ge, I appreciate your kindness, but this might be a bit tricky,” Meng Suihuan replied, pretending to be in a bind. When pressed further, she reluctantly explained, “I forgot to mention earlier, although Lu Linshen has parted ways with my company, he made it clear when he left that he still wants to be part of this project. After all, the chip is his creation, and I can’t really refuse him. So, I’m thinking…”

Before she could finish her sentence, Mr. Chen interrupted forcefully, “Xiao Meng, if Xiao Lu were still with Xuyu, I’d have no objections. But now, he’s neither with Xuyu nor Feiyun. Having him continue on the project doesn’t seem appropriate, does it?!”

“After all, the contract we signed initially was between Feiyun and Xuyu.”

Hearing his decisive tone over the phone, Meng Suihuan cursed inwardly, Old fox, but didn’t show it. Instead, she responded gently, “Ge, don’t get anxious. Let me finish.”

“I know letting him stay on the project might harm your interests, so I plan to sign a separate agreement with him. I’ll allocate a portion of my company’s shares to him. This way, Feiyun’s interests won’t be affected, and he can continue working on the project. What do you think?”

Businessmen care about profits above all else. Hearing that his interests wouldn’t be compromised, Mr. Chen’s previously intense tone softened.

“Although this approach won’t affect our collaboration, I still need to discuss this change with others in the company,” he replied.

If she didn’t know better, she might have believed him. While Feiyun Group appeared to have several shareholders on paper, these individuals held no real power. Mr. Chen was the sole decision-maker in the company.

Even so, she smiled and agreed. “Of course, no problem.”

“This was caused by me in the first place, so I’m sorry to trouble you, Brother. By the way, didn’t you mention that others in the company wanted deeper involvement in the project? I thought about it and believe it makes sense. If you agree with my proposal, I think it wouldn’t hurt for Feiyun to assign a senior technician to assist in the overall research…”

“Hahaha, Xiao Meng, don’t worry. After working together for so long, I’ll make sure this is handled properly for you!”

“…”

Dealing with businessmen can be exhausting.

Fortunately, everything was progressing according to plan. After talking for so long, her throat felt parched. She took a sip of water, then slowly retrieved her phone. Skillfully inputting a string of numbers, she initially intended to make a call but reconsidered—calling directly might be disruptive. Instead, she chose to send a text.

She sent the number 2, followed by 8.

This was a prearranged code between them, signifying that the second task requiring her assistance in their plan had been successfully completed. So far, she had announced the termination of her contract online as planned and resolved the issue of Lu Linshen’s continued involvement in the project. Now, everything depended on how he planned to proceed next.

Truthfully, she was curious—what was his next move? Up to now, she hadn’t noticed any clear clues.

As expected, half an hour passed without a response.

At that moment, she received a call from Jiang Chengxuan. His tone was heavy:

“Meng-jie, that plot of land in Jiangcheng was snatched up.”

Although her recent workload had prevented her from personally acquiring land, she hadn’t been idle. Instead, she had instructed Jiang Chengxuan and Lao Feng to search for promising plots in nearby cities. They had found a few decent ones, but just as they were about to seal the deal, someone swooped in and purchased the land first.

Once or twice could be a coincidence, but this was the third time. Clearly, someone was deliberately targeting her.

“Xiao Jiang, it seems our earlier suspicions were correct. Someone is indeed going after us on purpose,” she said calmly.

Business was rarely smooth sailing. Xuyu had weathered many storms to reach where it was today. Thus, Meng Suihuan remained composed.

“In that case, put the land acquisition on hold for now. Return to Ning City and find an opportunity to figure out who’s behind these repeated attempts to thwart us.”

“Understood.”

Lu Linshen didn’t see her message until late at night. As he stared at the two simple numbers on his phone screen, a deep smile appeared in his eyes.

She had devised this code system, worried that a lost phone might reveal sensitive information. Hence, this setup.

Lu Linshen picked up his phone and replied with a simple 1.

Qin Yu, a man whose curiosity knew no bounds, leaned over with his head stretched forward.

“Two-eight-one?!”

“Lu Ge, seeing you smile so broadly, I thought Meng Jie sent you some fantastic news. Turns out it’s just this random string of numbers.”

Lu Linshen glanced at him indifferently. “This is the message she sent.”

Qin Yu: “???”

Rubbing his eyes in disbelief, Qin Yu exclaimed, “Lu Ge, are you sure you’re not messing with me?”

“What do you think?”

Hearing this, Qin Yu let out a dramatic gasp. “Lu Ge, you and Meng Jie are truly something else!”

Instantly intrigued, he grinned like a curious child. “Quick, tell me what those numbers mean!”

Lu Linshen briefly explained the situation. Upon learning how much information was embedded in their coded system, Qin Yu gave an exaggerated thumbs-up.

“Amazing, my dear Meng Jie!”

Just then, Xu Xuanyi and Xie Zhixin returned one after the other. True to his chatty nature, Qin Yu immediately ran over to repeat the story with animated enthusiasm.

Xie Zhixin chuckled warmly. “Lao Lu, you’ve gotten livelier since spending time with Meng Jie.”

Xu Xuanyi chimed in with a laugh. “Livelier? He’s downright childish now. Honestly, I never thought the once cold and aloof Lu would end up like this. Truly unexpected.”

Qin Yu, adopting the tone of a worldly wise man, sighed dramatically, “That’s the power of love!”

Everyone burst into laughter.

Lu Linshen laughed along. “Alright, it’s about time. Now that everything is ready, it’s time to make Wan Hui’s site public.”

—

Meanwhile, Zhou Fan, who thrived on stirring trouble, had been closely following updates since hearing about Lu Linshen’s fallout with Xuyu. Every day, he scoured posts, read comments, and stayed on top of the latest developments, striving to be on the frontlines of gossip.

Scrolling as usual, he suddenly stumbled upon a piece of news that made him leap out of bed, cursing repeatedly.

“Lao Zhou, what the heck is wrong with you this late at night? Don’t you let people sleep anymore?”

“If you’re so bored, go run some code instead of bothering us here.”

“Exactly! I was in the middle of a beautiful dream about a stunning woman. I hadn’t even gotten a good look at her before you interrupted. You owe me for this!”

Zhou Fan mustered all his strength to regain his composure. Trembling, he stammered, “I just discovered some huge news—Lu Linshen and his team launched a website called Wan Hui Net.”

“Just now.”

Perhaps it’s human nature to be drawn to gossip. The others, who had just been groaning and rubbing their bleary eyes moments ago, suddenly perked up. In no time, they scrambled onto Zhou Fan’s bed. The three of them huddled together, heads practically touching, as they stared at the screen displaying Wan Hui Net.

In the top-left corner of the webpage, a tagline similar to that of the immensely popular Tianxia Net was prominently displayed:

Wan Hui Net
— A collection of countless pieces of information. Your questions, our answers.

They scanned the site. Unlike other popular platforms on the market, this one seemed to be a hub for information exchange.

“All these features are already available on Tianxia Net. Why would they release Wan Hui Net at such a critical time? What’s the point?”

“I always suspected that the termination of their contract might have been due to profit disputes or other conflicts. Now, it seems it’s related to this Wan Hui Net.”

“…”

Just then, a voice neither too loud nor too soft came from beside them:

“What are you all doing, huddled together at this hour instead of sleeping?”

Zhou Fan reacted instantly. He snatched the phone from the person next to him and shoved it into Shen Jin’s hands, his excitement palpable.

“Shen Ge, look at this!”

“This might be the real reason why Lu Linshen and Xuyu Group parted ways!”